Let me just pray for us together.
It's part of what we call a pastoral prayer.
The idea isn't that I just pray and you just check out,
but actually that we pray together for our church,
for the city, and for what God is doing.
So if you just pray with me now.
Loving, sovereign, gracious Father,
we want to thank you that your perfect love casts out all fear.
Lord, we come before you and sometimes we're confused.
Sometimes we doubt.
Sometimes we wonder where you are in the midst of such perplexing times.
Sometimes we don't know how to respond.
And yet you tell us that you are the everlasting God
who does not grow tired or weary,
who watches over us,
who knows every hair on the head or on our heads.
You know everything.
And you are the one who sees through the moments in our lives
with the wide-angle lens of eternity.
Lord, our worries and fears are so temporary,
and yet you are eternal.
Help us to see you like that.
Thank you that you hold us in your loving arms.
Help us not to just kind of know the right doctrines in our heads,
but in our lives, whatever's going on in our city, in our families.
Lord, I pray that you'd help the truth of who you are
to go deep into our hearts and our souls, Lord.
That we'd have this deep, unshakable confidence in you.
And Father, forgive us where we look at the circumstances of our lives
through the lens of our own human understanding.
Forgive us where we fear because we've forgotten who you are.
Forgive us where we try to control our own little worlds
so that we don't have to completely depend on you, Lord.
I pray.
Open our eyes to see you this morning.
And Lord, we just want to keep praying for our city at this time.
And we pray, Lord, particularly for the church in this city.
We pray, Lord, unite your church.
Bring peace to this city.
Don't let the enemy bring division and bitterness and hatred into our hearts.
Let us have the courage and wisdom to know how to listen well to others.
How not to get sucked into anger, but to forgive and to bless and to love
and to seek opportunities to share you and be light across this city.
We need you to do that, Father, in us.
Because it's so hard to respond the way you want us to respond.
Please, we need you.
We need you.
Give us your grace, I pray.
Father, we also want to keep praying for our kids and our youth
as they're going back to school in this season.
Father, we know these are challenging times to be young.
And we pray, Lord, that we would not just see our kids and our youth as the next generation,
but actually see them as this generation that you can use for your kingdom,
that you want to draw to yourself and want to use, Lord, mightily in their schools
and with the people around them, Lord.
Father, we pray, bring them to yourself.
Bring them to yourself so that they would have this sense of identity,
not in their grades, not in how great their GPA is,
but their sense of value and significance only in the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Father, would you give them courage to not be ashamed in their schools to stand up for you?
Would you use them, we pray.
And, Lord, we want to pray, Father, for the parents in Watermark.
Lord, it is one of the hardest jobs.
It is an impossible job unless you are the one who gives us the grace.
And so I pray, teach the parents here to know how to disciple their kids well.
Give them grace in the challenges.
Help them not to live under the guilt of feeling like they've failed in so many ways,
but let them rest in your unshakable kindness.
And out of that, would they parent kids not just for outward behavior change
or just to get great grades,
but would you help us to know how to shepherd their hearts,
to know you, to love you, to live for you in all of their lives.
And, Father, we pray for us even as we start on this Revelation series.
We pray for our hearts, Lord.
We pray that you would speak to us.
We pray against the enemy trying to distract us
or trying to cause us to turn away from you or to get fearful.
But, Lord, I pray, open our eyes to see you afresh.
And we pray this in Jesus' mighty name.
Amen.
The scripture reading today comes from Revelation chapter 1.
Please follow along in your bulletins or on the screen.
The revelation of Jesus Christ,
which God gave him to show to his servants the things that must soon take place.
He made it known by sending his angel to his servant John,
who bore witness to the word of God and to the testimony of Jesus Christ,
even to all that he saw.
Blessed is the one who reads aloud the words of this prophecy,
and blessed are those who hear and who keep what is written in it,
for the time is near.
John to the seven churches that are in Asia.
Grace to you and peace from him who is and who was and who is to come,
and from the seven spirits who are before his throne,
and from Jesus Christ, the faithful witness,
the firstborn of the dead and the ruler of kings on earth.
To him who loves us and has freed us from our sins by his blood
and made us a kingdom, a priest to his God and Father,
to him be glory and dominion forever and ever.
Amen.
Behold, he is coming with the clouds, and every eye will see him.
Even those who pierced him and all tribes of the earth will wail on account of him.
Even so, amen.
I am the Alpha and the Omega, says the Lord God,
who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty.
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, to Smyrna, and to Pergamum, and to Theatrera, 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 was one like the son of man,
clothed with a long robe, with a golden sash around his chest.
The hairs of his head were white, like white wool, like snow,
and his eyes were like the flame of a 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, for 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, these 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.
This is the word of God.
Great. Thank you, Jesse and Frankie.
Welcome again to Watermark.
If you don't know me, my name's Chris.
I'm one of the leaders here.
And we're starting on our series in Revelation.
And I'm really excited about this series.
In fact, I'm really, we would say in England, gutted,
which means very disappointed that I'm not going to be around for a lot of the series,
because this is one of my favorite books.
And I think God is going to do something really significant in us through this series.
And I think this is something which I think many of us,
if you're honest, and I say the word revelation,
you have a whole load of stuff that comes into your mind.
Because quite frankly, revelation is weird, right?
I mean, it's weird and it's scary,
because you've got kind of dragons and you've got like locusts and you've got monsters.
It feels a bit like Harry Potter meets Lord of the Rings.
A whole load of stuff.
And to me, actually, as a Westerner, it's a little bit like Chinese opera.
Because, you know, I look at it, bits of it look familiar,
but I just don't get what on earth's going on.
And I need someone to help and guide me in what it is.
And this is the kind of book that's just got so many different interpretations.
I mean, Revelation is the book for people who are conspiracy theorists.
Okay?
So, I just heard recently,
someone said to me that Donald Trump is the beast.
And the reason their logic went like this,
they said, well, Donald Trump,
they own a property which is at 666 Fifth Avenue,
and he came to power in 2016.
Which, if you put 666 plus 666 plus 6 plus 6 plus 6,
together it makes 2016.
I did the calculations.
And over time, it's not just Donald Trump.
I have heard, like, almost every U.S. president there's been.
Stalin, Mao, King John Il, the European Union,
and I have even heard, this is my favorite for the beast,
the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.
But we're not going to be talking about Donatello very much in this series.
And so what I want to do this morning is to actually spend some time introducing the book to you,
because this book isn't a book written for crazy conspiracy theories.
This book is about life and death.
It's got a message that God wants to speak to us.
You see, it's a bit like this.
When Fiona and I took a wedding in Kosomui a few years ago,
and we went out sea kayaking.
And halfway through, our boat just capsized and overturned in the water.
And we found ourselves being pulled out to the sea by the current of the waves.
And it was a scary moment.
And we looked over, and we could see the shore.
And at that moment, I could see my flip-flops going, my sun creaking.
Everything was floating out to the sea.
And we grabbed onto the boat, and we just started swimming.
We saw the shore, and we just started swimming as hard as we could to get to the shore.
And we made it, because that's why I'm here today.
Otherwise, I'd be out somewhere in the Indian Ocean.
But I don't know if you've ever been swimming in the sea.
And after a while, you suddenly kind of look up, and you realize that you've just got dragged out far further away from the shore than you realized.
Isn't that a scary moment?
And this is a little bit of what the book of Revelation is about.
Because the book of Revelation is trying to give you a wake-up call to say, it's trying to show you, that's where the shoreline is.
That's where the kingdom of God, that's where Jesus is.
But actually, we're in a culture which has a tide of idolatry, which wants to pull you and drag you further and further away from God.
And you've got to see both the danger that there is in being dragged out, but also the beauty that there is towards the shore.
So it encourages you to keep swimming towards that shore.
That is what Revelation is about.
Because it says, no matter how difficult it is to swim against the tide, Jesus is with you and he's overcome.
That's some of the message of Revelation.
And so the book starts with this.
The Revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave him to show his servants the things that must soon take place.
And so here's a few things about what this book is.
First of all, Revelation is a revelation.
Now the word revelation in Greek means apocalypse.
That's what the word is.
But apocalypse doesn't mean like end of the world.
Apocalypse means like an unveiling, a revealing.
It's a bit like when you pull back the curtain and you see like on the stage, you see like what's behind the stage, what's behind the scenes.
Or it's like if you kind of walk, you just walk into your home and someone's been cooking and you smell something and you're not sure what it is.
So you go to the saucepan and you lift the lid and you're like, oh, now I see what it is.
That is what Revelation is about.
It's an unveiling.
But what is it unveiling?
What is it revealing?
It's revealing behind the current events that are going on in the first century, there's a spiritual reality behind them.
You see, this book is written to churches in Asia Minor, which is western Turkey.
Some of us were there just a few months ago.
And what you know at that time is the Roman Empire looks all powerful.
In fact, peace, wealth, job security, career advancement, public approval, all of it is determined by how in favor you are with the Roman authorities around you and the religious system that goes along with it.
So the Roman emperor at the time was a guy called Domitian.
And there should be a little picture of him.
Here we go.
Handsome looking guy.
But somebody said this, Domitian was a profoundly insecure man.
To compensate for his insecurity, he ordered all citizens as subjects of the Roman Empire to worship him as Lord and God.
All citizens were to go to a temple built in his honor, take a pinch of incense, throw it on the fire, and say, Caesar, kurios, Caesar is Lord.
This is the background.
And Asia Minor, where Revelation is written to, is the center of emperor worship in the whole of the Roman Empire.
And it's filled with both worship of the emperor and all kinds of pagan gods.
And everybody worships them except Christians and Jews.
You see, the pull of the current was very strong to just go along with what everyone else was doing.
And do you know in Revelation, there's a number of commands which are repeated.
The most common commands are this.
Behold.
That means see.
Look.
And then don't fear.
Behold.
Stop looking in the natural, just the power of Domitian and the emperor around you.
He thinks he's in control.
But you've got to see with spiritual eyes who's really in control.
Stop seeing human circumstances with your eyes.
See them with my eyes.
That's what Revelation is about.
Behold.
Do you see what's going on behind the scenes?
Do you see?
So, this is what apocalypse is.
Revelation is.
But how does an apocalypse work?
And this is called kind of apocalyptic literature.
So, Revelation is written in this style.
We don't use it any longer.
But it's really common in between 200 BC and 200 AD.
And it has tons of kind of imagery in it.
And why is it written with all this kind of imagery and things?
Well, John, who we think was probably the last apostle alive, he wrote this book.
And he could have gone, hey, Jesus wins.
Just hold on tight.
The end's coming.
Don't worry.
The end.
See you, John.
But he doesn't.
Why doesn't he?
Well, because advertisers know.
If you're trying to sell a Tesla, you don't, your advert doesn't just have a little talking
head of someone going, it's a good car.
You should buy it.
It's nice for the environment.
No, a Tesla, what they do, they show you this dramatic kind of inspirational music.
They show you these scenes of these cars gliding on impossible terrain.
And the power.
And you get this kind of visual feast.
And at the end of it, then they bring you just to the Tesla logo.
And by that point, you want to buy one.
Because the idea is what Revelation is doing, it's bringing you full cinematic special effects.
Because it wants to get to your emotions.
It wants to feed your imagination.
It wants to show you the beauty of the shore, but also the horror of getting pulled out to sea.
It's trying to shake you up.
That's what it's trying to do.
Because do you know that your choices and my choices are not driven out of what I think,
I just kind of believe in my head.
They're also driven about what has captured your heart, your imagination, and your soul.
And so John is trying to capture you.
And so how does he do this?
Okay.
Well, one of the things he does in this is he uses lots of symbols.
So I'm going to show you a picture.
This picture was, oh, no, this should be another one.
Yes, this one.
This was produced this year.
Can anyone tell me what's going on?
Who?
The guy on the left?
Versus?
Okay.
Now, obviously there's little flags on there, but you know instantly what's going on, right?
If you were to come to me and go, I didn't know that dragon's arm wrestled.
You'd look at me and you'd go, you've missed the point, right?
Because you know what the image means.
Now, that's what Revelation is doing.
There's all these images in it.
And most of them are taken from Old Testament imagery.
And the problem for many of us is actually our Old Testament is, you know, we're a little rusty on the Old Testament.
But actually, you know, there's 404 verses in Revelation.
About 280 or more of them have illusions to the Old Testament.
So it's using all these images.
So that's why if you get to things like plagues, it should remind you of Egypt and the Exodus.
Or you get to beasts and kingdoms and it should remind you of Daniel.
And all these kind of things in the first century context, John is applying the Old Testament into his context.
With these images, which everyone would get.
It's just we have to work a little bit harder because we're in a different context.
But this is how apocalyptic literature works.
We take the context and then we apply the image even into our context.
So that's symbols.
Another thing that apocalyptic literature does is numbers.
You know, I heard one guy arguing with a scientist that the earth can't be round because in Revelation 7,
it says the seven angels were standing at the four corners of the earth.
Do you see, he's missed the point.
It's meant to be talking about the whole earth.
But, you know, we use numbers, right, to mean things.
If I use number four in China, why has the lift not got the number four?
Because it stands for death, right?
Eight.
What does eight mean?
Prosperity.
Fortune.
Okay.
If my wife says to me, I've told you a thousand times, don't put the sponge in the sink.
Has she literally told me a thousand times?
Probably.
You get the point, right?
So this is what apocalyptics is doing.
And so the number seven you will see come up everywhere in this passage.
Seven is the number of completeness or wholeness because of the number of days in creation.
We've got completes creation.
So there are seven churches here.
Now they are seven real churches which met in houses,
often before sunrise on Sundays.
And they're all on the postal route.
If you can show the picture.
They're all on the Roman postal route.
They go around.
So the messenger would have just carried them around.
One church to the next.
But he uses the number seven though deliberately,
not just to say it's written to them,
but also this is a message for all of the church.
And so that means when John wrote this,
he didn't write it to us.
He didn't say, dear watermark.
But he did write it for us because the message is for our context as well.
So revelation is a revelation, an apocalypse.
It uses all this imagery.
Okay?
A couple more small things before we get on to it.
It's also a prophecy.
He says,
Blessed is the one who reads aloud the word of the prophecy.
Now when you hear prophecy,
many of us think prediction into the future.
Well, that's a small part of prophecy,
but most prophecy in the Bible is actually God just speaking into the context,
saying things like repent, don't fear.
Okay?
There's hope.
Be encouraged.
Okay?
Judgment is coming, so just turn to him.
That's what most prophecy is about.
And so if you're kind of seeing revelation just as like the Left Behind series
or anything like if any of you have ever watched any of those things,
you might have missed what John is actually trying to say here.
He's trying to speak to them and saying,
God wants to speak to you now.
Thus says the Lord.
So it's a revelation.
It's a prophecy.
But it's also a letter.
Someone would have come with a little scroll.
Revelation would have been on a scroll, by the way.
And they'd have opened it up.
And he would have said,
John, to the seven churches in Asia.
And then the book ends with,
The grace of Jesus be with you all.
It was a normal letter.
The whole book is a letter.
Written to real people in a real context in the first century
who were expected to understand it.
Okay?
So that's why he says,
Blessed are the ones who reads it aloud,
who hears it, people listening,
but especially who keep what is written in it.
They couldn't keep it if they didn't understand it.
Okay?
So if you think the beast is Barack Obama,
Donald Trump, the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles,
then clearly that's not what John has in mind
because none of them knew about the turtles in the first century.
Okay?
It's not God's secret code.
It's meant to be understood
by all of us.
Now, this is just introduction.
Finally, I do have to say,
there are some things in this book,
and I've read this book quite a few times,
I still don't get,
and Kevin still won't get,
and that's okay.
There will be some bits in this book
that probably you may disagree with.
with the way that we share.
That's okay.
But don't lose sight of what John's message is.
If you, and you're going to,
in your CGs,
you're going to be spending some time in this book,
if you spend all your time in debates
about whether the locusts
are really U.S. Apache helicopters or not,
you'll have missed the whole point
of what John is trying to say to you.
The idea is to get you swimming,
keep swimming to Jesus,
keep trusting Him,
keep obeying Him,
keep loving Him,
keep repenting and relying on Him.
The book's message is actually the same
as the gospel message
throughout the whole of the rest of Scripture.
It's just written with special effects
to wake you up
so you don't fall asleep in the sermon.
Okay?
So, do you get that?
It's a revelation,
it's a prophecy,
it's a letter.
Shall we get into the book?
Great.
Let's get going.
Okay.
Verse 4.
Grace to you,
and peace from Him who is,
and who was,
and who is to come,
and from the seven spirits
who are before His throne,
and from Jesus Christ,
the faithful witness,
the firstborn of the dead,
and the ruler of kings on earth.
Who is this letter from?
It's from the Trinitarian God.
He says,
He who is and was and is to come,
that's a reference to Exodus,
where the Egyptian Pharaoh
seemed all-powerful.
Moses is to go to Him,
and Moses says,
Who do I say has sent you?
He says,
I am who I am.
God's saying,
I'm the eternal one.
Don't define me by any ruler
because I have existed
before anybody else.
And it says,
It's from Him.
And if I walk into Watermark this morning
with a letter saying,
Hey guys,
the eternal Father,
the Spirit of God,
which is what the seven spirits are,
and Jesus Christ,
who is the supreme one,
who is the one who testified to His Father
even unto death,
the firstborn one,
the supreme over death,
the one who is the head
over every chief executive,
every president,
every ruler,
He's got a message for you this morning.
Would you sit up and listen?
If He said,
I want to reveal to you
and show you behind the scenes
what's going on in your life right now,
would you sit up and listen?
Because God does have a message
for us this morning
through the book of Revelation.
And what He's going to say,
He's going to say
some incredible things,
but He starts off,
John,
with this fact
that God Himself
wants to speak to us.
That's mind-blowing.
He then goes into praise
and He goes,
Do you know what He's saying?
He's saying,
this God wants you little small churches,
before anything else,
He wants you to know
that He loves you.
Watermark,
that He loves us.
Did you get that?
That He loves us.
I mean,
that's just insane.
And His love
is not conditioned
by anything that's happening
in this city right now.
His love is not conditioned
by the circumstances
in your family right now.
It's not conditioned
by your health
or your job situation.
Do you want to know
how you know
the Trinitarian God loves you?
Because of the cross.
He says,
He freed us from our sins
by His blood.
You know,
I was speaking to a lady
just last week
and she came to me
and she said,
you know,
we've been trying to have a baby
for a year now
and we haven't been able
to conceive
and I'm not sure
whether God really loves me.
And I think John
would go to her,
I know it's hard.
But don't look
with human wisdom
in your circumstances here.
Behold,
see,
don't fear.
See the cross.
See,
my love is grounded
in the fact
that I've given
everything for you.
I shed my blood
to set you free,
to make you my people,
to make you a kingdom,
which means
you make you mine,
to make you my priest,
which means you have access
into my presence.
I've done everything
to bring you to myself,
to set you free
from shame
and sin
and fear.
Don't you know
that I love you?
And then he goes,
behold,
he's coming
on the clouds.
Jesus is coming.
And he doesn't just say,
Jesus will come.
He says,
no,
you've got to see
Jesus coming
as imminent,
as close,
as present,
because he wants
to shape
the way you view
your present circumstances
in the light of him.
And he says,
one day,
everyone who mocks
your faith,
who think it's just
wishful thinking,
this Jesus stuff,
one day they will see him
and the tribes
on the earth
will wail
on account of him
because they will be,
they will see him
on the shore
and they'll see
how far away
they were swept out
to see.
But can you see him?
Can you see his coming?
Why do they need
to hear this?
Let's go to verse 9.
I, John,
your brother and partner
in the tribulation
and kingdom
and patient endurance
that are in Jesus,
was on the isle of Patmos.
Well,
Patmos is just about
a few hours away
from the Turkish coastline.
But John is exiled there
because he's been
preaching the gospel.
Because he,
he's realized
this is not a popular message
at their time.
To say Jesus
as Lord and God
is to say
Emperor Domitian
is not.
And that doesn't
go down very well.
They say,
your gods
are actually false gods.
And the churches
are either facing
compromise
or persecution.
Either hide your faith,
blend in,
try and kind of go
with the flow
of the current
or stand up
and be prepared
that actually
it may cost you.
Just imagine
if you're a parent,
someone putting
a knife
to the throat
of your child
and telling you,
all you have to do
is deny Jesus
and just say
Caesar is Lord
and we'll let them go.
Can you feel the pain?
This is where
the Christianity
gets real.
Where,
when Jesus says,
if you acknowledge
me before men,
I will acknowledge you.
If you deny me
before men,
I will deny you.
And suddenly,
it feels so much
more real.
And it hasn't happened
to all the churches yet,
but just down the road
in Pergamum,
it has.
One of the guys
was just killed
not long ago
for their faith.
And John's saying
there's a cost
to following Jesus.
Is it worth it?
You know,
in Iraq,
in Syria,
in India,
in Somalia,
even in parts of China,
our brothers and sisters
are facing
the same kind of thing.
And we may not be
under death threat,
daily.
I think most of us,
that feels a little
distant for us
in Hong Kong.
But John would still say
we are a partner
in God's kingdom,
the shoreline,
in the hope,
but also a partner
in the tribulation,
in the suffering.
There is a cost.
This is kind of
the hard part.
You know,
for us,
maybe it's losing
a business deal.
Maybe it's losing
a guy that you
really like.
Maybe it's losing
a job
or losing
a friendship.
Maybe it's been
called intolerant
or bigoted
or homophobic
or something like that.
Following Jesus'
costs,
and the current
can seem strong,
but he wants to say,
Jesus is coming.
Can you see him?
And so then,
John,
in the light of this
kind of hard
place,
what he does,
we're going to now see
John has
actually four visions.
The book is structured,
there's four visions there.
We're just going to look
at the first one.
So,
the first one
is a vision
of Jesus himself.
How are we doing?
Good.
you see,
John has this vision
and he hears
this voice behind him.
You see,
it's all kind of
cinematic.
I can't even say the word.
So,
he hears this voice
behind him
and he turns around
and he sees
seven golden lampstands,
which we know later on
are the churches
that he's writing to.
That's what they stand for.
And why are they lampstands?
Because the lampstands
were in the temple of God
in his presence
and they would burn.
So,
when you walked in,
it would have been dark
and you walk in
and you see
these lampstands
burning with candles
on them.
They are light
in the darkness.
That is what the churches
are supposed to be.
Light in the darkness
of the world around them.
And then what he sees,
he's saying,
these little tiny churches,
they're only 20,
30 people,
something like that,
like a big community group.
You are the light
in the midst
of all this powerful empire.
You are my light.
Watermark,
you are my light.
And in the midst
of the lampstands,
who does he see?
And this is beautiful.
I love this.
He sees Jesus.
He sees his vision.
And Jesus hasn't gone
on holiday
in the midst
of the pressure
that they're facing
and the uncertainty.
He's not missing in action.
Jesus is right
at the center
of the churches.
This is,
I just think
this is beautiful.
Liverpool.
You know,
I'm a Liverpool fan.
And do you know what,
does anyone know,
what is Liverpool's
theme song?
Here we're going to test
whether you're really
true human beings
or not.
Pat?
Yes, Pat,
would you like to sing it?
No, it's okay.
You'll never walk alone.
I'm not even going to sing.
You'll never walk alone.
That is their song.
And you'll hear it
all the time
when they're playing.
And that is actually
the song
that Jesus wants
to sing to them.
Do you know
that you'll never walk alone?
Do you know
it doesn't matter
in the midst of the fear,
in the midst of the uncertainty,
in the midst of everything
that's going on,
you'll never walk alone.
You may feel small,
insignificant,
powerless,
but do you see him?
Do you behold him?
He's with you.
And if you know
who it is who's with you,
it changes everything.
Because here now
he begins to unpack
what he sees.
And he sees one
like a son of man,
clothed with a long robe
and a golden sash
around his chest.
And the picture is
from the book of Daniel,
where the Ancient of Days,
God himself,
takes his seat to rule.
And then this God-man figure
comes up to him
and he is given a kingdom.
And Jesus
is this son of man
given a kingdom
and he's dressed
in the robes
of the high priest
with a golden sash
around his waist.
Sorry,
around his chest.
I don't know if you know,
normally,
if you're about to get to work,
you put a sash around,
it's like a kind of belt,
around your waist.
But if you put it around here,
that shows that you've
already done your work.
The work's finished.
Jesus' work
of saving us,
he's dealt with sin,
he's dealt with pain,
he's dealt with death,
he's our great high priest,
brings us into access
into his presence.
And then the hairs
of his head
are white
like wool,
like white wool,
like snow.
Now,
I don't know about you,
that kind of,
that seems a bit weird.
But in our culture,
you know,
we tend to value
kind of youth
and like,
if you get grey hairs,
my wife cuts mine out
and I'm sure,
like,
you probably dye yours
because we don't get the idea
that actually,
white grey hair
is a sign of wisdom
and also the whiteness
is purity.
So here is the man,
here is the God man
who has all wisdom,
who knows exactly
what he's doing
and he does it right.
And do you know
in Daniel's vision
who had white hair,
it was God himself.
What he's saying
is Jesus is divine.
He is God himself.
And he's saying,
and then he looks at him
and he sees his eyes
are like a flame
of burning fire.
They're like lasers.
And you know,
fire burns,
it penetrates,
it purifies.
What he's saying is,
if his eyes
are like fire,
they can see right through
every facade
you ever put up.
They can see
right beyond
every fake smile
you put on
right into your heart.
You see,
Jesus doesn't deal
with pretenses
and excuses.
He knows what's going on
right in your heart
right now.
And if you are
right now
feeling a million miles
away from God
and we come into church
and we all put up
our nice mask,
Jesus sees right through it.
He knows exactly
where you are.
There's nothing
that's hidden.
You're naked
before him.
That feels scary,
doesn't it?
Except if you know
that he's the one
who loves you
and has freed you
from your sins
and you can run
to him.
So what that means is
we don't come pretending
before Jesus any longer.
Do you know,
in Watermark,
there is no room
for fake Christianity.
Do you know that?
If you're in pain today
and you think
you've just got to
put on a brave face
and pretend
that you're fine,
Jesus sees through that
and he wants
to draw you
to himself.
Don't be fake
within.
He sees
and he wants
to free you
from your shame.
Do you see him?
And then his feet
are like burnished bronze
and they're on fire,
which is the idea
of strength
and purity.
He's unshakable.
You know,
bronze is heavy.
No political circumstance
or persecution
can move him
off balance.
And then his voice
is like mighty waters.
His voice drowns out
every other voice.
He is glorious.
And the last two things
in this list,
he says,
in his right hand
he has seven stars,
which are the seven angels.
And the word angel
means messenger.
And some people
have thought
that actually
the seven angels
were kind of like
the pastors
of the churches.
Which I think
is an amazing thought
if you think about it
because I know
like Ed and Oscar
and Kevin and Simon,
they look beautiful.
But I don't know
if I've ever called
them angels before.
I mean,
angel Kevin
just led us before.
Right.
No,
the angel,
you know,
angel in the book
of Revelation
has a very specific meaning.
It means angel.
And so,
what he's saying though
is that every church
that he's writing to,
this is extraordinary,
has in the heavenly realms,
in the spiritual realms,
has before God
a representative
who looks over us.
There's something
behind the scenes,
even with watermark.
Which is,
I think that's incredible
because you think,
we worry,
will we have enough finances?
Will we have more people
like on a Sunday or not?
But he's saying,
the angels,
he holds them
in his hands.
And so,
if Jesus holds
the very spiritual
representatives
in his hands,
then why are we worrying?
Why do we worry
about all our finances
and all the other things?
He's already got us.
Do you see him?
Stop seeing in the natural.
See behind.
Last thing
of this list.
He's got a sharp,
two-edged sword
coming out of his mouth.
This is how you know
that you're not supposed
to take this literally.
Because
it would be very awkward
to have a conversation
with someone
like a meter-long piece
of metal in their mouth,
right?
Just turn around.
Oops, sorry.
Right?
It's not meant
to be taken
literally there.
It actually comes
from Isaiah 42
where God brings
his servant
to bring justice
and he said,
you made my mouth
like a sharp sword.
What he's talking about
is talking about
Jesus' word.
That just with a word,
Jesus has power.
I don't know,
like,
authorities and rulers
have to use military force
to enforce their own
authority and power,
right?
They have to bring in troops
to kind of gain control
of something.
Jesus doesn't.
He just needs a word.
You know,
in creation,
what does God need?
He needs just a word
to speak things into life.
You see,
in Hong Kong,
in our present circumstances,
all it needs
is just one word
from Jesus
and everything
would change.
Just one word.
Do you see him?
He's got the power
to condemn
and the power
to equip.
His word hasn't got
a blunt edge to it.
That's why it's two-edged.
It cuts.
As the rain comes out,
isn't it sometimes
hard to believe, though?
When you look around
and the world
sometimes seems
so messed up
and you go,
is Jesus really
that authoritative?
I mean,
really?
Does he really
have that power?
And John
in the book
of Revelation
is going to go,
behold,
see with the eyes
of faith,
I want to show you,
I want this to go
from here
down to here.
And you know,
he keeps going,
do you see him?
Because how do you
respond when you
see Jesus?
How do you respond
when you see Jesus?
You know,
I have friends
who go,
when I see Jesus,
I'm going to ask him
why I didn't get
that job.
Or I'm going to ask him
why he didn't let me
date that person.
I don't think
you will.
Because when
John sees Jesus,
he falls down
at his feet
as though dead.
He's not giving
Jesus a quiz.
He's just
stunned.
He just falls down.
He's on the floor.
He's laid out.
He's trembling.
He's going,
man,
I'm dead.
I wonder,
do we ever see
Jesus like that?
Or do we just have
what I call
cuddly Jesus?
You know,
he's got a nice
little lamb
in his shoulder.
Right?
That's often our
picture of Jesus.
And this picture
is actually,
it's a little bit
scary.
Right?
But what I love
is the next part.
Because we must
have that vision
of Jesus.
But then he goes,
Jesus puts his
strong right hand
in John and says,
fear not.
I'm the first
and the last
and the living
one.
I've overcome.
Because if you know
that I am the
awesome,
fearful one,
then just a word
from me will drive
out all the other
things that you're
afraid of.
You know,
I knew someone
who had a guard
dog called Al.
Al.
And Al was one
of those kind
of dogs that
you were like,
don't mess with
me kind of
dogs,
you know?
And so,
but with his
family,
he was like the
most loyal dog.
He would die
for them.
He was like,
he was so tender
and gentle.
He would lick
them.
They'd just be,
like just so,
like the three
year old kid
could go up to
him and just
kind of stroke
him and be
beautiful.
But when a
stranger came
up,
suddenly he'd
get on all
fours and
would start
growling.
And if that
person started
backing away,
then he would
start moving
closer towards
him.
Because Al
was a guard
dog.
And though
he was tender
and gentle,
he was also
fierce.
But if you
walk down the
road with Al
into like a
rough neighborhood
where you
would never
normally go,
you know that
you'd be fine.
Because you're
with Al.
And his
presence with
you is your
confidence.
Because you
knew that he
was a guard
dog.
But he was
also a tender
guard dog.
This is
John's picture
of Jesus.
he loves
us.
He's given
everything for
us.
But are we
close to him
or are we
running from
him?
Because right
now in Hong
Kong there's a
lot of fear.
Let me ask
you, what are
you afraid of?
Is it the
economy?
Is it your
investments
failing?
Is it your
health?
Is it
loneliness?
Maybe never
getting a
boyfriend or a
girlfriend?
Is it
barrenness?
Is it your
boss or your
family?
Never able to
draw good
boundaries?
Is it sharing
your faith with
others?
We don't need,
Watermark, a
cuddly Jesus.
We need to
behold him for
who he is.
We don't come
lightly before
him.
We don't treat
him lightly in
our office when
we're tempted to
just go and
hide our
faith and
just go along
with the flow
of everything
else.
We don't
treat him
lightly in
our fears.
But the
Trinitarian
eternal God
has a message
for us this
morning.
Just think of
the things you're
afraid of.
What's the
worst thing that
could happen to
you?
What's the
worst that could
happen to you?
Isn't it
ultimately that
we could die
or your
family could
die or your
dreams could
die?
Jesus says,
I have the
keys of
death and
Hades.
You know,
someone said
Jesus went
into the
prison of
death and
he came out
with the
keys.
You see,
he holds the
keys.
So if you
lose the
most precious
thing to
you,
even if
you die,
he's got
the keys
just to
open the
door to
life.
You know,
he's just
not,
I've just
got the
keys to
the economy
on my
key ring.
It's not
just I've
got the
keys to
your personal
security on
my key ring.
I've got the
keys to
death and
your entire
future for
eternity.
Behold,
see,
do not
fear,
but come
to me.
My dad
last week
had a
stroke.
He's
making good
progress now.
But in
one second
he went
from
normality
to ICU.
Everything
just stripped
away.
It's
scary.
my brother,
26
years old,
76 years
old,
died from
brain cancer.
Scary.
But if
Jesus holds
the keys
to
resurrection
life,
then I
don't need
to live
in fear.
We don't
need to
live in
fear.
Because no
chief executive,
no president,
no ruler,
demission,
nobody else
has that
kind of
power.
Only
Jesus does.
Only
Jesus does.
He loves
us.
He died
for us
to free
us from
our sins.
And he's
calling every
one of us
to run
to him
today,
wherever
you are.
Bring
all of
your fear
to him.
if the
government
came in
and shut
down this
church,
Jesus
wouldn't
move a
muscle.
He's got
the keys.
His
presence,
in his
presence,
there is
freedom.
Do you
see him?
There's
no fear.
Let's
pray.
Let's
pray.
Let's
pray.
Let's
pray.
Let's
pray.
Father,
I just
I
realize how
small my
view of
you is.
Father,
I pray
for us
show us
Jesus.
We don't
want our
little view
of Jesus.
We want
who you
really are.
The one
who loves
us so
much that
you'd die
for us.
For the
one who
is awesome
that we
don't want
to tread
lightly
with you.
Father,
I pray for
those of
us who
right now,
we know
that we're
running
away from
you.
Our
hearts are
distracted.
Father,
I pray for
a wake
up call
this
morning.
Show
us
yourself.
I pray
for those
of us
who are
struggling.
Things
around us
seem
overwhelming.
We
wonder how
we can
really hold
on to
you.
show us
that you
have
overcome.
We
just need
to hold
on to
you
because
you
are
the
one
who
holds
our
lives.
Maybe
some
of you
just need
to do
business
with
Jesus
right
now.
Allow
his
spirit
to convict
you.
Allow
him to
speak
to you.
He's
got a
message
for you
this
morning.
Do you
see him?
Do you
want to
see him?
Open
our eyes,
Jesus,
to fall
more in
love with
you.
If you
need prayer
afterwards,
I encourage
you to come
up now.
There's
going to be
some prayer
guys who's
going to be
here ready
to pray
for you.
Don't
put up
pretenses.
Jesus
sees right
through,
but he
wants to
heal you.
to restore
you.
So be
courageous
and come
up and
have people
pray for
you.
We love
you,
Jesus.
Amen.