"Fear not" are the simple words which have stilled the hearts of God's people throughout ages past.

The life of the believer, you see, is often one in which there are more hardships and uncertainties than those who do not know the Lord.

Physical fears or spiritual fears; yet in both God says to his people, "Fear not." He does not mean by this to extinguish fear as a category altogether for us. Rather, that our real fears would all be overwhelmed by his greater promises that he is with us no matter what.

That we would, with the psalmist in Psalm 27, "Wait for the Lord. Be strong and let your heart take courage. Yes, wait for the Lord."

So to Abraham the Lord said, "Do not fear, Abram. I am a shield about you." To Isaac he said, "Do not fear. I am with you." To Jacob, "Do not be afraid."

And so to Moses at the edge of the Red Sea in Exodus 14, "Do not fear," he said to the people. "Stand by and see the salvation of the Lord which he will accomplish for you today."

And through Isaiah the Lord still speaks to his people, "Do not anxiously look about you for I am your God. I will strengthen you. I will surely help you. Surely, I will uphold you by my righteous right hand."

Fear not is the word of the Lord to all of our hearts.

On Good Friday, we gathered and remembered the cross where Jesus died for our sins, and it was a wonderful time.

Well, something we often forget, and that occurs in the gospels, is that Jesus' disciples had tremendous fear after Jesus died.

"Strike down the shepherd and the sheep will scatter."

And so they were fearful. What will become of us? Will we too suffer the same fate as Jesus? Will his end be our end also?

You see, the Lord had not given capacity to his followers to comprehend his pending resurrection that today we remember, even though Christ had spoken of it often. You see the Jews believed that there would be a general resurrection at the end of the age, but they had not expected a resurrection prior.

No one understood until after the fact what Jesus had meant when he said, for instance, "Destroy this temple and I will rebuild it in three days."

The fear was evident, and in John 20:19 we read that "the doors were shut where the disciples were for fear of the Jews."

We then see Christ, in all his resurrection glory, came and stood in their midst and said to them, "Peace be with you."

So those who were in fear after seeing Jesus the crucified alive once more; after they could see the nail piercings in his hands; for them, after hearing his voice, it was all enough to make these fearful lambs into bold lions who would carry his message forward into the world. And here we are today.

In John 20:20 it says, "He showed them both his hands and his side. The disciples then rejoiced when they saw the Lord."

It is my prayer this morning that we would each catch a glimpse of Jesus Christ and his resurrection.

Because all we really need in this life is to see Jesus and to see more of him, more and more, until at last we are at home with him.

Looking at this text in the vision of the apostle John, I want to give you three fear nots that we see in this passage.

Fear Not Because Jesus Is the First And the Last

First of all, fear not, for Jesus is the first and the last. Again in verse seventeen it says, "When I saw him I fell at his feet like a dead man. And he placed his right hand on me saying, 'Do not be afraid. I am the first and the last.'"

And so "fear not" are the words of Christ that came to John, who was an exile on the island of Patmos.

And fear not were the words that John needed. John describes himself as falling at Christ's feet in this vision, but this is not a falling at Jesus' feet to bow in homage or worship. This is a falling to be paralysed in fear and to fall as a dead man because he has caught a glimpse of Jesus and his full resurrection and ascended, enthronement glory.

All we have to do is read back a little bit and we can see exactly why. In verse twelve, it says John turned to look at the one who is speaking to him. And he sees Jesus standing in the midst of seven golden lampstands. These are symbols of the seven churches listed in verse eleven. And the point is John sees that Christ is present with the church in her tribulations and the toil that she undergoes for his name's sake.

Then he sees that Christ is clothed with vestments of authority and kingly sovereignty; a robe that reaches his feet; this golden sash that is across his chest; symbols of sovereignty and power and rule and dominion.

And so this is a Christ that is in a very different state to what John the apostle had witnessed as a younger man when he had seen the Lord Jesus die. When he stood near the cross and watched as Jesus was in agony, naked, humiliated, and an object of cursing, now he sees Christ in the fullness of his glory.

The same John would have watched as Nicodemus and Joseph of Arimathea placed Jesus' lifeless corpse into that garden tomb.

These things have taken place for the forgiveness of sins, but now as John sees Jesus in this way, this is the present state of Christ in all his splendour.

The enthroned king of glory of Psalm 24, a glory that he had with the Father before the foundation of the world.

Now John catches a glimpse of him.

It says in verse fourteen that his hair was "white like wool, like snow, and his eyes were a flame of fire." You see, John is under no disillusion that as he looks upon Jesus, he sees God himself.

The language that is applied to Christ here comes straight from Daniel's vision in Daniel 7:9. There is says, "I kept looking until thrones were set up and the ancient of days took his seat. His vesture was like white snow and the hair of his head was like pure wool. His throne was ablaze with flames; its wheels were a burning fire."

And so that his hair is white is a symbol of his holiness and his pure, radiant righteousness. That his eyes are flaming fire speaks to the judgment that belongs to Christ. That he is the one who sees all things, who knows all things; that there is no dark corner in this world that Christ's piercing eyes have not already judged. Nothing is hidden from his sight. There is nothing that shall not be known and revealed to him in those last days when those eyes of fire are the last thing the wicked shall see before being cast from his presence for eternity.

It tells us of Christ's incontestable power.

In verse fifteen, John describes Christ's voice. It says, "His voice was like the sound of many waters." This is Old Testament language again for the voice of God. Ezekiel 43:2, "Behold the glory of the God of Israel was coming from the way of the East and his voice was like the sound of many waters and the earth shone with his glory."

John sees that there are seven stars in the hand of Christ. These are symbols of the ministers, those men in the arena of Christ's church serving him, and they are upheld by the hand of Christ.

And there is a sword coming from Christ's mouth in the vision, a symbol of his will to divide the nations in judgment and render justice according to each man's deeds. John sees all these things and more; a symbol laden vision of Jesus Christ in the full array of his glory and power.

And so all that could happen to John, or any one of us at that time, does happen. He falls at his feet like a dead man.

When to behold the glory of Christ, sinful man falls on his face.

I've often been told, even just this last week, I was told by a friend, when I do see Jesus, if he is who he said he was, he says, "I have a few things to say to him."

But His eyes are of a flaming fire with a sword coming from his mouth. We have nothing to say to this Christ in our sinful state. We would but fall on our face at his feet.

Dear friends, this is who Jesus Christ really is. He appears otherwise when we see him in infancy in the gospels; as a boy; or in the workshop of Joseph as the carpenter. We see him in the world as a man dying and suffering as a man. These were necessary steps for our redemption, but this vision after he has been raised, ascended, and coronated, this eternally reveals who he really is.

And what does Jesus say to John to comfort him in his rightful fear? He says, "I am the first and the last."

We know where this language comes from in scripture and we know who it is exclusively used to refer to in the Old Testament. Isaiah 44:6, "Thus says the Lord, the king of Israel, and his redeemer, the Lord of hosts: I am the first and I am the last. There is no God besides me."

Yahweh, the LORD, and this Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, are one God. Moreover, our God is triune: Father, Son, Spirit.

The Christ who died on the cross, the Christ who rose from the dead, is God himself as a man incarnate to accomplish the redemption of his people.

And just in case we do not get it, at the end of Revelation, the same thing is repeated in Revelation 22. "I am the alpha and omega, the first and the last, the beginning and the end."

There is a story of the famous painter Caravaggio, and he was once commissioned for a painting that is titled "The Taking of Christ." It is essentially the night that Jesus was betrayed and taken.

And long story short, some two hundred years after Caravaggio completed this painting, somehow his name was disassociated with the painting. So two hundred years went past, and then everyone seemed to forget who actually painted the painting, and it was wrongly attributed to someone else.

And while misattributed all that time, well, in reality, the painting had not changed. Still it hung there on the wall. It was still admired until its authorship was truly uncovered and understood once again.

And it is not all too different to this in the gospels with Jesus. Throughout the gospels, Jesus is in different ways revealing his divine identity. He is still the same God-man, but only after the resurrection is the painter, so to speak, is Christ truly appreciated and understood who he was.

The right moment for his grand revealing had not yet come early in the gospels. And so statements that Christ made such as "Truly, truly, I say to you, before Abraham was born, I am" were lost on the disciples in the deepest sense.

Until he rose from the dead, victorious over death Christ's person lay outside the possibilities of man's comprehension. Who can comprehend the God-man, after all?

The resurrection changed everything. All that had been formally revealed is now sealed and vindicated. And now, with Thomas, one of the twelve, we can say to Christ, "My Lord and my God," because he is the first and the last.

But just to press upon you this point, consider here as Jesus reaches out and he takes John by the shoulder in verse seventeen. Here is the imagery of what has been made possible by the death and resurrection of Jesus. The holy of holies has opened up. The holy one of God has now reached out his hand through that veil that once guarded man from entering into God's holy place. And this great conundrum of how sinners can be reconciled to God is now solved in the gospel by what he has done.

There is no longer a barrier of sin between this holy, majestic Christ and the believer. And he reaches out and he takes us by the shoulder and he says, "Do not fear. It is I."

Now think about how this applies to us. If it is all true, then what it means is that it is going to be okay. Fear not. If Jesus really did die for sinners, if he really did die on the cross so that "whoever believes in him shall not perish but have everlasting life", and if Jesus really is, as John says, "the first and the last", the great I am, the incarnate God, then it puts everything in perspective for us, does it not?

In fact, whatever we might go through in this life pales in comparison to the eternal glory that awaits each one of his children, when John's vision becomes a reality for us; when Jesus' hand is stretched out and he lays hold of us and he welcomes us home. If it is all true, then what are we afraid of?

Whatever questions and confusions that you might have about your life and the world, why things are the way they are, it is ultimately okay. It is going to be okay because Christ is risen. Fear not.

Christ is at the helm of this great ship. Trust Christ. His purposes are beyond comprehension and that is okay. Do not be anxious. Do not be afraid. Trust in this Christ.

Fear Not Because Jesus Is Alive Forevermore

Moving on, consider next with me, fear not, for Jesus is alive forevermore.

The next clause says, "...and the living one, and I was dead, and behold, I am alive forevermore."

This next clause introduces the great paradox of Christianity, a great unsolvable, indescribable mystery that we may never fully understand. And that is that this Jesus whose voice was like the sound of many waters; this one who is clothed in these vestments of glory; who is himself the great I am, the first and the last, the alpha and omega; it is the same one who died!

It is the great conundrum.

Isaac Watts, the hymn writer, got it right. He said, "Amazing love, how can it be that thou my God shouldst die for me?"

Dear friends, we need not be simplistic or crude in our thinking here.

The being of God is incapable of death. God is spirit. He is eternal. The uncaused one, the almighty creator inhabiting a timeless eternity.

When Jesus died on the cross, God died in the sense that the humanity he had taken on for himself died bodily. Jesus the man really underwent the horrors of hell and wrathful judgment for his people, and he bore the punishment for our sins.

His humanity perished and died.

The point is that Jesus, God the Son incarnate, in his true humanity died the sinner's death.

And it is in this way our creator shed his blood for the creature who had sinned against him. Acts 20:28, "The church of God which he purchased with his own blood."

Oh, what a mystery divine. We cannot begin to comprehend it, but we can say amen. And we can know for sure that the same first and last, the great I am, that became a man; that he suffered as a man; he died as a man; he was buried as a man; he rose as a man; and he ascended to the Father as a man, for us.

He is alive forevermore. His sufferings have given way to a great victory on our behalf and he ever lives now to make intercession for his people.

So right at this very moment as we sit here in Woodlands, he is as alive now, as he was on that first Easter morning, when the disciples found his burial shroud lying there in the empty tomb.

Fear not! Because Jesus is alive forever and so his people shall be. Listen to the words of Philippians 3:20, "For our citizenship is in heaven from which we eagerly wait for a saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ, who would transform the body of our humble state into conformity with the body of his glory by the exertion of the power that is even to subject all things to himself."

So here is some application. Because Jesus is alive and he is glorified forevermore, if we have believed in him, so our future will be also. Nothing could be so certain as that we will rise with him.

The Puritan Thomas Watson put it this way. He said, "We are more sure to arise out of our graves than out of our beds."

Because now that Jesus has been raised, there is more certainty that we will be with him in glory than there is that I will even wake up tomorrow morning. More certainty even than that.

This is what the resurrection means for us, friends. Paul says in 1 Corinthians 15 that Christ's resurrection is the "first fruits of those who are asleep". That means our resurrection to come and his resurrection that has already taken place is all one event. His is just ahead of time.

In other words, all we need for assurance of our own future state of resurrected glorified bodies is to look at his resurrection and say, with John in his epistle, 1 John 3:2, "We know that when he appears, we will be like him."

Fear Not Because Jesus Has the Keys Of Death And Hades

Third and final heading here. We want to see in this last clause, the last verse, a third reason to fear not. Fear not, for "I have the keys of death and Hades."

To hold keys is to hold power, but what you hold the keys to makes all the difference about what power that you have. The first keys that I ever owned were the keys to a 1994 Holden Commodore. I thought I had a lot of power with those keys when I was eighteen. I thought it was pretty cool, but those keys did not really give me a whole lot of authority.

Not when Donald Trump has the keys to the White House in his pocket; not when Putin has the keys to the Kremlin; or when King Charles has the keys to Buckingham Palace in his pocket. It is power. It is authority.

But it turns out that owning the keys to the most prominent buildings in the world, or to every door on Hollywood Boulevard, there is no comparison with the keys that Christ now holds; the keys for death and Hades.

Hades here is a different word to that translated in the New Testament as hell. Hades is simply the place of the dead. It refers to a disembodied existence as all await the resurrection at the end of the age; a resurrection unto glory or a resurrection unto judgment.

That Christ holds these keys means simply that Jesus Christ is the one with authority to liberate man as he will from the clutches of death and judgment. All judgment, all authority, all power has been given to the Son.

John MacArthur put it this way. He says, "Jesus has, he said, even the authority of who lives and who dies and when." That is how much authority Christ has.

The keys to death are in his hand. Yours and mine's eternal destinies are labelled on the tags of these keys, and he holds them, not us.

And the way that he earned the right to these keys was in the most conclusive way possible, leaving no room for doubt of his authority.

Samuel Whitelock Gandy captures it in his hymn: "By weakness and defeat, he won a glorious crown, trod all our foes beneath his feet by being trodden down. He Satan's power laid low, made sin he overthrew, bowed to the grave, destroyed it so, and death by dying slew."

See, it was by death that death was conquered. By the one-time death of the holy innocent Lamb of God, death was slain and delivered a crushing blow.

The accuser, Satan, can no more come against God's elect. No more can he stand to accuse God that his mercy is an injustice. For because of Jesus, God's justice has been satisfied in full, His wrath against sin extinguished. Grace merited by Christ, eternal life secured, never to be revoked.

The resurrection of Jesus occurred because he was innocent of all charges. The sin that was imputed against him, he was able to pay in full, but it had no claim upon him for it is not his own.

So the grave could not hold him and he took up life again on that first Sunday morning with a roaring victory for us.

And so as the angel said, "He is not here for he has risen just as he said,".

Paul, citing from Hosea 13, in 1 Corinthians 15, says, "Oh death, where is your victory? Oh death, where is your sting? The sting of death is sin and the power of sin is the law, but thanks be to God who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ."

Now what this means for us as we close is very simple. If you have believed in and followed Jesus, fear not that doorway of death through which we all must pass. Do not fear. This Christ of resurrection holds the keys. You will pass through, not into second death and judgment, but you will pass through that doorway to eternal life, because Christ holds the keys and he is going to open that door for you.

Because there is no longer any condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.

So the only question left to ask is this: Do you believe, or are you still unbelieving this morning? Do you believe that Jesus really holds these keys?

Do you believe he has the authority to liberate all those who come to him and cry out for the mercy that he offers?

He is willing and he is able to take us by the shoulder with his right outstretched arm and say to us, "Fear not."