The Unveiled Jesus
Jamaal Williams
9 I, John, your brother and partner in the affliction, kingdom, and endurance that are in Jesus, was on the island called Patmos because of the word of God and the testimony of Jesus.
10 I was in the Spirit on the Lord’s day, and I heard a loud voice behind me like a trumpet
11 saying, “Write on a scroll what you see and send it to the seven churches: Ephesus, Smyrna, Pergamum, Thyatira, Sardis, Philadelphia, and Laodicea.”
12 Then I turned to see whose voice it was that spoke to me. When I turned I saw seven golden lampstands,
13 and among the lampstands was one like the Son of Man, dressed in a robe and with a golden sash wrapped around his chest.
14 The hair of his head was white as wool—white as snow—and his eyes like a fiery flame.
15 His feet were like fine bronze as it is fired in a furnace, and his voice like the sound of cascading waters.
16 He had seven stars in his right hand; a sharp double-edged sword came from his mouth, and his face was shining like the sun at full strength.
17 When I saw him, I fell at his feet like a dead man. He laid his right hand on me and said, “Don’t be afraid. I am the First and the Last,
18 and the Living One. I was dead, but look—I am alive forever and ever, and I hold the keys of death and Hades.
19 Therefore write what you have seen, what is, and what will take place after this.
20 The mystery of the seven stars 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.
Revelation 1:9-20 CSB
Big Idea: The risen Jesus stands among his precious but pressured people.
1. John Suffers as a Faithful Witness
2. The Risen Jesus Stands Among His Churches
3. Jesus Reassures and Recommissions His Witness
4. Midtown: Courageous Storytellers
- A Courageous Storyteller tells the truth about Jesus and the difference his grace has made.
- This week you might tell a coworker why you have hope, pray with a family member, or let a conversation reach Jesus instead of steering it somewhere safer.
- Ask the Spirit for courage and pay attention to the people God has already placed around you. When the door opens, tell what you know.