Go a little deeper
Pastor Keith Kirkpatrick recaps Revelation’s focus on revealing Jesus and identifies John as its author, addressing seven first-century churches in Asia. He explains apocalyptic imagery and the symbolism of seven as completeness. Turning to Revelation 1:9, he describes John’s exile on Patmos and his solidarity with other believers facing hardship.
Pastor Keith presents John’s exile as a consequence of his allegiance to Jesus and an example of the cost of discipleship. He interprets John’s spiritual experience in Revelation 1:10 as worship despite isolation. He discusses uncertainty over the day intended in that verse, then urges worship wherever listeners are and on any day.
Pastor Keith explores John’s vision of Jesus among the lampstands in Revelation 1. He connects the clothing with priesthood and interprets the features of the vision as communicating Jesus’ wisdom, knowledge, holiness and authority. He urges imaginative attention to the symbolism rather than treating it as an ordinary physical portrait. Jesus reassures the overwhelmed John, and Pastor Keith connects that response with courage and hope in Jesus’ victory over death. The message ends with an invitation to follow him.
Take this with you
Following Jesus Can Cost Everything
Pastor Keith connects John’s exile for allegiance to Jesus in Revelation 1:9 with the cost of discipleship. Using Mark 8:36, he urges complete surrender rather than pursuing worldly gain at the expense of eternal life. He presents forgiveness and hope in Jesus as worth enduring hardship.
God Meets His People in Isolation
In Revelation 1:10 John was not where he wanted to be, yet he worshiped, and God met him there. Kirkpatrick connects this to isolation many have felt, saying worship does not require a church building or a preferred place, because God is eternal and present everywhere, and he is God with us.
Turn Toward the Voice
In Revelation 1:12 John heard a voice and turned to see it—Kirkpatrick links this to repentance, a 180-degree turn from our way to God's way. Everyone has two choices with God's word: ignore it or respond to it. Turning toward God means seeing and experiencing what we would never see otherwise.
The Church Is Meant to Be Light
The seven lampstands are identified in Revelation 1:20 as the churches. Kirkpatrick traces lampstand imagery through Moses and Zechariah and argues the church is meant to shine in dark places, filled with oil—the Holy Spirit—so that the light of the world, Jesus, is seen through his people.
Jesus reassures John with his victory over death
In Revelation 1:17-18, Jesus responds to the overwhelmed John with a reassuring touch and a call to courage. Pastor Keith interprets the gesture as power and safety rather than accusation, and presents Jesus’ resurrection and authority over death as the basis for hope.
The conversation,
in their words.
Transcript from the recording’s captions. Select any timestamp to hear the original audio.
well i want to welcome you to journey church if we've not had the privilege to meet my name is keith i'm the lead pastor of journey church in bend and what a good thing that we get to spend some time together today we are on the second step of our journey together through the book of revelation so if you're just joining us you've not missed too much so i'm so glad that you're getting to be a part of this the book of revelation is really easy to find it's the last book of the bible the bible's made up of 66 books and we find here in this last book of the bible a wonderful book that we're going to grow together now if you've ever missed a message at general church we want you to have a foundation that we're building upon something here so you can go back and listen to the last message and you can do so on many platforms you can go subscribe on apple podcast you can go to youtube and
just search journey and bend and subscribe there you could download our app on any device and take journey with you you can go to our our website we have all the messages there you can listen to any series we want to make sure that you don't miss a message so just a little review of what we learned last week we learned in the first verse how this book got its name this is the revelation now the word revelation is the the greek word in the original language is apocalypses the word apocalypse literally defined is the uncovering the revealing this is the revelation the revealing of jesus christ now this is the revelation singular it has one focus one purpose one theme that we'll see throughout this book
and that is jesus christ everyone shout revelation revelation this is important as we read this book that that's the purpose of this book for us to grow in our knowledge in in our relationship with jesus we're also told in revelation 1 3 you will be blessed to read these words and to keep them you'll be blessed because it's all about jesus god wants you to know who he is and how this changes everything in jesus and i promise you you will be blessed in this book there's also a warning that if we don't heed these words and keep them there will be a judgment and then finally the third thing we learned is the author and whom this book is written to the author is john this is john the apostle this that means
the one who is sent he was one of the 12 disciples he followed jesus he was a friend of jesus and he was a lover of jesus just like we ought to be and we'll see that throughout this book from this incredible author we're also told that it was written to the seven churches in asia at the time of this writing it's where we now see western turkey these were actually seven churches at the time of this writing in the first century now one thing we ought to look at this book through the lens of is that this is called apocalyptic literature there will be many metaphors and similes we'll see symbols and signs we will also see many numbers and behind those numbers we will see a deeper meaning so the number seven means full or perfect or complete so this was intended for those seven churches that we'll read about and learn about in
the weeks to come but it was also intended for the complete church which is why this book has spoken to the church throughout the ages now i'm looking forward today as we dive into revelation we're going to pick up in verse 9 and we'll make our way through the end of chapter 1 today so get out your bibles join with me to revelation chapter 1 and we will start with verse 9. 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 here's our third introduction to john that he tells us he's the author and he lets us
know this time where he writes about this revelation it's on the island of patmos a place you can go visit today this was a prison island it's where the roman government sent their prisoners when they wanted to penalize them and john tells us that he's on this island not for vacation not for a business trip but because of jesus and it was while on this island that he gets this revelation of jesus he gets this apocalypse he gets this apocalypse the the uncovering the reality of who jesus is now john teaches us that there's a cost to following jesus this is not stated enough when you follow jesus it could cost you everything jesus tells us that when we surrender our life to him we ought to be willing to pick up our cross and
follow him you've got to know this it's not stated enough that when you follow jesus it comes with a cost you give jesus everything you surrender your whole life to jesus and this is a good thing jesus tells us in mark 8 36 for what does it profit a man to gain the whole world and forfeit his soul you see when you surrender your heart to jesus you get everything you need you get the forgiveness of all of your sins you get the truth which will set you free you get the gift of eternal life you see with jesus you learn that this life is not your permanent home this is just a journey to your final destination which when you believe in jesus you get the gift of eternal life with god forever
i'll tell you with jesus it is worth it even if you have to suffer and this book will teach us when we look through the lens of the first century church that even if you suffer as john says here through the the tribulation that you would have patient endurance that even if you suffer is worth it in jesus that is just getting you closer to your heavenly home that you would keep your eyes on this heavenly prize in jesus now he's here on the account revelation 1 9 on account of the word of god and the testimony of jesus in the original language this greek word for word is logos now there are several several different greek words for word there's the spoken word which is rhema this is the greek word logos which john
identifies is jesus and revelation excuse me john chapter one verse one he describes the biography of jesus life starting it by saying in the beginning was the logos this is the very word that changed john's life and he says because of that very word that changed my life is the very reason that i'm here on this island now john tells us in chapter 1 verse 10 he says and 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 i want you to see here in revelation 1 10.
john is probably not in the place where he wants to be he's not at home he's not on vacation he is on this roman prison island yet he is still worshiping god you can worship god wherever you are you do not need to be in a church building you do not need to be in the place where you want to be you can worship god wherever you are because god is eternal and he can be at any place at any time now this island some some like to say this is like alcatraz but it's it's much worse than alcatraz this is 37 miles from shore there's no getting off this island and it was here that he says that he was
in the spirit on the lord's day what does it mean to be in the spirit we're told here that he gets to see what he would never see naturally when you believe in jesus you get god himself which is supernatural which means you will see you will experience you will you will experience the fullness of who god is which is supernatural never think that you'll have god figured out paul when he writes to the church in corinth in second corinthians 12 says that he was caught in the third heaven he got to see things you normally wouldn't see and that's because of god and that's what we'll witness here in this book of revelation that because of god himself john's going to going to literally write down what he gets to see now what does it mean the lord's day here for
years i used to think this was sunday because sunday's often referred to as the lord's day in church tradition we're told that since jesus rose from the grave on this sunday the first day of the week that this is referred to as the lord's day of celebration of the resurrection of the lord jesus but that tradition calling sunday the lord's day happened centuries after this writing in fact this is the only place in the new testament that we see that phrase the lord's day so more than likely it wasn't on sunday some believe it was saturday which is shabbat this the seventh day of of rest the sabbath day we don't know exactly what day it is but we do know this that because john was worshiping god god met him on this place and on this day i love how psalm 118 verse 24 tells us
this is the day the lord has made let us rejoice and be glad in it which means this we can rejoice and be glad on mondays and on tuesdays and on wednesdays we can be worshipers of god no matter what day of the week it is that when you wake up in the morning you can know this god's mercies are new every morning that while you were sleeping the book of zephaniah says god was singing over you with his love when you wake up you can know that your sins are totally forgiven you can live in the reality of who jesus is you could walk with him you could talk with him his word wants to be a light for your feet a lamp for your path so that you would see how great god is well let me just tell you every single day of the week you should rejoice because god is still god no matter what
narrative the media or the news tries to tell us god still sits on his his throne he's still in charge he's in complete control and he knows exactly what he's doing that's why we read this book of revelation we see that we have a victorious jesus he wins every single time so i want to encourage you that when you wake up in the morning you would say this is the day that the lord has made so i'm going to rejoice and be glad in it no matter what happened yesterday i'm going to rejoice today if i'm suffering today it reminds me of my unshakeable hope in jesus it reminds me i have a god that's going to get me through this i know where to run i know who my refuge is i know where i'm going to hide and it isn't the shadow of the almighty i'm going to trust in the name of the lord god i'm going to acknowledge him in all my ways i'm going to let him direct my path today and i love that john's
going to give us a glimpse that we too get to experience this in our lives even if you're in the place where you don't want to be see john was isolated on the island of patmos how many of you felt isolated in last year come on you can get real at church you feel isolated you you feel disconnected you're not able to go sit at a restaurant you're not able to go to the movies you're not able to go to the gym you're not able to go to the church and after a while you start to feel isolated and you start to wonder where is god in the middle of isolation he's right there with you he is emmanuel god with us and so this is what revelation is going to teach us that we we trust in jesus no matter where we are and so he he goes on to explain what happens
with this revelation in the spirit on the lord's day verse 10 i heard behind me a loud voice like a trumpet now this is the first illusion to what we might call the rapture the word rapture is not actually in the scriptures it just is a phrase that means caught up in the air like many phrases we don't see in scripture we see the truth in the scriptures like the word trinity we don't see that word in the scriptures it just refers to a triune god which we do find in the scriptures paul when he writes to the church in thessalonica he says in first thessalonians 4 16 for the lord himself will descend from heaven which is an awesome picture after the resurrection of jesus he he reveals himself to many and then he ascends into heaven the second coming of jesus promises he will descend from heaven with a cry
of command with the voice of an archangel with the sound of the trumpet of god so we see here now in revelation this same sound of a trumpet and the dead in christ will rise first now the trumpet sound in the scriptures is is an imagery of an awakening it's an alarm if you hear a trumpet it should awaken your hearts like a call to war you're not going to hear this trumpet and ignore it it should wake you up something is about to be said something is going to happen i'm going to respond and john's told what to do in verse 11 write what you see this will be an audacious task it's one thing to write down exactly what you hear i say something just write down what i
say but john's told to write down what he sees this could be the most difficult task in history because he's going to write down the revealing the unveiling the uncovering of jesus in all of his glory how can you use words to describe an indescribable god he's to write down what he sees we're told to the seven churches as this is going to be shared for the church that we would be encouraged in who jesus is i like how eugene peterson once put it he says god revealed is god known and so god is going to reveal himself to john so that he would make it known so that we as a church would note jesus i love what happens next john says in 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 lamp stands one like a son of man clothed with a long robe and with a golden sash around his chest i turn to see now what john did we all can do as well john hears the voice of god and he responds he doesn't keep going about his business he doesn't say this is crazy he he doesn't just stay put right where he is he turns to see it reminds me of the word repent that word has a bad rap today and yet it's a wonderful word the word repent means to do a 180.
it means you were going your way but you turn to the lord's way you you go god's way you go where god wants you to go and john says i turn to see he wants to experience more than he's experiencing he's going to go after god and i share that with you because god is still speaking today he has a word for you today his his word the bible is living and active and he wants to speak to you and all of us have two choices when it comes to god's word you can ignore it or you can respond to it you can go after god or you can deny god and i know that god wants you to know who he is the god that his first words that we see in the scriptures brought
something out of nothing he is the first word and he is the last word as psalm 33 9 says for he spoke and it came to be he commanded and has stood firm god wants to say something to you today will you turn to him see when you turn to him you will see things you've never seen before you will experience the fullness of who he is and john tells us when he turns to see this voice the first thing he sees are seven lamp stands lampstands are used throughout the scriptures moses is commanded to build a lampstand to put into the tabernacle with with seven different pieces representing israel that israel god's people his nation would be a light to the world but then later we see in the book of zechariah
he gets a vision in zechariah chapter four verse two it says i see and behold a lamp stem of all gold with a bowl on top of it and seven lamps on it with seven lips which is a symbol of speaking or words and on each of the lamps that are on the top of it so zechariah gets this this odd image of this lamp with with inside of it is a bowl with seven different lamps and i love the honesty of the book of zacharias you read chapter four he's confused and he asks questions he wants clarity and he asks hey what are these seven lamp stands and i love it that our god answers our questions he's told in zechariah chapter 4
verse 10 for whoever has despised the day of small things shall rejoice let's start here by just reminding each other that god's ways are not our ways that god can do great things with small things jesus taught us the same thing that you just need faith like a mustard seed to move a mountain he taught us that if you would just have faith like a child you can enter the kingdom of heaven and so god answers the prophet zechariah says do not despise small things god may be up to more than meets the eye and so he continues and says this and you shall see the plum line in the hand of zerubbabel these seven these seven lamps that are the eyes of the lord which ranged throughout the whole earth what a wonderful image these lampstands in zechariah actually
represent god himself that he sees everything and can be absolutely everywhere now in the book of revelation chapter 1 jesus tells us in revelation 1 20 that these lampstands are the church those are the believers in jesus the church now represents the light of the world jesus christ we are the light let me put it this way the church should be on fire the church should have what was represented in the old testament what filled these lamps oil what does oil represent the holy spirit how do we have the light of the world inside of us the oil the holy spirit of god now some of us look today these are dark days we're living in and i'm here to tell you that the church is meant to be a light
in a dark place and as he gets this image he turns to see this voice the first thing he sees are the seven lamp stands which we later are told are the church and what's in the midst of the lamp stands the son of man this is a a direct description description of the christ this is who daniel the prophet writes about long before the birth of jesus he says this is how you'll know the crisis he's the son of man listen to daniel 7 verse 13 and 14. i saw in the night visions and behold with the clouds of heaven there came one like a son of man that description now is ascribed to jesus christ in revelation i saw one like a son of man and he came to the ancient of days
and was presented before him and to him was given dominion and glory and a kingdom that all peoples nations and languages should serve him at his dominion is an everlasting dominion which shall not pass away and his kingdom one that shall not be destroyed daniel is looking forward and pointing to the christ and now john writes and says this is the christ now at the time of jesus so many myths that he was the one whom daniel writes about they were looking for something more spectacular they misunderstood what this would look like as the son of man comes and he shepherds his sheep he's a great physician that touches the untouchable leper he's the one that liberated women he
he's the teacher that brings a child and puts him on his lap he's he's the one god wrapped in the flesh the son of man didn't look like what they thought he should look like what the way that they thought this would happen and so now we see that the son of man is more than we can imagine god is greater than we can fathom and so we see here as john tells us he's going to now go into a sevenfold description of jesus now i want to warn you as he goes into this sevenfold description we love to take things literally we would love to paint the picture what did jesus look like did he look like jim caviezel who played jesus in the passion of the christ or was it more manly like maybe a brad pitt or a little more edgy like keanu reeves what does jesus actually look like and
so we want to attribute some some physical nature to jesus but this is meant to open up your eyes that he is greater let's start he tells us that he was clothed with a long robe and with a golden sash around his chest this creates an impression that he is the great high priest this represents the robes of the high priest of old in the old testament moses commanded the high priest that they were to be set apart and what they would wear we see this in exodus 28 4 they're instructed their garments their garments would look like this they should they will have a robe and then we're later told they will have a sash and so we see that the role of a priest is to make sure that people have peace with god the priests would make a sacrifice for the sins of the people a priest would make sure that the people
have a right relationship with god now jesus is the great high priest he is the one that makes sure that the sins of the world are forgiven he is the one whom we can trust in as our mediator so that we can have peace with god furthermore he goes into this description in verse 14 15 and 16 the hairs of his head were white like wool like snow his his eyes were like a flame of fire his feet were like burnished bronze refined in a furnace his voice was like the roar of many waters and 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 albert einstein once said that the imagination is more
important than intelligence the imagination is more important than intelligence meaning there could be no meaning or a full understanding of intelligence without the imaginative perception and what john's asking us to do as a reader is not just to use your mind your intellect or use academics to try to understand these things but to use your imagination god gave us create creativity because he's the creator and he wants you inside to to be stirred to the reality that he's far greater than your mind can fully fathom that's why we get to spend eternity getting to know him greater and
as john describes these things he starts with the reality that jesus is the high priest now he moves to the hair that he's got this white hair now do not be mistaken he is not an old big guy in the sky we have such a western approach to much of what we read in the book of revelation you see for us hair is just a style people with white hair want to dye their hair so they look younger people who are younger want to dye their hair white so they look cooler in the eastern countries the eastern culture white hair commands respect because white hair implies that you've been through something you have wisdom that someone without white hair does not
have and so when we see that jesus has white hair it does not mean that he he's at the end of his life he's no longer useful he's hey the place where the western world puts somebody with white hair and says your best days are behind you what we actually see with scripture is that you're full of wisdom his head was his hairs were white like wool like snow daniel chapter 7 verse 9 describes it this way as i looked thrones were placed and the ancient of days took his seat his clothing was white as snow and the hair of his head like pure wool you see jesus is old he's ascribed here as the ancient of days
he has no beginning and he has no end there is no one older therefore there is no one wiser he is infinitely wise so it's attributed to him with his hair of revelation 1 14 his eyes we're like a flame of fire eyes represent what you see jesus is infinite in his knowledge of what he sees he knows absolutely everything about you nothing is hidden from jesus he knows everything you've thought everything you've done anything that was done to you jesus knows it all now fire represents judgment and with his infinite knowledge of what he sees he's able to judge all because he sees all
accurately this is what daniel describes in ver chapter 10 verse 6 the prophet says his body was like barrel his face like the appearance of lightening his eyes like flaming torches and his infinite knowledge jesus is able to judge the world perfectly even more we're told in revelation 1 15 his feet were like burnished bronze refined in a furnace this is an image of his holiness that wherever he goes your feet represents the place where you go just as we're to have feet fitted with the gospel of peace the good news of god's shalom is perfect peace jesus is like burnished bronze like like the metal that's brought out of the furnace it's still burning hot and
beautiful there are no impurities in the book of daniel king nebuchadnezzar gets a dream of a large statue and in this dream the statue has different elements that make up the statue each piece of the body is is a different element and the feet in this dream are made of clay and iron and in this dream the feet fall apart they crumble into pieces daniel comes back and he tells king nebuchadnezzar about the dream and he says actually the different pieces of the statue represent different political powers and each political power will be different and then we're reminded of the feat that political power will not last forever so what we see in the world we're living in right now
will not last forever there is only one that will last forever and that's jesus christ all other political powers will be shattered into pieces except for jesus christ who's the king the ruler over all and john wants us to to see this holy power he is infinite in power there's no one like him the prophet ezekiel gives us this picture of holiness when he says and upward from what had the appearance of his waist i i i saw as it were gleaming metal like the appearance of fire enclosed all around this is a perfect picture of holiness jesus is the fullness of god's glory wherever he goes representing his feet and then verse 15 and his voice was like the roar of many waters this is a symbol of his authority
when he speaks you listen i love that he uses water here because water is life-giving but when there's a waterfall there's something majestic and powerful about this water that roars just outside the doors of journey church here in bend there's a dam and as i was walking to church this morning in the parking lot i could hear the roar of waters from that dam and it's not even that big if you go visit niagara falls it is deafening even in the state of oregon if you go visit beautiful multnomah falls you can see it from a distance but the closer you get you actually get to experience the sound i've had the privilege to travel to uganda and visit merchant falls arguably the most powerful waterfall in the world it's in the nile river
as you travel to merchant falls you can you can hear from a distance this roar and as you get closer you can actually see its power as the nile river goes through the the this granite cliff these giant cliffs made of granite rock the water has cut through the granite that's how powerful water is and you can hear it and as you get close you have to raise your voice over the deafening sound of the roar and now we see so it is with the roar the sound of our savior it is loud ezekiel 43 2 the prophet says this of god's voice and behold the glory of the god of israel was coming from the east and the sound of his coming was like the sound of many waters and the earth shone with his glory
how great is our god first he sounds like a trumpet now he sounds like the roar of rushing waters for there is no one greater than jesus psalm 90 3 4 says this a mightier than the thunders of many waters mightier than the waves of the sea the lord on high is mighty i will tell you this he's the one that made merchant falls he made multnomah falls niagara falls is nothing compared to jesus because we can gather all the waters of the earth and we can pour them down in one place and his voice is even louder his voice is even greater so we we see as we continue going he keeps looking at this description and describes for us in revelation 1 16 in his right hand he held the seven stars now right hand in the scriptures
represents power and safety it's a symbol any time you read the psalms you see the god's right hand it means he's got you you're safe in his hand and in his hand are seven stars stars in the old testament and in the book of revelation are associated with angels this is a wonderful imagery on the clearest night i want you to look up in the sky and see all those stars they are beautiful i love it on the clearest night if you can get into a place with with with less light pollution and you look up and you see the myriad of stars just consider this one day you'll get to get in heaven and there will be a myriad of angels one of the names for god is the lord of hosts which means he's the lord of angels armies and he holds them in his hands
there is no one greater than our god how great is it going to be one day when you don't look up and see stars but you're going to look up and see an army of angels this is the god that holds them in his right hands we're going to look more at that in revelation 1 20 in just a moment and from his mouth came a sharp two-edged sword oh this metaphor is important where do you normally hold a sword in your hand unless you're on america's got talent and you want to do something crazy to try to get some money right but this sword isn't going into the mouth it's coming out of the mouth now when you hold a sword in your hand you have a purpose it's for war and what we see with jesus is interesting that he doesn't hold the sword in his hand it comes out of his mouth and is too edged it can go to places no other sword
can go it can penetrate the heart in fact these very scriptures are described as a two-edged sword god's word can go to places no other word can go and when he speaks it happens first we see it's a trumpet then it sounds like mighty rushing waters now it's a sword this is a word that we ought to pay attention to for when he says something it has authority and it happens isaiah the prophet warns in chapter 11 verse 4 and he shall strike the earth with the rod of his mouth all he has to do is say it and it happens and with the breath of his lips he shall kill the wicked we later see in revelation 19 what this will look like when jesus comes in on a horse and we see once again the imagery of the sword penetrating from the mouth of jesus christ
that what he says happens with all authority and then finally verse 16 his face was like the sun shining in full strength now let me just ask you have you ever looked up at the sun on the clear sunny day opened up your eyes bright looked right at the sun if you have don't do it it can permanently damage your eyes every doctor would tell you do not look at the sun and john says his face was like that it was so bright it cannot be described his face was like the sun in its full strength the sun is so powerful you do not need to look at it to experience it and so it is with jesus as john tries to describe the indescribable jesus that's why he tells us
in verse 17 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 can you picture this this is not your picture of an ordinary church service sometimes we come to church and it's as if we have god figured out we we've put him in a box as if somehow we know what's going to happen next this is the very john that walked with jesus talks with jesus touched jesus he writes the biography of jesus life
but when he gets a greater glimpse of jesus he just passes out like like you watch in the movies when i was just a child i split open my lip a girl knocked me off my bicycle and uh split uh it wasn't my lip my chin i split open my chin and i had to go to the hospital and i had a single mom so single moms are my my hero because i don't know how they did it uh but but my mom was a single mom and she was in the the emergency room with me and the doctors were describing what they were going to do next they were going to give me stitches how they were going to put some shots in my chin to to to numb it and as they were describing it my mom was getting woozy and as she was getting woozy she knew that she had to step out of the room to get some fresh air and she turned to leave the room and she
literally fainted and passed out but as a child i didn't know she fainted i thought she died i'm so i started screaming as a little boy like you know i really thought my mom was dead on the floor because she she fell down as though dead it was dramatic and john lets us know that there's something dramatic that should happen with jesus when you take jesus seriously there's so much more than meets the eye you keep growing in your knowledge of g he falls down as though dead and look how jesus responds this is jesus when you surrender your heart to him this is our jesus he touches him with his right hand some of you think that god's angry with you you picture god pointing a finger metaphorically at you
bad person you haven't done good get your life together this is what's wrong let me tell you no no jesus wants to put his hand on you the power and safety of god almighty wants to touch your life and the first words out of his mouth is simply this fear not this is the commandment of god throughout the scripture for our god is for us and if he's for us who can be against us do not be afraid take courage fear not no matter what you face our god is greater he has all authority he is almighty he is infinite in knowledge power but he also loves you he is for you he is a god that goes after you and this is what god promises john and he's promising us today fear not i am the first and i am the last he will never stop being god
and the living one this is interesting here because he he lets john know this i'm alive i know you saw me after the resurrection but i'm still still here and alive and look what he says next i love this because i have to wonder how jesus said what he says next you know our god has a sense of humor humor comes from him so i don't know if he was being humorous here if he was super serious with a with a deep deep bellowing voice here but look what he says next i died [Music] i died but wait a second you just told me you're living normally you die and you're not living any longer the the this is the power of jesus in fact in the book of romans when paul writes in the book of romans he's
described salvation found in jesus because he tells us that god became a man 100 god 100 man he lived a perfect sinless life and what paul tells the romans is he died once and for all he will never die again and here's why he defeated death he rose from the grave he defeated the devil once and for all he took our sin so that when we believe in him we don't die we really start living and what jesus is reminding john here is i am alive i didn't die so you can keep living the same way i died so that you would be fully alive i died so that you would fear nothing i died so that you would see your purpose i i died so that you would see you're meant to be the the lamp of the world
[Music] i died and defeated death look what he says i died and behold i am alive for how long forevermore that's a long time forever and ever and ever he says i have the keys the keys throughout the scriptures represent authority jesus has the keys of of death and hades he has the keys of death and the grave it means whatever he opens no one can shut whatever he shuts no one can open so when you believe in jesus he has all authority even authority over death today so that when your heart stops beating you actually know that you have the hope of eternal life my friends i tell you this today because people have no hope if you listen to the narrative of the news we want to we want to look at death as if it's something we should fear when
it's something we should look forward to in jesus that when you suffer you have the unshakable hope it's just getting you closer to your heavenly home so that you would look up and see your verdict this is why revelation is so important right now in these end times so we continue and finish the book in verse 19 and 20 right there for the things that you have seen this revelation those that are and those that are to take place we will learn about things that have not happened yet verse 20 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 now some scholars believe the seven angels are actually pastors of the church the word angel means messenger so it
could be a play on words that god holds pastors in his hands which is important because we can look at history and say man pastors have fallen some pastors have done some evil things and we could give up on the church but i'm here to tell you that god's plan is through the church jesus will build his church and the gates of hell will not prevail against it and we can know this that jesus is going to do it he holds it together even when it doesn't look like it he's doing it and the seven churches include us today that we would see god is still with us don't miss this don't be distracted by all the worries of this world take jesus seriously you need to have faith in god that you realize he is worthy of all of you and if you have not done that if you've never given your life to jesus
you should have fear because where is your hope it is a scary thing without jesus but i want to offer you today you can give your life to jesus right now the bible doesn't say wait for a better day or get your life right first it says today is the day of salvation you can be saved today once and for all in jesus let's pray and thank god for his word today lord i thank you for your word this speaks to us today i thank you for the reminder of who you are jesus that you are a great god that's why we trust in you so i pray that you would speak to your church that we would trust you with everything we would surrender our whole hearts to experience more of who you are help us lord i pray in jesus name
amen amen all my friends i i don't want to leave today without giving you an invitation to follow jesus i also want to be as honest as i can with you when you follow jesus it means it will come with a cost you've got to be willing to surrender everything to jesus but it is worth everything that even if you had to suffer even if you had to be cast onto an island it's worth it so somehow we've been convinced that life ought to be comfortable that's not the conclusion of jesus the christ we will spend forever without sin or
suffering or pain the worries of this world are just temporary if you've never given your life to jesus i want to offer you a chance right now this is your opportunity to say jesus i want to follow you i want to believe in you put my faith in you if that's you i'm going to pray a short prayer with you prayer is simply talking to god it's not about having the right words it's not a magic prayer it's about a savior that's real so i want to pray this prayer i want you to pray in your heart it's got to be sincere i can't save you but jesus can if you want that today you can have the hope of eternal life right now but let's close our eyes focus on jesus right now pray something like this in your heart say lord jesus forgive me of my sins i want to follow
you i want the hope of eternal life show me more of who you are so just with every eye closed i want to just ask if you prayed that prayer from this day forward you are saved god gives you the power of his holy spirit so that you can do what you could never do on your own but you're going to need to be bold at times it will be difficult it may even be confusing but god's going to work it all together for good if you made that decision i'm going to ask that you just raise your hand and you you show us today that you're bold i'm going to count to three and on three would you just throw your hand in the air awesome [Music] on three i want you to throw your hand in the air and i want you to show the world that you gave your life to jesus for the first time today that from this day forward
you want to follow after him so on the count of three just thrust your hand into the air because from this day forward you can know you there's nothing to fear you can know that god is for you here we go one jesus loves you and he died for your sins two he rose from the grave he defeated death so that you could live if you trusted in jesus for the first time to throw your hands in the air right now up high if you're watching online put your hand in the comment section emojis will work praise god praise god amen amen let me tell you it's not it's not about throwing your hand in the air to make you save it means from this day forward you're bold and i love it throughout both services today we've had
people raise their hands to say i want to follow after jesus it's the greatest decision you can ever make we we want to know you made that decision we want to pray for you we want to celebrate with you we want to give you next steps if you don't have a bible we'll get you a free bible would you just text us the word life to [Music] regretted 541-527-7277 it's the best decision you could ever make send us a text just simply put if you made that decision today online please text us the word life and we want to connect with you and celebrate with you isn't god good i'm so glad that you came to church today
we want to remember who jesus is as we just stand to your feet as we sing this last song we want to remember that jesus is the light of the world we want to remember that there's no one like jesus that whatever you're going through our god is greater you can trust in him with all of your heart acknowledge him with all your ways
Read · talk · practice
Keep growing.
Together.
The Cost and Comfort of Discipleship
Pastor Keith connects John’s exile for allegiance to Jesus with the cost of discipleship. Using Mark 8:36, he contrasts worldly gain with eternal life and presents forgiveness and hope in Jesus as worth enduring hardship.
Revelation 1:9 · Mark 8:36
- Where do you find it hardest to believe that surrender to Jesus is worth the cost?
- How does Pastor Keith encourage endurance through the hope of eternal life?
- How might remembering John's circumstances change how you interpret your own difficult season?
Worship Where You Are
Pastor Keith interprets John’s spiritual experience in Revelation 1:10 as worship despite isolation. He discusses uncertainty over the day intended in that verse and uses Psalm 118:24 to encourage worship on any day and in any place.
Revelation 1:10 · Psalm 118:24
- What places or circumstances have you assumed were too far from God for real worship?
- How does Pastor Keith encourage worship at the start of a new day?
- Where have you felt isolated recently, and what would it mean to look for God there?
Turning Toward the Voice
Pastor Keith connects John turning toward the speaker in Revelation 1 with repentance as a change of direction. He urges listeners to respond to God’s word, and points to Zechariah’s questions as an example of seeking understanding.
Revelation 1:10-12 · Psalm 33:9
- What is one area where you have been walking away from God's way rather than turning toward it?
- When have you sensed God speaking but chose not to respond—what made it hard?
- Where in your life do you want to see God do something, but find yourself dismissing it as too small?
The Church as Lampstand
Pastor Keith identifies the lampstands in Revelation 1:20 with the churches. He connects this imagery with the tabernacle and Zechariah 4, interpreting the oil as the Spirit’s help and urging the church to make Jesus visible in dark circumstances. He also encourages attention to seemingly small beginnings.
Revelation 1:20 · Zechariah 4:2 · Zechariah 4:10
- Where do you see the church in your community acting as light, and where is that light hard to see?
- How does Kirkpatrick's connection between oil, the Holy Spirit and the church's light shape how you think about your congregation?
- What small thing God is doing have you been tempted to despise or overlook?
Jesus’ authority and reassurance
Pastor Keith interprets the features of John’s vision in Revelation 1 as communicating Jesus’ priestly role, wisdom, knowledge, holiness and authority. He connects the imagery with Daniel, Ezekiel and Isaiah, and emphasizes Jesus’ reassuring response when John is overwhelmed. Jesus’ resurrection and authority over death become the basis for courage.
Revelation 1:13-16 · Revelation 1:17-18 · Daniel 7:9 · Daniel 7:13-14 · Isaiah 11:4 · Ezekiel 43:2
- Which part of the sevenfold description of Jesus most stretches or strengthens your picture of him?
- How do you tend to picture God's posture toward you—an accusing finger or a hand laid on you in reassurance?
- How does Pastor Keith connect Jesus’ authority over death with courage?
Answers from this recording
Start a conversation.
Why was John on the island of Patmos?+
Pastor Keith presents John’s exile on Patmos in Revelation 1:9 as a consequence of allegiance to Jesus. He connects the verse’s reference to God’s message with John 1, where Jesus is identified with God’s eternal self-expression. He uses John’s circumstances to emphasize the cost of discipleship and endurance through hope in Jesus.
How does Pastor Keith understand John’s spiritual experience and the day of worship?+
Pastor Keith interprets Revelation 1:10 as a supernatural experience in which John receives a greater disclosure of Jesus. He compares this with Paul’s experience in 2 Corinthians 12. He expresses uncertainty about which day John intended and emphasizes that worship and God’s presence are available wherever his people are.
Does it change anything for you if the exact day is unknown—and why?
What do the seven lampstands and seven stars represent?+
Pastor Keith follows Revelation 1:20 in identifying the lampstands with churches and the stars with their angels. He notes that some interpreters understand these messengers as pastors. Connecting the lamps with Zechariah 4, he emphasizes God’s awareness and presence, then urges the church to make Jesus visible through the Spirit’s help.
Why does John fall down as though dead, and how does Jesus respond?+
Pastor Keith sees John’s overwhelmed reaction in Revelation 1:17-18 as a reminder that Jesus exceeds even a close disciple’s understanding. He emphasizes Jesus’ reassuring touch, interpreting it as power and safety rather than accusation. He grounds courage in Jesus’ resurrection and continuing authority over death.
What experiences have most shaped your instinctive picture of God's posture toward you?
What does this passage say about Jesus' voice and word?+
Pastor Keith interprets the trumpet sound as an awakening that calls for response, and the powerful-water imagery as communicating Jesus’ authority. He reads the sword associated with Jesus’ speech as a picture of his word reaching hearts and accomplishing his purposes. He connects this with Isaiah 11:4 and Revelation 19.
