Revelation Chapter 1: 12-19

“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; His feet were like fine brass, as if refined in a furnace, and His voice as the sound of many waters; He had in His right hand seven stars, out of His mouth went a sharp two-edged sword, and His countenance was like the sun shining in its strength.

“And when I saw Him, I fell at His feet as dead. But He laid His right hand on me, saying to me, ‘Do not be afraid; I am the First and the Last. I am He who lives, and was dead, and behold, I am alive forevermore. Amen. And I have the keys of Hades and of Death. Write the things which you have seen, and the things which are, and the things which will take place after this.”

Over the past few years, a lot of books and movies have come out to tell us about dying, going to heaven and seeing Jesus. Many of these books have been best sellers, making the author millions of dollars. Now, making money is not in and of itself wrong. But we have to look at the Bible and the absolute source of truth to make sure that these books line up with the Bible. Today we will see John’s vision of Jesus in His glory in Revelation Chapter 1: 12-19

It had been some time since he had seen Jesus in His glory; more than 60 years had passed since John had seen Jesus glorified. We find the account in Luke 9:28-29. Jesus was glorified before three of His apostles, John included; and he was very bright and was compared to a flash of lightning.  Now, a long time later, John is about to see Jesus in a way that He really had not seen Him before; and this time he would have more time to observe the King of kings.

What we are about to see is the Living God, and He is going to give John a tour of the future that would happen about 2,000 years after John was already gone.

Seven Golden Lampstands – Revelation 1 verses 12-13

I did some research on this, and there are some conflicting opinions on what John saw. Some think he saw seven individual lampstands, and others think that it looked like the lamp that stood in the Temple. I will stick with the latter as the lampstand that is first mentioned in the scriptures is that of the one in the Temple.

It was a lampstand with 7 arms sticking out; we call it a Menorah. This was a picture of the light that the Gospel brought even in the Old Testament. From the very beginning, the Light was designed to point us to Jesus. He is the Light of the world, the Light of the churches down through the ages, the Light of the Gospel and the Light of the future. The Old Testament symbols all spoke of Jesus; and here we see Jesus in the midst of the Lampstand, and He is radiant and glorious.

All too often today we have taken the glory away from the Lord. We have ‘dulled’ him, making Him more man that God. He is both. But He is the Living God, and all too often we make Him out to be a bosom buddy and not the Almighty Creator that He is. Notice in verse 17 that John, upon observing the Lord in His glory, “fell at His feet as dead.” The same John who was Jesus’ best friend, the one to whom He entrusted the care of His mother, the one who had seen Him transfigured still fell down as ‘dead’ at the sight of His glory.

The Lord’s churches need to get back to preaching about the awe and glory of our Lord and Saviour. He is the Light; His glory as the Living, Holy and Omniscient God is the luster that the world is looking for. He needs for us to lift Him up for the world to see. But instead we have put ourselves up, we have elevated ourselves above our status as unholy, wretched, lost, rotten sinners; and in doing so we have stolen His glory as the spotless and perfect Lamb of God. Yes, we are that bad; and YES, He is that good.

The world needs us, the Lord’s churches, to be true Lights and point to the source of our Light—Jesus, and Him alone. In contrast, the world needs to know how bad we/they really are and that He had to be stained with our filth so as to save us. Oh, that we would all see the Lord “high and lifted up!” (Isaiah 6:1).

His hair; His clothes; His feet; His voice; and His face – Revelation 1 verses 14-16

John still recognized Him as the “Son of Man” (verse 13). Jesus still looked like Jesus but in a glorified state. The Bible tells us that “we shall see Him as He is” and be like Him. In our new bodies, we will still be us, only way better and sinless. John had spent the better part of 3.5 years traveling with Jesus, and they were earthly friends. Good friends. John’s gospel spends the 21 chapters showing us the Son of Man as the Son of God. Jesus looked like Jesus but in all His glory.

Then we see His purity: hair white as snow and white as wool. In Isaiah 1:18 we see that, in Jesus, we can be white as wool and white as snow. His eyes like flames of fire: fire purifies and cleans as it consumes. Clean things become dirty when they touch dirty stuff. A clean plate is replaced if it is dropped on the floor. A clean plate does not make a dirty floor clean, but the other way around. Jesus is unique in this way in that He is pure and is able to make all the dirty stuff He touches clean.

One of my favorite passages found in Matthew 8 and then in Mark 1 is a passage where Jesus touches a leper and makes him clean. How long had it been since that man had felt the touch of a human hand? He was an outcast made to call out ‘unclean, unclean’ as people came close. But, that day the Son of Man touched him and made him clean. Here we see Jesus’ eyes are like fire; they pierce into the soul and minds of men and see not just the actions but the motives that drive us.

Jesus’ feet were like fine brass, bright, and you just could not take your eyes from them. He was breathtaking and awe-inspiring. His voice was powerful. If you have ever been to Niagara Falls and heard the deafening roar of the water as it hurdles over the falls, you can imagine the sound of Jesus’ voice. John was an experienced fisherman; he had seen his share of sea storms in his life. He knew what the water sounded like when that was all you could hear.

Then Jesus’ mouth was like a two-edged sword – truth, absolute truth. Jesus’ words are Truth all the time. There is not one iota of deceit in His words. We can trust everything the Bible says on all aspects of life; geography; science; history; money; family and lineage. Finally, Jesus’ face is bright; it pierces into your soul and illuminates our sinfulness. It casts away all the shadows, and nothing is hidden from Him. All our secrets are laid bare. His Light is hot and it saps our strength and kills our pride; and we fall at His feet like dead men.

Jesus Touches John – Revelation 1 verse 17

We do not know how long John laid there. But at some point, Jesus touches him and gives him the strength to stand up. “Do not be afraid.” In Jesus, we do not have to be afraid when we see Him. He is our salvation. He is our resurrection and He is our King.

It had been 60+ years since Jesus had touched John; they had been very close for the vast majority of His earthly ministry and even on that night at the Passover before Jesus was arrested. He, John, was one of the two that went to the empty tomb a few days later; he had seen Him as He ascended, and now here he was seeing Him again. Jesus reaches out and touches Him. What will it be like for us to be touched by the outstretched and loving hand of our Saviour? To feel the power; the calm; the love; the care; and the peace that He offers.

Jesus is the God of the resurrection, Revelation 1 verse 18. He is the one who came back from the dead. Jesus is the First and the Last. He is qualified to tell us the future since He has already been there, and He is the final judge. He has the keys to Death and Hell; He is the keeper of both. He will banish both one day, and they will cease to be a scourge on mankind. He then tells John to write the things that he sees.

I remind you that this book of the Bible is called the Revelation of Jesus Christ. This is what the end of time is for. It is the Revelation of Jesus to Israel and the world. So, it is fitting that we encounter Jesus right in the first chapter in all His glory. We see Him bright and powerful, one who commands respect and one who displays both power and kindness as he touches His friend, John. The whole goal of the book is to reveal Jesus.

When He came the first time, He did so quietly as a baby. He grew up as a poor carpenter. He taught in parables that many could not understand. He was rejected by His own people and looked like a common man. But, the next time no one will miss Him. He will not be required to identify himself or wear a badge. All will know that this is Jesus.

Some of us will have felt His gentle touch as our friend. But many will feel the full force of the Righteous Son of God. They will pump their fists in the air and scream at Him; they will defy God and hate Him; but they will know who He is, and they will not be able to escape His global power.

Jesus’ touch to John calmed his fears, stabilized him and helped him do the job at hand. But to the lost and rebellious world, Jesus’ touch will bring fear, pain and suffering. And they will find no comfort, no peace and no strength. They will be brought begrudgingly to their knees before the King, and they will understand that they are nothing.

Will you meet Jesus and be strengthened, calmed and regarded as a friend? Or will you be brought to your knees forcefully and under the wrath of God? The choice is yours to make. Don’t delay. Today is the day of salvation.

Missionarybaptistchurch76@yahoo.ca

 

 

Revelation Chapter 1: 9-11

“I, John, both your brother and companion in the tribulation and kingdom and patience of Jesus Christ, was on the island that is called Patmos for the word of God and for the testimony of Jesus Christ. I was in the Spirit on the Lord’s Day, and I heard behind me a loud voice, as of a trumpet, saying, ‘I am the Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last,’ and, ‘What you see, write in a book and send it to the seven churches which are in Asia: to Ephesus, to Smyrna, to Pergamos, to Thyatira, to Sardis, to Philadelphia, and to Laodicea.’”

It may seem tedious that we are taking small chunks of this book and exploring them, but this is how I am being led. I had selected a bigger passage; and then as I was going through it, it seems to me that the Lord just kind of said ‘okay, stop here.’ I kept reading more and tried to get more; but nothing seems to come to me as I am reading, so I go back to the passage at hand and find that there is plenty to deal with here.

Over the past week, two very important events took place in Israel, and they are part of the set-up for the ‘last days.’ On May 14^th, 2018, Israel celebrated 70 years back in the Promised Land. This is the end of one generation back in their homeland, the land given to Abraham. On that very same day, the USA opened their Israeli embassy in Jerusalem. This was legally recognizing that Jerusalem is the capital city of Israel.

Many presidents have spoken about Jerusalem being the capital; but to truly acknowledge the capital with the US establishing her embassy there is setting up the world stage that will center around Jerusalem and the Temple Mount. Already the promised enemies of Israel from Ezekiel 38 – Gog, Gomer and the others, according to the Interpreting the Times website – these Biblical names represent the modern countries of Turkey, Libya, Russia, Eastern Europe, Ethiopia and Iran, most of whom are active and clearly show themselves to be the enemies of Israel.

Iran has repeatedly called for the annihilation of Israel. I think we will begin to see the ‘sheep and goat’ nations much more clearly now that the standard has been set by the USA. Canada needs to be weary of our current Prime Minister; he is opposed to the move by the US, and he is putting our nation on a collision course with God, one that we cannot win.

We meet John the Apostle who, as we mentioned before, is aged now, some 60-65 years removed from the resurrection of Jesus; and he has been sentenced to live on the Isle of Patmos, an island about 60 square miles in size just off the coast of modern-day Turkey in the Aegean Sea. I remind you of this because I want you to go and see it for yourself on a map and realize that this is a real place.

Patmos is a Roman prison colony. Here, prisoners are jailed on an island with no means of escape. It appears, as I look more into this, that this is a work colony with very little amenities. The Emperor Domitian is running Rome, and Christians are still ‘personas non grata’ in the Empire. The Gospel is not welcomed in the Roman Empire.

Sounds a lot like the current nations of the world; the Gospel is not welcomed, and they prefer if we keep silent. For a long time we have, and we are not doing our jobs as salt and light. I am pointing a finger at me as well; but the Lord’s churches are to act as a scrubber for the blight of sins, and all too often we have become complicit by being silent.

John, our brother and companion, Revelation 1, verse 9

When I look at men like John, there is an awe that comes over me. I see this apostle,  in Revelation, the one who was seemingly the quietest of them, but one that made a great impact. We can see from his writings that he was not the most educated, yet his messages are powerful and speak to the intimate relationship that we have with Jesus. Long after Jesus’ resurrection and ascension, John had the care of Jesus’ mother Mary. So, he had a very physical reminder of Jesus in his life for a long time after Jesus had left.

In Revelation, John introduces himself as our brother. That’s it, our brother. I am reminded of the angels as they warned Peter not to worship them, as they are just ‘fellow servants.’ All of us are simply brothers and sisters in the Lord. There are no ‘big and small’ in the Kingdom of God; we are just family bought and paid for by the blood of Jesus.

Moses and Abraham became God’s children the same way we do, by faith. Paul put his faith in Jesus just like we do today. The only big Person is Jesus, the Author and Finisher of our Faith. He is the Master, He is the Saviour, and He is the King; we are all just brothers and sisters in the Lord. All of us are important to the cause, but we are dispensable. Only Jesus is indispensable. If we refuse to do our jobs; if we, in disobedience and by omission, stop being the Light and Salt we are called to be, we can be replaced and will be replaced by another brother or sister.

John then calls himself our ‘companion’ in the tribulation, the kingdom, and in the patience of Jesus. These are all a part of being in the faith. First of all, tribulation – this is not referring to the time of the tribulation. Rather this is what his life has been like for the past 65+ years since Jesus went back home. The other apostles were all killed for the cause of Christ. John was left alive, but not for the lack of trying to kill him.

These men and millions of men and women have suffered for the name of Jesus and the preaching of the Gospel. And lest you think this is a phenomenon of the past, just a few weeks ago President Trump made an address to the country of Nigeria that they should stop allowing Christians to be persecuted in their land and provide them with protection to live out their faith.

According to an article in Christianity Today published on January 11, 2017, the modern persecution of Christians had hit another high from the previous three years. It stated that nationalism was just as much a threat to Christians as Islam and listed the top 50 countries where it was dangerous to be a Christian. Among the list, North Korea remained (for the 14^th year) the most dangerous place to be a Christian, but Pakistan and Mali were also listed along with Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Laos, and of particular concern was the 62% rise in the killing of Christians in Nigeria.

We live in a bubble here in North America; we do not understand what persecution is. Are we oppressed? Yes, we are. But we have not even begun to comprehend real persecution. We have had a few incidents with persons killed while attending church, but not mass killings and/or executions for the name of Jesus. But make no mistake; this is coming to North America. The establishment took God out of the schools, then the public sphere, then the home, and now they want Him out of the churches— and we are the targets.

The agenda of radical feminism and the Socialists that are very vocal is tolerance of those that agree with them. The rest of us that believe in absolute truth will be silenced and/or killed. “They can’t handle the truth,” to borrow a line from a movie.

In Revelation, John calls himself a companion in the kingdom. We are all a part of the Kingdom of Heaven. Nothing more, nothing less. There are just two kingdoms: that of God and the other of Satan. One of Light, the other Darkness; the one of Pure Holiness, and the other pure Evil – that’s it. There are not multiple kingdoms to choose from. One is either with Jesus or against Jesus, and there is no in-between.

This is very hard for some to accept today; and even some in the Lord’s churches have a hard time understanding that Hell is real and that people actually go there every day, just like the saved go to Heaven. No everyone gets to R.I.P! Not everyone goes to a better place. Once you and I became children of God, brothers and sisters of John, we stopped being citizens of earth and became citizens of the Kingdom.

From the very beginning of the call of Abraham, he was called a “resident alien,” a sojourner. We too are called that in the New Testament. In 1 Peter 2:11 we are called “exiles.” We are living in a place that is not our native land. We are now citizens of the Kingdom of Heaven, having been washed in the blood of Jesus.

Sadly, too many of us, myself included, have come to live like citizens of earth. We have lost the uniqueness of our true homeland, Heaven. We have given up the eternal for the temporary, we have given up righteousness for pleasure, and we have traded the precious name of Jesus for anything that helps us not have to change.

I hate my flesh; it lets me down and betrays me and my Lord all too often. We want to be part of the Kingdom, but we do not live like we are a part of the Kingdom. Where are the traits of love and kindness? Where are the traits of holiness and righteousness that set us apart from the world? Do we truly live like citizens of the Kingdom? Would people know from your lifestyle that you are of the Kingdom of Light?

John bore in his body the marks of the Kingdom: the near-death attempts, the weariness of travel all through Rome, Asia, Asia Minor and the Middle East. Everywhere he went they knew that he was an alien from Heaven living in the Roman Empire. Can people tell that you are an alien?

John was also a companion in patience. He, like you and I, was waiting for the return of our Lord and Master, Jesus. He had seen Jesus leave and heard with his own ears the promise to return recorded in Acts 1:11. Little did he know just how long he would have to wait. He had waited now for 65 or so years, and maybe a bit more if he lived past the end of the first century. But the New Testament church has been waiting for almost 2,000 years for the return of Jesus. We all know that the time is short, but that is only relative as to how far we have come.

What if we need to wait another 100 years? What if God in His wonderful and matchless grace extends the offer to more persons? There is no rushing the will of God; He will do what He wants when He is ready. Our job is to pray, proclaim and be patient. Be ready to go, and work to take as many as we can with us. John was a mature Christian; he lived through some persecution, he lived like a citizen of the Kingdom, and he was patiently waiting for the Kingdom to come.

John in the Spirit, Revelation 1, verse 10

In Revelation, John was a saved man who had been given the Holy Spirit by Jesus in John 20: 22. This was before the day of Pentecost when the church was given the Holy Spirit. John, like you and I, are washed in the blood of Jesus and indwelt by the Holy Spirit. But on this day and at least on three other occasions listed in the Revelation, John was in the Spirit. He was transported—moved to see something that the normal eye could not see; taken to a place that normal ears could not hear; allowed to see the end while for all intents and purposes he was at the very beginning.

As I read, I do not think that John saw this all of Revelation, at once like a movie, but more like a series of movies, a series of episodes that allow for him to digest what he sees before more is offered. I could be wrong, and this is only my opinion. But in Revelation,  John was in the Spirit; and what he saw awed Him, drove him to cry, question, react in horror, want to see more, and at times lose his strength.

In 2 Corinthians 12:1-4, the apostle Paul was allowed to see heaven; he was speechless and could not put into words what he saw. This makes the writings of John in the Revelation even more powerful. Paul, one of the most learned of the apostles, could not put into words the things he saw. But Jesus often dictates to John and often tells him “write this down.” God can use anyone who will listen and do what he is told. No blight on Paul; he was simply not allowed to write about the stuff he saw.

John to the Seven churches, Revelation 1, verse 11

As I have mentioned before, the seven churches represent actual churches that existed in the days of John, but they summarize the 7 types of churches that would exist through the church age. This church age is now about 2,000 years into its length, and we are nearing the end. The current church age is dominated by Laodicean churches, those that are rich in an earthly way but not in God’s way. Many Christians in North America and the free world are rich in the treasures of earth, but few are rich in heavenly treasures. Many of us are planning for retirement here and not service there in the Kingdom.

Many have forgotten; and it is hardly taught that Jesus is coming soon, that we have a judgment to face and an eternity to serve. Too many no longer feel the need to invest in the Kingdom here. I saw an interview with a young lady who was attending a large church; and over the course of a few years, she had contributed about $4 in her estimation. She did not feel led to give; there was no desire at all. The Bible tells us that where a man’s treasure is, there his heart will be also.

Are you invested in the church age? I have read and heard of many studies that show that the average adult gives about $20 per service attended. Tell me what your average attendance is, multiply that number by about $20, and you will have an approximation of what a church will take in. A very large church in Texas had a theft one Sunday after the morning service, and the take was about $600,000. Their average attendance is about 30,000 on a Sunday morning.

I know of great men, unknown men (to the world) who are actively taking the Gospel to every Olympics and every World Games. I know friends who head organizations that take the Gospel to cities and towns in Canada and the US every year. I know of people who are actively translating the books of John and Romans into dialects and languages for ALL to get the Gospel. The work of the Lord’s churches must continue on until all have heard the Gospel. That must be our goal to do the best that we can do.

He is our power and our strength; He gives the desire and the ability, but we must have it in our minds to not be like the Laodicean church. Jesus must be the head of each church and the head of each endeavor. He is our message, He is the only hope that the world has, and He is the only one who can wash a sinner clean and remove their sins.

Paul summed up the work of the New Testament church in this verse, and we will end our little walk in Revelation 1 today with this.

1 Corinthians 2:2-4 “For I decided to know nothing while I was with you except Jesus Christ and Him crucified. I came to you in weakness and fear, and with much trembling. My message and my preaching were not with persuasive words of wisdom, but with a demonstration of the Spirit’s power.”

Missionarybaptistchurch76@yahoo.ca