Category: Revelation

Re:Verse reading–Revelation 2:1-11; 3:1-6, 14-21 (day one)

“To the angel of the church in Ephesus write. . .I know your deeds and your toil and your perseverance. . . But I have this against you, that you have left you first love.”–2:1-4

“There are no perfect churches.  Stop looking!  If you did find one, it would stop being perfect the day you joined it.”–Dan Yeary

“Be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect”–Matthew 5:48

Seven churches.  Seven Pastors.  Stories mixed with success and failure, things Jesus commended, things he challenged.  None of the churches were perfect.  All of them were called to be–at least in the sense of being perfectly faithful to the purposes of God. (Functional perfection, not moral or categorical).

It has been a mistake to “market” the American church to the whims and preferences of the culture.  “I want this kind of childcare”.  “I like this style of worship”.  The approval every church needs comes from the Lord.

Re:Verse reading–Revelation 1 (day seven) 

“Having turned, I saw. . . one like the son of man. . .and his face was like the sun shining in its strength”–v 12, 13, 16.

There were moments for the disciples, but only moments, when they saw the glory of Christ.  The Transfiguration is one example.  Jesus praying, and His glory began to shine out in brilliant white light.  (Matthew 17)  The day He calmed the storm, His resurrection appearances and ascension–all were momentary glimpses of the truth.

Most days weren’t like that.   Their physical eyes saw only physical reality.  Like us, they were vision impaired, seeing problems and dangers, but not the All-Sufficient Christ!

“Blessed are you, Simon, God has REVEALED it to you” said Jesus after Peter confessed Him as the Christ. (Matthew 16).  When we study REVELATION, we are seeking the same grace.  Lord, open our eyes to your glory and purpose.  Help us to see eternal and invisible things.  We need spiritual eyes.

Re:Verse reading–Revelation 1 (day five) 

John has a similar experience to Revelation 1 in Matthew 17. But there are different sets of instructions from the Savior. In Matthew 17 Jesus says, “Do not tell anyone what you have seen”. In Revelation 1, Jesus says, “Write in a book what you see”.

Jesus could have appeared to the churches the same way he appeared to John. Yet, He doesn’t. Jesus clearly begins a new way to speak to and engage believers (churches)- thru the Scriptures (book). John Piper writes, “It is because He wants to come to us in and through his Word. He wants us to seek him in his Word, and know him by his Word, and gaze upon him steadily through his Word. And when we do, the Lord stands forth from his Word in ways beyond the merely rational and intellectual possibilities of reading.”

 

 

Re:Verse reading–Revelation 1 (day four)

Let’s ask one of the ‘5 Ws and an H’ that form the basis for an inductive bible study…WHAT.  What did John see while he was in the Spirit?  In our passage this week John first saw the ‘son of man’…He was overwhelming and awe-inspiring.  John’s response was to fall at His feet as a dead man.  He could not even process the glory!

The second thing John saw was the seven stars and seven lampstands.  The stars represented the angels of the seven churches and the lampstands were the seven churches of Asia.  The awesome ‘son of man’ stood in the midst of the lampstands.

The glory of the risen, reigning Christ stood in authority and judgment over the churches.  Picture this Christ over our church or your church…what would He have to say to us?  Would there be commendation or condemnation?  “He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.”

Re:Verse reading–Revelation 1 (day three)

“In his right hand he held seven stars.”  The degenerating analytical ability of the sin-compromised human mind has offered two hypotheticals: The universe is devoid of a good person at its center, or, we cannot know whether there is a good person at the universe’s center.  Various forms of despair arise from these two postulates, and so we’ve got the world that we’ve got.  Only when you live from the reality that “in him all things hold together” will your life–and communities and civilizations built on that revelation–take on the resilience that resists decay.  How can you start living in such a way?  You can trust Christ in the stuff of life: You won’t die if you forgive; your boss is not the arbiter of your future; and so on.  You are at God’s mercy, not the universe’s.

Re:Verse reading–Revelation 1 (day two)

“…and His voice was like the sound of many waters.” vs. 15b

We have a sound machine that is located near baby Jessica’s crib. Every time we put her down for a nap or bedtime we turn it on. Perhaps you have used one of these devices before. They even have apps that you can get on your phone. They contain a variety of different sounds, but the one we use sounds like ocean waves crashing on a beach. We use this because that “white noise” tends to drown out everything else that might interfere with Jessica’s rest.

If you have ever stood on the beach you know that sound. It is at once both powerful and soothing. By it everything else is made small. This is how John describes the voice of the Lord. If you long for his voice, for his guidance, for his path forward you must stand before that sound. What that means is that you will have to let go of whatever other sounds are competing for your attention. Your sin, your self-doubt, your anxieties, all of these pale to the great voice of the Lord. If you want to hear him, you cannot listen to the others. Then, only then, can you find your rest.

Re:Verse reading–Revelation 1 (day one) 

“When I saw Him, I fell at his feet as a dead man.”–v 17

The supernatural world is not tame.  The invisible realities that created the visible world are huge and high and fearful.  People who see Angels or any appearance of God all have the same reaction.  Conviction of sin. Overwhelming fear.

Isaiah “saw the Lord, high and lifted up”.  Ultimately encouraging, the immediate impact of the vision was to make Isaiah acutely aware of his own sinfulness–particularly the use of his lips (i e I have talked about for such foolish, silly things).

When John saw the resurrected and glorified Christ, he fainted.  Full system shut down!

People often say, “I want to talk to God, I want to ask Him a question!”  Usually I think to myself, “No, my brother, I don’t think you really do.”  People who have actually seen the Lord tell a different story.