Revelation 1:12-14 - Jesus In The Midst

“Then I turned to see the voice that spoke with me. And having turned I saw seven golden lampstands, and in the midst of the seven lampstands One like the Son of Man, clothed with a garment down to the feet and girded about the chest with a golden band. His head and hair were white like wool, as white as snow, and His eyes like a flame of fire.” Today as we approach our study of Revelation, I couldn’t help but think about how the world we live in is so broken and full of fear. The possibility of war breaking out between America, Russia and or even China is the news of the day. We are being told that another variant of the Covid virus is just around the corner. The scripture even say something about that in the end times there would be wars and rumors of wars and pestilences in different places! (Luke 21:10-11) It’s no wonder that Jesus told His disciples that in those days that, “men’s hearts would fail them because of fear.” (Luke 21:26) When John turned to see the voice that spoke with him, he saw an appearance of the Lord Jesus Christ! He called Him the “Son of Man”, which was the favorite name that Jesus called Himself in His earthly ministry. Jesus as the “Son of God” reminds us of His deity and His power to save us from our sins. Jesus as the “Son of Man” assures us that He identifies with us in our sorrow, sickness and brokenness! And as we look at these verses we are encouraged with at least three ministries that the Lord has in the “midst” of His Churches! We see the Lord Jesus Christ pictured here as our Great High Priest. His garments are those of the high priest (Exodus 28:2-4). The garments represent the inherent righteousness of Christ. In Him is no sin, and He knew no sin. Concerning the girdle, Josephus states that the priests were girded about the breasts. The ordinary custom was to be girded about the loins. But the emphasis here is not on service but on strength. It speaks of His judgment in truth. We are asked to consider our Great High Priest as He stands in the midst of the churches. He is judging the churches; He is judging believers that the light might continue to shine. My friend, it is important to see what Christ's present ministry is.  We see three very definite ministries. First, there is the intercession of Christ. He is our Great High Priest. He is standing at the golden altar in heaven today, where He ever lives to make intercession for us (see Hebrews 7:25). We love that part of His ministry. It is a wonderful thing. Secondly, we have the intervention of Christ. He steps outside of the Holy Place to the laver. There He washes the feet of those who are His own. He washes those who have confessed their sins. Christians have sin, and those sins must be confessed in order to have fellowship with Him. "If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness" (1John 1:9). He is girded today with the towel, and He carries the basin; He intervenes on our behalf.  "My little children, these things write I unto you, that ye sin not. And if any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father..." (1John 2:1). Christ is our advocate. That is, He is on our side defending us when we are accused, and Satan is the accuser of the brethren. There is yet another ministry of Christ that is not very popular. It is the ministry of inspection mentioned in the first three chapters of Revelation.  John saw Jesus walking in the midst of the lampstands. We will look at this in more detail tomorrow! But rest assured, no matter what the church, or you and I face in this world today, we have Jesus “in our midst”! Fear Not!!! He is with us now!!!!! You can trust Him! God bless!