Well tonight we are here to set Scott Miller apart for the work of the Gospel in a service of ordination. And I want to invite you to take your Bibles in hand and to turn with me to the book of Revelation chapter 1 and to the remarkable vision of the Lord Jesus that John sees standing in the midst of the lampstands with the seven stars in his right hand. Revelation 1, verses 9 through 20. You can find that on page 1028 in the church Bibles. It is a vision that reminds us not just of the majesty of our Lord Jesus in His estate of exaltation but of His nearness, of His intimate presence, His watchcare and His constant maintenance of the Church for which He gave His life.
You will notice two images bracket the vision. In verse 12, we see the Lord Jesus – John calls Him “one like a son of man” – and He is “in the midst of the lampstands.” And then in verse 16, we see that “In His right hand He holds seven stars.” These are the two images Jesus Himself will later highlight and return to and single out for special explanation in verse 20. And our task tonight is very simply to look at each of them in turn. We’ll think first of all about the lampstands and meditate for a few moments on the presence of Christ in His Church. The presence of Christ in His Church. Then we’ll think about the seven stars that He holds in His hand and reflect together on the prerogatives of Christ over His servants. The prerogatives of Christ over His servants. So those are our two themes. The presence of Christ and His Church. The prerogatives of Christ over His servants. Before we read God’s Word together, let’s bow for a moment in prayer. Let us pray.
O Lord, we have sung of how the Lamb is all the glory of Immanuel’s land. And here in this portion of holy Scripture we get to glimpse something of that glory. Give us, we pray, eyes to see it, hearts responsive to its implications, and lives freshly surrendered to the praise of the Lord Jesus Christ who walks in the midst of His lampstands. For we ask it in His holy name, amen.
Revelation chapter 1, beginning at the ninth verse. This is the Word of God:
“I, John, your brother and 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, 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, 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. Write therefore the things that you have seen, those that are and those that are to take place after this. As for the mystery of the seven stars that you saw in my right hand, and the seven golden lampstands, the seven stars are the angels of the seven churches, and the seven lampstands are the seven churches.’”
Amen, and we praise the Lord that He has spoken in His holy and inerrant Word.
The Presence of Christ and His Church
Let’s think first of all about the presence of Christ in His Church. Verse 12, “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.” The seven lampstands there are meant to evoke the lampstand that stood in the tabernacle and later in the temple in the Old Testament. It was designed as a single-branched candelabra with a central lamp and then three branches on each side, each with a lamp of their own. And those seven lamps had to be kept burning day and night. It was intended to be a potent symbol of the presence of God in the midst of Israel making Israel’s witness a light to the world.
In our passage here in Revelation chapter 1, Jesus tells John in verse 20 the seven golden lampstands represent each one of seven churches to whom the letters in chapters 2 and 3 are addressed. These are seven real, though representative churches, symbolic of the whole Church of Jesus Christ in every place. And so if you put all of that together, the seven lampstands symbolize the light of the presence of God in His Church making its witness bright and luminous in the world, just like the seven-branched lampstand in the temple did for Israel. Some scholars suggest the single lampstand in the temple pointed to the exclusive place that Israel had as the only nation chosen by God to be His Church in the Old Testament, whereas the seven separate lampstands in Revelation chapter 1 remind us that in the new covenant, the people of God has been, as it were, exploded to encompass people from every tribe and language and nation. Seven, you may well know, is a number associated with completeness and perfection in the book of Revelation. And so these seven lampstands are a symbol of the Church in its all-encompassing new covenant fullness and breadth.
And John sees the Lord Jesus Christ in the midst of these seven lampstands. Here is Jesus, the exalted Lord, and the point is, He is always among His people. If we are going to really grasp the significance and the implications of that truth and to see and feel how awesome and weighty it really is that Jesus is always with His Church, we need to take a moment to notice how John speaks about Christ. Would you look with me just for a moment at the description John provides? And as you do that, let me remind you or invite you to bear in mind this is not so much a description of what Jesus looks like as it is a symbolic representation of what Jesus is like. These are symbols that teach us about His person and His character, His dignity and His work and His very great glory.
And the first of them, you will notice, is His title. Drawing on the prophecy of Daniel 7, John names Jesus “the son of man” in verse 13. You may remember that Daniel 7 says, “The son of man is given dominion and glory and a kingdom that all peoples and nations and languages should serve him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion which shall not pass away, and his kingdom one that shall not be destroyed.” So this is a title, “the son of man,” it is a title that speaks very clearly of His kingship, of His rule, His sovereignty and His dominion.
And then as John begins his description proper, do notice the very first thing that he mentions. It’s the way Jesus is dressed. Isn’t that interesting? It’s typically the first thing we all notice about people when we meet them for the first time. Isn’t it? If you see someone in a white coat with a stethoscope around their necks you know he’s not a plumber; he’s a doctor. If you see someone in a blue uniform with a badge, you know he’s a policeman. Here, Jesus is clothed with a long robe and He has a golden sash around His chest. What is He? He is a priest. Jesus is the perfect, final High Priest who has made full atonement once and for all by the sacrifice of Himself at the cross.
Then again in verse 14, John says His hair is “white like wool, like snow.” Interestingly, that language also comes from Daniel chapter 7 and the vision of the son of man, only in Daniel 7 it’s not used to describe the son of man but the one to whom the son of man comes and receives authority and glory and dominion and the position of rule and governance. It is a description, actually, of the Ancient of Days, of God the Father. And I hope you see the point John is telling us. While the Father is not the Son, nevertheless, together with the Holy Spirit, the Father and the Son are one God, the same in substance, equal in power and glory. Those things ascribed to the Father may equally be ascribed to the Son. The same dignity Daniel sees radiating from the Ancient of Day, John sees radiating from the son of man.
And then there are His eyes, verse 14. They are like “flames of fire.” Fire illuminates, doesn’t it? It gives light but it also purifies and purges. Jesus sees. He really sees. That’s the point, I think. His gaze penetrates into every shadow, into every nook and cranny of our lives. His vision cuts through all our pretense and gets under our masks. And that is, to be sure, that is scary. There is no hiding from the gaze of King Jesus. But remember, fire cleanses and purifies and burns away the dross of our sin, and that is tremendously good news. The One who sees our sin, deals with our sin in His marvelous grace.
Next in verse 15, John says “His feet are like burnished bronze.” In Daniel chapter 2, Nebuchadnezzar has a vision of successive world empires, symbolized by a great statute that he sees made up of gold and silver and bronze and iron. But its feet are a mixture of iron and clay. They are unstable. And so when they are stricken, no matter how imposing and immoveable the statue may at first appear, the whole thing comes crumbling down as every empire and every earthly kingdom eventually must. But Christ as King has feet of burnished bronze. John, I think, is making the same point symbolically that Isaiah makes more directly when he says, “Of the increase of His government and of peace there shall be no end.” He is King of kings and Lord of lords. There is no toppling His dominion.
And then John mentions Jesus’ speech, and he does it, notice under two images. First of all he says His voice, His voice is “louder than the roar of many waters.” John is on the island of Patmos and you can imagine the crash of the waves on the rocks. And Jesus’ voice cuts through the den and through every competitor. Nothing can compete with His Word and His voice – not the clamor of suffering, not the shouts of persecution, not the many distracting voices of temptation. And then the other image about Jesus’ speech is this sharp two-edged sword that comes from His mouth. That is to say, His Word cuts and pierces and penetrates and wins the victory.
And nestled between these two images is the image to which we will return in just a few moments where Christ holds the seven stars in His right hand. But it’s the emphasis on Jesus’ speech here that reminds us that not only is Jesus our King and our Priest, but He is Himself also God’s eternal Word. “While God spoke to our fathers in the past, in different times and in different ways, by the prophets in these last days, God has spoken to us by His Son.” And He is the one who speaks to His Church still by His Word and Spirit in His prophetic office. And then to cap it all, the whole image ends in a crescendo in verse 16 with Jesus’ face “shining like the sun in full strength.” It is dazzling. You can’t look directly at it. It is blinding in its glory and brilliance.
So we’ve seen Christ, King of kings. We’ve seen Him as the perfect High Priest. We’ve seen Him as the Prophet who shows us the Father. We’ve seen Him in His unity with the Father in the fellowship of the blessed Trinity. We’ve seen Him shining with the glory of His exaltation, having accomplished all the work the Father has given Him to do. So when John says here he sees Christ in the midst of the lampstands, this is the one he is talking about. John wants us to understand, as he puts it in chapter 2, that this glorious divine man, this atoning Priest, this Prophet whose Word conquers all, the great King before whom every knee shall one day bow, this one walks among the lampstands. He is in our midst. He is with us even now, walking among the churches. There is a real spiritual presence of the exalted Christ in the midst of His people.
How easy to overlook it, to take it for granted, to dismiss it from memory, to presume upon it. But the one who is here, who walks in the Church, is this majestic Christ whom John can barely find the words adequately to describe. And what a difference knowing that it is this Jesus who is with us always really ought to make to us. During World War II, London, as you know, was the scene of nightly bombing raids by the German Luftwaffe. And Buckingham Palace was bombed nine times during the course of the war. But even during the height of the blitz, King George VI resolved to stay in London in the midst of his subjects. And that one simple act of solidarity with his people had the effect of galvanizing the resolve of the British public to face whatever was thrown at them and eventually to overcome.
That, I think, is part of the message here, surely. Christ is with you and He is not some effete, timid, weakling promising much but unable to deliver. No, He is the glorious Son of Man who reigns, whose eye sees all, whose voice cannot be silenced, and whose kingdom shall not fall. The King never abandons His subjects. Even when the enemy mounts the full fury of a spiritual blitzkrieg, even then Christ walks among the lampstands. “I will be with you always, even to the end of the age.” And that means, moreover, of course, since He is always with us, that He knows us intimately. That’s why every one of the seven letters to the seven churches begins in exactly the same way – because Jesus is so present with His Church He says to them, “I know. I know your works. I know your tribulations. I know you.” We must never forget, in all our busyness, that we minister, we serve, we live every day under the gaze of our reigning Lord who walks among the lampstands with eyes of flaming fire.
A healthy church, Scott, if I can say this to you, a healthy pastoral ministry conducts itself coram Deo, “before the face of God,” under the scrutiny and the watchcare of Jesus Christ. He knows and sees it all. Colossians 3:22, “We minister not by way of eye service as people pleasers, but with sincerity of heart, fearing the Lord. So whatever you do, work heartily as for the Lord and not for men, knowing that from the Lord you will receive an inheritance as your reward. You are serving the Lord Christ.” Even when no one else sees, He sees. When no one else knows, He knows. And you are always serving Him. So that’s the first thing I want you to see in this passage – the presence of Christ with His Church.
The Prerogatives of Christ over His Servants
Then secondly, there are the prerogatives of Christ over His servants. Look again at the image in verse 16 of the seven stars that are held in Christ’s right hand. Verse 20 explains the seven stars are the angels of the seven churches. Now who or what are the seven angels of the seven churches? There are various possibilities and the scholars argue about which is best, but I think on balance the older interpreters are probably correct to suggest that these angels are in fact the pastors of the churches. Notice the mention of the seven stars that are held in Christ’s hand comes between John’s description of Christ’s voice like the roar of many waters and the sharp two-edged sword that comes from His mouth; both emphasizing the Word of Christ. And so the role of these seven angels seems naturally and appropriately to be bound up with the ministry of the Word of Christ. Furthermore, John is told to address these seven actual letters to the angels of the churches. If they are in fact angelic beings in heaven, one wonders to which zip code John is supposed to mail his epistles. Finally it’s clear from each of the seven letters that these angels are addressed as though they have some personal responsibility for the condition of the churches that they seem to serve, both for the sin that infests them and for the reformation Christ commissions them to accomplish.
And then finally, you may know the word for “angel” is really also the word for “messenger.” And so in my judgment, the easiest solution to the identity of these seven angels is to view the seven stars as a reference to the seven pastors of these seven churches sent to preach the message of the Lord Jesus Christ. Now just think about what that means. Not only does Christ walk among the lampstands, not only is He always present in the midst of His Church, but He also holds in His right hand Her ministers. The right hand, in the Bible, is symbolic of power and authority, isn’t it? Jesus sits at the Father’s right hand. James and John, during Jesus’ earthly ministry, in their pride, asked Jesus if they could sit at His right hand when He came into His glory. It’s the place of special dignity and preeminence. And here, held in the palm of Jesus’ right hand, John says, are the messengers of Christ whom He sends to His churches to speak His Word. Through their ministry we hear above the empty den of the world His authoritative voice sounding like the roar of many waters. Through their ministry, He wields the sharp, double-edged sword that comes from His mouth, wounding us in our sin and slaying our vices and defending us from the assaults of the enemy and triumphing by the Gospel in our hearts and extending His kingdom around the world. And Jesus, John says, holds them in this hand of strength and of power and of security.
Now Scott and Abby – I can’t see Abby; where are you? There you are. Scott and Abby, I want you to get a firm grasp of that image. When ministry gets sad or you get hurt or you fail or other people fail you, when things don’t go as planned or when people don’t respond to your ministry as you wish that they would, when the glamor and the excitement have all worn off and the long, slow, plodding work of faithfulness presses in, I want you to remember in whose hand you are always being held. These are the nail-pierced hands of the exalted Christ. He isn’t holding you in that hand to keep you for Himself. He is holding out His hand to the Church. He offers up these seven stars, these angels, these ministers of His to the service of the Gospel amongst His people. And if the hands that offer you up to this work tonight here, Scott, are nail-pierced hands, that should both call you and comfort you.
It calls you, because remember, John 15:20 – “the servant is not greater than his master. If they persecuted Me, they will persecute you also.” The hand that holds you out as Christ’s servant and gift to the church, the hand that gives you to this church here tonight is a pierced hand. The Lord who calls you to His service died for you and His call to you tonight is to come and die for Him, to come and die in His service. You are not being put into the ministry to make your name or to impress us or even as a way to make yourself feel better about yourself. You are being put into the ministry for a life of sacrifice; to spend and be spent in the praise of the One who gave His all for you. There is a call in this image.
But there’s also great comfort in it too, because it reminds you, you could not ask for a more compassionate or more sympathetic Master who does not simply give you away to the work of the ministry, but holds you in His nail-pierced hands while you do ministry. He is touched with the feeling of your infirmities. There are no wounds you can experience in His service greater than those He bore for your salvation. His mighty hand shall keep you and hold you fast, no matter what comes. “Fear not, I am with thee, O be not dismayed, for I am your God and will still give thee aid. I’ll strengthen thee, help thee, and cause thee to stand, upheld by My righteous, omnipotent hand.” He holds you. He will keep you. You will never lack for His grace while you live in His grip.
And to all of us, the people of First Presbyterian Church, as we witness Scott being ordained to the holy ministry, we need to see in this moment, in his ordination to the Gospel work, a renewed demonstration to us that Jesus Christ is with us. He is present, walking in the midst of the lampstands. He is here with us to tend us and keep us and care for us and comfort us. And one proof of that is that His hand now holds out to us in Scott Miller a new pastor, an angel of the Church, His messenger to us of His holy Word. Jesus so deeply loves you, First Presbyterian Church, that He has sent another minister of the Gospel to care for you. He is preaching His love for His people in all that we see. He is utterly committed to the welfare of your soul, your deepest need. And in that, brothers and sisters, let us all rejoice.
Let’s pray together.
Father, we adore You that the Lord Jesus Christ is here, He is with us, by His Holy Spirit, the mighty exalted King, our glorious and perfect High Priest, our faithful Prophet who opens His Word to us. How we adore You for Him and His ministry. And we praise You that He so loves us and knows our needs, our capacities, our weaknesses, He knows us and sends us ministers to shepherd and care for us. Accept our praises we pray, and bless Scott and Abby as they begin this lifetime of ordained service, as messengers and angels of the risen Christ. For we ask it in His holy name, amen.