Visions of Christ

Visions of Christ

Revelation 1:9-20

 

            Every once in a while you read something that leaves a lasting impression; something that forces you to consider it even years after you’ve read it. I read such a book in high school. In 1953 Ray Bradbury’s book, Fahrenheit 451, was published. Bradbury’s story described a society where truth was hidden at all costs and self-centeredness was the rule of the day. The people did everything possible to shelter themselves from the realities of the world. They lived in a self-induced stupor having been intoxicated by their self-indulgence. Bradbury wrote about people whose lives were consumed by their entertainment and were lived vicariously through the televisions that ruled their living rooms.  The people were happy to live in self-delusion with their allusions of joy until they were brought face to face with the harsh reality of war. When the time came that they had to face truth they had no idea how to handle it. They were ill-prepared to face the trials and tribulations of life. As terribly equipped as such a society seem, are we really much different?

            John faced a similar situation. The Romans filled coliseums with countless thousands of people who went to find some kind of fulfillment and happiness. The empire provided all the entertainment people needed through sports and wealth, but they did what was necessary to hide the truth. That’s why John found himself on Patmos.

            Sometimes it seems like the world will stop at nothing to hide definite truth. We see it all around us. We read stories of scientists who are pressured by politics to make sure their studies find what is considered acceptable by the powers that be. There have been college professors who have lost jobs because they refuse to blindly promote unproven theories of evolution in favor of intelligent design. Many dictators have controlled the media of their country, and some have gone so far as to censor what people are allowed to read.

            Suppression of truth is a means of inhibiting the freedom of people as they try to understand life. By directing them to specific, well-chosen information they are led to a conclusion that is desirable for their leaders. This has even happened in the church. There was a day when Bibles were chained to pulpits and the common man was not allowed access to God’s Word. This allowed the rulers to maintain control over the conclusions that people would draw by denying them access to all that is available to them. We see it in the church once again today. The Bible is not kept from God’s people, but they have willfully allowed themselves to live in ignorance of what it teaches, and the result has been leaders who have led the church astray.

            We look around us and see a church that is largely failing in America. Our leaders continue to promote leadership techniques and programs while the church continues to decline. Outreach is the theme of the day, and if we aren’t growing in great numbers we are not successful. Scripture teaches us that the church grew in the New Testament as the Bible became more important to the Christians. “And the word of God continued to increase, and the number of the disciples multiplied greatly in Jerusalem, and a great many of the priests became obedient to the faith” (Acts 6:7). When we do not know Scripture we do not know how to deal with life’s circumstances, so we turn to leaders who will give us instruction. Is this not how the Christian life is lived today? We don’t go to the Word, but to some self-help guru for our direction. The absolute truth of God’s Word has been confined to the shadows of the world, and hidden in the dark corners of the church. Over a couple thousand years it seems that some things haven’t changed all that much.

            John, the great apostle who proclaimed God’s truth to the early church, was exiled to Patmos as a way of keeping the truth from people. F.G. Smith explains, “Having confined him to a barren spot [Patmos], the emperor no doubt thought he had effectually cleared the world of this preacher of righteousness…But when men think the truth is dead and buried out of sight, God suddenly gives it a resurrection with thirty-fold greater glory. It was so in this case.”[1] Just when it seemed like the truth of God might be stamped out of existence, the apostle received a vision on the far reaches of the prison of Patmos. He was not given a structure or program that would obscure the glory and power of God. He was not given instruction on where to find the nearest church growth seminar, or tips on the amendment of bylaws.

            When God’s Word was hidden away the church received what she needed most: visions of an all-powerful, resurrected, living Christ! As John contemplated the church on the Lord’s Day a vision of a triumphant church came forth through the words of Jesus. It is in times such as these that we experience visions of the work of Christ. It is when the truth seems to be losing ground to the lies of man that God speaks to His people and directs them back to His Word, and to His revelation. It is in such times that God brings revival to the submissive heart.

            It is important that we understand the victory that God is showing in this vision. There are many who insist on a literal interpretation of what John saw on Patmos, but to look at this in such a way is to take away from the victory won by Jesus. We do not interpret Jesus – or His work – in light of the visions of apocalyptic literature, but we always interpret such literature in light of Jesus Christ and His victory over the powers of hell.[2] It is truth that sets us free, and for that purpose God revealed the truth about a victorious church through the book of Revelation. That purpose must be kept in the forefront of our thought as we read the visions of John. Jesus told us in John’s gospel that He came for the purpose of freedom. “So Jesus said to the Jews who had believed in him, ‘If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples, and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free’” (John 8:31, 32). Paul also told the Galatian church, “For freedom Christ has set us free; stand firm therefore, and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery” (Gal. 5:1). God has provided visions in Scripture that will free us from the bondage of worldly ideas. We find ourselves in bondage to the world, but the church need not live in that prison. The truth, if sought and applied to our lives – individually and corporately – will truly set us free.

 

It Is During Tribulation That We See Christ

 

            We cannot deny that the church of John’s day was facing tribulation. This has often been a result of the world’s response to the faith of God’s people. Faith in the Word of God offends the sinful hearts of the world and brings conviction to their souls. When we place our trust in the moral standards set forth by God it gives us a hope that the world does not possess. By putting our trust in God’s Word we are making a clear statement that the testimony of His Son will be the example by which we live. We will not settle for the relativity of the world, or the universalism that has become a part of the beliefs of so many. John was sent to Patmos for this faith. Many Christians have lost their lives for the same type of faith. God’s people have been martyred, exiled, beaten, imprisoned and publicly shamed for their commitment to something greater than the government rulers of this world.

            It is during these times of great trial that the church has historically risen to new heights as men and women of God come together to support one another as they endure hardship. In verse 9 John claimed to be partnered with the church in tribulation, the kingdom, and patient endurance. We experience the presence of Jesus today during these times as His body lives in harmony with one another. As we encourage and carry one another we see God at work. This is what John meant when he said he was their partner in the kingdom. We live together in mutual submission to God’s reign even under the most sever tribulation. “Just as Jesus suffered in order to establish his rule so must believers. Those who put themselves under the lordship of Christ open themselves to tribulation in this in-between-time before Christ’s return and the final consummation and destruction of all evil.”[3] History proves that Satan will do anything to keep God’s people from submitting to His reign. We will face trial, tribulation, difficulty and obstacles, but God will overcome all these things through His people living together as His kingdom. Visions of our King remind us of the One whom we serve as we face this opposition of the Devil.

            God has not left us alone to face difficulty. It is during this time that we experience the work of Christ. We see Him move through His church, and in the lives of His people. We experience His peace and comfort, His love and mercy. If our faith remains steadfast in Jesus, we will never face a trial without a “partner” in tribulation. When we meet obstacles we see Christ work.

 

It Is When We Are In the Spirit That We See Christ

 

            It is no coincidence that John was “in the Spirit” when he saw a vision of Christ. The Spirit is the one who reveals Christ to us. He testifies to the work of Jesus. “He will glorify me, he will take what is mine and declare it to you” (John 16:14). Since the Spirit reveals Christ to us we see Him most clearly during the times when we are led by the Spirit. John Stott pointed out, “It is only logical. If Christian maturity is maturity in our relationship to Christ, in which we worship, trust and obey him, then the clearer our vision of Christ, the more convinced we become that he is worthy of our commitment.”[4] Stott went on to say, “For the discipleship principle is clear: the poorer our vision of Christ the poorer our discipleship will be, whereas the richer our vision of Christ, the richer our discipleship will be.”[5]

            It is the Holy Spirit who allowed John to look to the heavens and see the vision of Christ rather than to his immediate circumstances of difficulty. The testimony of Christ that we see in Scripture helps to teach us that it is never our circumstances that should dictate the way we live, but the Spirit of God. When we become bitter over troubles we face visions of Christ are more difficult to see. The church has been called to live in a world that is hostile to her culture, but we must live in light of the visions of Christ that Scripture reveals to us. “Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect” (Rom. 12:2). If our witness is to stand, we cannot afford to respond to adversity in the same way the world responds. We can’t allow ourselves to live in panic and worry over what is going to happen. Jesus said, “Do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble” (Matthew 6:34).

            The Spirit of God will always direct us to Christ. When it is the Spirit who is guiding our decisions and responses we will always respond in light of our vision of the work of the Son of God. It is from this position that John sees the vision of Christ and His triumphant church.

 

It Is Among the Churches That We See Christ

 

            John did not simply see a vision of Jesus. He saw our Risen Lord walking among seven golden lampstands. In fact, the text would lead us to believe that John the first thing John saw after hearing the voice of Christ were these lampstands. We are not left to guess what these lampstands must be; Jesus told John exactly what they are: “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” (Rev. 1:20).

            It should come as no surprise that we find Jesus among the congregations of His church. Jesus told His disciples, “For where two or three are gathered in my name, there am I among them” (Matt. 18:20). He also reminded them before He ascended to heaven, “Behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age” (Matt. 28:20).

            Jesus walks among His people today – just as He walked with the church in John’s day – to fill the role of high priest. “But when Christ appeared as a high priest of the good things that have come…” (Heb. 9:11). In Old Testament times it was the responsibility of the high priest to trim the lamps in the tabernacle. “And Aaron shall burn on it incense of sweet spices; every morning when he trims and fills the lamps he shall burn it” (Exod. 30:7 AB). The lamp was put in place to light the holy place in the tabernacle. Without the light of these lamps the tabernacle of God would be dark, so twice a day the high priest filled the lamps with oil and trimmed the wicks. This kept deposits from building up that would eliminate the light that was given. Jesus fulfills the same role in God’s New Testament tabernacle.

            The churches give off the witness of God’s power and glory. Jesus walks among the congregations to tend their lamps. It is through visions of Christ that the witness of the church is carried into the world. As we see His revelation in Scripture it trims and removes deposits from the wick that lights God’s lamps today. He continually works through His Spirit to empower the church to do His work in the world today. As we are built up into a spiritual house (1 Peter 2:5) we see visions of Jesus walking among His people to fulfill His role as our high priest maintaining the work of God within our lives. It is the presence of Jesus that makes this tabernacle the church. It is this presence that allows us to rightly consider ourselves the temple of God. John was given a vision of one who trims the lamps.[6]

 

It Is In Humility That We See Christ

 

            It is important that we see Christ through His Word and His church. We must understand the work He does through His church. We must also respond to these visions. John responded to the presence of God’s Son as many have reacted throughout history. His response mirrors that of Ezekiel, “Such was the appearance of the likeness of the glory of the Lord. And when I saw it, I fell on my face, and I heard the voice of one speaking” (Ezek. 1:28). Moses removed his shoes and bowed before God (Exod. 3:5).  Even the Apostle Paul fell on His face before the Risen Christ, “And falling to the ground he heard a voice” (Acts 9:4)…

            A real vision of Jesus Christ should give us a sense of inadequacy, and should leave us standing in wonder and awe of our God. As we begin to understand what God reveals to us through such a vision it reminds us that even the brightest and best of our day cannot compare to the wisdom of Jesus Christ, and His power working through His people is unmatched by anything that is spawned within the finite mind of man. This revelation of the mind and will of God is what has drawn His people back to Him in times of revival over the course of history. Dennis Kinlaw commented, “I am convinced that every great revival in the history of the church has started when God’s people began to seek ‘the mind of Christ.’ When they set aside the normal human way of thinking about the world and allowed Christ to direct their lives, the world has been turned ‘upside down.’”[7]

            For decades the church of our day has stood as a darkened tabernacle, not knowing whether or not our high priest stands among us. We have turned to programs, gimmicks and fads to light the lamps of the church once again, but nothing has reignited the fire among God’s people. Visions of Jesus Christ serve to reignite the passion of God’s people. These visions bring revival to the church. As long as we continue to look within ourselves for guidance we will never be the lamps that burn brightly in the dwelling place of God. It is through visions of Jesus, and the revelation of the mind of Christ that the church moves in power in this sinful world. We experience God’s power when we respond to visions of our Lord as Isaiah, “Woe is me! For I am lost; for I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips; for my eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts!” (Isa. 6:5). Our trials are not overcome by our own ingenuity, but by visions of Jesus Christ and His plan for a triumphant church.

 

            It is during eras of difficulty that apocalyptic literature was written by the Jews before the time of Christ. It is in the same kinds of circumstance that John was given this vision. “Here is the meaning of the vision: A living, holy, majestic, omniscient, authoritative, powerful Christ stands in the midst of the churches, holds their destiny in his hand and says: ‘Stop fearing. I was dead. I am alive forever. More than that, I hold in my hand the keys to death and the grave. You should not fear to go to any place to which I hold the key. You may be persecuted to death but I am still your king.”[8] It doesn’t matter what we are facing today – individually or corporately – we are kept by our risen Lord. The Apostle Paul’s words still hold true today:

           

            "What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things? Who shall bring any charge against God’s elect? It is God who justifies. Who is to condemn? Christ Jesus is the one who died – more than that, who was raised – who is at the right hand of God, who indeed is interceding for us. Who shall     separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword? As it is written, “For your sake we are being killed all the day long; we are regarded as sheep to be slaughtered.” No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us” (Rom. 8:31-37).

 

            Do we live in light of a Scriptural vision of a risen, victorious Christ? One who stands amid a Spirit-led, triumphant church?

 

---

[1] F.G. Smith, The Revelation Explained, 36

[2] Richard K. Eckley, Revelation: A Commentary for Bible Students (Indianapolis: Wesleyan Publishing House, 2006), 57

[3] Carol Rotz, Revelation: A Commentary In the Wesleyan Tradition (Kansas City: Beacon Hill Press, 2012), 59

[4] John Stott, The Radical Disciple (Downer’s Grove: IVP Books, 2010), 42

[5] Ibid, 47

[6] David Ravenhill, The Jesus Letters (Shippensburg: Destiny Image, 2003), 33

[7] Dennis Kinlaw, The Mind of Christ (Anderson: Francis Asbury Press, 1998), 19

[8] Ray Summers, Worthy Is the Lamb (Nashville: Broadman &Holman Publishers, 1951), 105

Access to an Open Door

Revelation 3:7-13

 

            Philadelphia was a city of instability. It was devastated by an earthquake in 17 A.D., but this was not the lone occurrence of such a disaster. The volcanic activity in the area caused multiple earthquakes leaving the people to wonder when the next disaster might take place. The citizens also lived in a city which had changed names over the years. There was very little that seemed steadfast to people who dwelt in such a place. Even the church must have been affected to some extent by this instability.

            The Philadelphian church faced persecution from the local Jewish community. While the Jews seemed to tolerate the pagans in the society around them they persecuted the Christians. They would not allow this new sect to threaten their stability, or the security they had found in their ritual and routine. Christians were cast out of synagogues and their corporate worship hindered as the Jews attempted to keep them from God.

            This seemed like an unlikely place for the church to thrive, yet even today there is a Christian presence in that place. Historically, it is under the most intense persecution that God’s church has thrived. This has happened because it is in these circumstances God’s people learn some of their most important lessons. They learn what it means to walk by faith, and follow the guidance of God’s Holy Spirit. They have neither the resources nor the numbers to carry out God’s work on their own. All they can do is trust in their Savior to give them the opportunity to submit to His work through them. The church that seems to live in the direst circumstance is one of only two that receive no criticism or condemnation from Christ.

            The letter to the Philadelphians is the only one of the seven letters that does not refer directly to the vision of Jesus in the first chapter of Revelation. Each of the other letters refers to one of the aspects of John’s vision, but this one refers to the one who holds the “key of David.” This is a reference to the prophecy of Isaiah.

 

            Thus says the Lord God of hosts, “Come, go to this steward, to Shebna, who is over the household, and say to him: What have you to do here, and whom have you here, that you have            cut out here a tomb for yourself, you who cut out a tomb on the height and carve a dwelling for yourself in the rock? Behold, the Lord will hurl you away violently, O you strong man. He will seize firm hold on you and whirl you around and around and throw you like a ball into a wide land. There   you shall die, and there shall be your glorious chariots, you    shame of your master’s house. I will thrust you from your office, and you will be pulled down from your station. In that day I will call my servant Eliakim the son of Hilkiah, and I will clothe him with your robe, and will bind your sash on him, and will commit your authority to his hand. And he shall be a father to the inhabitants of Jerusalem and to the house of Judah. And I will place on his shoulder the key of the house of David. He shall open, and none shall shut; and he shall shut, and none shall open” (Isa. 22:15-22).

 

The key of David refers to the judgment that had been pronounced on one who had misused his position among God’s people. He worked before the king, but used that status to his own advantage, much like the Jews during the days of the early church. The Jews had once been the chosen people of God, but no longer carried the keys to the kingdom. They had been cast down from that position and replaced by the church established by Jesus Christ at Calvary. The Jews cast Christians out of their places of worship, but they had no authority to keep them from God. Access was not based on genealogy, but relationship to God’s Son. It was not held by man, but the door to the kingdom was set in place and opened by Jesus – the one who held the keys.

            They key of David is given by one who has the power to provide us an open door to the kingdom of God. Jesus set such a door before the people of the church. There is no man who has the ability to control our ability to walk through the open door of Jesus Christ. It is only through our supernatural experience of salvation that we access God. “The revelation had started with a vision of Christ with ‘the keys of death and of Hades’ in His hands (Rev. 1:8). Having such keys, Christ is able to open doors that have been barred to mortals.”[1] The church is not limited to worldly methods and ways. She is not limited by finite understanding and logic. God’s people stand before a door that gives them access to the throne room of their King. They stand before a door that ushers them into the very presence of Almighty God, creator of the heavens and earth, and One who has promised to provide and care for His people. It is from this position that the church must approach every obstacle, each trial, and all of her difficulties. It is from this place that the church of this world becomes the victorious church of God.

 

Jesus Opens the Door to Heavenly Power

 

            The people of Philadelphia had “but little power.” The church was likely small in number, and would not have the political influence of the Jews of their time. They would not have won the favor of the local government, or the society in which they lived. They had no possible means through which they could open the door to any of these things. If the church was to represent God in a place that was hostile to them it would only be through the supernatural power of God. Carol Rotz commented, “Christ opened the door for the Philadelphian church because they were too weak to open it themselves…their weakness may refer…specifically to the size of the Philadelpian church or to their insignificance against the synagogue leaders.”[2]

            In a world where the political powers seek to eliminate the name of God from every part of society and the religious order continually turns to worldliness for answers there remains only one way for the church to be the vessel through which God’s Heavenly Kingdom invades the world. It is through the supernatural power of Jesus Christ working in us each day! Jesus told us explicitly that He is the door that provides access to the throne of God: “I am the door. If anyone enters by me, he will be saved and will go in and out and find pasture” (John 10:9). As we walk in relationship with Him we are delivered into the very presence of God. We find ourselves in a place where our prayers are answered, not simply because we voiced them, but because they came from an offering of our own hearts giving God a place from which to work. Entrance through this door brings us face to face with God, and provides an avenue for His Holy Power to invade this sinful world.

            For countless generations the Jews awaited the presence of God. They believed He would set up a kingdom in Israel and restore them to prominence, but the presence never came. They carried on their rituals year after endless year and many never even noticed that God was not there. They had ritual and law, but like the church of our modern day, they lacked God’s supernatural power. When this power finally did come they did not notice. They did everything in their power to suppress it and hinder the work of God. But the power that threatened their comfortable religion was the full force of Heaven invading earth through the door Jesus opened for the church. “It was about the sixth hour, and there was darkness over the whole land until the ninth hour, while the sun’s light failed. And the curtain of the temple was torn in two” (Luke 23:44, 45). As Jesus Christ hung on the cross of Calvary, the divide between man finite works and God’s infinite power was bridged by the One who took our sin on Himself and died on the Roman cross. It overcame the wall that sin had built keeping man from experiencing the work of God in His life, and among God’s people. On that day the keys of God’s kingdom were torn from the hand of the Jews and the door was forced open by the Son of God. In the climax of God’s redemptive plan, God’s power once again came to earth.

            It is this power that delivers the church through tribulation. Man can never do God’s work in his own power, or by his own authority. God has revealed the power through which difficulty is overcome. When the Jews returned from exile they faced the daunting task of rebuilding the city and the temple of God. Where would they turn? What resources would they use? How would they face opposition? The answer came to Zechariah: “Then he said to me, ‘this is the word of the Lord to Zerubbabel: Not by might, nor by power, but by my Spirit, says the Lord of hosts’” (Zech. 4:6). It is not through our own wisdom, or sheer determination that the church endures and triumphs in this world. It is by the Spirit and the Word of God! We spend a great deal of time devising plans and schemes to overcome the obstacles of this world, but God has promised to lead us in His way. His Spirit will lead us as He is revealed through the Word. We may  face our trials in our own way, but our wisdom and strength always pale in comparison to what we find inside the door opened by Jesus Christ.

 

Jesus Opens the Door to Victory

 

            It would do us well to remember that even in a place like Philadelphia, the gates of hell will not prevail against God’s church (Matt. 16:18). Many Christians today look to the Jews to carry out God’s ultimate will, but that is not God’s plan. His plan is, and always has been, nothing less than victory. The Jews had political influence and access to places of worship, but their power could not overcome the church. The Jews were forsaken by God because of their failure to walk in covenant with Him, and His plan is to be carried out through the church. That is why Jesus said, “O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the city that kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to it! How often would I have gathered your children together…and you were not willing! See, your house is left to you desolate” (Matt. 23:37).

            The church of the first century faced a battle that should not have been won. From a worldly perspective, they were outnumbered, outmatched, and had no resources with which to stand. But they stood before a door that would lead them to victory. They stood before the world with access to God. The door Jesus opens before us is never one that leads to defeat. While countless congregations close their doors for the final time each week, we find in Scripture that this is not the church of prophecy. The church established by God was built for victory, and nothing less. When will we learn that we do not have what it takes to overcome the world? We cannot stand against the powers of hell, but we serve one who has already defeated them. We need not fight the battle alone.

 

Jesus Opens the Door to Perseverance

 

            The promise of Jesus was not simply given to those who claim allegiance to Him, but all those who will live in light of this victory; the men and women who will stop at nothing to see God work in, and through, their lives and churches. Promises of stability were given to a church that lived in an unstable place. Today, those promises are given to a church that also lives in an unstable world. We see bombings like the one at the Boston Marathon, and stand on the brink of nuclear war on the Korean Peninsula. We read of war, crime, and carnality with each passing day, but Jesus places the door of victory before the faithful – those who will persevere in His ways. “Without faith it is impossible to please Him” (Heb. 11:6)…

            It is easy to pray, but it is difficult to pray faithfully. We begin expecting God to answer, but as they days, or months, or sometimes years, go by we find ourselves less devoted. We turn our attention and focus to the things of the world to answer the prayers for which we once trusted God. If we are to persevere faithfully we must realize that, like the Philadelphians, we have “but little power.” We must understand that faith is not simply the desire to ask God while acting on our own, but the belief that He will do what He has promised to do. H. Ray Dunning wrote, “Faith is not, as many suppose, a self-generated desire for certain things to happen. Rather, faith is a believing response to a divine promise…”[3] Are we really responding to situations in faith when we ask God for direction without waiting for His divine response? Sadly, we have conditioned ourselves to believe that as long as we pray for God to bless our ideas they must be His will. This cannot be.

            The open door is promised, not to those who help themselves, but those who persevere and overcome in the power of Jesus Christ. Leonard Ravenhill said, “God honors not wisdom nor personality but faith…Faith links our impotence to His omnipotence.”[4]

 

Jesus Opens Doors In the World Through the Church

 

            We live in a world where people have become increasingly disenfranchised by the church. We can’t go anywhere without hearing the stories of how someone was “hurt” by the church, or how the people acted like hypocrites in one way or another. We can’t discount all of those things, but we must also remember that God works through the church. This is not considered politically correct in our modern world, but the church is a necessary part of the Christian life. It is through the church that we find fellowship among others with whom we serve. This fellowship cannot be found in any other place. If our families are not Christian it can’t take place with them. If our friends do not know Christ we do not know fellowship. There is no relationship through which we fulfill the commands about our relationships with one another except the church.

            When we experience salvation we find ourselves face to face with this open door. If we are to walk with God, we have no choice but to enter into relationship with Him through that door. We cannot choose to be a Christian, but not part of the church. Scripture tells us that, “The Lord added to their [the churches] number day by day those who were being saved” (Acts 2:47). If God has added us to the church, who are we to remove ourselves? Yet thousands of people do so each year. We cannot walk in relationship with Christ without also finding ourselves in love with His Bride.  The door to God is opened to all. It is not limited by denomination, heredity, or ritual. This door is opened to all who will place their faith in Jesus. This makes us a member, not of “a church” but “the church.” The one true church of God. “He who is a member of the church anywhere is a member of the church everywhere, for church membership is a spiritual experience accompanying salvation. Church membership may be likened to citizenship.”[5]

            Those who enter this door do not only become part of the church, but “pillars” in God’s New Testament temple. They have the promise of stability that would have been meaningful for a city devastated by earthquakes in ancient times, and is just as meaningful for a church devastated by a sinful world in modern times.  This city was also given a heavenly name, “New Jerusalem.” The city that had changed names multiple times over the decades, confusing the identity of its citizens, found in the church a heavenly name, one that could not be changed by worldly forces or overcome by sinful powers.

            These promises are offered to the church today. The promises of stability and identity. The promise of fellowship with God, power from heaven, and victory over sin. We do not walk through this door by human ingenuity, but by faith in God. Faith in His power, and His victory. In our search for stability and identity the church looks to numerous sources today, but we need look no further than Jesus Christ, the one who holds the keys to the door before us.

 

            The church of Sardis was left with the threat of the coming of Christ. The church of Philadelphia was encouraged and found hope in the same event that demanded the repentance of others.[6] “Many miss the commendation of our Lord because of prayers they leave unuttered, service they will not, commandments they refuse to keep, tithes they will not render, and souls they fail to win.”[7] Because of their faithful perseverance a door had been opened before them. Jesus Christ can open that same door before us today. He can empower His church to do anything that is within God’s will. He can overcome any opposition and deliver us through every tribulation. Jesus stands before the church as the gateway to the heavenly city of God. He is the only gateway. Is it through Him that we will choose to enter?

           

---

[1] Richard K. Eckley, Revelation: A Commentary for Bible Students (78)

[2] Carol Rotz, Revelation: A Commentary in the Wesleyan Tradition (83)

[3] H. Ray Dunning, Abraham (52)

[4] Leonard Ravenhill, Why Revival Tarries (73)

[5] A.F. Gray, Christian Theology(126)

[6] Ray Summers, Worthy Is the Lamb (123)

[7] Lillie McCutcheon, The Symbols Speak (27)

The Power of a Lamb

Revelation 5

 

            The church seems to be in a position of instability today. We know that things are not going well in many places. We don’t really experience the power or promises of God, and we don’t seem to know why. We look to the leadership methods of the world around us, and adopt their marketing strategies to find direction, but even the ploys that bring numbers do not seem to bring spiritual maturity to a church that is starved of God’s Word.

            Each week meetings take place among leaders of denominations, local congregations, and pastors to discuss direction, and the future of God’s church. We look at the latest sociological studies, and try to stay in touch with the modern times. Many continually grasp at straws hoping that, by some chance, they will stumble on to something that will help people see God’s plan of salvation for their lives, but their gimmicks seldom come to fruition.

            As the early church sought direction from God they were brought face to face with an enduring reality: God is revealed through Jesus Christ! It seems redundant to continually wonder what John was thinking when Jesus began to reveal visions of the victorious church to him, but there is value in the realization that his outlook may have been much like ours. Government opposition and oppression kept the church from fulfilling her potential, but there were many more obstacles that came from within. There were congregations that were legalistic, liberal, lukewarm, and even in danger of death, but there was more to the story. In a day when God seemed to be silent, Jesus Christ burst on to the scene to reveal the mind of God from His throne. When we look at the fifth chapter of Revelation we find that the visions given to John center on one specific thing: the Lamb of God.

            “Revelation’s primary purpose is to tell us the story of Jesus, not to predict end-times events in Europe or the Middle East…As New Testament scholar David Barr notes, ‘Once introduced, the Lamb dominates the rest of the action. It is the Lamb who gathers the 144,000 holy warriors on Mt. Zion (Rev. 14:1); it is the Lamb on whom the armies of evil make war (Rev. 17:14); it is even the Lamb who marries and rules after the war (Rev. 19:7, 22:3).’”[1]

            Revelation reveals God’s purposes through the work of Christ. It reveals what true power and victory over the world are and the action from which they came. It shows us the Lamb who was slain. The One who reveals the work of God and through whose sacrifice this work takes place.

            We can search the world for fulfillment and direction. We can “try out” as many religions as we can find, but there remains one place where we find purpose: God’s throne. And there remains one living being who can reveal that purpose to us: The Lamb of God, Jesus Christ! He has the power to meet even the greatest needs, overcome the greatest obstacles, and deliver us through the most intense trials. Jesus Christ stands at the throne of God to open the scroll that shows us God’s will. One by one, the seals He opens show us what it means for the church to live in victory over this world. We will find triumph from no other source. It comes only from the Lamb.

 

The Lamb Has the Power to Meet the Greatest Human Need

 

            As we seek direction and purpose it would serve us well to ask why we lack those things. Many times we simply forge ahead looking for direction, but if we are God’s church shouldn’t we be able to trust Him for such things? Can any of us really claim to know the mind of God as we sit around a table discussing our ideas? Scripture tells us that we cannot. Verse 3 says, “And no one in heaven or on earth or under the earth was able to open the scroll or to look into it…” They searched through all of heaven and beyond yet no man was able to reveal the mind of God. It came only from the Lamb.

            Our greatest need is not another man-made vision. It is not another program fabricated to bait the unsuspecting sinner. Our greatest need is the power of the Lamb; it is for Jesus to usher the power of heaven into our lives as we walk with Him. When we need direction, vision, fulfillment, or victory the answer is Jesus Christ. Whether we want to admit it or not, we need Him! We cannot even rightly call ourselves the church without Him. It is from this place of need that we begin to see God’s work revealed through the church. Dennis Kinlaw wrote, “Unless we perceive that we have a need, we cannot experience a relationship with Jesus as the Christ.”[2] And without a relationship with Christ we can never be a part of the fulfillment of the plans of God.

            The scroll of Revelation 5 finds is significance as God’s plans are carried out through the lives of His people. Lillie McCutcheon explained, “The book, which is in God’s right hand of power, symbolizes God’s plan of redemption through all ages. In scroll form, seven pieces of parchment individually sealed express a complete book, completely sealed. Even Gabriel could not bring the world a revelation of God’s plan…Neither could Moses nor the prophets unveil the hidden plan.”[3] Jesus came to meet the need we have to know God. He came so that the love, mercy, and grace of God could be revealed to us even in our greatest weakness. These things come to the fallen world only through Jesus Christ manifested in our lives. It cannot come in any other way. If we want direction what we must seek is Jesus. If we want to know where God is leading us, we must ask how we can know His Lamb more, and walk closer with our Savior. It is in this way that we begin to understand God’s purposes.

            The church today has everything she needs except for the presence of God. It has been said that the Holy Spirit could leave us and many would never know the difference. The presence of Jesus Christ through the manifestation of the Holy Spirit is the greatest need of God’s people today, and the one thing that is lacking. Jesus did not come – as many suppose – to set up a political kingdom on earth, but to give us victory over such things. To provide a spiritual life that transcends the devices of the world that hold us in bondage. He came to show us a better way to live, and a better way to walk with God. “Christ was not primarily the fulfillment of a national dream, but the fulfillment of a universal hope; not primarily the culmination of a divinely ordained process, but the answer to human need.”[4]

            Jesus bridged the gap between man and God so that we might come to God’s throne when we don’t know what else to do. He died so that we could seek God’s help in our weakness and would not have to carry out this divine work alone. Isaiah told the Israelites, “your iniquities have made a separation between you and your God, and your sins have hidden his face from you so that he does not hear” (Isa. 59:2). There is no other, in heaven or on earth, who can restore our relationship with God. There is no access to God except through Jesus Christ. No other sacrifice will overcome sin. “The blood of animals, being inferior to the blood of infinite man was too weak to redeem him. Man himself could not redeem himself: angels in heaven could not affect this. God gave his only Son. Being both God and man – the Son of God and the Son of man – he could make an atonement that would meet the demands of justice, and redeem the human family.”[5]

            If we are to be a church that walks with proper direction and purpose, it will be only when we do so because the Lamb has revealed it to us.

 

The Lamb Has Been Given All Authority

 

            The Lamb portrayed in John’s throne room vision had seven horns. Horns are used in apocalyptic literature to represent authority. The number seven signifies completeness. The vision of the Lamb reiterates the statement of Jesus, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me” (Matt. 28:18). We spend countless hours planning and working out our ideas when it comes to direction in the church, but we have forgotten that the authority to carry out God’s work has not been given to us. It was given to Jesus Christ alone. He must be the center of all things as we live as the church. It is under His authority that we walk, and His reign that we testify to His goodness.

            When we walk by our own strength we often find ourselves easily overcome. We face obstacles that we cannot defeat and mountains that we cannot climb. But when Jesus Christ becomes the center of the churches focus we find that there is no earthly power or principality that can contain the power of God’s Lamb. Michael Lodahl asks, “If Jesus’ ministry of self-emptying love, culminating in the crucifixion, brought a halt to the momentum of human sinfulness, how much more does his resurrection let loose a divine power in the world for the aggressive conquering of sin and death?”[6]

            It is through our relationship with Jesus Christ that we find the full power of heaven released into the world. It is through His power – not our programs – that lives are transformed, sinners changed, and societies reformed. It is through His power that we see sins forgiven, families mended, obstacles overcome, and Satan defeated. “For he must reign until he has put all his enemies under his feet. The last enemy to be destroyed is death” (1 Cor. 15:26).

 

The Lamb Discerns All Things

 

            We also see the Lamb of Revelation portrayed with seven eyes. These, we are told, are the seven spirits of God. Eyes represent vision, or discernment. While we may not be able to see all things, Jesus can see the whole picture. He is aware of the circumstances of our lives, the difficulties we’re facing, our weaknesses and our strengths. It is easy for us to look at the church and try to do the things we think we need to do. We assume there are some things that churches are “supposed to do,” so we make every effort to pursue those things. Maybe we feel like we must have a small group ministry, or a great program for the children in our neighborhood. We don’t know how to do those things, but we know we have to do it because the church down the street grew when they did it. Is it possible that we don’t have those ministries because God has called us to something else?

            Jesus Christ sees the places where we live and the people to whom we minister. He knows what those people need, and how we need to reach them. He is power and authoritative, and is willing to empower His people to succeed, but only in the things to which He has called them. We cannot assume that we are supposed to do a specific ministry because everyone else does it and then expect God to bless it if it is not His will. All too often, however, this is what we do. We do not have the discernment of the Lamb. It is this that will help us to see what God is doing.

 

The Lamb Hears Our Prayers

 

            Make no mistake, there will be days when we don’t know what to do, or where to turn. There will be times when we struggle to find direction and just don’t know what God is calling us to do. But even on those day, the Lamb hears our prayers. The four living creatures around the throne each hold a golden bowl of incense, “which are the prayers of the saints.” It is the prayers of God’s people that are being offered before the Lamb. He works through our prayers.

            We can make all the excuses we want – and we do – but Jesus Christ honors the prayers of His people. Scripture is replete with promises of answered prayer, and power through our prayers. It is difficult to understand why so few Christians take advantage of the ability to converse with God. One of the most humbling things in all the world is that the divine trinity of God allows us to enter into conversation with the Father, Son and Spirit through our prayers. Yet we so seldom do. The church is called to a faith in Christ that requires our prayers. It is from this altar that our sacrifices must continually be made.

            We pray to the Lamb of God because He hears our prayers, and stands before God on our behalf. “Consequently, he is able to save to the uttermost those who draw near to God through him, since he always lives to make intercession for them” (Heb. 7:25). When we ask God for discernment, direction, mercy, or strength it is Jesus Christ who asks on our behalf. It is for this reason that are prayers are of such great importance.

 

The Lamb Is Worthy of Our Praise

 

            Those who surround God’s throne sing praise because “He [the Lamb] has made us a kingdom and priests to our God.” Can you imagine such a thing? Jesus Christ has revealed God’s mind to us so that we may serve in His presence. He has provided for us a place before the throne of heaven. “In a very important sense the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost all dwell in the spiritual church, or new Jerusalem, and are thus ‘in the midst’ of God’s people, surrounded by the redeemed host who unceasingly worship them, and thy, in turn, have the praise that ‘the angel of the Lord encampeth round about them’ (Psa. 34:7)…”[7]

            Jesus took those who had been victims in this world and turned them into the victors of heaven; those who have overcome every ploy of the enemy. This is the reason God’s people sing around His throne. This is why we sing today as we look forward to the day when we have overcome this world and live eternally victorious in God’s immediate presence.  F.G. Smith commented, “A few gifted voices of earth may possess such power and sweetness as almost to entrance us with their melody of song; but what an oratorio will it be, my brethren, when, released from the narrow limits of mortality, that sublime strain sung by the redeemed of all ages and ten thousand times ten thousand and thousands of thousands of angels, bursts in upon our ransomed souls!”[8]

 

            We can spend lifetimes searching for direction. We must believe that most Christians want to see God’s work done. In spite of this we spend the bulk of our time trying to do His work our way. But it is not through our own ideas or methods that we see God’s work, or hear His voice.

            “If you want to hear God’s thunderous voice, just read His Word and hear His mighty voice as he speaks like thunder through its sacred pages. If you want to view God’s   footprints, just reflect upon your journey through time and look back at the places where He has carried you through the      hard times and narrow places. But, if you want to see the very heart of God, just look away to Calvary where a lone figure silhouetted against a darkened sky wrestled single-handedly against the enemy of our souls and purchased your salvation and mine with the shedding of His life’s blood. That crimson fountain that flowed from those nail pierced hands and feet and that punctured brow, along with the flood that streamed from His riven side has given life to me and to all who will plunge into its cleansing stream. As I look to Calvary I behold the love of God, the very heart of Him who sits on the throne.”[9]

---

[1] Barbara R. Rossing, The Rapture Exposed (109)

[2] Dennis Kinlaw, The Mind of Christ (59)

[3] Lillie McCutcheon, The Symbols Speak (33)

[4] Dennis Kinlaw, The Mind of Christ (58)

[5] D.S. Warner and H.M. Riggle, The Cleansing of the Sanctuary (452)

[6] Michael Lodahl, The Story of God (163)

[7] F.G. Smith, The Revelation Explained (89)

[8] Ibid, (87)

[9] Richard Bradley, Scenes From the Throne (163)