Peter Barnes: Revelation 1:9-20
(12 November 2017) : No Audio Available.
SERMON NOTES : JOHN’S VISION OF CHRIST (Revelation 1:9-20)
John was in exile on the island of Patmos (1:9), perhaps for refusing to participate in emperor worship. In early Church literature the Lord’s Day is always Sunday (1:10). Echoes of Ex.19:16-19.
1. Christ is robed in divine majesty
– 1:12-16. John saw a voice (1:12), which is reminiscent of God’s appearing at Sinai. We are not given a portrait of Christ here so much as a portrayal. He is portrayed in a divine way – Daniel 7:9; Ezekiel 43:2.
– Isaac Watts:
Join all the glorious names
Of wisdom, love, and power,
That ever mortals knew,
That angels ever bore:
All are too mean to speak His worth,
Too mean to set my Saviour forth.
– 1:17; echoes Isaiah 44:6.
2. Christ has power over death
– 1:18. See John 10:17-18; Acts 2:24. In the face of death, as it comes upon us in the ageing process or in the many possibilities of accident and disease that are present each day, to whom can we look?
3. Christ is tender to His people
– 1:17a. No Toronto Blessing! See Josh.5:13-14; Ezek.1:29; Dan.10:15-17. Calvin: ‘All wickedness flows from a disregard of God.’
– 1:19 – the three parts of Revelation – Rev.1; Rev.2-3; and Rev.4-22?
– Jesus is majestic and divine, yet tender and caring; the first and the last and all-powerful yet also all-sympathetic.