LIFE IN THE SPIRIT

Religion

This sermon is from our Expositional Study of the Book of Revelation and was preached at Cornerstone Baptist Church in Cherry Log, Georgia on Sunday, March 9, 2014 by Pastor Paul Mims. You can hear this sermon at www.csbccl.org

Revelation 1: 1-20Today, we begin a great adventure in the study of the Book of Revelation. I have felt the leadership of the Holy Spirit in recent months to launch into a comprehensive exposition of this most amazing revelation of who our Lord Jesus Christ really is. During the snow and ice days this winter I have been blessed by this study. It is my prayer that the faith of our congregation will be quickened and enlivened by John’s account of God’s message from heaven to the churches of both his and our day.

The word “revelation” means “unveiling.” That is, this book holds a truth that is unveiled and meant to be understood. We are going to see the unveiling of Christ in his eternal dimension. We will study the Sovereignty of God in His plan for the consummation of the age. We will see the judgment of God over the forces that have contaminated his chief creation, mankind. We will be given courage to live these days by seeing the ultimate victory of our Lord Jesus Christ over the forces of evil that have opposed Him since the Garden of Eden.

The Apostle John, the writer, visualizes a congregation listening to the reading of reading of this book. John had been Pastor of the church at Ephesus and had invested his life there for about twenty-five years. His influence had spread to many other churches in the area. He now found himself as a political prisoner on the isle of Patmos for his faithful preaching of the resurrected Christ. Patmos is a rocky, volcanic island that is ten miles long and six miles wide. Its hills rise to about 1,000 feet above the sea. He receives a vision from God to tell the present and future churches that they are held in God’s hands and even though it seems that they under threats of extinction, that they will triumph in victory.

The title of this sermon comes from verse 10 where John says, “On the Lord’s Day, I was in the Spirit, and I heard behind me a loud voice…” When we face our own form of “Patmos” – I want to suggest to you that there are four things that life in the Spirit does for us.

I. LIFE IN THE SPIRIT KEEPS US LOYAL.
In verse 9, John says “I, John, your brother and companion in suffering for the kingdom…” It is thought that these words were written during the reign of Roman Emperor, Domitian who ruled from A.D. 81 to 96. The Emperors claimed to be gods and decreed that they should be called “lord and god.” Every Roman citizen would have to pledge allegiance to the Emperor as their “lord and god.” The Christians would not do it. So they were fed to the lions in the arenas and burned at the stake. It cost a lot to be a Christian in the days of the early church.

In essence John is saying, “For my loyalty and fidelity to Christ, I am exiled here on this island in the Aegean Sea, and I know that you are suffering because you will not compromise your faith in our living Lord.

The Roman society was rotting at this time just as ours is today. The morals were corrupt. The government allowed sixty million slaves to do most of the work. This brought the church into conflict with the government which was determined to destroy them. The Christians were small in number and compared to the population were only about 1/10th of 1%.

And so, John had his Patmos. Where is your place of suffering? What is the situation where you agonize about yourself and the future. All of us have a time or a place where we feel all alone. But our life in the Spirit keeps us loyal to our Lord.

II. LIFE IN THE SPIRIT KEEPS US HUNGRY FOR SPIRITUAL THINGS.
John was away from his family and his church of Christian friends. He was away from the influence of the Gospel, from the hallowed moments that they spent in worship on the Lord’s Day. His heart longed to be with those believers who fellowshipped around the blessed eternal truths they loved so dearly. “I was in the Spirit on the Lord’s day…” He was thinking of his congregation back home. There are forty five miles of water that separate him from his beloved people in Ephesus. He was thinking of the witness they were bearing, the Gospel they were preaching, and the lives they were living under severe persecution. Around him were the dregs of society – murderers and thieves and humanity of every sort. But in the blessed presence of the Holy Spirit in his life he transcended the situation. He mastered his Patmos because the Spirit kept him hungry for God’s presence.

I don’t know how you feel about it, but on the Lord’s Day, our Christian Sabbath, I want to be in church to worship and fellowship with God’s people. It is painful for me to be away from you even when we are on vacation. John’s pain was amplified exponentially and he went to his knees in prayer and worship for he was so hungry for the Lord’s presence with him.

John thought about his debt to Jesus. Look at verse 5. “…To him who loved us and freed us from our sins by his blood and made us to be a kingdom and priests to serve his God and Father – to Him be glory and power for ever and ever!” These truths keep us hungry for the Lord and a hungry Christian will not neglect daily or Sabbath worship.

III. LIFE IN THE SPIRIT KEEPS US USEFUL IN THE KINGDOM.
In this introduction to the Revelation John describes his vision of Christ on that Sabbath Day. I can imagine that he has found a solitary spot overlooking the sea and he is determined to worship his Lord. He could not hear the proclaiming of the word in his congregation or the singing of the hymns, but as he worshipped, the Lord revealed Himself in a vision and instructed him to write it down for the churches. As he had written his gospel and the three letters – he realized on this day that his writing days were not over. Here was the message from heaven that had to be sent to the churches in all ages. What a tremendous assignment! He probably had thought that his days of usefulness were over but now he is given the privilege of a vision of Christ that he could not imagine before and a message of ultimate victory for the Lamb of God.

Our “Patmoses” tend to make us feel un-useful and unusable. If that is where you are today it may be that the Lord will say to you, “I’ve got a job for you to do.”

The introduction is full of symbols which would be explained to the churches but hidden from the Roman authorities so that they could not use it to crucify the groups of Christians who would read it with great delight. The imagery draws from the Book of Daniel as John is a Jew who would have studied and understood the prophecies that stretched out across time. The numeral “seven” in biblical numerology means “wholeness or complete.” Write to all the churches of which he is going to single out seven specific churches. The vision is of the whole panorama of the work of God in the present and future so as to encourage these suffering congregations who have to meet in secret and are faithful even when their lives were in danger. The message is that Christ among his churches. Look at verses 12 -16. “I turned around to see the voice that was speaking to me. And when I turned I saw seven golden lampstands, and among the lampstands was someone ‘like a son of man,’ dressed in a robe reaching down to his feet and with a golden sash around his chest. His head and hair were white like wool, as white as snow, and his eyes were like blazing fire. His feet were like bronze glowing in a furnace, and his voice was like the sound of rushing waters. In his right hand he held seven stars, and out of his mouth came a sharp double-edged sword. His face was like the sun shining in all its brilliance.”

In the Jewish Temple there stood a seven branched candelabra in the holy place. The churches are portrayed as having become the light in the darkness of the world.

Daniel saw God seated on a throne surrounded by hosts of angels. “And, behold, with the clouds of heaven there came one like a son of man, and he came to the ancient of days.” (Daniel 7:13) The long robe…with a golden girdle was the clothing of the High Priest. (Exodus 28:4). “His head and hair were white like wool…” speaks of the deity of Jesus. “His eyes were like a flame of fire.” This is mentioned several times in this book and represents his total omniscience throughout all time. “Out of his mouth came a sharp two-edged sword…” This authenticated this instruction as coming from the father.

He tells us in verse 20 that “The mystery of the seven stars that you saw in my right hand and of the seven golden lampstands is this: The seven stars are the angels (pastors) of the seven churches, and the seven lampstands are the seven churches.”

What a blessing this must have been to the early churches! They were assured that the Lord is in the midst of his church and is holding the pastor in his hands. What a blessing this is to us today! The Lord is here in our midst today. Do you sense his presence? He is holding the pastor in his hands so he can feed the church through him.

IV. LIFE IN THE SPIRIT KEEPS US VICTORIOUS.
Look at what happens in verse 17-19; “When I saw him, I fell at his feet as though dead. Then he placed his right hand on me and said; “Do not be afraid. I am the First and the Last. I am the Living One; I was dead, and behold I am alive for ever and ever! And I hold the keys of death and Hades. Write, therefore, what you have seen, what is now, and what will take place later.”

John fell at the feet of Jesus overcome by the powerful vision as though he were dead. Jesus reaches down to him and touched him and lifted him up. John had seen Jesus after the resurrection and now he is privileged to see him after the ascension. Because of his victory over death Jesus now has the keys to death and the abode of the dead.

This whole vision has increased the expectancy of the return of Jesus to the earth. Look at verses 7 & 8. “Look, he is coming with the clouds, and every eye will see him, even those who pierced him; and all the people of the earth will mourn because of him. So shall it be! Amen. I am Alpha and Omega, says the Lord God, who is, and who was, and who is to come, the Almighty.”

“On September 11, Lt. Col. Brian Birdwell (from U.S. Army Headquarters) had just stepped into a Pentagon hallway when the fireball from the hijacked plane hit him. After recovering from the initial shock, Birdwell realized he was on fire. “Jesus, I’m coming to see you,” he remembers praying. When doctors finally attended to him at the Washington Burn Center, they found second and third degree burns over 40 percent of Birdwell’s body. To save him, they performed several skin graft operations. President George W. and First Lady Laura Bush visited the Washington Burn Center on September 13. Among those they visited was Birdwell. Laura Bush went into Brian’s room and spoke to him for about a minute, all the time as if they were life-long acquaintances. She then turned to Brian’s wife, Mel, who had been at the hospital for about two-and-a-half days. She was dirty, grimy, and wore a bloodstained shirt. Despite this, Laura hugged her for what Mel said seemed like an eternity, just as if Mel was one of her closest family members. Laura then told Brian and Mel that there was “someone” there to see him. The President walked in. Standing by Brian’s bedside, the President told Colonel Birdwell that he was very proud of them both and regarded them as heroes. The President then saluted Brian. Brian slowly began to return the salute, taking about 15 to 20 seconds to get his hand up to his head because of his bandaged arms. During all of this, President Bush never moved. He dropped his salute only when Brian was finished with his. Birdwell lives now with renewed purpose. “I’m a walking miracle. Christ got me out of the fire. In him not taking me, that means I have a mission to complete. He’ll tell me what it is in due time.” (Greg Burndine)

Birdwell was in his Patmos and the President of the United States came to him. Now, the grace of God can come to you in your Patmos of suffering whether it be mental or physical. The Lord can reach out and touch you and lift you up.

PRAISE BE TO HIS NAME!

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