What to Fear and Fear Not

6 · Personal story about 1990s "No Fear" t-shirts being adopted by the uncool (including young homeschool Ricky), signaling the end of the trend

I don't know if you remember back in the '90s, the cool kids, of which I was not one, wore t-shirts that said, "No fear." Does anybody remember the "no fear" t-shirts? Anybody remember those? Like, those had a little bit of a rock and roll kind of vibe. It was kind of like an aggressive, like, "Yeah, we're not afraid of anything. We're not gonna listen to anybody.

We're gonna put on some Nirvana and, you know, headbang and wear our no fear t-shirts." Right? But then inevitably what happens? So maybe the edgy, cool people start out wearing the No Fear t-shirts, and then eventually little homeschool Ricky Alcantara wears the No Fear t-shirt, and it means something very different. And when I wore the t-shirt, it meant the trend was over. It had a moment.

It was done.

7 · Establishes the thesis for the vision section: the context is fear, and the vision's purpose is to displace that fear by showing who Jesus is

The environment that this vision occurs in is an environment of fear. And one of the purposes, I think maybe perhaps the chief purpose of this vision beginning this letter, this revelation, is the word that Jesus speaks not to fear. He intends for his church to be strengthened and to put away fear as they behold who he is and his plan for what is to come.

8 · Addresses anticipated confusion about the bizarre imagery: why does encouragement come in such strange form? Explains that apocalyptic literature uses symbols not to obscure but to clarify — this is the genre's method, not its obstacle

Now, you may think, okay, well, if that's Jesus' intent, he does it in a real weird way. Like, is there a way that we could get the encouragement without a sword coming out of your mouth or some kind of strange image here?

Why does Jesus use these weird symbols if he— I mean, look, you imagine you're there and you're waiting for a word from the Lord and you get this vision and it's like, some guy with fire eyes and a, you know, sword mouth, and you're thinking, "I'm not seeing the encouragement here. I mean, we're getting beat up, we're getting killed. What— how is this going to help me?" Well, remember the type of literature this is. It actually, at the very end in verse 20, it tells us what type of literature it is. These are not literal things.

It's not as though Jesus, when you see him in heaven, is going to literally have fire eyes and a sword mouth. These are symbols. This is a prophetic piece of literature and more specifically, an apocalyptic literature, piece of literature in genre. And in this type of literature, symbols are used not to obscure the meaning, but to make the meaning clear.

9 · Corrects the common hermeneutical error: readers assume the images are packaging to be discarded in order to reach the real meaning beneath (often identified with contemporary geopolitical figures)

So often when we think of Revelation, we think, okay, here's the real, you know, the real stuff of Revelation is down here, but it's buried under all these images.

And we gotta kind of get through all these images to see the real meaning. It's Vladimir Putin, there it is right there, you know? That's often what people do. They're pushing aside, trying to get to the kernel of what's the historical truth here. And in fact, it's the opposite.

The images are given to help make the meaning clearer.

10 · Hypothetical scenario contrasting literal description (height, hair color) with symbolic description (ice eyes, tornado movement)

Imagine this, imagine somebody comes to the door of the church and Vince goes down and he comes back up and it's like, whoa. And I say, hey, who was that down there? And he says, oh, well, it was a guy who's about 5'10" and he had brown hair. I'm like, okay, right?

That doesn't help me. A guy came, you know. But if Vince comes and says, oh man, okay, I opened this door, this guy's eyes were ice. I could tell, you know, that something was up and he flew into the foyer like a tornado. Now, does that mean literally there's, like, some weird X-Man villain in, you know, with ice eyes, you know, in a tornado?

No. But it helps us see truly, right? This is what this type of literature does. It uses symbols to help us see. And what it helps us see is unique.

11 · Begins the exposition of the vision's details with the first attribute: Jesus is King of Kings, evidenced by his royal robe and golden sash

There's two sections today that'll be relatively brief. The first one is a fearful, vision. It begins with a fearful vision. Now, the reason it begins in a fearful vision we will make clear in a moment, but for now we need to take in the fearfulness, as it were, of this vision. Often, you know, there was— there could— you could have a king who had describe himself with titles, and I'm the royal of all the royals, the king over this land, the king over that land, and it introduces you to who this king is and how great he is.

And in a similar way, Revelation introduces us, or rather reintroduces us, to Jesus. But this is a Jesus utterly unlike the pleasant Galilean fisherman giving out homespun pearls of wisdom. No, this is Jesus unveiled in all of his glory. What do we see here? First, we see he is the King of Kings.

It says in verse 13, in the midst of the lampstands, one like a son of man, clothed with a long robe with a golden sash around his chest. What's going on here? Well, there's nuances here. Scholars are like, well, I think this is it. He's a king, priest.

He's, you know, the royal robe is indicated by this and that. There's some specifics and nuance. But the main image is clear. He's dressed like a king. In verse 5, he is called the ruler of the kings of earth.

The main point is clear. This is not just any king. This is the King of Kings.

12 · Signals progression to the next attribute in the catalog of Jesus' glorious characteristics

And then it goes further.

13 · Exposition of the white hair imagery, connecting it to Daniel 7's Ancient of Days

Verse 14, this is the God of gods.

His heads, his hairs on his head were white like white wool, like snow. And you might think, what's the deal with the white hair? Although, side note, this should encourage any brother whose hair has lost its black luster and may find themselves graying. That's the hair of Jesus, brothers. So take comfort there.

He's white-haired just like you. Now, what's the deal with the white hair? Well, it's interesting. So the Son of Man term in Daniel 7, there's two figures in this vision in Daniel 7, the Son of Man, the anointed, the Messiah, and then the Ancient of Days, in a sense, who sends the Son of Man. And so you could kind of read, okay, God the Father, God the Son, with clarity from the New Testament back into that passage.

And what's interesting is John uses some of the imagery used to describe God the Father, the Ancient of Days, to describe Jesus. And so this isn't, you know, Nestorianism where he just kind of morphs around and changes forms like a Transformer. 2 distinct persons. What John is helping us see is that the divinity that we see for the Ancient of Days in Daniel 7 is also in the person of Christ, meaning this: this is not some angelic superbeing. This King of Kings is also the God of gods.

Fully man, fully human, fully God.

14 · Introduces the next attribute with titular language — Jesus as the Watcher of Watchers — preparing for the exposition of the fire eyes imagery

He is also, verse 14, the Watcher of Watchers.

15 · Exposition of the fire eyes imagery: Jesus sees into and through all things with piercing omniscience

Verse 14, his eyes were like a flame of fire. What this image is meant to represent is that he sees into and through all things. His insight is piercing.

We see this in Revelation 2 and 3 as we'll study in our community groups over the next few months, the letters to the churches in Revelation. And each one begins with Jesus saying, I know. I know your tribulation. I know your works. I know where you dwell.

Jesus sees into everything. This is both joyful, meaning that no event in our lives goes unseen by Jesus, even our private hurts and disappointments. It's also a fearful thing. He sees everything. He sees the flaws of these churches.

They are exposed before him in his sight.

16 · Introduces the next attribute — Jesus' perfect purity — preparing for the exposition of the burnished bronze feet

Next, he is the purest of the pure.

17 · Exposition of the burnished bronze feet: the key is the refinement process mentioned in the text itself

Verse 15, "His feet were like burnished bronze, refined in a furnace." Now, sometimes in Revelation there will be an image and we're like, "I'm not exactly sure what that's supposed to mean." What's the bronze thing? I don't— there's no Old Testament reference per se that makes that clear. Well, often the description will help us zero in on the quality that's being illustrated. It says it was refined in a furnace.

So what's at view here is the refinement, the purity of this element. And Jesus literally in this image stands on perfect purity. He doesn't stand on an unstable foundation of sin or being pushed and pulled by, you know, bad motives. He stands in perfect purity.

18 · Personal reflection on the disappointment of discovering moral failures in historical heroes (Jonathan Edwards cited as example)

It's almost like I don't even want to have historical heroes anymore because what inevitably happens is you find this person, you're like, I love them, they're so great.

You start reading more about them and you're like, whoa, whoa, you know, not good. You know, great job, Jonathan Edwards, on Bible teaching in so many ways, not on treating your wife in slavery. You know, not good. You, you, you begin to see every Every human leader, even good ones, have feet of clay, right? Feet full of impurities.

Not so with Jesus. Not so with Him.

19 · Introduces the next attribute — Jesus as Commander of Commanders — preparing for exposition of the voice like many waters and the stars in his hand

Next, the Commander of Commanders.

20 · Exposition of the voice like many waters and the 7 stars in his hand

It says, "His voice was like the roar of many waters, and in His right hand He held 7 stars." Now, earlier His voice is described as a trumpet blast, and now it's water. So the literature is making it clear these are symbols It's not as though he talked like a trumpet, like, "Hello, John." You know, like, it's not like that happening, and then his next voice was like, "Whew." You know, John is trying to capture sort of the piercing announcement like a trumpet blast, and when he speaks, the roar and force.

I mean, you've ever stood next to a waterfall? I'm not talking about like a little tiny waterfall, you know. I'm talking about like a waterfall. You feel it in your chest and in your guts. The rumble.

That is what is in view now. But why is that so important? Because it says in his right hand he held 7 stars. Now he tells us later the 7 stars represent the angels who are guarding the churches. So, so what it's saying is this, this, this Jesus, this King of Kings and God of Gods, when he speaks, he speaks with the authority in his hand of all the armies of heaven.

Meaning he is the commander of commanders. All of the angelic beings that John will encounter, that he'll keep falling on his face throughout the whole book, Jesus commands them. That's what is in view here.

21 · Introduces the next attribute — Jesus as Warrior of Warriors — preparing for exposition of the sword from his mouth

Not only that, he is then the warrior of warriors.

22 · Exposition of the sword from Jesus' mouth

From his mouth came a sharp two-edged sword.

Sword. Now, as a kid, I remember reading Revelation and being like, oh, this is so cool, Jesus looks so cool. And then the sword mouth thing got me. I was like, yeah, this is weird, I'm out now. You can't fight with a sword in your mouth, that's the weirdest thing ever.

What does that mean? It means this. In the ancient world, the word of a king, the decree of a king, is what made things happen. Right, if you were a powerful king, you could walk by a blank spot in the city and say, I want a monument here. I want to be 30 feet high and I want to be holding a sword.

And then a year later you come back and there's a monument of you, right? Or I want there to be a road from this town to this town. You decree it and it's done. The power of the king is tested in what he can bring about through his word. And war then is essentially this king's word against this king's word.

This decree versus this decree. This person saying go out and fight, this person saying go out and fight. Which word will win over the other?

23 · Continues exposition of the sword-word imagery by connecting it to Genesis 1's creation account

What John is saying is this: Jesus' words are warfare that is unmatched and indefensible by any. Remember in Genesis 1 how the world was created, right?

What was the refrain? In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth, and then he kept saying this phrase over and over that's threaded through Genesis 1, and he said. "Let there be light." And he, with his word, calls forth oceans and mountains and stars and energy and matter, meaning that he, through his word, made the world. And that power is there to unmake it, meaning there is none that can stand against him. His word, his word of warfare will silence anyone and destroy anyone, and there is none who can stand against him.

24 · Southern cultural saying illustrating the point: "I brought you into this world and I can take you out of it" — the one who creates has the power to destroy

You ever heard a kid— Southerners will say this thing sometimes. My granddad said it.

Sorry, this is just the South. All right, somebody's not from the South, they're going to be like, that sounds crazy. You ever heard a Southerner say, boy, I brought you into this world and I can take you out of it?

Right? Meaning I have the power of creation, I have the power of destruction too, okay? So that's what Jesus is saying. He made the world and he can unmake it, right?

25 · Brief pastoral aside acknowledging the temptation to jump ahead to the climactic battle scenes in Revelation 20 but reining the exposition back to the present text

That is what we'll experience as we see Revelation unfold. I want to skip ahead to Revelation 20 where he comes in riding a horse and destroys his enemies, but we are not there yet.

26 · Signals the final attribute in the catalog — the summary characteristic that encompasses all the others: Jesus' incomparable glory

All right, the warrior of warriors, and last, the summary attribute, the glorious of the most glorious.

27 · Exposition of Jesus' face shining like the sun — this is the summary attribute encompassing all the others

And his face was like the sun shining in full strength. Meaning his face is the essence of who he is.

This is kind of a summary attribute. The light is a summary attribute that we keep seeing in Revelation, that the essence of who he is, his face is so glorious, so bright, so shining it cannot be beheld without going blind.

28 · Transitions from expositional catalog to theological interpretation: Why this vision? Because the church needs to see Jesus again in his exalted glory after decades of his absence

So what is John doing? What is Jesus doing in giving us this picture of himself? Well, one, he wants his people to understand after the decades perhaps since his ascension and to where Revelation is written several decades later, he wants them to see him again. That's what they most need. They need a glimpse of him again, exalted and powerful.

29 · Historical illustration contrasting Idi Amin's inflated, empty titles with Jesus' understated glory

There was a Ugandan dictator you may be familiar with, Idi Amin, who was one of the most brutal dictators in Africa. And he accumulated for himself a pompous collection of titles, such as His Excellency, President for Life, Field Marshal, Ahaj, Doctor, Idi Amin Dada, VC, DSO, MC, Lord of All the Beasts of the Earth and Fishes of the Sea. And conqueror of the British Empire and Africa in general and Uganda in particular. He also later famously claimed he was the last King of Scotland. I'm not sure how that works, but that's what he claimed.

He wasn't a doctor. He wasn't the lord of all the beasts on the earth. He wasn't even president for life because he got exiled and then killed. His titles were empty and meaningless. They're like looking at him through a microscope.

Here's who he is. And you got to— he's got to blow himself up with this microscopic view. What John is doing is the opposite. John is giving us a telescope. John is saying, just to glimpse the glory of Jesus, this representation of him is but a glimpse of who he actually is.

30 · Climactic recapitulation of all the attributes in one doxological sentence

This is what he wants us to feel. This is what the church under attack and full of fear needs to feel, that he is The Son of Man, the Anointed of God, the royally robed Ancient of Days, the God of gods, He of the burning eyes, the Watcher of watchers, the shining purest of the pure, the vision, the voice of roaring waters, the Commander of commanders, the Maker and Unmaker, the Warrior of warriors, the one whose face shines like the sun, the most glorious of all glories, the God-Man Jesus. Christ.

This is what the Church needs.

31 · Exposition of John's response — he falls as though dead

Now, John's response is appropriate. It says, "I fell at his feet as though dead." Remember that John in his Gospel refers to himself often as the disciple whom Jesus loved. Meaning that he was just aware Jesus loved him. Their friendship was close.

Perhaps he was John's closest friend. He loved him dearly as a brother. And can you imagine that his response in seeing Jesus again after decades, after watching him ascend and longing to see him again, finally Jesus appears to John and John's response is not, "Oh, come in here, Jesus. Give me a big bear hug." His response is his body goes limp.

Our vision of Jesus, if it is not this, it is not the Bible's Jesus. There is a way in which sometimes, especially in America, we can have this overly familiar and inappropriate comfort with Jesus. Jesus.

As if, you know, and I'm not meaning to negate that he, that God is our Abba Father and that he, he calls us his friends. I don't mean to negate that, but this is also true, that there must be a reverence and fear of the Lord that's appropriate in our lives. Proverbs 1:7 says this: The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom.

One of the things you'll see that Jesus is doing with the churches is giving them an appropriate fear of himself so that they don't fear anything else.

Meaning that, look, if you got like the world over here and all this stuff's happening and these people are threats and this can happen to me and that can happen to me, and then you've got Jesus, which one of these do you want to please more? Well, I'm going to go with the guy that makes and unmakes reality, right? As we'll see, there's a direct contrast to the Roman emperor in Revelation 4. And you're like, "You fear that guy and his little throne? He's going to get stabbed in the back.

Or this guy, the King of Kings, the God of Gods, the Warrior of Warriors?" And there should be an appropriate reverence for him that drives out other fears.

32 · Exposition of Jesus' response to John's collapse: he lays his hand on him and says "Fear not

These churches, we'll see in the letters, they need to see Jesus as fearful and awe-inspiring as he really is. But second, there is appropriate fear, but there is a call to fear not. Verse 17 says this: When I saw him, I fell at his feet as though dead.

But he of the burning eyes and the face shining like the sun laid his right hand on me, saying, 'Fear not.'

33 · Introduces the first explanation for why Christians should not fear: because Jesus loves us

The command to fear not is explained by Jesus. One of the things you see in this command not to fear is we should not fear because Jesus loves us.

34 · Exposition of Jesus' love for John despite John's desertion at the cross

When Jesus sees John, he does not say, "Listen, I've been thinking about when you left me as I marched my way alone to the cross, and I'd like to have some words with you." No, he didn't say, "Get away from me." He places his hand on him. So much so that John's experience of Jesus is, in the opening of the letter, he refers to him as "to him who loves us." Meaning this, that John sees even in this Jesus who's awe-inspiring and powerful and glorious and terrifying in some senses, that Jesus loves him still. That is, Unbelievable, okay? When you look at the scope of history, you see this figure, purest of the pure, still loves sinners like John, like you and me. That is insane.

And how does that happen? He tells us, to him who loves us and has freed us from our sins by his blood. Meaning this, that John went from being an enemy of God to being one of the children of God. Being far from God to being close to God because of Jesus' death for him, because he believed in Christ.

35 · Theological claim establishing the interpretive key: Jesus' love transforms how we read the fearful attributes

That love changes the way that we see all of the awesome attributes earlier in the chapter.

36 · Personal narrative from a California pastor's retreat where low-flying jets for an air show terrified the house

Think about it this way. A few months ago, I was at a pastor's retreat in California, and we were staying at this house near the water, and there was— they were getting ready for an air show to happen. And so the But we didn't know that at the time. Okay.

So what we experience is we get up, we're having coffee, we're getting ready to have our meeting, and we hear this roar in the distance. Like, I mean, I can't even describe it. And we're like, man, that sounds weird, you know? And then it comes again from another part, another side of the house. You know, you're just like, what is this?

That's a— is that a lawnmower? It's too deep to be, you know? And then Here's what happens. We experience the house starting to shake and all the window panes begin to shake and I'm thinking, this is it. California's breaking off into the sea, man.

San Andreas Fault, we're dead, right? This power means nothing good for us. There's a lot of power, it's not with me.

And yet, we kind of ran outside and realized, oh, it's a jet. It's one of, you know, the air show jets, but it is flying. I felt, I mean, I kid you not, it felt like 100 feet above us. So it flies by the house and the whole house shakes. And it continues to do that through the morning.

And I just thought, this is alarming. How is this legal? I am terrified every 15 minutes. And at one point, one of the other pastors I was with was like, Man, I'm glad these are on our side, right? Because that's a bad sound if it's against you.

And Alec was telling me when he was deployed, that was one of the things that used to happen. If there was a threat somewhere, they would fly jets as loud and low as possible to say, don't, no, no, no, don't do that. We're thinking about, no you're not.

And your reaction is different when that power is against you versus when that power is for you.

37 · Application of the jet illustration to Jesus' love: when Jesus touches John, the reaction should be relief that his terrifying power is *for* us, not against us

When Jesus puts his hand on John, I think the effect should be, man, I'm glad he's with us.

Because he has freed us by his blood, because he has purchased us, he is with us. More accurately, we are with him now. That a deserter like John could be brought back to the service of Jesus. We're not to fear. He loves us.

38 · Direct pastoral aside addressing believers who doubt God's posture toward them after repeated failures

We're not to fear. Look, let me just say, perhaps today one of the barriers in your relationship with God is you always wonder, "Man, what does he think about me today? Messed up again this week. Frustrated again this week. Go to him in prayer.

What does he think of me?" I'll tell you what he thinks of you. He loves you if you are in Christ. And this Jesus, this one, this awe-inspiring, terrifying Jesus is with you and for you.

39 · Introduces the second reason for the "fear not" command: Jesus' victory over death

Second, fear not because Jesus conquered death.

40 · Exposition of Jesus' claim to hold the keys of death and Hades

Oh man, we will explore this more and more as we go through Revelation.

But Jesus says that he is the living one and says, "I died and behold, I am alive forevermore, and I have the keys of death." and Hades. What in the world? Nobody in the world has that autobiography. Like, oh, I started Nike. Oh, thank you, Mr. Knight.

You know, I started— I saved Apple. Oh, thank you, Mr. Jobs. I beat death and it's on a leash now.

Okay, I'm gonna— let's read that guy's biography. That guy sounds interesting. That's this book. What Jesus is Jesus is doing is he is taking a fearful church who has been through tribulation and threat, who the emperor at any moment could snap and order empire-wide persecutions and executions, right, for everyone. And they live, the Christians of this era live constantly aware that they at any point might die.

And they've watched apostle after apostle after apostle die and their friends and family die and they fear. Comes to them and he says, "Fear not, I hold the keys of death. Death for you is only my servant to bring you to me.

Don't fear. Don't fear. You're afraid of a guy who can order your execution? I'm the guy who holds the keys of death itself." Oh man, I wish I could say more about that.

41 · Introduces the third reason for the "fear not" command: Jesus' presence among his people

One last thing I want you to see here: fear not because Jesus Jesus is with us.

Perhaps more accurately, Jesus is among us.

42 · Exposition of Jesus' location in the vision: in the midst of the lampstands (the churches)

The last thing I want you to see here is this. I want you to see where Jesus is. Look at verse 12. Then I turned to see the voice that was speaking to me, and on turning I saw 7 golden lampstands, and in the midst, in the midst of the lampstands, one like a Son of Man.

I want you to see the location of Jesus. He is not far off.

He's not on Mount Olympus somewhere.

When John sees, when the— as it were, the veil is removed from his eyes, he sees Jesus walking in and among the churches, fulfilling his promise to never leave his people or forsake them. Jesus said, "I will not leave you as orphans. I will come to you." There is a sense, a glorious sense, in which Revelation holds out for us the promise of his coming in a final victorious new heaven and new earth eschaton way, right? We look forward to that. But Revelation starts with Jesus here among his people.

I want you to hear this. In your life, if you are a Christian, Jesus walks among the details of your life. He walks among the church. He is not far off, distant. You're having to wave the bat signal so he comes into your life.

What John sees is gloriously, powerfully— he is already there. He's already right there. That's what I want you to experience and to feel today. He is with you today.

43 · Application synthesizing the entire sermon: the effect of this vision should be the death of fear

So do you then see the effect? Do you see the effect of why this vision strengthens the church, why the church should be above all the people bringing back the No Fear 1990s shirts. If we'd planned better, we could have shirts for everybody today. But the effect is this: there's external threats around you. You know what's going on in your life.

You got circumstances coming at you left and right. Here's what you should do, Christian. The attitude, the posture of your life is this: if this Jesus is with you, you're not afraid. And as we unfold Revelation progressively, it should put to death our fear.

44 · Conclusion via extended quotation from Dennis Johnson summarizing the sermon's burden: we need to see Jesus

I want to end with just a quote here from Johnson, who— Dennis Johnson, who is one of the commentators I'm relying on, and he just gives this beautiful summary of what we need.

I don't know what you walked into church feeling like you needed today, but this is what you need. He says, "We need to see Jesus." Let me just say, more than a fixed relationship, more than a job resolution, more than a kid coming back from wandering, we need to see Jesus, to meet his blazing eyes of heart-searching holiness, to wake up at the trumpet blast of his voice, to respond to the jealous demand for exclusive, passionate loyalty. Then shocked, insensible by the impact of his splendor, we need then to hear his words of compassionate comfort, quelling our fears, quickening our hopes. Every congregation, and I think you could say every person, whatever its struggle at its post on the battlefront, needs to fix its eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of our faith.

45 · Closing prayer recapitulating the sermon's themes: prayer for progressive revelation of Jesus through the study of Revelation, prayer for those locked in fear, petition that beholding Christ would displace fear

Would you stand?

Let's pray.

Lord, I pray that you would give us progressively as we study this book, a glimpse of you.

Lord, I specifically right now pray for anyone that came in today locked in fear, that fear is the default posture of their life, whether it's anxiety, whether it's a specific circumstance. They wonder what's going to happen here, wonder what's going to happen there.

O Lord, I pray that as we behold you, the King of kings, the God of gods, the Watcher of watchers, the Warrior of warriors, the Glorious of the glorious, fear would be driven from us. And I pray this week, in those private moments of fear when no one else is around, Oh Lord, that we would remember you're not far off on Mount Olympus.

You walk among us. That's right, Lord. Move among us right now as we sing. Lord, move among us as we sing. Lord, bring hope where there is fear.

Bring strength where there is fear. Bring power where there is fear right now as we behold that you reign, that you hold the stars, that you hold the armies of heaven, that you hold the kings of the earth, that you hold the keys of death and Hades. And as we behold you, fear would be driven by the sight of Jesus Christ. Amen.