The Lord's Ministry to His Church, Part 1

We live in a day a day unlike any other in our in the history of America And why most people are concerned and rightly so about our culture and its moral decline about its political demise as well as its social degeneration my Chief concern is not so much about the condition of our culture as the condition of our church It was the Apostle Paul who had that same concern In fact over in 2nd Corinthians chapter 11 He said that he had a deep concern for all the churches because of what was taking place in his day in the church In fact, he would go on to pray in 2nd Corinthians 11 verse number 3 that the church would not be led astray from the simplicity and purity of devotion to Christ That's what Paul prayed Unfortunately it has His concern was for the church's commitment and devotion and rightly so when we read in the scriptures about the condition of the church and what was Happening in in Paul's day and what has now happened even at this time we can begin to see the church is in supreme chaos and confusion so much so it's led to complacency compromise Corruption.

In fact, if you read the scriptures you can begin to understand that pattern Because the Lord would send seven letters to seven churches in Asia Minor Seven letters that would call the church back to repentance that the church would understand What it meant to serve the true and living God five of those seven churches were told Specifically to repent the church at Smyrna was not and the church at Philadelphia was not but the church at Ephesus It was it was a cold Complacent church and if you go through the five churches that are told to repent you can be you can begin to see the downgrade of the church because it begins with Coldness and complacency and then there was a church of Pergamon and the church of a Pergamon went from coldness to complacency to compromise for they were the compromising church and then you had the church of Thyatira they went beyond compromise to corruption and then you go to the church Sardis and from coldness and complacency to compromise to corruption you become a corpse They are the dead church the last church the church of Laodicea They were the counterfeit church They simply did not uphold the truth of God's Holy Word at all And that's the concern we have for the churches that it goes in that direction And when you look at the church today There has been a supreme decline when it comes to to doctrine as you look at the church instead of Preaching purity in the church impurity is practiced in the church Instead of the church contending for the faith the church is filled with pretenders Surrounding the faith when you think of the church you realize That most people in the church are not too concerned about Enlightenment, but they are more concerned about entertainment The church has come to a place Where no longer does it want to experience?

Confrontation it simply wants to embrace Consolation the church has come to a place where it has minimized the theological and max maximized the intellectual church has come to a place where it has minimized interpretation and instruction and wants to maximize inspiration the church has come to a place where it Minimizes truth that it might maximize Tolerance the church has come to a place where facts and faith don't matter only Feelings matter and as the Apostle Paul said in 2nd Timothy chapter 3 when he talked about the last days and the last days Began when Jesus arrived and will end when Jesus comes again And he says those last days will be characterized by all kinds of people But mainly he says they're going to hold to a form of godliness Although they have denied its power and the church is to avoid those kinds of men in fact He says that Timothy was to preach the word because there's going to come a time when they will not endure sound doctrine But wanting to have their ears tickled they will accumulate for themselves Teachers in accordance to their own desires and will turn away their ears from the truth and will turn aside to myths That's exactly what has happened in the church across the world and the Lord is concerned about that and rightly So in fact he says to those seven churches he who has ears to hear let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches You better listen up because Jesus says he will come against them with the sword of his mouth Says that to the church.

He says that he will come down to them It's important to understand what Jesus says to the church Because those seven churches in Asia Minor, although they are literal literal real churches They are churches that exemplify all churches Throughout the church age for every church that's ever existed Falls into the category of those seven churches some way somehow Sometime and so the Lord speaks to those specific seven churches and addresses them in such a way So that all the churches throughout church history will listen to what he says Now our Lord did say that he would build this church in the gates of hell shall not prevail against it He said that in Caesarea Philippi in Matthew chapter 16 and he's right But he didn't say that the church will not suffer persecution or suffer harm or be infiltrated with heresy In fact, he did warn us about all that In fact, he said through the pen of the Apostle Peter 2nd Peter chapter 2 verse number 1 false prophets Also arose among the people just as there also will be false teachers among you who will secretly introduce destructive heresies even denying the master who bought them bringing swift destruction upon themselves and Many will follow their sensuality and because of them the way of the truth will be maligned and in their greed They will exploit you with false words Many will follow false teachers Not a few will follow them But many will follow them Paul tells Titus in Titus 1 verse number 16 that they they have This way about them.

They profess to know Christ But in deeds they deny him because the deeds they do are detestable And so it's important for us to understand what it is Christ says to the church we listen because the church has come to a place of disobedience and Dishonor as it was with the seven churches in Asia Minor and therefore the Christ comes with a very clear word a very concise word a very Confrontive word yet a very compassionate word to his church He comes and addresses his church Before he addresses his church.

He describes himself and describes the ministry. He has Presently in his church. And so before he gives the message to John in Revelation 2 and 3 He talks about his ministry among the churches to John So John will understand that because John has come to a place where he's in his Mid-90s. He's on the island of Patmos He's been banished because of his testimony and he was around when when Jerusalem was destroyed in 70 AD and those 985 villages and towns that Surrounded Jerusalem were plundered by by Rome and so he understands the destruction of what took place in Israel and he'd heard the words about the coming of the King and the building of the kingdom and all that Jesus was going to do and all of his glory and splendor when he arrived and yet John's in his 90s banished on an island in the middle of the Aegean Sea wondering where's Jesus?

What's going on? And so the Lord gives him a vision the vision of the future as well as a vision of his present ministry Among the churches so John would never lose Hope and he does it because of what the Lord does if you have your Bible turn me to Revelation chapter 1 He will begin by looking at the ministry and message of Christ to his church By looking this week and next week at his ministry his present ministry so that we can understand better his message To the church we look at the work of Jesus in and among his church And then we can examine the words of Jesus to his church Revelation chapter 1 verse number 9 I John your brother and fellow partaker in the tribulation and kingdom and perseverance Which are in Jesus was on the island called Patmos because of the Word of God and the testimony of Jesus I was in the spirit of the Lord's Day and I heard behind me a loud voice Like the sound of a trumpet saying write in a book What you see and send it to seven churches to Ephesus and to Samarna and to Pergamon and to Thyatira and to Sardis and to Philadelphia and to Laodicea Then I turned to see the voice that was speaking with me and having turned I saw seven golden lampstands in the middle of the lamp Stands I saw one like a son of man clothed in a robe reaching to the feet and girded across his chest with the golden sash His head and his hair were white like white wool like snow and his eyes were like a flame of fire His feet were like burnished bronze when it was Has been made to glow in a furnace and his voice was like the sound of many waters in his right hand He yelled seven stars and out of his mouth came a sharp two-edged sword His face was like the sun shining in his strength when I saw him I fell at his feet like a dead man.

He placed his right hand on me saying do not be afraid I am the first and the last and the living one and I was dead and behold I'm alive forevermore and I have the keys of death and Hades Therefore write the things which you have seen And the things which are and the things which will take place after these things As for the mystery of the seven stars which 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 now You might read that and think wow, man, that's just what on earth is going on here.

Others will say well You know Let's just skip chapter 1 and chapter 2 and chapter 3 and let's go to chapter 4 and go right into heaven Chapter 4 and 5 and see the glory of heaven and then let's get into chapter 6 with the sealed judgments and and move on then to the trumpet judgment into the bold judgments and and look at it look at the Antichrist and the beast and the dragon and and the tribulation and everything is going to take place in the end and so we skip revelations 1 2 & 3, but they set the tone for the rest of the book and the book of Revelation is the Apocalypse the the unveiling of the Christ Christ is best seen in the book of Revelation More so than any other book because it unveils his splendor and majesty and glory Unlike any other book the book of Revelation truly depicts for us the majesty and royalty of the king that we would truly come to understand the king we serve and to show us that the king is in complete control of Everything that happens not only today but into the future.

So if you want to know Jesus Christ as Best as you can possibly know him this side of eternity You must master the book of Revelation because it depicts for us the glory and splendor and majesty of our great king John receives the vision on the island of Patmos about the king and his ministry and his message It begins by saying this I John your brother and fellow partaker in the tribulation in kingdom in perseverance Which are in Jesus look how he introduces himself didn't say I John the great Apostle I John the great author of the Gospel of John and three beautiful epistles He doesn't say I John the one who leaned on the breast of Jesus on that night before the crucifixion The Apostle as described in John's Gospel Whom Jesus loved let's say either he doesn't say John the great Apostle who happened to be on the Mount of Transfiguration with Peter and James And a part of the inner circle of Jesus the closest to him didn't say that he described himself as a brother a fellow partaker he describes himself as as one of us not any better than us not beneath us just as one of us and then he describes himself by three distinct characteristics that precisely describe Those who are in Jesus To be a Christian means that Christ is in you and you are in Christ That's the essence of Christianity Christ in you the hope of glory So to understand that Christ is in me and that I am in Christ John describes all those who are in Jesus by three different phrases one is because of Tribulation and persecution the other as citizens of his kingdom and the other as those who persevere those three Characteristics make up every true child of God Those three characteristics Determine whether you are in Jesus or out of Jesus whether you are a partaker of Jesus or not a partaker of Jesus Because he describes himself as a fellow partaker in the Tribulation and it was the Apostle Paul said that all those who live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution Second Timothy 312 Jesus said in John 16 33 that in the world you shall have tribulation But be of good cheer.

I have overcome the world one of the key characteristics of those who are in Jesus is tribulation is persecution because of their faith Another is the fact that they are citizens of the kingdom. He says that he's a partaker in the kingdom the kingdom of God You see one unique thing about a believer who's in Jesus is that he serves the king? Who is the ruler in the kingdom that is there's a master and then there's a slave The king is the master and his subjects are his slaves And everybody in Jesus understands that everybody in Jesus knows that they are part of another kingdom One that's beyond this world ruled by the king of kings and Lord of lords In fact earlier in the book of Revelation the first chapter.

He says this He says in verse 6 that he has made us to be a kingdom Priest to his God and father to him be the glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen We are a kingdom of a priest in Christ in Jesus That's how he describes himself and John says I'm a fellow partaker like you in the tribulation I'm a fellow partaker like you I'm a part of the kingdom and I'm a fellow partaker like you because I persevere I don't quit I don't give up. I don't defrock the faith. I don't turn my back on Jesus and walk away Because those who are in Jesus don't do that Those who are out of Jesus will do that but those in Jesus don't do that and so he describes three key characteristics of a true believer because he says I am a fellow partaker in the Things that you are that is those who are in Jesus Christ and why is he there says because of the Word of God and because of the testimony of Jesus because of the Word of God and the testimony of Jesus he's on the island of Patmos It's a it's it's a crescent-shaped island about 40 miles from Miletus in the Aegean Sea It's about four to six miles wide about ten miles in length And that's where John was banished to he was banished to this isle or this island for our benefit his banishment is for our benefit his imprisonment is for our Enlightenment that we might see remember.

This is the disciple whom Jesus loved This is one who was loved by Jesus and who loved Jesus. This is one who faithfully served Jesus He's not there because he denied Jesus. He's not there because he turned his back on Jesus He's not there because he walked away from Jesus. He's there because he faithfully and loyally Served his king that's why he's there and you say wait a minute if you love Jesus And you serve Jesus then Aren't things supposed to go really well for you If you love Jesus that he loves you and you serve Jesus faithfully and you are committed to him Aren't things going to go better for you than worse for you?

No, who told you that maybe you're on TV someplace But you hear it from a true preacher of the Word of God you see because that's that's not the way it is. In fact Jesus loved John so much That he banished him to Patmos so that he would specifically receive a vision about the end of the world Nobody else got that vision. Nobody else received that benefit nobody else said Jesus loved was able to understand the end of the world and the glory and beauty and splendor of his majesty like like John did Because the deeper and the more difficult your distress the clearer will be The Christ you must understand that the more Deep and difficult your distress then the clearer Christ will be to you Because you will see him.

It's like Job said Oh, I have heard of you with the hearing of my ear But now finally my eyes have seen you and he was the most righteous man on the face of the earth in Job Chapter 1 and yet there was something about the tribulation and difficulty that he experienced that enabled him to see The Living God as he had never been seen before by Job same is true for you and me But we tend to forget those things and so here's John Receiving this vision from the Lord.

He's telling us about he says he was in the spirit of the Lord's Day. It was Sunday Okay, it was the Lord's Day And he was in the spirit He was transcended beyond that which is normal a lot like Ezekiel was a lot like Isaiah was a lot like Paul was in second Corinthians 12 like Peter was in Acts chapter 10 when he was on that rooftop there in Joppa He was transcended beyond that which is is normal in the in the human sense There's something beyond that in the spiritual sense because he had to see something that was outside of Earth's realm to be able to comprehend the glory and beauty of The Christ so here he was on the island of Patmos on the Lord's Day in the spirit and it says I Heard behind me a loud voice like the sound of a trumpet a loud voice a phrase used 22 times as a book of Revelation But the word loud is the key word in book of Revelation It's used 82 times in 22 chapters the word loud or great is used because God is sending a message When God speaks he thunders from heaven He speaks with a loud voice like the sound of a trumpet So that it's Unmistakably his voice.

It's very clearly Him who is doing what he does so there's no mistake Speaks with a loud voice and John says I heard his voice and I turned the voice said write in a book what you see And set it to seven churches He lists the seven churches in order that is they are in the order of their Postal district their postal route so that if you were to deliver mail you would go to Ephesus first and then from Ephesus You would then go to Smyrna and then you would go to Pergamon then you go to Thyatira and then you go to Sardis It was the postal route and John was listen carefully to write in a book Seven different books what he sees John didn't have a copy machine on the island of Patmos in 96 AD he had to write it all out by hand because each church would receive the book of Revelation And so we had to write it out so that each church would receive what the other church received So all the churches got the same message that took some time But Jesus says write it down ten times John's told the book Revelation write it down Write it down.

Write what you see John. Write what you see. Can you imagine John? Oh, baby, I'm gonna write all that. Yeah. Well, hold on a second Jesus.

I gotta get that down He's gonna write what he sees and then there's one time the Lord says don't write what you see first Well, he says then I turned to see the voice that was speaking with me So evidently his back was to the Son of God and having turned I saw seven golden Lampstands say what are the seven golden lampstands?

Well, the Bible tells you verse number 20 Seven golden lampstands are the seven churches and the churches are described as Lansing lampstands Why because the churches light the way the churches are to be light in the world Christ was the light when he was here and we are Children of the light we are to walk in the light And Matthew 5 16 says that we are the light of the world In fact over in Philippians chapter 2 these words are spoken by the Apostle Paul Philippians 2 he says verse 14 do all things without grumbling or disputing so that you will prove yourself to be blameless and innocent children of God above reproach in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation among whom you appear as Lights in the world you were lights in the world and he says holding fast the word of life How do you shine brightly in the world by holding fast the word of life?

Why is it the churches in America around the world are not lighting the way to Christ is because simply because they're not holding fast to the faithful word of Christ the word of life Enables us to shine brightly when we adhere to what God's Word says we shine bright When we don't we don't shine bright and so we have to hold fast to the faithful word of life Because we are lights in the world. There are seven golden lamps. Why are they golden? Because gold is the most precious of all metals It's the most valuable metal and it says that Jesus purchased his church with his blood We are very precious to Jesus.

That's why they are golden Lampstands on top of that you must ask yourself why there are seven go the lampstands because seven is the number of completion the number of fullness Seven is a key number in the book of Revelation Revelation. There are seven seals There are seven trumpets. There are seven bold judgments Seven is a key word seven is the number of completion rounding out the whole That's why when you look at the seven churches, they are specifically seven distinct unique churches but there are seven churches that make up as a fullness or Completion of the church the body of Christ and how is it portrayed throughout the history of the church age?

That's why there are seven of them. And so John turns he sees seven golden lampstands And now he begins to understand the ministry of the Messiah on how Christ is Described how the revelator is revealed in chapter 1 helps you understand the ministry of Christ among those churches Because the Bible tells us that he stands in the midst of those seven churches This is the present ministry of Christ in the church age to the church of Jesus Christ This is what Christ is doing right now in the church around the world This is how Christ functions in the church And he sets the tone for the ministry of Christ so that you can better understand the message that Christ is going to give to the churches Once you understand his ministry you understand his message if you miss the ministry of Christ among his churches You'll miss the message of Christ to his churches.

Here's the ministry says Have you turned us all seven golden lampstands in the middle of the lampstands? I saw one like a son of man, this is the ministry of Centrality this is the ministry of centrality in other words. I saw standing in the middle of The lampstands it says in chapter 2 verse number 1 to the angel the church in Ephesus Right the one who holds the seven stars in his right hand and the one who walks among the seven golden lampstands Okay, this is the centrality of his ministry. In other words Christ is centrally present in his church He is not absent from his church.

John needed to know this John needed to have this first pop out of the box He needed to know that Jesus had not abandoned the church he needed to know that there was a ministry that Christ had in and Among the seven churches the fullness of the church so he would not miss the presence of Christ Among his people listen to know that Jesus is present among us is Absolutely key to understanding the message.

He's going to give to us. He is here. He is not absent Now you you might not sense his presence, but that doesn't mean he's not here Remember you sense his presence most when you obey what he says For instance Jesus said go into all the world and make disciples and he said lo I am with you always Even to the end of the age listen if you're not making disciples You don't sense the presence of God among you because when you obey his word you are guaranteed of his presence He said to his men and John chapter 14.

I will not leave you as orphans. I will not abandon you Hebrews 13 5 I will never leave you nor will I ever forsake you Christ says in fact He says in Matthew chapter 18 where two or three are gathered together in my name There I am in the midst of them and that's not about a prayer meeting either That's about church discipline.

Listen the church that practices church discipline Experiences the presence of God unlike the church that doesn't practice church discipline because you know that God is present among you He says listen if you do what I've told you to do You can be assured of this that I am with you I am present among you because I am with you because I am a holy God I'm committed to the purity of my people and when my church is committed to the purity of my people You can know that I am with you through that process John needed to see this before he heard about the message that Christ would give to his churches.

So the ministry begins with his centrality and then moves to his Priority if his centrality is his presence his priority is his prayers Listen what it says says In the middle of the lampstands I saw one like a son of man clothed in a robe Reaching to the feet and girded across his chest with a golden sash. Now, what does that mean? Well, we know that in the Old Testament Kings wore robes We know that prophets wore robes and we know that priests wore robes And the fact that is a golden sash across his chest Which was a symbol of righteousness which the priests would wear we know that this is the kingly Priestly ministry of Christ as he is present among his church Meaning that he is constantly praying for his church Not only is he present among us, but he prays for us constantly Hebrew 725 He lives to make intercession for us He is our chief advocate first John chapter 2 and therefore he lives to make intercession for us He is our high priest who can sympathize with all of our weaknesses Listen, there is nobody in this room who can sympathize with your particular weakness.

Not one person There's not one person in the world who can sympathize with your difficulty your weaknesses and your temptations Not one person no matter how much you think they can they cannot but Jesus can Because he's a high priest who was tempted at all points like we are yet without sin He is our sympathetic high priest. He knows exactly what you're going through. That's why he wants you to cry out to him That's why he wants you to crawl to him that's why I want you to call on him because he is the God who can sympathize with your weaknesses and John sees the Son of Man in all of his centrality and the priority of that centrality Centers around the prayer life of the Messiah for his church.

He's praying for us Interceding for us Before the throne of God and moves from his centrality to his priority to his purity verse 14 his head and his hair were white like white wool like snow the purity of Christ in all of his glory is Unbelievable. He's not just holy. He's holy. Holy holy and the purity of Christ is like Pure white snow. This is a description given to Daniel in the seventh chapter of Daniel Speaking to us about the ancient of days who was God himself It says I kept looking until the thrones were set up and the ancient of days took his seat His vesture was like white snow and the hair of his head like pure wool Well Daniel sees a vision of God Jesus John sees the vision of Jesus meaning that Jesus is God this proves his deity the same vision Daniel saw on Daniel 7 with hair like wool like white snow so to John sees in Revelation 1 to help us to understand what he sees about the Christ and it emphasizes the purity and The holiness of Christ Meaning that in his centrality.

He is present among us in his Priority he is praying for us and in his purity. He's involved in purging and Pruning his people exactly what he does. He wants us to be clean unstained Unspotted That's how we are positionally with him. He wants us practically with him like that That's why he says coming to me come let us reason together though your sins be as scarlet They shall be as white as snow though. They be red like crimson. They shall be made as wool, I'm gonna make you clean like I am clean and Christ is in the in the ministry of purging and Purifying his church, that's why he makes the demand Be holy as your father in heaven is holy be perfect as God himself is perfect in Matthew chapter 5 He wants us to be like him and we'll stop at nothing to make sure we progress that direction So you move from his centrality to his priority to his purity to his scrutiny and his eyes were like a flame Fire it says over in Revelation chapter 2 verse number 18 these words and to the angel of the church of Thyatira write the Son of God who has eyes like a flame of Fire it's emphasized again.

In fact, you'll see all these characteristics of his ministry Emphasized in the letters to the seven churches to let you know that his eyes are the the like laser beams They scrutinize everything they see everything. Nothing escapes and notice of God.

That's why in John chapter 2 It says that he wasn't committing himself to some because he knew what was in man He knows what's inside of men because he sees those things He knows the words that are gonna come from your mouth before you even speak them Psalm 139 He knows everything about you. You can't hide from the Son of Man. He knows you inside and out Oh, you can hide from your husband or from your wife or from your pastor from your elders or from your friends at work or? From your family you can hide certain things.

You can't hide them from God He sees them all and that's why those eyes like laser beams see everything And that's why he can scrutinize your life because as the book of Hebrews says Hebrews chapter 4 verse number 13 Nothing is hidden from his sight nothing This is his scrutiny. This is his examination. This is how he perceives Everything that's going on. He knows it all he sees it Oh, and then you move to his authority verse 15 his feet were like burnished bronze When it has been made to glow in a furnace and his voice was like the sound of many waters In his right hand he held seven stars in other words, this is his Authority the feet of a king were always a symbol of authority because he came before a king you bow before his feet And his feet would be the symbol of his judging work upon man And so here you have his feet were like burnished bronze it says over in revelation chapter 19 revelation 19 verse number 12 It says these words his eyes were like a flame of fire and on his head were many diadems That's not what I wanted to say.

I want that last verse, but I missed up Sorry, anyway, his eyes are still like a flame of fire when he returns He sees everything right and his feet in Revelation 19 He will trample the winepress of God alone because he is the judge of all men This is his authority and his voice His voice was like was like running water crashing against the surf. His voice was loud His voice was strong And he held it says these words In his right hand. He held the seven stars. He held this hand seven stars The question are is what are those seven stars?

He holds in his hand and the Bible tells us verse 20 as for the mystery of the seven stars Which you saw in my right hand and the seven golden lampstands the seven stars are the seven angels or the seven messengers They're not literal angels because angels are not in charge of the church, but they are messengers Referring to the pastors involved in those churches and the Lord says I have those seven stars. I have those seven messengers I have those seven leading men in my hand. They are under my authority.

They are under my control In fact, the whole church is under my control So well, that's the case and why does when has God let it run the way it's been running in its spiritual decline? That's all part of the process of weeding out the tears that are among the wheat Doesn't negate the importance of following what God's Word says and being obedient to all that he has portrayed for us in Scripture Then he says and out of his mouth came a sharp two-edged sword speaking once again of his authority The Bible says in chapter 2 verse number 12 and to the angel the church in Pergamon Right the one who has a sharp two-edged sword says this then down in verse number 16 It says these words therefore repent or else I am coming to you quickly And I will make war against them with the sword of my mouth That sword that sharp two-edged sword is how God defends his people and Destroys those who are against his people as you recall in Revelation 19 when he returns there is a sword in his mouth Used to destroy the enemies because it's through his spoken word That his enemies will be destroyed the Word of God is so powerful that when he speaks the universe came into existence The Word of God is so powerful that when he speaks man came into existence the Word of God is so powerful that when he speaks the world will go out of existence because of the Sword of his mouth he speaks with authority undiminished authority and that's why it's important for those who are the pastors of churches to speak forth the Word of God because it's through the speaking of The Word of God that God protects his church It's it's it's the word that he speaks that protects his church as well as Purifies his church.

He weeds people out of the church So when you preach the Word of God people are going to hear the truth either Capitulate to that truth submit to it or run from it Because the Word of God convicts the soul in it's the word that God uses to accomplish that whole process Then it says his face was like the Sun Shining in its strength This is his glory. This is his glory He moved from his centrality to his priority to his purity to a scrutiny to his authority to his glory The beauty the radiant beauty of the Son of Man his face was like the Sun shining in its strength full brightness Full glory That's why John had to be elevated to another dimension to be able to see this Because of the brightness of glory of and glory of Christ.

No man can look upon him and live So John had to be transported to a supernatural realm to be able to see the risen glorified Christ in all of us splendor and glory because at the apex of his ministry He wants the glory of himself to radiate to his people to shine through his church So everybody will see not the church, but see the God of the church the Christ of the church That's why in the Old Testament when Ichabod had been written across the temple of God Meaning the glory of the Lord had departed.

It wasn't that God was no longer present there He said he couldn't be seen there in his splendor in his glory his majesty because sin had so Infiltrated the people of God and that's why there are there are so many churches that when you when you walk into them you never see God you'll see a lot of things But you won't see God because the glory of the Lord has departed Here's the important thing says verse 17 when I saw him I fell his feet like a dead man when you see Christ for who he is you cannot remain Standing you cannot remain the same way you were before you saw him You cannot and John says I fell at his feet like a dead man on the amount of transfiguration He fell down as well.

But now he falls down prostrate. He falls down as if he is dead He is so overwhelmed because he has seen the beauty of the Lord because he has seen his holiness John has seen his what sinfulness and when you see his holiness you are Overwhelmed by your sinfulness. You can't stand in his presence any longer. You can't that's why I hate it when God is so trivialized in our churches when people want to come to church and they Laugh and and they want to hear jokes and they want to hear stories You should go to church and fall down your face like a dead man because you've been confronted on your sin You've seen the holiness of God and you can't stand before his presence any longer and that's where John was.

I Can't stand because I've seen his beauty. I've seen his glory I've seen the majesty and royalty of the king and all of his beauty and all the splendor. I can't stand here anymore I got to fall on my face before him because all I've seen now is my sin See our desire is always that you see Christ That's why we take and say open your Bible with us to this chapter of that chapter Why because it's the glory of the Lord. It's the word of the Lord In 2nd Corinthians 3 18 Paul says that when you peer into the the mirror the the truth of God's Word You're able to see his glory and when you see his glory in his beauty You are changed into the likeness of his glory.

You're never the same again and so we tell you when you come Take your Bible and open with us to this chapter to that chapter in the Old Testament a New Testament Because we want you to see the glory of God. We want you to see his beauty his splendor everything about who he is We want you to see him because if you see him in all of the splendor you will see your sin and you will fall on your face and you will Repent and that's what the seven churches needed to see and so the Lord says to John Write it down and send it to the seven churches because what you see John They need to see what you've come face to face with They need to come face to face with because they need to repent They need to hear what I have to say or I'm going to come to them with the sword of my Mouth and I will weed them out.

I would deal with them Listen, it's better for you to read this and deal with the sin in your life now Then to have God come down and deal with you in the sin in your life So wait a minute God loves us. He's forgiven us. He's a God of grace and mercy Oh, yeah, but you were to live in the fear of the Lord all day long The Bible tells us because who he is and those who who believe in him and love him They fear him because they know exactly the kind of God they serve They know who he is and what he's capable of doing.

That's why they worship him My prayer for you and me is that we would comprehend this ministry of the Christ to his church, but we're not done yet because Jesus Reaches down and touches John touches him Wow, what compassion wouldn't mercy get up John You see John's response was a proper response when you respond the way John responds you experience in a super Natural way the touch of the master says get up You got things to do you got places to go people to see and sure enough John did and God used him in a mighty Mighty way and my prayer for you and me is that when we understand and complete this ministry We can hear the message because we have ears to hear and we want to listen to what the Spirit says to the churches Let me pray with you father Thank you for today and all that you do and the chance to spend time in your word And we pray Lord that you will continue to teach us and instruct us in the way that we should go that we might Truly represent you we thank you for your ministry among us that you pray for us that you were always here present among us that You are scrutinizing everything that happens in our lives and that Lord as you pray for us and you prune and purge us That we would be the people you want us to be for the glory of your kingdom and all God's people said