Please turn with me in your Bibles to John, the 19th chapter. For this morning's sermon, I'd like to read from Revelation 1, 17, and 18 as our text, but I'd like to look at John 19 as a background to our text. John 19, we'll begin reading at verse 14, down through verse 24, and then we'll pick up at verse 28. It was a day of preparation of Passover week, about the sixth hour. Here is your king, Pilate said to the Jews. But they shouted, Take him away, take him away, crucify him. Shall I crucify your king, Pilate asked. We have no king but Caesar, the chief priest answered. Finally, Pilate handed them over to be crucified so the soldiers took charge of Jesus carrying his own cross he went out to the place of the skull which in Aramaic is called Golgotha here they crucified him and with him two others each on one side and Jesus in the middle Pilate had a notice prepared and fastened to the cross it read Jesus of Nazareth the king of the Jews Many of the Jews read this sign, for the place where Jesus was crucified was near the city, and the sign was written in Aramaic, Latin, and Greek. The chief priests of the Jews protested to Pilate, Do not write the king of the Jews, but that this man claimed to be king of the Jews. Pilate answered, What I have written, I have written. When the soldiers crucified Jesus, they took his clothes, dividing them into four shares, one for each of them, with the undergarment remaining. This garment was seamless, woven in one piece from top to bottom. Let's not tear it, they said to one another. Let's decide by lot who will get it. This happened that the scripture might be fulfilled, which said, they divided my garments among them and cast lots for my clothing. So this is what the soldiers did. Now, going down to verse 28. Later, knowing that all was now completed, and so that the scripture would be fulfilled, Jesus said, I am thirsty. A jar of wine vinegar was there, so they soaked a sponge in it, put the sponge on a stalk of the hyssop plant, and lifted it to Jesus' lips. When he had received the drink, Jesus said, It is finished. With that, he bowed his head and gave up his spirit. Now please turn with me to Revelation, the first chapter. We're going to be looking at particularly verses 17 and 18, but I'd like to begin reading at verse 9 so as to get the context of this passage. Revelation, the ninth verse. I, John, your brother and companion in the suffering and kingdom and patient endurance that are ours in Jesus, was on the island of Patmos because of the word of God and the testimony of Jesus. On the Lord's day I was in the Spirit and I heard behind me a loud voice like a trumpet which said, write on a scroll what you see and send it to the seven churches, to Ephesus, Smyrna, Pergamum, Thyatira, Sardis, Philadelphia, and Laodicea. I turned around to see the voice that was speaking to me. And when I turned, I saw seven golden lampstands. And among the lampstands was someone like a son of man, dressed in a robe, reaching down to his feet and with a golden sash around his chest. His head and hair were white like wool, as white as snow, and his eyes were like blazing fire. His feet were like bronze glowing in a furnace, and his voice was like the sound of rushing waters. In his right hand he held seven stars, and out of his mouth came a sharp, double-edged sword. His face was like the sun, shining in all its brilliance. When I saw him, I fell at his feet as though dead. Then he placed his right hand on me and said, Do not be afraid. I am the first and the last. I am the living one. I was dead, and behold, I am alive forever and ever. and I hold the keys of death and Hades. Write, therefore, what you have seen, what is now, and what will take place later. The mystery of the seven stars that you saw in my right hand and of the seven golden lampstands is this. The seven stars are the angels of the seven churches, and the seven lampstands are the seven churches. Congregation of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Two hands lifted up. Two hands pressed up against a window. Two hands stained with blood. You may remember this picture. It might have been a few months ago or longer. A Palestinian mob had broken into an Israeli police headquarters and had murdered at least one Israeli policeman. And one of the Palestinians, after he had committed this deed, his hand stained with the blood of his enemy, went up to the window to show the press, the international press, what he had done. And what's amazing about this is that he didn't do it in horror, in the sense that he was horrified by the fact that he had just committed murder, but rather he was doing that to show everyone that he had killed his enemy. He had just gained victory over his enemy by killing him. And in a similar way, there's no difference in Christ's death. His enemies sought his death, and indeed they killed him. From the very beginning of Jesus' ministry on earth, his enemies sought to kill him. The world, the whole world, was against him. And even his disciples at times faltered and ran away from him. And yet the book of Revelation, and particularly these two verses I would like to look at this morning, they set up a contrast to this picture of victory over Jesus Christ because he says that he is alive forevermore. In other words, these words confirm Jesus Christ's victory over his enemies, His routing of the forces that were against Him. For when He was weakest on the cross, in the midst of His suffering and in the midst of His death, He was the strongest. And so this morning I'd like to look at what I call the everlasting victory of Jesus Christ. And in three ways. The vision of the victor. The identity of the victor. And third, the victory of the victor. Well, to understand why John is writing what he is writing here, we have to go back to the very beginning of the book of Revelation, which begins with the words, the revelation of Jesus Christ. Now, this word revelation in the Greek is apocalypse. And sometimes when we hear that word, or more often when we hear that word, we think of destruction. We might think of war. We might think of terror. But in fact, this word originally meant an uncovering or a disclosure. We might think of, say, a famous artist who was to say, make a painting. Now, we know who the artist is, but the artist has kept a cloth over the painting for some time. And there's a day in which it's going to be revealed. So everyone comes, gathers at the gallery, they know that the painting is going to be revealed, they know who the author is, they know something of what it's going to be like because they're familiar with the author, but they're not exactly sure what it is going to be. And at one point, he finally takes the robe off, or he takes the blanket off, and suddenly the work of art is revealed. We know what it is. And so too the book of Revelation. More particularly, the book of Revelation is a revealing of the work of God in history to bring comfort and a challenge to the Christians in this world. Now, for the past several weeks, Pastor Voss has been giving us several sermons on the letters written to the different churches in Asia Minor. And so John writes to these churches, but he begins with the revelation of Jesus Christ, and he's trying to tell them, I'm going to give you some sort of a picture of what God is doing in history. And so by that, I'll give you the message which I'm going to give you, either be comfort or challenge, as we've heard. I'm not going to get into all the details because we've read those chapters before. And the question is, therefore, what does God do now for the lives of these Christians? What is God revealing in history at this point in time? And what will God reveal in history? And so what shall John write? What is he told to write? A list of facts and figures for the newspapers? It's unfortunate that a lot of Christians tend to look at the book of Revelation as all kinds of a compilation of facts and figures, and then they can go look at their newspaper and see, oh, look, this war was predicted in the book of Revelation. Or this happening in Jerusalem was predicted in the book of Revelation. But I'm afraid that the book of Revelation is far more important than that because it reveals to us Jesus Christ. It reveals to us God's plans in general, what his plans in history are, not necessarily all the specific details, but what his end goal is in time and in history for his church. And, of course, the first verse tips us off right away. Who plays the central role in the unveiling of this history? In the last 2,000 years and however many more years the Lord would have this earth to exist until he comes again, who plays the central role? Jesus Christ. We read in verses 12 through 16, This is whom John saw. turned around to see the voice that was speaking to me, and when I turned I saw seven golden lampstands, and among the lampstands was someone like the Son of Man, dressed in a robe, reaching down to his feet and with a golden sash around his chest. His head and hair were white like wool, as white as snow, and his eyes were like a blazing fire. His feet were like bronze, glowing in a furnace, and his voice was like the sound of rushing waters. This is whom And John sees this is the man at the center of history. And what is John's reaction? Our text reads, when I saw him, I fell at my feet as though dead. And who could not? Here is Jesus Christ in all his post-resurrection glory. The one whose face is shining like a sun. Who could not fall before this man, the son of man? We might think, as we look back in the scriptures of similar events that happened to other people, we might think of Isaiah, in Isaiah chapter 6, who saw Christ, because Christ says in John chapter 12, that indeed, when Isaiah saw that vision, he saw me, Jesus Christ. And when Isaiah saw Jesus Christ on his throne, and when he saw the cherubim singing, holy, holy, holy, he bowed before the Lord God Almighty in terror. He says, woe is me because I am a man of unclean lips. Or we might think of Paul. Paul on the road to Damascus. Paul so full of his own glory, so thinking that he is doing God's will and God himself confronts him in his son Jesus Christ on the road to Damascus and Paul falls off his horse and is blinded until his sight is later restored. The one who had power, the one who had riches, the one who had glory and honor, the one who left it to come to earth for our sakes, to suffer and to die, is the same one who gained it again and now is revealed to us in the book of Revelation as the one who is glorified. In John 17, 5, Jesus Christ, in his high heavenly priestly prayer, He says, restore me now to the glory that I had before with you, my Father. Jesus Christ had all the glory, we might say, that he needed in heaven because he was the Son of God. He was worthy of praise. And yet he came to earth for our sakes and lost it so that he could take it up again. He was humiliated for our sake. But yet now, in the book of Revelation, after his death and after his ascension, in his glorification, How can men stand before him who shines so bright in his holiness? As we said, his face like a sun, and out of his mouth comes a sword. And for the Christians to whom John was writing to, as we have already heard through Pastor Voss' sermons, they lived in the first century. They lived in a time where there was one ruler, where there was one Lord. That was Caesar, who was above all. In their time, many people worshipped Caesar. They gave him worship. They gave him honor. He was the one who was in control. He was the ruler above all. And yet, John says to the Christians of this time, who can be in awe of anyone but Caesar? No, but of Jesus Christ himself. And what does Christ do? When John falls before Christ, when he sees him in his holiness, When he was struck with his glory, does he reach out and condemn him? No, he reaches out with his right hand and says, Do not be afraid. Do not be afraid. The mighty one stoops to his subject. These are the same words he spoke to the women at the tomb when they saw him. He said, Do not be afraid. It's the same manner that he had on earth. even now, even in his glorification, even now as he's being praised by the angels in heaven and by the saints who have gone before us. He has the same manner that he had on earth, even though he is Lord. He still speaks to his church with words of comfort. Do not be afraid. And so he has a message to give. And what is that message? Well, we must first ask, Who is the messenger, and thus the identity of the victor? He declares himself to be the first and the last. And in the Greek, in the original, there is much stress on the I am, the first and the last. In other words, he says, I, and not another, am the first and the last. I alone am the first and the last. Christ identifies himself in a category of one. He is unique unto himself. He is the only first and the last. And again, we might think of the first century situation to those whom John were writing. We read later on in chapter 2 and 3 that some of these Christians were being persecuted. Some of them were suffering for their sins and in fact, some of them were told they were going to die for the sake of Christ. They were going to die as martyrs, as professors of true religion. And so they might wonder, who is king? If Caesar can take my life, is he not king? But Jesus Christ said, my kingdom is not of this world. And the Jews replied, we have no king but Caesar. But he was called king of the Jews by Pilate, a Gentile. In other words, the book of Revelation, the book of John, the Gospels, the whole of Scripture tells us that Christ is king. And in times when things seem different, when we wonder, is Christ really in control? Is he really Lord? Does he rule and reign over all things? We may take comfort, even when the evidence points us in another direction, because we know that he works all things for the good of those who love him. Caesar, even though he could take my life, is not king, said the first century Christian. Christ is king. That is who the victor is. Yet when Christ was crucified, he was being mocked by the people and their leaders. His disciples were in disarray. They had left him. His flock was scattered. And the question might have arised in the minds of those who saw this man, and I'm sure it did, Could this man be king? I mean, that's what the Jews ask. If you're really a son of God, get yourself off that cross. Tell the angels to come down and to help you. Is this the man who rode into Jerusalem, who was praised by its inhabitants, who put him on a donkey, who had palms before him and were praising him as the son of David, who would take up the throne of David, the kingdom of God? Is this the man who was supposed to claim victory? And when Christ died, surely that was the end. But John says, no, look, your king is alive. He is the first and the last. Again, he alone is the first and the last. And this is what this means. Isaiah 44, verses 6. This is what the Lord says. Israel's king and redeemer, the Lord Almighty. I am the first. I am the last. Apart from me, there is no God. Isaiah 48, verses 12. Listen to me, O Jacob, Israel, whom I have called. I am he. I am the first and the last. Do we see, therefore, what Christ is saying? He is claiming divinity. He is saying, I am God Almighty. Christ takes on the divine name. The victor was the one who would bind Satan. The victor is the one, as we shall see later, would defeat death and Hades and who would overcome the enemies of his people and even overcome sin and eternal judgment. And who alone could do this except God? Who alone except his Son, Jesus Christ, who is the Creator, who was the beginning and the end? It is said in the book of Revelation three times that he is the Alpha and the Omega, the Alpha being the first letter of the Greek alphabet, The Omega being the last letter of the alphabet. And everything in between that. In other words, he reigns from beginning to end. He is the first and the last. And that's why he can have victory. And that's why his victory is everlasting. Because he is God and no one can overcome him. Jesus Christ also declares to John that he is the living one. The one who lives as opposed to the one who dies. that's interesting to note in contrast in one of my classes at Westminster in my Old Testament classes we've been looking at the Elijah cycle in 1 Kings 17 and 18 and following of course you know Elijah the Tishbite appears to Ahab and tells him that there's going to be no rain and the people of Israel and especially the king and Jezebel are being judged for their unfaithfulness to God because they are serving Baal, the god of the Canaanites. Now, one of our assignments in this class was to read the Canaanites' description of their god, not the description, although we did that as well, of the Canaanite god in Scripture, but of the Canaanites' god themselves. And as I read this, it was interesting to note that their god, Baal, died and came back to life again. As the legend goes, Baal would go into the realm of death and he would fight the god of death, but he would die. And then another god would come along and resurrect him back to life. He would bring him back to life again and then he would reign again because Baal was considered to be one of the more important gods. He was a lord. The interesting thing to note, therefore, is if we can contrast that, say, to Christ here who dies and rises again. But in the Baal cycle, this God continually does it over and over and over again. And the reason why the Canaanites had this type of God and this type of teaching was because in their land, much as it is similar in here, in the land of Israel, they have a time of drought. And they considered that to be the time when Baal would die. And when the rains came, that's when Baal came to life again. But as we all know, these seasons continue on and on. So Baal would continually die and come back to life again. But in contrast here in the book of Revelation, it is Jesus Christ who lives now and forevermore. There is only one death for Jesus Christ because there is only one death by which he might atone the people of God. He did not have to do it many times. His one atonement was perfect. His one death was perfect. And he rises again to life. He lives again because he is the first and the last. And the book of John tells us that he is the bread of life. His death on the cross, commemorated in the Lord's Supper, as we partake of the bread, we remember that Jesus Christ was crucified for us, that his body and blood was slain for our sakes. And of course, as the living one, therefore, he imparts life to us. As Paul says in 1 Corinthians 15, verses 45, Jesus Christ is a life-giving spirit. To the dead bodies, our dead bodies, our dead spiritual bodies, who could not believe, who could not come to faith to Jesus Christ, he gave us life through his death and resurrection so that we might believe and that we might profess in his name because he is the first and the last. He has all power. And so this brings us to our last point. What is the victory that he has victory over? He says, I was dead, and behold, I am alive forever and ever. He says, I was dead. William Hendrickson, the Reformed commentator, notes that apocalypse, which was a type of writing in these days, and which I've said is what John is doing here in Revelation, and Apocalypse was something that looked exclusively towards the future. It looked forward to things that were going to happen in the future. And now, of course, the book of Revelation does do that. But it's interesting to note that it also looks back in the past, unlike the Revelations or this type of writing that was done in John's day. In other words, the book of Revelation is built, its foundation is upon something that happened in the past. And as we read in John 19, what happened was that Jesus Christ was slain. The book of Revelation speaks of worthy is the lamb who was slain. Jesus Christ suffered. His side was pierced. He was crucified. He was buried. He said, it is finished. There was no mistake. This is a historical account. This was no vision of Jesus. This is no lesson for us. This is a historical account. Jesus Christ really did live, he really did suffer, and he really did die. And John tells us to behold what happened to this man, Jesus Christ. Now this word behold is very important. It's just one word, but it's very important. In the prophetical literature, in the Old Testament, this word is used very often to point the people of Israel to wake up, to listen up. Have your ears open, because God's going to give a revelation. The prophet would come before him and he'd say, behold, God is going to do so and so. Or behold, God is coming in judgment. Or behold, I will send my son. Behold, this promise is for you. This word is very important. And John tells us to say, behold, in fact, Jesus Christ says, behold. He says, look, see, observe, turn. John tells us, and Christ through him tells us to look at him. As Thomas was told to observe Jesus, to trust in him, so John and Christ tells us to look at him. And therefore, as we look at him in the scriptures, is there any doubt that Christ lives again, that he is alive forevermore? I began this sermon speaking about the Israeli policemen who died. There was no doubt that he was dead. His blood was on the hands of his captor. He was dead. He died a death. And yet Christ died, but he rose again. The words of her Lord to the first century church. Behold, look at me. The words of the Lord to his 21st century church. Behold, look at me. And his victory, his victory over death is swift. It is sudden. He only stayed in the grave three days. And it is also everlasting. Lately I've been reading the Iliad, which is an account of the Greek and the Trojans, how they fought a war thousands and thousands of years ago. It's interesting to know when I read that in this book of literature, the battles that they have often go back and forth. One day the Greeks would be winning, the next day the Trojans would be winning, and then it would be turned around. And it went back and forth, back and forth, and who would ever know who would win? There's no way to tell. The gods of the Greeks apparently in this story try to help the Greeks and they try to help the Trojans depending on whose side they are, But they're all fighting together, and there's really no understanding of who will win. But the disciples at the time of Christ should not have doubted that their Lord would win. He told them he would win. The prophecy spoke that he must die, but that he would rebuild the temple in three days. John 2.19, speaking of his own body, and yet they did not understand how his disciples wept. The Lord was vanquished. He had died. And yet how we should rejoice and how they did rejoice when they saw him again. How we should rejoice to read, Behold, I am alive forevermore. Christ in his glory in heaven is alive forevermore. And not only that, his victory is over death and Hades. We read in our text, I was dead and behold, I am alive forever and ever. and I hold the keys of death and Hades. Now, children, you know when you go out with your parents, and then you come back home, your parents hold the keys in their hands. And so, therefore, they are the person who opens the door and closes it. They're the person who you have to go through first before you can get into the house. And John is using a similar way of speaking. He's saying that Jesus Christ holds the keys to death and Hades. He's the one who opens them and shuts them. In other words, he's in complete control over death and Hades. He is the sovereign Lord. Remember that the book of Revelation is a revealing of God's purposes in history. And that even the deaths of the early Christians, even as they were threatened with persecution and with the sword of Caesar over their head, they were being reminded by John that Jesus Christ himself held the keys to death and Hades. In other words, even though Caesar could take their life, it was not without Christ's will and not without his control. What greater enemy, even than Caesar, could the early Christians have than death and Hades? 1 Corinthians 15, verses 25 and 26 speak of death as the last enemy. And yet 2 Timothy 1, verses 10 says that Christ destroyed death. we mourn over those who die. When we think of death, we think of funerals. We go and see the body, it's laid in the coffin. And we weep because we're human and because we love that person and because we miss them. But what ultimately should our attitude be towards death? Do we look towards Jesus Christ as having control over death and promising a new body in heaven and in earth that even our loved ones will rise again from the dead someday and be joined again to a new body to praise their Savior and Lord Jesus Christ in heaven. Will there be a resurrection? The word Hades here is used to speak of the grave. When we die, we go to the grave. Is there anything after that? Not only Christians ask that question, but many pagans do too. Even those who do not believe in God believe in a resurrection. And some of them don't. Will there be a resurrection. But Christ is here as a picture for us. His body here is a promise of the resurrection of our bodies. He went before us to die and to come to life again as a promise for us. And in the book of Revelation, death and Hades are often brought together. Death comes first, then Hades follows. And they're personified, which means that, say, if we were going to have a play about death and Hades, we would have two different people being represented as death and Hades. They're represented as powers. They're represented as something that is coming against people. People die. Death comes first and then the grave. But Jesus Christ tells us even before the book of Revelation describes who will die and what will happen to them, he says, I have the keys of death and Hades. And then if he has the keys, he's the only one who can deliver us from them. If we do not put trust in Christ, then death and its companion Hades or the grave lead us to hell. Christ tells John to write, therefore, in verse 20, to comfort and to warn the Christians. The vision is to comfort those who profess his name, who trust in him alone for salvation, who don't look to earthly things for their salvation, but look to Christ, who is revealed in the book of Revelation as a source of comfort. But for those who do not repent, Christ comes as an enemy. Because he is described in this chapter as the one whom a sword comes out of his mouth. He is the one who is described in Psalm 2, as we sang, as the one who is a rod of iron who will destroy the nations. And so John is telling the people at this time, Even though Caesar can take your life, Christ is far worse as an enemy than Caesar could ever be because he can destroy both body and soul in hell. And thus we ask, how do we respond to this vision of Christ? Are we fearful? Then we should not fear. Do not fear, says Christ. Do you trust in Christ? Then take heart because even despite all your weaknesses and everything even in the world which seems to contradict that God is in sovereign control, it is revealed to us in the book of Revelation that his purposes are being done despite all the contrary evidence or what we think to be contrary evidence. Remember that the early Christians were slain and that their blood cried out to Christ under the altar and God said, I will avenge you speedily. God promised to these Christians at his time that he would protect his church. But then we have to ask ourselves, do we trust in ourselves? Do we trust in ourselves for our daily provision, for our daily lives? Do we trust in ourselves as sovereign, as having control over all things? Or do we trust in Christ alone, who is Lord, who said he is the first, the I and the M, or rather the first and the last, the I am? Do we have any regard for the kings of kings who was revealed in the book of Revelation? For he is not only a king, he is the conqueror of death and Hades. And not only that, he is the lamb who was slain, whom John said was the savior of the world, to whom we will be saved when we put our trust in him. Amen.