Sermon - April 7, 2013, Easter 2
Pastor Paul G. Eckert
Sermon text - Revelation 1:4-20
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Jesus lives!  The victory is won!  Amen.

    The opening words of our text are: “John,  To the seven churches
in the province of Asia.”  The seven churches to which John wrote
were all located in what we today know as Turkey.  I’ll here try to give
my short  summary of what was said to each church or congregation.
Ephesus was told: “You are strong; but don’t forget your first love.”
Smyrna was told: “In your tribulation, be faithful to death and
receive the crown of life.”  Pergamum was told: “In your strength,
you are still permitting false doctrine, and this cannot be.”  
Thyatira was told: “You are tolerating in your midst an abomination
that will bring judgment.”   Sardis was told: “Dead church, repent;
or else you will lose all.”  Philadelphia was told: “I have opened the
door for mission work before you.”  And Laodicea was told: “Realize
your poorness; be ‘hot’ for Me; or else I will spit you out.”  You can
read the whole letter to each congregation in chapters 2 and 3 after our
text.  You might want to do that at home some time, maybe today.
    All of these 7 churches, as I said, were in Turkey.  But let us think
now of another church that is, an eighth church, a church not in
Europe but in the United States.  To be more specific, let us make this
eighth church one that is located in the state of Wisconsin, in the city
of Greenfield, and talk about
A LETTER TO THE EIGHTH CHURCH: ST. JACOBI.
I    THE INTRODUCTION.  (4-6)
    1. It speaks of the Trinity. (4-5a)
John,  To the seven churches in the province of Asia:  Grace and
peace to you from him who is, and who was, and who is to come,
and from the seven spirits before his throne, and from Jesus
Christ, who is the faithful witness, the firstborn from the dead,
and the ruler of the kings of the earth. 
        a) We hear of Him who is eternal, God the Father; we hear of the
Holy Spirit, with the number 7 possibly being used to identify the Spirit
working in all 7 churches; and we hear of Jesus, God’s Son risen from
the dead.  We often use the word “Trinity” to describe this our God.
        b) We also hear what is ours because of our God.  It is grace and
peace: God’s free gift of love and forgiveness that fills us with peace.
    2. And it speaks of what our God deserves.  (5c-6)
To him who loves us and has freed us from our sins by his blood,
and has made us to be a kingdom and priests to serve his God and
Father - to him be glory and power for ever and ever!  Amen. 
        a) God has freed us from our sins by the shed blood of His Son.
He has made us members of His kingdom with everything that means.
        b) What does He deserve for that?  His is “the glory and power
forever and ever.”  Let us praise Him, serve Him joyfully.
II    MORE DETAIL.  (7-8)
    1. We are told more about our Savior.  (7)
Look, he is coming with the clouds, and every eye will see him,
even those who pierced him; and all the peoples of the earth will
mourn because of him.  So shall it be!  Amen.
        a) He who arose from the dead, who ascended victoriously into
heaven, will come back visibly for Judgment Day.
        b) What will that be for those involved in getting rid of Him, for
those who rejected Jesus as the Messiah, the only Savior from sin?
        c) Or what about those in our Acts reading before, persecuting
the disciples after Jesus’ resurrection, wanting to kill the followers of
Jesus as they had rejected and killed Jesus?
        d) For them, and for any today who reject the risen Lord Jesus
Christ, Judgment Day will be a mourning day and far from a happy
day.  Whoever did not or does not believe will be condemned.
    2. Let there be no doubt about that. (7-8)
Look, he is coming with the clouds, and every eye will see him,
even those who pierced him; and all the peoples of the earth will
mourn because of him.  So shall it be! Amen.  “I am the Alpha
and the Omega,” says the Lord God, “who is, and who was, and
who is to come, the Almighty.” 
        a) In our Gospel reading we heard about doubting Thomas.  At
first he would not believe, until Jesus convinced him.
        b) Don’t be like doubting Thomas!  Let there be no doubt for us
today.  Be convinced by these words from our eternal God: “I am the
Alpha and the Omega,” says the Lord God, “who is, and who was,
and who is to come, the Almighty.” 
III  THE BACKGROUND.  (9-11)
    1. Persecution of Jesus’ followers didn’t stop. (9)
        a) James, one of the original 12, was the first disciple to be killed.
Eventually, according to tradition, 10 more of Jesus’ disciples were
killed, and only one, John, escaped being killed for his faith in Jesus.
        b) But he did not escape completely; instead we are told that he
was put into exile on an island to punish and to silence him.
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. 
    2. But the Lord permitted him still to testify. (10-11)
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.”
        a) John wasn’t killed.  And in exile he apparently had some
freedom to function and even to write.
        b) Clearly the Roman government that exiled him wasn’t
completely in charge.  God always is.  And God made use of this exile
to record the book of Revelation which includes special letters to 7
congregations - and now let’s not forget the eighth, St. Jacobi.
IV  A STRIKING PICTURE.  (12-16)
    1. A person is described here.  (12-14)
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.     
        a)  Who is this person who is “like a son of man” and who here
is speaking to John?  In the opening verse of this book of Revelation
we have this answer: “The revelation of Jesus Christ, which God
gave him to show his servants what must soon take place.”
         b) In other words, this person pictured here and speaking is
God’s eternal Son who took on Himself our flesh and blood, became
“like a son of man” in order to be our Savior.
    2. Coming in judgment is also pictured.  (15-16)
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.
        a) Jesus came not only to save.  He will come again for “what
must soon take place,” for Judgment Day, as these words from our
 text indicate: “His feet were like bronze glowing in a furnace,” and
also these words: “a sharp double-edged sword.”   
        b) There is a warning in these words: “Be prepared!”
V  AN EXPLANATION.  (17-20)
    1. The explanation gives us comfort. (17-18)
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 for ever and ever!  And I hold the keys of death and Hades.” 
        a) This is our Jesus telling us not to be afraid.  He was dead but
He no longer is.  He is alive!  We just celebrated that fact in Easter.
        b) And for all who believe in Him, His key at  death will open
wide the door to heaven.  For those who reject Jesus - let’s  not go
there.
    2. The explanation also points to us. (19-20)
“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.”
        a) The explanation is simple enough.  The lampstands pictured
the congregations, and the stars pictured the pastors, the leaders of
those congregations.
        b) To the 7 mentioned in our text, let’s add an eighth, St. Jacobi.

    Letters to 7 - or 8 - churches.  The whole book of Revelation.  The
whole Bible.  Why all of this?  We heard a simple answer in the closing
words of our Gospel reading at the lectern earlier: “These are written
that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and
that by believing you may have life in his name.”