John's Vision of Christ

John's Vision of Christ

Then I turned to see the voice that was speaking with me. And having turned I saw seven golden lamp stands; and in the middle of the lamp stands I saw one like a son of man, clothed in a robe reaching to the feet, and girded across His chest with a golden sash. His head and His hair were white like white wool, like snow; and His eyes were like a flame of fire. His feet were like burnished bronze, when it has been made to glow in a furnace, and His voice was like the sound of many waters. In His right hand He held seven stars, and out of His mouth came a sharp two-edged sword; and His face was like the sun shining in its strength. When I saw Him, I fell at His feet like a dead man. And He placed His right hand on me, saying, "Do not be afraid; I am the first and the last, and the living One; and I was dead, and behold, I am alive forevermore, and I have the keys of death and of Hades.  Revelation 1:12-18

Thomas Carlyle once wrote to Holman Hunt the artist, “I am only a poor man, but I can say in all serious truth that I would give one-third of what I possess for a contemporaneous representation of Jesus Christ. Has the carvers of marble chiseled a faith stature of the Son of Man, as He called Himself, and shown us what manner of man He was like, what His height, what His build, and what the features of His sorrow marked face were, and what His dress, I for one, would have thanked the sculptor, with all the gratitude of my heart, for that portrait as the most precious heirloom of the ages.” I imagine that all of us have felt like this at sometime or other. We would like to have an authentic picture of Christ. The great artists of the ages have placed upon the canvas their conception of the Man of Galilee, but somehow or the other they seem inadequate. One will make Him too sorrowful and another too joyful, one a weakling and another too much of a man of the world. And so it runs, none of the pictures of the Master measures up to our mind’s eye picture of Christ. Yet we are fortunate that no artist friend of Jesus placed his true likeness upon canvas, or cut it out of marble. If this had been done, many today would be worshipping the image of Christ rather than the living Christ.

Yet, like the Greeks of old we cry aloud, “Sirs, we would see Jesus.” To satisfy our longing for our Lord we come to His house of worship, we seek Him in the everyday experience of life, we search for His likeness on the pages of the Book Divine. We want to behold the Master. This desire can be fulfilled. In the worship service we look up and see no man save Jesus only. In the experience of life we are conscious of His presence by our side. As we turn and read the pages of the Holy Scriptures His radiant personality, the loveliness of His character, the graciousness of His work does meet us face to face. The longing of our soul is satisfied for we carry the picture of the Master with us in our heart.

There is in the scriptures one place where we have a somewhat detailed description of the person of Christ. On the Isle of Patmos, John the beloved disciple heard behind him a great voice as of a trumpet, and turning to see the voice that spoke with him, he saw, “seven golden candlesticks; and in the midst of the candlesticks one like unto the Son of Man, clothed with a garment down to the foot, and girt about the paps with a golden girdle. His head and His hairs were white like wool, as white as snow; and His eyes were like a flame of fire; and His feet like unto fine brass, as if they burned in a furnace; and His voice as the sound of many waters. And He had in His right hand, seven stars; and out of His mouth went a sharp two edged sword; and His countenance was as the sun shineth in His strength.” Here we have John’s vision of our Savior. It was not a picture of the crucified Christ but of the glorified Christ. It is not the Christ who trod the sorrowful way of earth but of Christ who treads the glorious paths of Heaven. John pictures for us the Christ who someday we shall see face to face. In the time slotted to us we can not study this picture in detail but we can gain a comprehensive view of our coming King, who in the Son of Man.

Notice where Christ is standing, He is in the midst of the seven candlesticks. In the twentieth verse of this chapter we read that the seven candlesticks are the seven churches. That Jesus is standing in the midst of His Church. He is not only in the center; He is also in the midst. He holds the central position, yes, but also, He, Himself dominates the whole. All is influenced by Him and is dependant upon Him. He is equally near unto each member of the Church. It makes a difference whether or not He is given His rightful place in the midst. Whether it is in the Church or the home, in the nation or the individual, the only rightful place for Jesus is in the midst. When He is given that place He will fill and illuminate all.

The One who stands in the midst is clothed with a garment down to the foot with a girdle of gold around His breast. The garment tells us that the man in glory is our High Priest; the Son of Man has presented Himself to God as the Lamb without spot or blemish, as the atonement for our sin. Not only did the Priest present the sacrifice, He also presented the people before God. So we read concerning our High Priest, “He ever liveth to make intercession for us.”

He was “girt about the breast with a golden girdle.” Throughout scripture gold speaks of deity, and the golden girdle tells that the One who wears it is not only our sacrifice and our priest, but also our God. He is the One whom we worship and adore and pay homage to. The girdle is the symbol of service. You will recall that during our Lord’s earthly life, He arose from the dinner table, took a towel and girded Himself and then preformed the menial service of washing the disciple’s feet. When He came to earth, He girded Himself with humility that He might be our sin bearer. In Heaven He is still girded for service for our behalf. Beloved, all that Jesus did for stricken humanity throughout His life upon earth; He will do today in Heaven. He who is exalted and “given a name which is above every name” does not allow the fact of His high position to hinder Him from serving the least of mankind. What a savior is Jesus, my Jesus!

“His head and His hairs were white as wool, as white as snow.” White is the symbol of age and maturity. We live in a day when elderly people are shoved aside. When a man becomes forty-vice or fifty he is placed upon the shelf. It is felt that an old person is worth very little. I am in disagreement with such a philosophy. Like the people of the Orient, I would venerate old people, not because of the work that they can or cannot do, but because of the wisdom they possess. I praise God that my Christ is crowned with white hair, that He is a Christ of great wisdom. He knows how to deal with my problems, to answer my questions, and to care for me to my greatest advantage.

In the scripture white is the symbol of purity, of sinlessness. We meet these words, wool and snow, grouped together in another verse of scripture. “Come now let us reason together saith the Lord; though your sins be as scarlet, they show be white as snow; though they be red like crimson they shall be as wool.” My Christ is a sinless Christ. He is the only man who dared to say, “Which on of you convicteth me of sin?” When He was dragged before the judge, the judge declared, “I find no fault in the man.” The Captain of the soldiers who put Him to death said He was a righteous man. The criminal who died with Him said, “This man has done nothing amiss.” Jesus is the sinless One and thus is worthy and able to help sinners, by becoming their sin bearer.

“And His eyes were as a flame of fire.” Fire is that which illuminates and enables one to see, and fire is also that which pierces to the heart of things. Jesus is the one who is able to see, yea, is the one who is able to pierce to the depths of a man’s heart and read the intents and purposes written there. It is comforting to know that even as His eye is on the sparrow so He is watching those who trust Him. The knowledge that He sees and is aware of what befalls us should make us trust Him more. The fact that He is able to read our hearts should make us mindful of what we think about, it should enable us to keep our thoughts pure. We can deny the Christ not only by word of mouth but also by the thoughts of our mind.

“And His feet like unto fine brass.” We are glad that the robe could not cover the feet. The feet are to be seen and they are revealed for a purpose. Brass is one of the strongest and enduring of metals. Thus the feet of brass speak to us of the strength and the endurance of the Master. Christ has the strength to proceed upon the path planned. As a lad of twelve He said, “I must be about my Father’s business.” He had completed the Father’s will, the salvation of man and He returned home. There in the Heavenly dwelling His feet are still shod with brass, He is still the strong Christ. He is possessed with the strength to go again and again into the highways and the byways, into the hill and the dale to bring to the Father’s home, the sheep that was lost. He will not be satisfied until the last is gathered in. The Christ that we serve will work and work and work until He has carried out His plan of completely subduing all things unto Himself. He has the strength to win the victory for Himself and for His own.

“And His voice as the sound of many waters.” “Is there anything that has so many voices as water? There is the merry music of the falling rain; the rage of the rushing river that sweeps everything before it; the thunderous tones of the Niagara; the gay trickle of the brook as it winds its way among the rocks; the booming bass of the waves as they break upon the shore; and a hundred other tones as it voices its satisfaction and joy.”

“So says the Apostle, the voice of Christ is as the sound of many waters. Sometimes there is the bursting boom of anger. There is the gentle roll of love and comfort. Again there is the constant beat of rebuke. He speaks in diver’s manners to men.”

To Peter He said, “Get thee behind me Satan.” To the woman taken in adultery, “Neither do I condemn thee, go and sin no more.” To the Pharisees He pronounced great and terrible woes, to the disciples He said, “Peace be unto you, it is I be of good cheer.” Christ speaks to us in the words and the manner that we need to hear.

“And He had in His hand seven stars.” In the twentieth verse of this chapter we read, “The seven stars are the angels of the seven Churches.” Angels are messengers and thus Christ is holding His messengers in His hand. Beloved, in the hollow of His hand He is holding us who are telling by word of mouth and deed of action the old, old story of Christ who came to seek and to save the lost. Oh, ye, of little faith, why do you worry, you are held in the hollow of His hand. In these days of such dire tragedy, meditate upon this thought, “Held in the hollow of His hand.” Nothing can break the grasp with which the Master holds His own.

“And out of His mouth went a sharp two edged sword.” We are told in the scripture that the sword is the Word of God. This is the only weapon needed by the Christ, the Word of the living God. The Word of God is the sword which conquers. The sword of God is sharp and powerful cutting the heat and consciences of the hearts of men. What was it that conquered you for Christ? It was the Word that pierced your heart, broke down all defenses, overcame all stubbornness, defeated Satan and captured you for Christ. Christ’s weapon is a mighty weapon and it is the one that will conquer.

This sword is a two edged sword, it is the sword that conquers and also controls the one who has been conquered. In God’s Word we read not only our title clear, but also in His Word we read His will. It is the sword of the Lord that reveals our duty to our God and our fellow men. When we obey the gentle word of that sword we will not feel its cutting edge. Only when we disobey it is necessary that He rebuke and chasten those whom He loves. Even in such times we will find the sword a blessed instrument.

“And His countenance was as the sun.” The sun is glorious and full of majesty. The Son of God is full and full of majesty. He is so glorious and shining that mortals cannot gaze upon Him. It is the future purpose of God that we who are redeemed by His blood, “Shall see His face.” What a blessed hope! But let us not postpone all that glory to the future. There are glimpses that we get of Him now and these visions will help us to hold steady in the fearful storms of life.

Once the father of Robert Lewis Stephenson was aboard a vessel in a terrible and fearful storm. Somehow or another he managed to get up upon the deck and crawl toward the pilot house. There was the pilot standing steady at his post, doing his best to steer the ship away from the rocky coast. As the pilot looked into the face of Mr. Stephenson, he smiled. Not a word was spoken, but Stephenson went back to the passengers and said, “It is going to be alright, I have seen the pilot’s face, and he smiled.”

“We should see Jesus, our pilot, especially in these days. If we will look we can see him. The Psalmist said, “Thy face Lord, will I seek.” Let us make to see Him and each day will radiate with the light of His countenance.

Dr. Robert W Kirkpatrick

Accomack Presbyterian Church, September 6, 1042