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Catapulted into the Future - Revelation 1:9-20

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6/16/1996
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Catapulted into the Future
Revelation 1:9-20
Skip Heitzig
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66 Revelation - History's Last Chapter - 1996

The book of Revelation exalts Jesus Christ as the soon-coming Lord over the earth. Skip Heitzig explains the amazing and mysterious prophecies that form God's final word to mankind.

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I have a confession to make: I'm sort of a practical joker and I now one day it's all going to come back. One of the things I've done with staff members is I hear them coming down the hall or unlocking a door to the room and if I'm in it, I will hide behind something and as they're coming around the corner with a cup of coffee, I'll jump out and scare them with a loud voice. And they'll often spill the coffee around. I think that perhaps you could understand John's reaction here when you read what we're about to read: "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." 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. 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 which you saw are the seven churches."

John hears something, sees something, and does something. He hears a voice, he sees a vision, he falls and worships, he writes down what God wants him to write down. This is not original material. John didn't sit down and say, 'Ok. Here I am on Patmos. I've got time to kill. Maybe I can write a best-seller. Maybe I could actually write a book that would make its way into the Bible itself.' No this was a heavenly message and Jesus Christ is supervising the writing of this. 'Write this down, John, and send it to the seven churches.' Have you ever done this experiment where you take a few people in a room and you tell a story to somebody next to you, whispering in each other's ears, and you let it go all the way around the room until it gets back to you? The story doesn't even resemble, in many cases, what you told the person next to you. The story has changed because people listen selectively and pick out salient points and leave the rest out or embellish it. That's the problem with old stories: they change over time. When a person, a man, a human being, comes up with something to tell it is erroneous. It won't always have lasting truth to the original.

This is an actual experiment that was done. Richard Lederer compiled a series of bloopers written by actual students in classrooms. And this is what happens in Bible stories when they are retold by young people around the world. Now this isn't the Bible's story; this is when students retell the Bible story. Here's a sampling. In the first book of the Bible, called Guinesses, God got tired of creating the world and so He took the Sabbath off. Adam and Eve were created from an apple tree. Noah's wife was called Joan of Ark. Lot's wife was a pillar of salt by day and a ball of fire by night. Samson slayed the Philistines with the ax of the apostles. Moses went up on Mount Cyanide to get the Ten Amendments. The first commandment was when Eve told Adam to eat the apple. The fifth commandment is to humor thy father and thy mother. The seventh commandment is thou shalt not admit adultery. Moses died before he ever reached Canada (rather than Canaan.) Then Joshua led the Hebrews in a battle of Geritol. Solomon, one of David's sons, had 300 wives and 700 porcupines. Jesus was born because Mary had an immaculate contraption. And the people who followed the Lord were called the Twelve Decibels. The epistles were the wives of the apostles. That makes sense! A Christian should have only one wife; this is called monotony. Bless those kids' hearts!

Unlike that, what John heard and what he saw, he wrote down and it is faithful. It's not like an old story that somehow has been embellished and changed. In verse two he calls what he is seeing "the word of God." It's the testimony of the Spirit and it's supervised, as we said, by Jesus Himself. As John is catapulted into the future, he sees, he writes down, God gives him the revelation. Let's first of all consider the voice that he heard. In verse nine, he talks about being on Patmos. In verse ten, "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." Because of that verse, some have thought that this must have happened on Sunday. That there was John on Sunday and he was in the Spirit and God gave him the book of Revelation to write on a Sunday. That certainly is a possibility and what a great phrase: "I was in the Spirit" on Sunday. How about you? What do you like on Sunday? Are you in the Spirit? You say, 'That's why I come here--to get in the Spirit!' It's funny. I've often said that the church parking lot has such a power of transformation. Couples can be in a fight, they can be yelling at each other, and they drive in the parking lot of the church and they see an usher. And they're totally transformed. They get out of the car and the usher says, 'How are you?' and they say, 'Praise God! Great!' What happened to the fight? It's just like a total, 'Oh, I've got to be good now.'

"I was in the Spirit on the Lord's Day," John says. However, many commentators believe that what John meant is not Sunday, specifically, that the Lord's Day he was referring to, but the Day of the Lord which is an Old Testament phrase--a prophetic phrase. And many commentators will translate this, 'I was transported by the Spirit unto the Day of the Lord.' Even linguistically, the original language shows this is a possibility. It could be that what he's saying is this: 'I, John, was on Patmos. I was catapulted into the future and I saw judgments and I saw battles as if I were really there myself.' And he writes about all the way up to the Day of the Lord. That is certainly a possibility. Notice the voice that is speaking with him is Jesus Christ. And I say that not only because they're written in red letters. By the way, red letters are not in the original. It's not like John put a pen down and got a red one and started writing. But we suppose this is Jesus because in verse eighteen He is identified as the One who is risen from the dead. And in the last book of the Bible, chapter twenty-two of Revelation, He says the same thing: 'I'm the First and the Last. I, Jesus, have sent and signified this to John to go to the churches.'

It says, "I heard behind me a loud voice, as of a trumpet." It was so loud, like a trumpet blaring in your ears. It wasn't, 'Pssst! John... over here.' It was a loud trumpet blast-like voice and notice in verse fifteen, "His voice as the sound of many waters." It had been sixty years since the apostle John heard the voice of Jesus. He's in his nineties now on Patmos. He remembered what Jesus' voice was like when He was on the earth in the flesh, but now it's loud. It is unmistakable. It must have startled him much like my practical jokes will startle members of my staff and friends as they jump. It startled him. In verse seventeen it says, "And when I saw Him, I fell at His feet as dead. But He laid His right hand on me."

Sometimes the voice of God. It was with Elijah. He wanted it loud, he wanted it in the earthquake and in the fire and the Scripture said, it was only in a still, small voice. At other times, the voice of God is overpowering. On Mount Sinai it was that way as the great Lawgiver thundered forth His Law. And with thundering and lightning, God spoke. In Psalm 29, we read "The voice of the Lord is over the waters, the glory of the Lord thunders. The voice of the Lord breaks the cedars, the voice of God shakes the wilderness." This is not what John is used to; he's used to the voice of Jesus the Galilean. Plus he's old now--he's in his nineties. So this voice of a trumpet must have really shaken him.

If you go over to Patmos, we were there a couple weeks ago; there is the grotto of Saint John. It's a little cave and they have a church they built around it. Now this is not historic, but it is traditional. They'll show you the spot where they say he laid his head and the spot where he lifted himself up and the spot where he laid his arm to write the book of Revelation. And there's a crack, a fissure, in the rock of this grotto and they say that is where the voice of the trumpet came from and it split the rock as John heard it. We don't know that for sure but we know that John was startled.

What did Jesus have to say in this loud voice? Look at chapter two and three. It's all red-letter, isn't it? He had a lot to say. He has a whole series of messages to give to seven churches which are in Asia. And we're going to get into that starting next week. But I'd like to draw your attention to what Jesus said about Himself in this week's message. Verse eight: "I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End," says the Lord, "who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty." Verse eleven: "I am the Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last." Verse seventeen: "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."

When Jesus introduces Himself to John, He unmistakably underscores the fact that He is God. Jesus Christ is deity. 'I'm the First; the Last; the Alpha; the Omega.' That's the first and the last letters of the Greek alphabet. Any Jew who would have heard this message, when they hear somebody say, 'I'm the first and the last,' they'd say, 'Wait a minute. That is only reserved for God. Isaiah 41, God says the same thing: I am the First and I am the Last. Besides Me there is no one else.' Here Jesus introduces Himself as the Alpha, the Omega, the First, the Last, the Almighty. And then He speaks of His eternal nature: 'I'm the One who was, who is, and who is to come."

Do you remember when Moses was having a conversation with God? God said, 'Moses, you're going to go to Egypt and represent Me.' And he had a whole list of excuses: not God, Moses. Why he shouldn't go. And one of the questions he said, 'They're going to ask me what Your name is. They're going to say how do we know God sent you? What's His name?' Do you remember the answer God gave him? He said, "I AM THAT I AM." "Tell them I AM sent you." Now we don't know exactly the pronunciation of that except the Hebrews, because they won't pronounce the name of God, have left simply the consonant letters. In English: YHVH or YHWH. Yahweh, perhaps. Or Jehovah. We do know this, though. The name of God, I AM, Yahweh, is comprised of three Hebrew words that mean 'I was,' 'I am,' and 'I will be.' And here Jesus is taking that eternal name upon Himself.

Folks, it's ludicrous when somebody will say to you as sometimes they say to me, 'Well, the Bible never claims directly that Jesus Christ is God.' I always respond, 'What Bible are you reading anyway? Which version do you have?' It's all over the place that Jesus claimed to be God! Thomas bowed before Jesus and said, 'My Lord and my God,' and Jesus accepted that worship. There's the time in Luke chapter five when, you remember, the crippled man was let through the roof by his friends and as he's lowered down, Jesus looks on him and said, 'Son, your sins are forgiven.' The scribes and the Pharisees hearing that say, 'Wait a minute! Only God can forgive sins.' They got no argument from Jesus--that was the whole point. In John chapter eight, Jesus said, 'Before Abraham was, I AM.' The Old Testament formula for timelessness: I AM THAT I AM. Over in John chapter five we read, 'The Pharisees sought to kill Jesus because He said God was His Father continually making Himself equal with God.' As the story goes on, as they're taking up stones to throw at Jesus, Jesus says, 'Now wait a minute. Many good works have I done for which good work do you stone Me?' They said, 'We're not stoning You for a good work--we're stoning You for blasphemy! Because You being a man make Yourself God.' Let's be frank: if Jesus is not God, He deserves an Academy Award. Because He claimed to be God, He displayed the attributes of God, and even His enemies understood that He was God.

When we first bought this building that we're meeting in this morning, it looked very different if some of you remember back. We wanted to make some changes. There was one section of the wall that I wanted removed in part of this building. I said, 'I'm going to remove that portion of the wall.' The architect said, 'You can't do it.' I said, 'What do you mean we can't do it? We bought the building, we can take it out!' He said, 'You take out that wall, you'll take down the building. Because that's a weight-bearing wall. There are other walls you can take out, but not that little section. You want to take out and remove that wall? The building may collapse.' That's how it is with the deity of Christ. If you remove the deity of Jesus Christ, Christianity collapses. It's not an option. Jesus Christ is God. It's the underlying fact of the New Testament.

Now let's look at the vision that he sees of this Jesus Christ. "I turned to see the voice that spoke with me." It was so loud; it got his attention. He wants to put a face now with the voice. Whenever I go and speak in other places where our radio show is broadcast, I often get remarks after like, 'Well I came tonight because I listen to your radio broadcast all the time. But I wanted to put a face with the voice.' And they'll say, 'You're not at all what I pictured.' They don't explain exactly what that means. Is this good or is this bad? They just usually leave it at that. "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."

This is the only description we have in all of the Bible of Jesus Christ. It's interesting, isn't it? Artists for years have tried to paint Jesus. And growing up as kids, we all have little images implanted in our mind: Jesus carrying the sheep, Jesus at the Last Supper with all of the disciples on one side as if posing for the picture, that's really not how they ate suppers in those days on one side kind of looking at the camera. But that's how we picture it all. And so seeing all of the cards, all of the pictures, all of the artists' renditions through history, we have this little image of what Jesus was like. But there's no description physically in all of the Bible except for this one.

You'd think somebody would have said, 'Well His hair's this color, eyes this color. He was about this tall and weighed about this much.' But they didn't. I think Jesus was a very ordinary looking person. There's no Scripture that says He walked around with a permanent halo wherever He went so that people could say, 'There He is! See that gold halo over there?' On the way to Emmaus the two disciples didn't recognize Him. Mary at the tomb thought Jesus was a gardener. Now here's a description of Jesus Christ in glory that John sees. And of course, it's a vision filled with idioms. These pictures describe the attributes or function of Jesus Christ in a glorified state. First of all, He's standing in the midst of the lampstands. Please don't think in modern terms here. Don't think of lamps with lampshades. We're talking about oil lamps that give off their flame. And again, a Jewish person reading about seven lampstands would think of the menorah, the seven branch candlestick that stood in the holy place of the tabernacle. Solomon put ten of them in his temple when he built it.

What does this refer to? Verse twenty; it refers to the church: "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 which you saw are the seven churches." I think this is a fitting description of the church, don't you? A lampstand is meant to give light; to dispel darkness; to show people the way out. Who's the light of the world? It's a trick question. There are two answers. At one point, Jesus said, "I am the Light of the world." At another occasion, He said, "As long as I am in the world, I am the Light of the world." And He said to His disciples, "You are the light of the world. A city that is set upon a hill cannot be hid neither do men light a lamp and put it under a bushel but on a lampstand that it might give light to the whole house. So let your light shine before men that they may see your good works and glorify your Father who is in heaven."

Jesus is like the sun, the source of the light. We are like the moon reflecting His glory, but the church is the lampstand, giving light to the earth. And so Jesus is standing in the midst of His church, the church that is meant to reveal darkness and show people the way out. People are looking for a way out of their darkness. They're looking for answers; it's pretty obvious if you just look at what people get into. They want to know the future, as we said last week they'll read horoscopes, or look at late night psychic hotlines. What does the future have for me? They're looking for some light. Do you show it to them? When they look at your life is it clear that you know where you're going? That you're walking out of darkness, walking in the light? There's a story told of a lighthouse off the coast of Florida. One of the panes of glass broke and instead of replacing it with clear glass, they replaced it with a piece of tin. It was convenient but there's a problem with that. A guy was trying to navigate his boat into the harbor one night and instead of seeing a clear light, he saw a dark spot. When people look at your life, do they see light or do they see a dark spot that keeps some of that light from being transmitted?

In verse thirteen we see a garment that goes down to His feet. I think the garment speaks of greatness. Isaiah saw in his vision the Lord lifted up in the temple, the train of His robe filled the temple. That's a long robe. I've done weddings and I've seen some pretty long trains on gals. I've seen them trip over them as they try to make their way up. But it speaks of majesty and greatness, this robe. Verse fourteen: "His head and hair were white like wool." Does that ring a bell? Daniel's vision in the book of Daniel chapter seven? Daniel sees a vision of the Ancient of Days--God--whose hair and head is white like wool, like pure wool and His garment is white as snow.

I don't know how you picture Jesus Christ. Maybe you picture Him as the fair-skinned Anglo-Saxon Jesus that He's been misportrayed as. I know that Jesus was Semitic so He probably had dark skin and dark hair, but I think when you see Him in glory, He's going to blow your mind. He's not going to be what you pictured. This isn't the same Jesus John remembers. It says, "His eyes like a flame of fire." Can you imagine somebody looking at you like that, whose eyes are like fire? That penetrating gaze? Maybe that refers to being able to see into everybody's heart and every situation. The writer of Hebrews said, "All things are naked and open before the eyes of God, the One that we must give an account to."

The eyes of fire I think are related to the feet. Notice that we read, "His feet were like fine brass, as if refined in a furnace." Whenever you read of brass in the Scriptures, think of judgment because we're first introduced to an altar of brass in the tabernacle. And it was on the altar of brass in the outer court that the animals were taken to, they were cut, and they were burned. The sin offering was consumed upon a brass altar as the refining fire burnt the sacrifice, sin was dealt with. And so brass often, we read in the Scripture, speaks of judgment. Now this is something John never saw before. He's never seen a Jesus with white head, white like wool, long robe, penetrating gaze, a sword going out of His mouth, the Word of God. Feet like brass. John saw Jesus in Galilee--the carpenter from Nazareth. John saw Jesus transfigured with Moses and Elijah, certainly. He saw the resurrected Jesus ascend into heaven, but he'd never seen a Jesus like this. It's the Jesus of judgment. And the reason He's portrayed this way is that in chapter four a series of judgments begin upon the earth. Jesus acts as the Judge, as He said He would.

Some of you see a one-sided picture of Jesus. Some of you here perhaps don't think of Jesus as the Judge. I hear sentiments like, 'Don't judge. Jesus never would.' Really? That's a one-sided Jesus. A lot of people have this Sunday school image of Jesus. You know, He's the frail, smiling Jesus who always pats little boys on the head and would maybe pick up stray dogs and never really say anything against someone. But I read of the Jesus who also, though He loved people, took tables and overturned them and with a cord, a whip, drove people out of the temple. He's loving, yes. He's the Savior, yes. But one day this loving, saving Jesus will stand as the Judge before all the world. I was reading a story about two college guys. They were friends in school; they graduated from college in Australia. One became a judge, a circuit judge. The other became a banker. The banker was caught for embezzling a million dollars; he had to stand trial before guess who--his friend the judge. When the press got wind of this, they were speculating, 'Is this guy gonna let him off scot-free because he's his friend? Is he going to really give it to him?' The day of the trial came. The press was available. And the judge leveled the stiffest possible penalty against his friend. Some huge sum of money that he had to pay back. And when he said, 'This is what you owe,' and he put the gavel down, there was a gasp in the courtroom: 'He really did it! He gave the guy full blow!' Then the judge did something no one had ever seen. He stood up, took his robe off, walked from behind the bar out front, extended his hand to his friend and said, 'My friend, I sold my house, I emptied my savings to pay for the very debt that you owe.'

It's a picture of God. God must judge but God is also very merciful because He's paid the price for us. God has to judge the world, please understand that. I cannot accept a God who will not judge wickedness. As I read newspapers day in and day out, as I read history of accounts of wicked men, I have to believe there will be a God who will judge that. I can't trust a God who wouldn't judge wickedness. Could you trust a God who saw things like Adolf Hitler and say, 'Oh, Adolf. Listen. No problem. You're a product of your environment, we all make mistakes. Come on in!' That's not loving--that's amoral. God must judge wickedness. He can't overlook wickedness. And He doesn't. He can't turn His back on sin, but at the same time He can't turn His back on us. We read about this Jesus who paid our price with his own blood, we saw that at the beginning verses of this chapter.

Now in verse sixteen notice that He has something in His right hand. "He had in His right hand seven stars, out of His mouth went a sharp two-edged sword." The right hand represents power and authority. If you're left-handed don't take offense to this. This is simply an ancient idiom of strength and authority passed down in very many Semitic cultures. Jesus is holding in power and control the stars, the stars, verse twenty, are the messengers of the churches. Translated 'angels' which simply means an ambassador. It could be a heavenly ambassador or it could refer to an earthly ambassador like the pastor or the elders of the church. As I was reading this verse this week I was very comforted. I thought, 'Here's a picture of Jesus standing in the midst of His church holding the messengers of the church in His right hand.' And I was very comforted that it's His church; it's His responsibility. As Jesus said, 'I will build My church.' And that God holds the church in His hand and God holds the messengers of the church in His hand. You know what that means to me? I don't have to worry. I never have to sit and go, 'Man, I don't know if we can make this bill or this payment. What the finances go low?' It's not my problem. I don't have to worry, 'Lord, will Your people really grasp the vision?' It's His church! And when a problem comes up here at the church I can say, 'Lord, You've got a problem. It's Your church! It's not my church. You're gonna have to do something.' That's the way to look at it.

John saw Jesus holding on to the church and to the messengers. In verse seventeen we see the veneration that he gives: "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." Now here's the guy who leaned on the breast of Jesus at the Last Supper and we see him here down at the feet of Jesus. Can you blame him? He had never seen Jesus like this. He had never seen this majestic of a vision of Christ. It illustrates a point that Paul said in 2 Corinthians: "We have known Christ after the flesh but we don't know Him anymore that way." And seeing Jesus like this, he gets down on his face right before Jesus. I want to comment on something right here before we move on. John is in the Spirit. John is down before Jesus after seeing this vision. I don't think it's just because it's a magnificent vision or a radical vision but it's the radical notion that holy God is speaking to me. Every time I read about people having a real encounter with God in the Bible, it doesn't make them puffed-up. They don't go, 'I've had a vision. I'm gonna write a book.' They get very, very self-conscious and very humble. Isaiah said, 'When I saw this vision of God in the temple raised up I said, 'Whoa is me! I am undone. I am a man of unclean lips.' When Peter saw that Jesus could command the fish to fill the net, he said, 'Depart from me, Lord. I am a sinful man.' When Paul on the road to Damascus had Jesus appear and speak to him, he fell off of his horse and he said, 'Lord, what do You want me to do?' And then he changed his name to Paul, which means 'little one.' It humbled him, it didn't exalt him.

Here at the beginning of Revelation, Jesus is presented to His church in glory. And folks, it's my opinion that the modern church needs a new awareness of Jesus Christ. High and lifted up and in charge of His church. I think that there is a dangerous lack of reverence in many Christians' life. Where it's like, 'Yeah, the good old buddy in the sky. You know, God.' And people lack a real reverence and awe for God. We speak so much today about our esteem and you've got to stand on your own two feet. We ought to be down at His feet. That's the position of the church. We used to sing a song years ago, when I was first a Christian. If you want to know the power of God, get down at Jesus' feet. If you want to know the love of God, get down at Jesus' feet. Get down, sinner, get down, saint, get down at Jesus' feet. Have you been there lately? Have you been before His feet in humility? Worshiping? I'm not asking you, 'Do you attend worship services and how regularly?' I'm not going to take a poll of that; I might embarrass some. But do you really worship? I mean the kind where it penetrates the soul. You know you're in the presence of God. There's an absolute abdication of your life to God and a surrender of your life to God.

A.W. Tozer said, "Worship is the missing jewel of the evangelical church." Is it missing in your life? Real worship? Let me suggest to you that if you are missing a real worship experience, it's not because the worship leaders aren't good or they didn't sing the right songs or the P.A.'s too loud or not loud enough or there aren't enough or too many hymns, it's the problem of the heart. Charles Spurgeon wrote, "Why is it that some people are often in a place of worship and yet they are not holy? It is because they've neglected their prayer closets. They love wheat but they do not grind it. The water flows at their feet, but they do not steep to drink of it." Then he asks this question: "Are we tired of God? If not, how is it that we do not walk with Him from day to day. Really spiritual worship is not much cared for in these days, even by professing Christians. Many will go to a place of worship if they can be entertained with fine music or grand oratory but if communion with God is the only attraction they are not drawn thereby."

John got down, recognizing this Jesus that I followed is God in the flesh and it humbled him. Finally, we move on to the last thing, the vocation that John obeyed. Verse nineteen: "Write the things which you have seen, and the things which are, and the things which will take place after this." He's to write them to the seven churches which are in Asia. We'll get into that next week. But verse nineteen is the key verse to this book, because Jesus gives John an outline of the book. 'John, first write the things that you have seen.' That's the vision in chapter one--he writes it down. We've read it. 'Write the things which are.' That's the things that pertain to the seven churches of Asia Minor, chapters two and three. 'Then I want you to write the things which will take place after this.' Which is chapter four to the end of the book. John faithfully writes them down. The mystery of the seven stars and the lampstands are given in verse twenty.

Let's close with this: John heard, John saw, John got on his feet before Jesus and John obeyed by writing this book. Aren't you glad that John obeyed the commission that Jesus gave him to write the book of Revelation? Better be glad. Here's the proof: it's here. What if he said, 'I'm not having a good hair day today. I'm not gonna do this, Lord. Get somebody else.' Well, He might have but John would've missed the blessing. There was a call upon John's life. There's a calling upon your life today, too. There's some job God has for you. Some ministry that God wants to perform through you. And let me suggest that the way to get there is to follow this same outline as we've already given to you. You need first of all a fresh attention to His voice. To hear His voice--read the Bible. A lot. Secondly, you need a fresh perspective of Jesus Christ. The loving, saving, judging Jesus. All of it. Thirdly, you need a fresh experience of worship. The real kind, in spirit and in truth. Total surrender of your life in humility to God. Then you will hear the voice of God crystal clear. I want to close with a small portion of a letter that was written to me last year by somebody in the fellowship here:

"Many years ago I had just moved to Albuquerque and found a place to live at none other than the Lakes Apartments. [That's where we first started our Bible study.] I was involved in not good things with my roommates and partners. Several months before in Atlanta, Georgia, a gentleman who worked for me named Jesse had received Christ and would constantly follow me around the hotel where we worked to tell me about the peace and joy I could find in Jesus. Praise God for him, for he did touch my heart with the gospel. And then at the Lakes, I heard of a Bible study taking place. Unfortunately, I did not heed my Father's call to attend. I'm saddened my reluctance at the time. I often wonder how God could have used me to serve at the onset of Calvary of Albuquerque. A couple of years later, the Lord brought a woman in my life who re-introduced me to Jesus. I wanted to go to church and I started searching for a church home. Keep in mind; I had not yet truly accepted Jesus as my Lord and Savior. I tried a couple of churches, but it was new and different. I, like yourself, was raised in a religious background. One Sunday I stumbled across a little place in a strip mall next to the Walgreen's at Menaul and Eubank called Calvary Chapel. I went in and saw that there was a guy up there playing a folk guitar. It was a beautiful song which you were singing. However, I couldn't believe this was a real church. Where were the crosses? Or the signs or the stations or the statues? I couldn't believe this is the place God wanted me to be. Unfortunately, I left immediately and again ignored the call of my Lord. Several years later, I began listening to the radio and I listened to you. I felt the Holy Spirit tugging at my heart, and I finally gave my life to our Lord Jesus Christ in the front seat of my car in tears after your broadcast. The Lord is truly finishing a work that He has started in me several years ago until the day of our Lord Jesus Christ. And through all those years, He has worked through you and Calvary."

The phrase I want to end with is this. He said, "I often wondered how God could have used me to serve." Don't let that be your phrase. Don't miss the call of God. Get a fresh listen to His voice, perspective of who He is, and worship at His feet. You'll hear His call.

Additional Messages in this Series

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6/9/1996
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Good News from a Bad Place
Revelation 1:1-8
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6/23/1996
completed
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When Love Grows Cold
Revelation 2:1-7
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6/30/1996
completed
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Postcard to Those in Pain
Revelation 2:8-11
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7/7/1996
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The Curse of Compromise
Revelation 2:12-17
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7/14/1996
completed
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Corruption without Discernment
Revelation 2:18-29
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7/21/1996
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Church of the Living Dead
Revelation 3:1-6
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7/28/1996
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Body Building - God's Way
Revelation 3:7-13
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The human body has become the obsession of our modern culture. Much like the ancient Greeks, people are madly trying to fit the contemporary ideal of what is an acceptable shape and size. The church is metaphorically called the "Body of Christ" and His desire is to see it built up spiritually. The church of Philadelphia is a good model of a healthy, faithful church. Their example provides for us a template to follow in building up the Body - God's Way!
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8/19/1996
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Taking Your Spiritual Temperature
Revelation 3:14-22
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Ever since we were kids our moms stuck thermometers in our mouths whenever she suspected that we were sick. If our body temperature of 98.6 had climbed up just a few notches, it was always a good indication that an unhealthy condition was present. There is also a spiritual temperature that reveals the condition of our souls, and when the thermometer reads Lukewarm it indicates that something is wrong; it indicates the presence of danger. Let's see how Jesus, the Great Physician, treats his patient with this malady.
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8/25/1996
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Peeking into the Portals of Heaven
Revelation 4
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9/1/1996
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History's Greatest Real Estate Deal
Revelation 5:1-7
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9/8/1996
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Worship His Majesty - Part 1
Revelation 5:8-10
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In heaven there won’t be just three services in the morning and one at night with a midweek tacked on. There will be no need to be sensitive to time so we can go to lunch. Words will not have to be printed nor projected. Worship leaders will have no need prompting people to sing. It will be an all-consuming experience that will involve our total cooperation and enthusiasm.
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9/15/1996
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Worship His Majesty - Part 2
Revelation 5:11-14
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9/29/1996
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Four Riders with Bad News
Revelation 6:1-8
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10/6/1996
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The Cries of Heaven and Earth
Revelation 6:9-17
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10/13/1996
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A Blessed Interruption in a Tough Time
Revelation 7
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10/20/1996
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Trumpets of Doom
Revelation 8
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10/27/1996
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When All Hell Breaks Loose
Revelation 9:1-12
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11/3/1996
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Angels of Mass Destruction
Revelation 9:13-21
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11/10/1996
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A Big Angel with a Little Book
Revelation 10
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11/17/1996
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Two Powerful Preachers
Revelation 11:1-14
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11/24/1996
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Light at the End of the Tunnel
Revelation 11:15-19
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12/1/1996
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The Panorama of Spiritual Warfare - Part 1
Revelation 12:1-6
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12/8/1996
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The Panorama of Spiritual Warfare - Part 2
Revelation 12:7-17
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There aren't many people who like to fight. Confrontation is something most would like to avoid. But in the spiritual realm it's unavoidable. The question isn't, "Will I engage in spiritual warfare?" Rather, the question is, "How well will I fight?" As we saw last week, the war in the heavens makes its way to the theater of the earth. Let's see what else it entails.
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12/15/1996
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The Coming Global Leader
Revelation 13:1-10
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12/22/1996
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Evil's Right-Hand-Man
Revelation 13:11-18
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12/29/1996
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The Lamb Who Shepherds His People
Revelation 14:1-5
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After all that john has seen in his apocalyptic vision, seeing the docility of a lamb standing with his overcoming sheep is a welcomed sight. Although the dragon pursues god's people relentlessly, although the beasts are bent on ruling the earth, the ultimate winner will be the lamb and his followers.
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1/5/1997
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Angels Set The Record Straight
Revelation 14:6-13
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1/12/1997
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It's Harvest Time!
Revelation 14:14-20
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One of the most common ways to make a living in ancient times was to "work the land." The early rains of October/November and the soft latter rains produced the wheat and barley harvest later on. Also, when vintage season began, almost the whole village could be found in the fields harvesting the crop. Such images would also provide a poignant way of depicting the final judgment of the earth, as in this section.
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1/17/1997
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Getting Ready for the Grand Finale
Revelation 15:1-8
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1/26/1997
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What's in the Bowl? - Part 1
Revelation 16:1-11
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We now come to the "seven last plagues" of God in the Great Tribulation that is coming upon planet earth. These judgments come in the form of "bowls" being poured out swiftly and completely-the judgment will be swift and thorough. Yet through all the mercy as Well as wrath of this awesome era, people will persist in having a hardened heart. Open your heart 'right now to these truths.
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2/2/1997
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What's in the Bowl? - Part 2
Revelation 16:12-21
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What will the end of the world be like? What are the final events just before Jesus returns and takes over to set up His millennial reign? That's what this section tells us. There will be increased warfare activity in the Middle East, massive deception, and unheard of destructive cataclysms on earth. In the midst of foretelling these events, Jesus has a word of encouragement.
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2/9/1997
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The Coming World Religion
Revelation 17
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It was Karl Marx who stated, no doubt cynically, that religion was the opiate of the masses. The fact is, he was right-it is! People are driven to worship something or someone. This desire will be exploited to the hilt in the Tribulation period and will be under the umbrella of the world dictator-the Antichrist. What are its roots and how does it end?
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2/16/1997
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Get out of Babylon!
Revelation 18
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Someone once said, "Money can't buy you friends but your enemies treat you a little better." Though meant to be tongue-in­cheek, that won't happen when the entire world economy collapses. God's shakedown of the earth will include everything that the Antichrist's kingdom will embody, from the sacred to the secular.
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3/2/1997
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Marriage Made in Heaven
Revelation 19:1-10
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3/9/1997
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The Return of Jesus Christ - Part 1
Revelation 19
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Even in the dome of our capitol in Washington there is an inscription which seems to point to the return of Jesus Christ. It says: "One far-off divine event toward which the whole creation moves." It is that event which we will be studying in the next two weeks. This is what all Christians of all ages have looked forward to - His return and reign of His creation.
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3/16/1997
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The Return of Jesus Christ - Part 2
Revelation 19
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Even in the dome of the capitol in Washington there is an inscription which seems to point to the return of Jesus Christ. It says: "one far-off divine event toward which the whole creation moves." it is that event, that Christians of all ages have looked forward to-his return and reign of his creation. We will conclude our study of the return of Jesus Christ, today.
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4/6/1997
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Paradise Regained
Revelation 20:1-3
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4/13/1997
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The Devil's Last Stand
Revelation 20:1-10
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A typical question is, "Will evil ever get its reward?" What ever happened to ethics and justice? Well, we see here that God will not turn His back on this issue. He will deal with the source of all evil (the devil himself) and then judge those who revel in it. This section gives tremendous hope to anyone concerned about injustice in our world.
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4/20/1997
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Life, Death, and Resurrection
Revelation 20:5-6; 20:11-15
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5/4/1997
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All Things New - Part 1
Revelation 21:1-3
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5/11/1997
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All Things New - Part 2
Revelation 21:4-8
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"It's like nothing you've ever seen or experienced before." That's how John describes the emotional experience of heaven. So that we can relate, he tells us that all of the pain, sorrow, and moaning we've endured here won't be there. By the way, only those who want to go there will go there. Heaven is not a destination by default, reservations are made here and now!
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5/18/1997
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The City of the Future
Revelation 21:9-22:5
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There is no architect or builder like God himself. Even the patriarch Abraham "was looking forward to the city with foundations, whose architect and builder is God." (Heb. 11:10) he didn't find it in his lifetime. "You won't find you're "happily ever after" here either, but the New Jerusalem will be God's answer for man's longing to live in a perpetually peaceful stare.
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5/25/1997
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He's Coming - Now What!?
Revelation 22:6-21
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There are 43 additional messages in this series.
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