Introduction

Revelation 1:10-20 ESV  I was in the Spirit on the Lord’s day, and I heard behind me a loud voice like a trumpet  (11)  saying, “Write what you see in a book and send it to the seven churches, to Ephesus and to Smyrna and to Pergamum and to Thyatira and to Sardis and to Philadelphia and to Laodicea.”  (12)  Then I turned to see the voice that was speaking to me, and on turning I saw seven golden lampstands,  (13)  and in the midst of the lampstands one like a son of man, clothed with a long robe and with a golden sash around his chest.  (14)  The hairs of his head were white, like white wool, like snow. His eyes were like a flame of fire,  (15)  his feet were like burnished bronze, refined in a furnace, and his voice was like the roar of many waters.  (16)  In his right hand he held seven stars, from his mouth came a sharp two-edged sword, and his face was like the sun shining in full strength.  (17)  When I saw him, I fell at his feet as though dead. But he laid his right hand on me, saying, “Fear not, I am the first and the last,  (18)  and the living one. I died, and behold I am alive forevermore, and I have the keys of Death and Hades.  (19)  Write therefore the things that you have seen, those that are and those that are to take place after this.  (20)  As for the mystery of the seven stars that you saw in my right hand, and the seven golden lampstands, the seven stars are the angels of the seven churches, and the seven lampstands are the seven churches.

• Well last week we went through one verse in Revelation, and this week we get 11 verses!
  • And that’s just going to be how it is as we go through this book. So stay awake, keep your seatbelts fastened, and remember this: Our goal with going through revelation is to look more like Christ, as individuals and as a church… to become more and more Christ like.
    • Our goal is NOT to become end-time theology experts. We may have classes that focus on that in the future, and if you are interested in the end times I encourage you to study it for yourself… but for the purposes of these messages… we want to become more like Christ. Amen?!
  • Praise God, let’s start by praying.

• So, we just read a lot, and we are really starting to dive into the poetic language John uses throughout the book of Revelation.
  • So before we get into the meat of today’s message, let me point out a couple of things…

Revelation 1:10-11a ESV  I was in the Spirit on the Lord’s day, and I heard behind me a loud voice like a trumpet  (11)  saying, “Write what you see in a book and send it to the seven churches…

• First, from this point forward what we are reading is the retelling of a vision that John had.
  • I take John at his word when he says that he was in the spirit.
    • If you have never experienced that… man, you must have missed fire week.
    • Being in the spirit, which is something we see throughout scripture, is when you are so connected with God and so focused on Him, that your mind yields control to your spirit…
      • You get into a place where you are completely and utterly focused on God, on his Glory and presence.
      • You forget everything that is going on in the world and everything going on around you seems to fade away… and you are just with God.
      • This is a very special and intimate time with God, and it is a time that in my life God has dealt with some very deep things… sometimes encouraging me, other times rebuking me, other times giving me prophetic direction, and sometimes He is just there, allowing me to worship Him.
    • So John is in the spirit… and let me just make this abundantly clear through the connection of verses 9 and 10:

Revelation 1:9-10 ESV  I, John, your brother and partner in the tribulation and the kingdom and the patient endurance that are in Jesus, was on the island called Patmos on account of the word of God and the testimony of Jesus.  (10)  I was in the Spirit on the Lord’s day, and I heard behind me a loud voice like a trumpet.

• “I was on the Island of Patmos” what do you mean “I was” aren’t you still there John?
  • He uses this language because he is telling us that he was on Patmos… then he was in the spirit… that means that according to John, being in the spirit is akin to being somewhere other than the island that his physical body resides.
• All of this to say… John had a vision… I don’t know if he was physically taken to heaven and different places to be shown the things he writes about… I assume his body physically stayed on Patmos, but he was taken in spirit to these places… and he was told to write what he saw and heard.
• So everything we read in the book of revelation from this point forward is simply John writing what he saw and heard in his time in the spirit… in his vision… when Christ ushered him around in the spiritual to show him what is to come.
  • The book of revelation is not a theological or scholarly masterpiece where John, in his expertise, tries to express theology the best way he knows how to the church.
  • The book of revelation is not a personal letter of greetings, rebuke, and teaching from John to the churches, like the epistles of Paul are.
  • The book of revelation really isn’t about John, his understanding, his background, his dealings with Christ while on earth…
  • The book of revelation really isn’t about John at all, it is a simple telling of the vision given to him.
  • If revelation (from 1:10 onward) were a feature length film, then John would not be the writer. John would not be the producer. John would not be the director. John would not even be an actor (though he has some cameos). No, John is simply the camera. He is the vessel that saw and heard the vision and recorded it all for us to experience.
• I want to point out one more thing about verse 10 that sets the tone for the rest of the book.

Revelation 1:10 ESV  I was in the Spirit on the Lord’s day, and I heard behind me a loud voice like a trumpet.

• Someone say “LIKE”
  • John heard a voice LIKE a trumpet.
  • The voice was not a trumpet.
  • There was not some life like trumpet talking to John.
    • No, John was using the words he knew to describe a voice that words had a hard time describing.
    • The voice was Like a trumpet.
    • It was loud, it was booming, it was authoritative, it filled the air, it demanded his attention, maybe it was even almost musical.
    • It was LIKE a trumpet.
• Remember, John is writing what he sees and hears in this vision, but he has to use words, which can be limited at times, so he uses a lot of metaphors and similes…
  • This doesn’t mean the voice is figurative… it just means it sounded LIKE a trumpet…
  • A lot of people miss this as reading Revelation… figurative language does not always describe figurative things… most of the time figurative language describes actual things.
    • Y’all follow?
• Good, then let’s get into todays message… what are we really gonna talk about today? We are going to talk about Christ’s very real presence. His, omnipresence… that being, Christ is everywhere.

• Christ Jesus in our Midst, the very  real presence of Christ.
  • We have two points this morning:
    • Christ is present in our Church
    • And Christ is present in our Lives.

Point One – Christ is Present in Our Church

Revelation 1:12-16 ESV  Then I turned to see the voice that was speaking to me, and on turning I saw seven golden lampstands,  (13)  and in the midst of the lampstands one like a son of man, clothed with a long robe and with a golden sash around his chest.  (14)  The hairs of his head were white, like white wool, like snow. His eyes were like a flame of fire,  (15)  his feet were like burnished bronze, refined in a furnace, and his voice was like the roar of many waters.  (16)  In his right hand he held seven stars, from his mouth came a sharp two-edged sword, and his face was like the sun shining in full strength.

• Remember, figurative language describes actual things.
  • So there is someone standing in the midst of seven things.
  • Who is the someone and what are the seven things.
• The seven things ARE not actual lampstands… how do we know? Because we are told what they are:

Revelation 1:20 ESV  As for the mystery of the seven stars that you saw in my right hand, and the seven golden lampstands, the seven stars are the angels of the seven churches, and the seven lampstands are the seven churches.

• Mystery solved, the seven lampstands are the seven churches… seven real churches, but also as we learned over the last few weeks, these 7 church’s represent all Christian churches.
• So then who is this character described in such a glorious way… white like snow hair, eyes like flames of fire, a voice like the roar of many waters, a long robe and a golden sash… well, we are told who this is to…

Revelation 1:17-18 ESV  When I saw him, I fell at his feet as though dead. But he laid his right hand on me, saying, “Fear not, I am the first and the last,  (18)  and the living one. I died, and behold I am alive forevermore, and I have the keys of Death and Hades.

• Y’all, it’s Jesus.
  • Now if John was not just the camera, if he were the author of this prophecy he might interpret what he saw for us and simply say “I saw Jesus standing in the midst of the churches”
  • But that’s not John’s job, his job is to report what he saw and heard… and that is exactly what he did.
  • So instead of “I saw Jesus standing in the midst of the church” we get 8 glorious verses describing exactly what things looked and sounded like.
    • And I think that is so awesome because God is opening up a door for us to see what the spiritual is like.
• So Johns job is to be the camera… but that’s not my job. As a preacher my job is to help us understand and apply what we learn to our lives…
  • So I get to say “Y’all, Jesus is standing in the midst of the church!”
• Let me say that again:
  • Jesus is standing in the midst of the church!
• He is here, he is with us.
  • He was here this morning as we unlocked the door.
  • He was here when the hospitality person turned on the coffee pot.
  • He was here when you pulled up in the parking lot.
  • He was here when we shot the video announcements and he was here when we showed them this morning.
• Jesus is HERE in our midst.
• And of course He is because the Church is very important to him.

Colossians 1:18 ESV  And he is the head of the body, the church. He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in everything he might be preeminent.

Matthew 16:18 ESV  And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.

• You hear that hell? You got nothing on this church!

Ephesians 1:22-23 ESV  And he put all things under his feet and gave him as head over all things to the church,  (23)  which is his body, the fullness of him who fills all in all.

Acts 20:28 ESV  Pay careful attention to yourselves and to all the flock, in which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to care for the church of God, which he obtained with his own blood.

• Jesus is the head of the church and He bought it with His blood.
  • Listen… Jesus bought CLC with His blood…
    • He bought River of Life, and Springs of Life, and Antioch, and CR First, and even Hus Presbyterian with HIS BLOOD.
      • Every Christians church, Christ died so they could exist. He bought our church with His blood. He bought THE church with His blood.
• So what does that mean for you and me? It means that we better take church seriously! IT IS A HOLY THING!
  • Jesus is in our Midst as we serve, and worship, and fellowship in this church. HE IS IN OUR MIDST.
  • Do we really believe that? Or is church just another thing that you do?!
• WOW! Did you guys feel that shift from teaching to preaching?
  • Just a minute ago we were teaching about how to read and understand the book of revelation… now we are talking about how to apply it! I told y’all to wear your seatbelts!
• Listen, when you pull up to church and you have been fighting with your wife… you need to realize Christ is in this place….
  • Your response to that truth should be to stay in your car and cry out to God…
    • God, I am about to serve/worship/fellowship in the church that you died for.
    • The church you bought with your blood…
    • And I don’t want to go in there like this…
    • Would you forgive me for the way I talked to my wife.
    • Would you heal my heart.
    • Would you help me make it right…
      • It wasn’t that big of a deal that she burnt the eggs this morning… I am ashamed of how I responded… forgive me Lord…
      • And when you are done healing me, heal my wife and her heart. Let us go in to church is morning on fire for you, in love with each other, and in right standing with one another and you.
  • And men, listen men, when I say to say a prayer like this… I mean PRAY IT OUT LOUD! Let your wife hear you pray and agree with you.
    • And don’t act like you are all shy because just a minute ago you had no problem yelling at her and calling her names…
  • So now use that powerful voice God gave you to repent, and lead your family in repentance if so needed, and make it right.
  • Because Jesus is in this place and you don’t want to come in here with that on your plate.
• Get your heart right before coming to Church y’all… get it right

Matthew 5:21-24 ESV  “You have heard that it was said to those of old, ‘You shall not murder; and whoever murders will be liable to judgment.’  (22)  But I say to you that everyone who is angry with his brother will be liable to judgment; whoever insults his brother will be liable to the council; and whoever says, ‘You fool!’ will be liable to the hell of fire.  (23)  So if you are offering your gift at the altar and there remember that your brother has something against you,  (24)  leave your gift there before the altar and go. First be reconciled to your brother, and then come and offer your gift.

• Listen, Jesus says “if you are angry with your brother… DON’T EVEN COME TO CHURCH! Go deal with it, make it right, then come to church!”
  • Now listen, I don’t want to get a bunch of texts next Sunday saying “I can’t come to church today because I am angry with so and so”
  • NO! I am not saying skip church, I am saying “FIX YOUR HEART”.
• And once you are here, remember Christ is here… so don’t serve half heartedly, or with laziness.
  • No Jesus is here, serve Him like it!
• Don’t worship under your breath…
  • Jesus is here, Sing to him like HE CAN HEAR YOU!
• Don’t zone out during the sermon…
  • JESUS IS HERE! THIS IS HIS WORD! LISTEN TO HIM!

Revelation 1:13 ESV  and in the midst of the lampstands one like a son of man, clothed with a long robe and with a golden sash around his chest.

• Jesus is in our midst! ACT LIKE IT CHURCH!
  • And honestly, we do a great job of this… we really do!
  • This is not meant as a rebuke, but as a powerful and encouraging reminder…
  • Because if we forget this, then we start to become vain religion…
    • Doing it just to do it.
    • And people start getting bitter…
    • And things start getting twisted….
  • So we do a good job of this, we do, but I just want to make sure we always remember it… Jesus is in the midst of the church.
• That’s my first point this morning: Christ is Present in Our Church
• And that brings me to point two: Christ is Present in our Lives!

Point Two – Christ is Present in Our Lives

Revelation 1:8 ESV  “I am the Alpha and the Omega,” says the Lord God, “who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty.”

Revelation 1:17-18 ESV  When I saw him, I fell at his feet as though dead. But he laid his right hand on me, saying, “Fear not, I am the first and the last,  (18)  and the living one. I died, and behold I am alive forevermore, and I have the keys of Death and Hades.

• This description that Christ gives himself… this description that God gives Himself…
  • The alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last… who was and is and is to come…
  • This is an ever-reaching, omni-present, everywhere at all times kind of description.
• So everything I just said about the church, APPLY IT TO YOUR LIVES. Because Christ is there too!
  • In your triumphs, in your failures, in your victory, in your sin. CHRIST IS THERE.
• I don’t understand why people sin in secret… like Christ can’t see them… it’s just as foolish as Adam and Eve hiding from God after they sinned… WHAT WERE THEY THINKING?!
• If you are going to sin, do it publicly… because the Bible says your sin will find you out… people are going to find out anyway… might as well just let them know.
  • Once you get that truth through your head, you will stop intentionally sinning. You will!
  • Then you will get to a place in your walk when the very vast majority of your sins you don’t think about as sinful until after the fact…
  • And then what do you do? Confess, repent, get right with God, and move on.
  • Just like that conversation and prayer you had in the car after you yelled at your wife for burning the eggs…
    • MAKE THIS YOUR LIFE BECAUSE CHRIST IS THERE!
• And you know we talked about doing things excellently in the church because Christ is there…
  • Well…
  • That needs to be you life.
    • Don’t be lazy at work, Christ is there.
    • Don’t tell dirty jokes with your friends… Jesus is there.
    • Don’t be a jerk to your classmates, Jesus is there.
    • He is there when you wake up, and when you lie down.
      • Pastor Mike shared with us on Wednesday that one of his coworkers asked him “So are you like all ‘Jesus Jesus Jesus’ all day every day?
      • Pastor Mike responded “Not just all day, all night too!”
  • Listen you want to have life and life more abundantly, then start living it like Christ is there!
    • Live your life like Christ bought your life with his blood!

1 Corinthians 6:20 ESV  for you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body.

Colossians 3:23-24 ESV  Whatever you do, work heartily, as for the Lord and not for men,  (24)  knowing that from the Lord you will receive the inheritance as your reward. You are serving the Lord Christ.

• Christ is here, and here is there… and He is with you always! Live like it!

Revelation 1:17-18 ESV  When I saw him, I fell at his feet as though dead. But he laid his right hand on me, saying, “Fear not, I am the first and the last,  (18)  and the living one. I died, and behold I am alive forevermore, and I have the keys of Death and Hades.

• Christ is in your midst! He is with you!
• And listen, let me end with this little note, Christ holds the keys od Death and Hades…
  • He decides who lives in dies… therefore, FEAR NOT!
    • If you have a bad prognoses, fear not, if its your time to enter into your rest, ok, if not, Christ won’t let you die. Christ will be with you in the doctors office, in the hospital room, in hospice, Christ is with you!
      • One of the best times of worship I ever had was in a hospice, this little pastor just a day away from glory, broken ribs, can’t walk… in pain we get him out of his bed into a wheel chair and role him down to the piano, Amanda played and this man sang with all his soul, you would have had no idea he was just a couple dozen hours away from death. Christ was there in that hospice, holding the keys to death.
    • If you have a gun to your head “Deny Christ or die”. Christ is there too! Fear not!
      • Just like Christ was there with Stephen…
    • Plus! I signed up to die! Go ahead and try to kill me, YOU CAN’T! Imma just wake up in heaven! And, as we will learn later in Revelation, Martyrs have a special place in heaven… “Deny Christ!” “NO” “Then I will make you a martyr!” “Yes please!”
• Fear not, y’all Christ is with us…

Conclusion

• To conclude:
  • The book of revelation is simply John telling us what he heard and saw in his vision while in the spirit.
  • Christ is standing in the midst of the church, act like it.
  • Christ is standing in the midst of you life, LIVE LIKE IT!
  • We have nothing to fear!
• You know the Bible says “Beautiful are the feet of those who preach the Gospel”

Romans 10:15 ESV  And how are they to preach unless they are sent? As it is written, “How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the good news!”

• Some churches need a spiritual pedicure! But not CLC, we got some beautiful feet up in here… because we preach the Gospel! What is the gospel, it’s the good news… All heads bowed all eyes closed, if you have never heard the good news let me tell you it!
• Gospel Call