Jesus Revealed

Thank you Keith for leading us in that worship. I told Tommy this morning in the hall that you never have to ask whether I'm the one preaching that morning because if you see me in this outfit with this tie on, it's a lock. It's a lock. I was putting on my tie this morning and JP walked by and he looked at me and he said, "What is this? What is this hanging down from your... What is this? He didn't even have a word for it. It's a tie son." Papa wears it sometimes. I'm so happy to be able to share this morning. It's quite a privilege and I thank you all for giving me the opportunity to do this. I want to open this morning with a question.

I want you to think about it for just a second because there's going to be something that pops into your mind when I ask this. What does Jesus look like? What comes to your mind when I ask the question, "What does Jesus look like?" What if I asked you to describe Him to me from Scripture? Where would you go? What would you read? I could pose the question in another way. What do Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John say about the physical appearance of the most important man who ever lived? I could ask an even simpler question and I'm going to let you know ahead of time. It's a little bit of a trick question.

Do any of the gospels mention whether Jesus has a beard? I asked these questions to some friends. We have a group thread and I just posed the question, "Does Scripture say that Jesus has a beard?" I had a couple people reply with the same response of, "I think so. I think Scripture says something in the crucifixion narrative that they tore patches of hair from His beard. I think that's somewhere in the New Testament." To which if you go to the New Testament and you start with the word beard, you get zero mentions of the word beard. There is an Old Testament passage that may be Messianic.

It's referenced in the book of Isaiah that if interpreted as Messianically, it refers to somebody tearing out patches from someone's beard. That is the only place where you have a reference to that. My point is this. This is all we have from the Old Testament and the gospels about the physical attributes of the incarnate Jesus. There's no eye color, no hair color, no mention of whether He was left or right-handed. I hope He's on team left-handed if it's just personally up to me. I'm left-handed. No mention of His height, His weight. There's nothing. There's nothing.

But when I ask you the question, "What does Jesus look like?" something probably popped in your head. It's certainly not stopped people throughout ages from creating a diverse spectrum of images of what they believe Christ to have looked like. Now you may not know this, but I have an art degree. You may be thinking, "That's not what you want to hear from the guy preaching to your church on Sunday is that he has an art degree." It's also what I tell my wife when she asked me to help her with math problems. I just say, "Honey, I have an art degree.

I can't help you with that." But we're going to take just a brief second to have a quick art lesson. Isaac, would you put up the first image on the screen? Everyone has seen this, but I was not aware of the history behind this particular painting. This is known as the "Solomon Head of Christ." There was a guy, Warner Solomon, who did a charcoal sketch in 1920 that was the basis for this painting. The painting was done later in 1940, but Warner Solomon claims that while praying in the middle of the night around 2 a.m., he was inspired to do a charcoal drawing, and that's where this came from.

If you read the history of this painting, it captured the imagination of people in Western culture for a long time. They printed it everywhere they could print it. They printed it on pocket-sized cards. They sent it to people who were going off to war. They said, "Basically, if there are card-carrying communists, we're going to be card-carrying Christians." Apparently, that's what card-carrying Christians to them look like, was somebody with this painting in their wallet or in their pocket. Friends, I do have an art degree, but this has nothing to do with what I'm about to say.

I can very comfortably say that this is probably 100 percent—not probably—100 percent not what Jesus looked like. While this man claims that he's vision-inspired, this Scripture does not back him up there. It certainly doesn't back up his inspired image of Jesus as a white person with blue eyes and curly, flowing hair. Informally, I call this painting "Purt Plus Jesus." That's how I refer to it. This has impacted our culture. I make a joke, but there was also an article in the Washington Post about this.

When I was doing a little research on the background of this image, there was an entire article in the Washington Post that wrote about how this painting has influenced people's idea of Christ throughout history, because there are people that grew up with this painting hanging in their home. There are people who grew up with this painting hanging in their church. There are people who grew up thinking that Jesus was—this is what Jesus looked like—that he was a white man and never knew differently until somebody taught them from Scripture that this is not the Jesus of Scripture. Isaac, would you put up the next image, please?

You might have seen this one as well. I believe this is in Rome. This is Michelangelo's Pieta. It's translated as "pity," "the pity." It has figures of representing Mary and Jesus after his death. That's why I picked out some of these, because they are so well known. There are plenty to pick from, and most of them are horrifying, but these are the two that I picked. A lot of people think of Jesus, and maybe they think of something like this. Made in about 1498, 1499. This is purely anecdotal, but in 1972, a mentally disturbed person took a hammer and went after this sculpture.

He climbed up on it and took Mary's nose off, knocked out part of her eye, and knocked her—I guess her left arm, the one that's holding out—completely off. Then later, they put her back together, but people were snatching up pieces of the marble and taking them as artifacts as they were trying to stop this situation. A group of men had to physically hold a man down, and they didn't have all the pieces. Mary has had reconstructive surgery. She's had a little work done, is what I'm saying. They had to take part of her back to make a new nose for her, because they couldn't find the nose to put it back on there. But my point is this.

Look a little closely at the image. How big is Mary compared to Jesus? How big is Mary the size of the body of Jesus? If you could see this in person and get a good perspective and multiple angles on it, you would see that Mary is this massive dominant figure in this sculpture, and she's holding the dead body of Christ, and she envelops that body as this massive base on which Christ is cradled. And the question is, do these things communicate bad things about what we should think about Jesus? Do they communicate the right things? Or do they communicate bad things, incorrect things, things of error?

So we're going to turn to the book of Revelation. If you're not already there from earlier, we're going to be in Revelation chapter 1. And just a little background, the author of this book is John. John the Apostle. He's one of the original 12 disciples. It's written in the late first century, sometime around 95 to 96 AD, while John was in exile on the island of Patmos. So it's been about 60 years since the ascension of Christ. When John was there, and he watched Jesus ascend back to heaven, and he's been serving and working in the church and doing the things that God has called him to do as an apostle for 60 years.

And then we pick up in verse 9. Let's read this again, starting in verse 9. "I, John, your brother, partner in the tribulation and the kingdom and the patient endurance that are in Jesus was on the island called Patmos on account of the word of God and the testimony of Jesus. I was in the spirit on the Lord's day, and I heard behind me a loud voice like a trumpet saying, 'Write what you see in a book and send it to the seven churches, to Ephesus and to Smyrna and to Pergamum and to Thyatira and to Sardis and to Philadelphia and to Laodicea.' Then I turned to see the voice that was speaking to me, and on turning I saw seven golden lampstands, and in the midst of the lampstands one like a son of man, clothed with a long robe and with a golden sash around his chest.

The hairs of his head were white, like white wool, like snow. 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. In his right hand he held seven stars, and from his mouth came a sharp two-edged sword, and his face was like the sun shining in full strength. When I saw him I fell at his feet as though dead, but he laid his right hand on me saying, 'Fear not, for I am the first and the last and the living one.

I died, and behold I am alive forever more, and I have the keys of death and Hades.'" The language John uses here, he's given us a descriptive context of things we do understand. Think about the things that he's used, wool, snow, molten bronze, swords and flames to describe things that he sees that we have no context for, things that we just can't understand. So he's given us this very graphic, this very vivid description of what he's seen, and there's a purpose for that. Scripture has given us these vivid descriptions to fill our imagination.

They're not just there to be there, they're there to serve, to be part of our picture of Christ, to fill our imaginations, or else why would we get such a vivid description from Scripture? Our purpose today is going to be very simple. I want to encourage us as believers by redeeming our mental image of Christ. I hope when I ask you what does Jesus look like, I hope one of those two things weren't what popped in your head. They probably are now because I showed you the picture and I apologize for that.

But I hope through going through this, that this is the antithesis, this is the antidote to whatever culturally is in your mind when we say what does Jesus look like. I hope these things serve for that capacity. And our number two purpose is to serve as a warning for those outside of Christ. So let's begin with our first point of interest, our number one point, and there are going to be 10 of these, but don't panic, we're not going to spend long on each. Number one is the seven golden lampstands. Very important setting for describing Jesus.

Verse 12 and 13 say, "Then I turned to see the voice that was speaking to me, and on turning I saw seven golden lampstands." So the imagery here is very straightforward. There are seven oil burning lamps raised on stands. It's very simple. They're burning. Usually this is a very common item in their day for them to have full burning lamps on stands to provide light for the home. So it's not an uncommon thing. Scripture itself in verse 20 explains that these seven lampstands represent the seven churches of Asia and the subject of the seven letters of the book of Revelation. The material of these stands is significant. They are not wooden.

They're not even silver. They're made with gold. They're valuable. They're valuable. So let's briefly consider a question. Why? Why is gold valuable? What makes gold different from paper, wood? Gold has value because it's rare and because it's retrieved at great cost. It has to be dug up from the ground. It's retrieved at great cost of time and effort and work and sweat to get it and refine it. It's rare and it's retrieved at great cost. And the church to Christ is rare, valuable and retrieved at the greatest cost that has ever been paid by the blood and life of the Son of God. So the material is significant.

The number of lampstands is significant. We've already spoken to this. There are seven lampstands for the seven churches that are the subject of the seven letters of the book of Revelation. Isaac, would you put up our map for us? This may be interesting to you. This may not. But these are the seven churches that are written to in this book. And I want you to notice how they're arranged. You can see Patmos, the little island in red there. That's where John is. And these are the seven churches of Asia. And you can see there's a little pattern or a little path that's made on this map between all the churches.

And the reason why I showed this, and just keep it up for a second Isaac, many commentators have wondered if the arrangement of the lampstands mirrors the geography of where these churches are located. And that's even more significant when we move on to our second point of interest, our number two, one like the son of man. And I'll reread the passage with verse 13. I was like, just leave that up for just a minute. Then I turned to see the voice that was speaking to me and on turning I saw seven golden lampstands and in the midst of the lampstands, one like a son of man.

This one like a son of man is in the midst of the lampstands that we have speculated might be arranged like the geography of the seven churches in the midst of them is Christ. To me, this is one of the most encouraging elements of the imagery that we see here. The knowledge that the Lord Jesus is in the midst of these lampstands. He's in the midst of his churches. He tends to them. He cares for them. He disciplines them to make their light burn brighter and continually.

If you have read through Revelation before, remember that in the next chapter in the letter to the Ephesian church, Jesus warns them to repent and do the things they did at first or he will remove their lampstand. He is in the midst of them to bring discipline and to care for them. He's disciplining the church, warning them of the consequences if they continue to let their love for Christ grow cold. The implication of the teaching in Matthew 18 is that Christ is present even in the midst of church discipline. Verse 20 says, "For where two or three are gathered in my name, there I am among them." The context here is church discipline.

Also in his great commission in Matthew 28, Jesus says, "And behold, I am with you always to the end of the age." And I really hope this encourages you, like it does for me, to know that the church is not orphaned in the world or in some like some distant outpost or embassy trying to represent a king far, far away. Jesus is in the midst of his churches always, always. Often when I pray, I think about this. That's how this imagery has an effect on the way you think and you pray. When I pray, I think about Jesus walking among the lampstand of churches, tending to them, caring for them, and it encourages me.

So our next point of interest, number three, if you're taking notes, the robe and sash of Christ. The robe and sash of Christ. Isaac, you can take our map down. During VBS, I goaded all the children into yelling at him every time they wanted to go to the next song. I would have them say, "Mr. Isaac, play the next song." So there were hundreds of kids literally shouting at him for three days in a robe. So make sure you pat Isaac on the back today. Number three, the robe and sash of Christ.

Verse 13 says, "And in the midst of the lampstands was one like a son of man, clothed with a long robe and with a golden sash around his chest." The single Greek word for robe here is literally translated garment down to the foot. It's a garment that extends all the way down to the feet or to the ankle. In the Septuagint, which is the Hebrew to Greek translation of the Old Testament, this same Greek word that's used here for robe is found seven times. And six out of those seven, it's in reference to the high priest, to the garment that the high priest wears is in similar fashion, a robe to the foot.

So we have a connection here to the role Jesus serves as our great high priest, a role held exclusively here by Christ. And there are other things he's dressed alludes to. Listen to this quote from W.A. Criswell. "He was clothed with a garment, a flowing garment down to the foot, the priestly dress of a priest, the regal robes of a king, the judicial attire of a judge. He is regally attired as priest and king and judge." Since we're in the realm of some very visual things today that are happening in our minds, I want us to imagine the state of the clothing Jesus wore on the day of his death in contrast to how we see him here.

Imagine the state of his clothes after being arrested, beaten, and stripped. Matthew 27 tells us that soldiers stripped him and clothed him in purple robes and made an ad hoc crown to mock him. It says they took his clothes and they cast lots for them and divided them amongst themselves. And I bring these things up to remind us of how Jesus came to be our great high priest, this exalted king, this righteous judge. Isaiah 53, we're very familiar with these verses. "He was despised and rejected by men, a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief. And as one from whom men hide their faces, he was despised. And we esteemed him not.

Surely he has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows, yet we esteemed him stricken, smitten by God and afflicted. But he was pierced for our transgressions. He was crushed for our iniquities. Upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace. And with his wounds we are healed." The garments that he wears in Revelation 1 are in great contrast to the ones that he wore on the day of his crucifixion. So let's move on to our next point of interest here. Number four, the head of Christ. The head of Christ. Verse 14, "The hairs of his head were white, like white wool, like snow.

His eyes were like a flame of fire." The whole depiction of Christ is quite luminescent, radiating power and purity. His hair is described by John as pure white, like the color of white wool or snow. I'm going to read something else from W.A. Criswell that will help us here. "His head, his hair was white like wool, white as snow. That refers to the purity and the elevation and nobility of his thoughts. It refers to the eternality of his character, quote, "the ancient of days." Here is patriarchal honor. Here is eternal dignity. Biblically speaking, white hair or gray hair was considered to be an honor.

It was a sign of experience, wisdom, knowledge, and age. Proverbs 1631, gray hair is a crown of glory. It is gained in a righteous life. No one knows what Jesus knows. No one lived like Jesus lived. No one experienced what Jesus experienced. His head is crowned with the glory of a righteous life, with wisdom, with experience. He is crowned with glory. Similarly, his eyes, John describes as being like flames of fire. Again, you have to remember, John is reaching for anything to make sense of what he's seeing. He's reaching for common descriptors just to give a context to the mind-blowing thing that he's seeing.

So he says his eyes are like flame of fire. And it's not coincidental that the eyes of Christ are highlighted here. Jesus, being God, sees everything to him. Even our internal thoughts and motivations, Hebrews 4 says, "And no creature is hidden from his sight, but all are naked and exposed to the eyes of him to whom we must give account." It's funny you see these characteristics of God that we study in our small group, right? The eternality of Christ and his head, the omniscience of Christ and his eyes. These are the eyes we will look into and give an account for everything that we have done, seen and unseen.

Our next point of interest is the feet of Christ. The feet of Christ. Verse 15, "His feet were like burnished bronze refined in a furnace." I want to stop here and let's give some thought to this. How many of you want somebody writing a lot of descriptions about your feet and what they look like? It's a little awkward, right? It's just a little awkward. Not many people would want that, but we're not Christ, right? And I want you to listen how he describes the feet of Christ. His feet were like burnished bronze refined in a furnace. So let's focus on that visual imagery here first.

The implication of the language is that his feet have the appearance of metal heated in the furnace to the point that it's glowing, it's luminescence, radiating heat and energy. And I'm not an expert on metallurgy. Remember, I have an art degree, but it's my understanding that metal, for metal like this to glow this brilliantly from a dull red color to something brighter, it must be heated to something like 1700 degrees Fahrenheit. Again, if you're a metallurgist and you want to come talk to me afterwards and correct me on that, please do. But suffice to say, very hot, right? It has to be heated to a very high temperature to glow like this.

When I was at Southern Miss and getting my art degree, we did an iron pour in Hattiesburg at the art facility to have there. They have cupola. They have the ability to heat metal, iron in this case, until it's in its liquid form. And we will do one day where they do a bunch of iron pours into some sort of mold to create casts. And I remember one of the teachers, and I'm sure he does it every time just for effect, took his bare hand and splashed the molten metal as it was coming out. And everybody was just gasps, and he just laughed and thought it was hilarious.

But that's the imagery that we have here, is that his feet are like metal that has been heated in the furnace and they're glowing and radiating power and energy. Whatever your imagination conjures here, it's clear that you don't want to be under these feet, right? MacArthur gives us some good context here. "Kings in ancient times sat on elevated thrones, so that those being judged would always be beneath the king's feet. The feet of the king thus came to symbolize his authority. The feet represent sovereign, kingly authority with the inherent right to dispense judgment." So we can ask, judgment on whom?

First of all, judgment on his own children. Remember church, God the Son also walks among the lampstands, the local churches, and brings discipline to those he loves. Those he accepts as a stone. Hebrews 12 says, "For the Lord disciplines those he loves. He chastises the Son whom he receives." Secondly, he brings judgment on the world, those outside of Christ. Jesus has the right to judge the world that rejects him and works against him. But let's think through the complete implication of this. Christ doesn't just bring judgment on those who are in open outward opposition to him. He judges all who work outside of his authority.

Now what do I mean by that? Who are those working outside of the authority of Christ? So we're going to go to Matthew 7 for the answer to this. What did Christ say in Matthew 7 to those who came claiming to have done all kinds of work for him, preaching, doing miracles, and casting out demons? Matthew 7.23 says in his response, "And then I will declare to them, I never knew you. Depart from me, you workers of lawlessness." Lawlessness. They work, but they're working outside of the authority of Christ. They're doing all the things on the exterior that look like the right things to do, but they're not in Christ. They're not under his authority.

They're not subjects of his kingdom. Therefore their works, even though they have the outward appearance of good works, are works he calls lawlessness. Lawlessness. Unauthorized works. Listen carefully. There are people who work and work hard to do the right things the right way, but if they are not known to God, if they are not under his authority as his children, those works are lawlessness. Lawlessness. And one day we will all find ourselves at eye level with the feet that John has visibly described to us. And what will we hear on that day? Well done, good and faithful servant. Or depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.

And finally, Christ brings judgment on the old serpent, the father of lies. Culture has tried to skew the relationship of God and Satan to be like equal and opposing forces, that they are some balanced light and darkness, some great struggle that's constantly happening. Speaking of terrible cultural memes, you've probably seen the image of Jesus and Satan arm wrestling. I don't know if you've been blessed with seeing that on the internet, but it's out there around there somewhere. It's probably printed on a t-shirt in a local truck stop somewhere where you could find it.

But that is not what the Bible tells us about the relationship between Christ and Satan. Satan created by God and subject to God will be defeated and judged by Christ. And what's incredible about Scripture is that God has told us the end from the beginning. Listen to what Genesis 3.15 says, "I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring, he shall bruise your head and you shall bruise his heel. The offspring of the woman is Christ, who was bruised in his death on the cross, but will crush the head of the old serpent and end his rebellion." And these are the feet that will make it happen.

These are the feet that will make it happen. 1 Corinthians 15.25 says, "For he must reign until he has put all his enemies under his feet." Everything will be put in subjection to Christ. Everything will be under his feet. So moving along our next point of interest, number 6, the voice of Christ. Twice here in Revelation 1, John describes the voice of Christ. Before John turned to see the vision, John described the voice as being like a loud trumpet. In the second time, John describes the voice like the roar of many waters.

Before we move to Brookhaven, Meghan and I were members of a church in the Jackson area, and our pastor taught a series on Revelation. And I remember he talked about this. He talked about how he took his family on vacation to Niagara Falls, and he said the experience there of being close to the water, he said, "It's deafening. The sound of that much water, which is about 3,000 tons of water every second that go over Niagara Falls, is overwhelming." He said, "You almost can't have a conversation standing next to it." That's what John is describing here. In both these descriptions have something in common. You cannot ignore them. They dominate.

They attract attention. They drown out everything else. If somebody, and I hope this doesn't happen, if somebody walked in this door right now with a trumpet and just started blasting it, who would you listen to? Would you continue to listen to me preach? Or would you give your attention to the crazy person with a trumpet who just walked in the door? We have a security team here. We're ready for that kind of thing. Right, Tommy? Yes. You would immediately shift your attention to this person blasting a trumpet. I moved my office recently to the downtown area. I'm working right here by the railroad tracks.

Sometimes when I walk out of my door at lunch or in the evening, there's a train coming by. We are right parallel to the tracks. It immediately starts blowing its horn as it goes by. Let me tell you, it is deafening. I don't know if you've ever been in downtown when one is rolled by, but I usually have something in my hand, and I'm covering what I can of my ears as I go by because it's so loud. You cannot ignore that sound. You cannot ignore that sound. The voice of Christ commands attention. It carries authority. It speaks with finality.

The question for us today is, are we listening to the Word of God and the Spirit of God when it is a still, small voice? Or will we ignore it and suppress it and one day be faced with the voice of Christ like a trumpet, like the roar of many waters that again will either say, "Well done," or "Depart from me." John turned to see the voice that he heard. Are you turning to hear the voice of God in your life? From the voice of God, let's move on to our next point of interest, which is in the right hand of Christ, number 7, the 7 stars.

In verse 16 it says, "In his right hand he held seven stars." Now verse 20 explains this and the lamp stands directly. It says, "As for the mystery of the seven stars that you saw in my right hand in the seven golden lamp stands, the seven stars are the angels of the seven churches, and the seven lamp stands are the seven churches." Unfortunately for the sake of time, we can't dive too terribly deep into this, but there's some debate about the meaning of the term "angels" here.

It may be simpler than it sounds though because "angels" is a word translated to mean "messenger." Now some people have theorized that this is an angelic being, a heavenly being that's been assigned to each church. If that's the case, that's the only place in scripture where anything like that is ever posited or presented. Probably what's more likely is that, if you are elders from these churches that have come to John on the island of Patmos, they retrieve the letter that's written to their churches and they're returning home with that letter. They are the messenger. They are elder of their church.

They are a messenger for their church and they're the ones taking that message and maybe even the one reading that message out loud to their church. Because the angels are addressed in the letters themselves, right? The letters open to the angel at the church in Ephesus. The angels are subject to the letter and the letters are very critical. Most of them are. So why would the angel, if its angel is in the sense of a heavenly being, why would it be the subject of a letter criticizing the church? If it's the angel, the angel would be like, "I didn't have anything to do with this. I just work here." These are just, don't shoot the messenger.

But it's probably the elder of the church. The New Testament says much about the leadership of elders in the church, but nothing about angelic beings in the administration of the church. And it makes more sense that these are elders who have come to the island and received the letter and taken it back to their representative churches. And it hasn't changed much in the leadership of the church today. The church is still led by elders. The church is still led by men who teach and preach and govern the church. MacArthur has something here that helps us. These seven men demonstrate the function of spiritual leadership in the church.

Seven men being the seven stars in the right hand of Christ. These seven men demonstrate the function of spiritual leadership in the church. They are to be instruments through which Christ, the head of the church, mediates his rule. That is why the standards for leadership in the New Testament are so high. To be assigned as an intermediary through which the Lord Jesus Christ controls his church is to be called to a sobering responsibility. Now the question for us, and I include me and my family in this, is are we being responsible with the teaching of our elders in this church? Are we being responsible with the messages that they bring to us?

I can't imagine being in the church when one of these letters was read out loud. Can you imagine being in the church of Ephesus when their letter was read out loud and Jesus Christ himself threatened to take their lampstand away unless they repented? That had to be an intense day in the church, right? Are we being responsible with the elders of our church and the teaching that they bring to us? Are we praying over these things? Are we taking what's taught on Sunday nights and Wednesday nights here and are we applying it? Are we praying over it? Are we considering it?

Or do we just kind of hear it, let it pass through one ear and fall out the other? On our way home it just kind of falls out and we don't come back to it. Are we being good stewards of the messages that God's elders bring to us? God gives elders to the local church. It is how he administers his will for the local church. They are in his right hand, the hand of control. And this is how he tends to the lampstands that he is in the midst of. Next to last in our list is probably one of the more fantastic points of interest. Number eight, the double-edged sword of Christ. The double-edged sword of Christ.

And continuing in verse 16 it says, "From his mouth came a sharp two-edged sword." Again, you have to give some maybe pity to John who is doing his best to describe what he is seeing with words that you will understand and we will understand. So I don't know what comes to your mind when you think of someone with a double-edged sword coming out of their mouth, but it's a pretty fantastic image. The sword is a weapon of defense against the foes of the church externally and internally coming out of the mouth of Christ. The fact that the sword comes from the mouth of Christ points to Scripture, the Word of God itself.

It is the means by which Christ defends his church from foes from within and without. God has armed his church with the Word of God for offense and defense. Ephesians 6 says the sword of the Spirit is the Word of God. Is there trouble coming at the church from within or from without? The Word of God is our defense. Again, MacArthur says those who attack Christ's church, those who would sow lies, create discord, or otherwise harm his people, they will be personally dealt with by the Lord of the church and the double-edged, and I'm amending his statement, and by the double-edged sword that comes from his mouth. Give this question some thought.

Has anyone ever been able to stop the Lord from building his church? And this brings us to our last point of interest for today. Number nine, the face of Christ. Verse 16 concludes with, "And his face was like the sun shining in full strength." And we here in Mississippi understand this vivid imagery, do we not? We understand the power and strength of the sun shining in its full strength. While the church may be the lamp stand, the light of the church is and always will be Christ. This is the radiant face of Christ that John saw earlier in his life, sixty years earlier, on the Mount of Transfiguration.

This is the light that Paul saw in Acts 9 on the road to Damascus. When Stephen was tried in Acts 6, his fate shone with this light before his martyrdom. This is the light that Paul spoke of in 2 Corinthians 4, when he said, "For God who said, 'Let light shine out of darkness,' has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ." And as our last point of interest this morning, we have number 10. This is our last point, number 10, John's reaction. Verse 17 says, "When I saw him, I fell at his feet as though dead." There is a similar occasion in Scripture where this happened.

A similar vision was had and a similar response was had. Daniel in Daniel 10, it says, "So I was left alone and saw this great vision." This is the Old Testament. This is Daniel speaking, "Yet no strength was left in me, for my complexion turned to a deathly pallor, and I retained no strength. But I heard the sound of his words, and as soon as I heard the sound of his words, I fell into a deep sleep on my face with my face to the ground." I'm going to translate this in Mississippi Talk. He smoothed past out face first in the dirt, and that's where he was left. That's his reaction. That's his response. These men were overwhelmed.

They had no context to understand what they were seeing because it was so otherworldly. Just say it blew their minds is an understatement. But more incredible than their reaction is what Jesus says to John and to Daniel to comfort them. We all love the part in the movie where the hero gets to deliver that one line. There's always this moment in the movie where there's just right before the end of the movie, the hero gets to deliver this great one-liner, and we love that part of the movie. What Jesus says here is the most incredible, the most over-the-top statement that has ever been or ever will be uttered by any person real or imagined.

"But he laid his right hand on me, saying, 'Fear not. I am the first and the last and the living one. I died, and behold, I am alive forevermore, and I have the keys of death and Hades.'" Imagine being the one being spoken to. Now remember, you just got woke up from being face first in the dirt to have Jesus himself say, "Don't be afraid. I am the first and the last, the living one. I died, but I am alive forevermore, and I have the keys of death and Hades." There's no response to that. There's no response to that.

And what's even more incredible is that his first words to a man he just crumbled to the ground were, "Fear not." He's comforting John in this moment, in his overwhelmed state. So let's bring this home. Let's make some application from this. I'm going to ask the question that we started with. What does Jesus look like? I hope this imagery fills your imagination. And when people ask you, "What does Jesus look like?" maybe you say, "Let me tell you what he looks like," and flip over to Revelation chapter 1 and you tell them what Jesus looks like. We should let this vivid imagery fill our minds and our hearts.

We should meditate on these things and let God use them to help us meet the challenges of life. If we are overwhelmed by this kind of vision of Christ, we will not be overwhelmed by trial and temptation. So I want to reiterate, in closing, reiterate something, a warning we talked about earlier. This is the Christ that we will all meet in judgment and the voice of Christ like a trumpet, like the roar of many waters that will either say, "Well or depart from me.