The Unveiling
A Message to the Messengers
Revelation 1:-9-11
* Every time you look into, linger over, and listen to God’s word, you will discover something new & fresh.
* In reading verse 9, you can sense the loneliness of the Apostle John who finds himself on an island, quite likely, in solitude. Have you ever felt lonely, cutoff, deserted, & vulnerable? Quite honestly, he probably felt mistreated as the believers had now suffered many years at the hands of the Roman leader. No doubt his thoughts were with the congregation which he pastured. He knew that some of them were so discouraged that they were losing heart & wanting to quit.
* In spite of it all, John was staying focused on the Lord, maintaining his personal devotion & commitment. Even on the island he was, obviously, seeking God’s hand. This may be a personal lesson for us. Wherever we are (I.E. home, work, vacation, jail, etc) that we continue to seek God’s face, see His hand, and trust His heart.
* In writing this letter, John had already sought to encourage his discouraged brothers by reminding ‘us’ of several things;
* First, be reminded of the blessings which come from reading, studying, and keeping the written word.
* Next, be reminded of who it is that we serve.
* Finally, be reminded that, one day, He’s coming back!
* Now, John says, “It was on our day of worship (The Lord’s Day) that I was fully filled with the Spirit of God, here’s what I heard, and this is what I was told to do about it.” (Next week, we’ll look at what he saw.)
* Let us keep in mind that John was now an elder statesman in the early church. Think about the fact that John walked with Jesus around 30AD and now it is some 60 years later, yet his heart still pumped with life for the Lord he had walked with. History tells us that he pastored an urban church in the Roman Empire & now he found himself isolated.
* It is what John was told to do and why he was told to do it that should interest us!! Contained in these three verses is a message which COULD change the face of the church in America, Alabama, & Hueytown. Four words surface which can change US. It’s not a matter of understanding & comprehending, it is a matter of embracing & doing.
1. Connections – To read verse 9 is to see John felt connected to his fellow believers. Do you remember the church of years past?
* Everyone was “brother” and “sister” and this was not a ‘cultic’ tag, it was identification because believers are brothers & sisters. This was not just reserved for leaders & elders but was meant for everyone. We are in the same family, born of the same Father (our Heavenly Father), and are ‘blood relatives’ (the Blood of Jesus.) John is saying, “It doesn’t matter how bad the persecution gets, we are all in this together. This is the first message to all the messengers. We are not only brothers; we are partners (companions) or co-participants. Like it or not, those who are a part of God’s family are interconnected.
* John knew that in this family, what happens to one affects all. A chain is never stronger than its weakest link. When one hurts, we all hurt. When one church suffers, all churches suffer. For the tighter focus, when one believer talks bad about another one or a church the entire body reaps the consequences. This is why Paul wrote to Titus, “Reject the divisive person and after the first & second warning, have nothing more to do with him.” Why is such a stark word given about this? Because of its effect. On April 27 when the tornado came through we lost our electricity. There was nothing wrong with the lines around our as only light winds has come our way. It was miles away where the transmission lines knocked down that caused the power to be taken from our place. In the same way, we are connected each to the other. When one hurts, we all hurt. We are connected. Not only are we connected, but we have
2. Commonality – What exactly do we have in common? Read the text. John begins with “Tribulation” (HCSB). KJV translates this word as sufferings. The Greek word means “pressed together, pressed in,” or better said, “pressure.” For those who are attempting to live out the teachings of Jesus & share the gospel with the lost world, one of the commonalities that we share is the ‘sufferings’. Christ suffered for His desire to change this world, this culture, and people; and so will we. These sufferings are not isolated, but are common among God’s redeemed. 1 Peter 5:9 tells us to “Resist him, firm in the faith, knowing that the same sufferings are being experienced by your brothers in the world.” Candidly, all who follow Him experience the same kind of sufferings. If you’re not under pressure of some kind because of your faith, it may say something about your life. The old country song said, “I beg your pardon, I never promised you a rose garden.” Look at 1 Peter 4:12-14. Living out your faith will bring a “fiery ordeal” to you. Admittedly, Peter was speaking from ‘outside of the fellowship’, but Jude makes it clear that, in the last days, sufferings will comes from places which surprise the committed. Make no mistake, sufferings will come to those who trust & follow Christ.
* John says that we also have a commonality in the building of the Kingdom. This reminds us of Jesus’ words, “Where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” Treasure reveals. When you are a part of HIS Kingdom, you desire to do everything you can to help build His Kingdom. Those who continually fight against the Kingdom work, obviously has no part in the Kingdom. There is a great difference between a religious person & a Kingdom person. The religious are interested in building their religious, their church, & their Kingdom. It was the religious who crucified Jesus. It was the religious who ‘judged Jesus’ in everything He did. This week I heard a song by the group “Casting Crowns” whose words were, “If we are the body; why aren’t His arms reaching, why aren’t His hands healing, why aren’t his words teaching? And if we are His Body, why aren’t His feet going, what is His love not showing them, there is a way?” And it ends with this; “Jesus paid much too high a price for us to pick & choose who should come. And we are the Body of Christ.” The very reason John & his companions were partners in sufferings was because they were partners in building the Kingdom of God and doing it like Jesus said. Here is a test to see if I have become side-tracked in building God’s Kingdom; “Whose plans am I following” & “Who am I trying to please?”
* John also says we are partners in PERSEVERANCE or PATIENT ENDURANCE. Endurance is one thing, but PATIENT endurance is quite another. He reminds us that ‘through it all’ we become more like Jesus. Despite the loneliness, the suffering, the pressure, and the stress, keep looking up. This past week, from a hospital bed, I heard these words, “Just keep looking up.” REMINDER: Revelation was written to those who have a personal, daily, & intimate relationship with Jesus. To those, this reads like a letter. To those who don’t enjoy this type of relationship, it reads differently. It’s kind of like receiving a letter from mom. To read it as her child might bring tears, however, to let someone else read it might only bring a comment like, “that’s nice.” To the one outside of Christ, there is no heartbeat for His word; there is no connection or common sense of purpose, direction, & encouragement.
3. Confirmation – Verse 10 say, “I was in the Spirit.” What a confirmation! To be truly confirmed is not through sprinkling, christening, or even church or pastor’s blessing, it is the infilling, indwelling, and even invading spirit of Holy God. John says, “On the Lord’s day, I was filled!” Sadly, Baptist run for cover when the ‘filling’ is mentioned. Maybe we are afraid He’ll lead us to ‘stand on our head in the middle of the mall.’ To have Christ in your life is to have the Spirit in your heart & he becomes your best friend.
* He is the down payment for your eternal life. His presence confirms who & whose you are. At the same time, the ‘lack of His presence’ in your life confirms who & whose you are. The Holy Spirit helps you see through the eyes of God, feel things through Christ’s heart, and know through the mind of Christ. Just like in a Real Estate transaction you must put down earnest moneys to demonstrate your commitment, God puts down His down payment in the form of the Holy Spirit in your life. It is His ‘seal.’ And He doesn’t back out of His ‘deal,’ He is committed. Ephesians 4 tells us that we are sealed & it is similar to Revelation 7 where the 144,000 are sealed with an indelible stamp. One other illustration of the seal comes in Revelation 20 where Satan is cast into the abyss and it was ‘sealed.’
* One final thing about the Spirit which is our confirmation. It is true that at salvation, God’s spirit comes into our hearts. It is equally true that the Spirit’s filling is an ongoing process. He fills us daily, hourly, & constantly so that we may be filled with Him. He is our confirmation.
4. Call – The consistency of God’s word to us never ceases to amaze me. John is told to write the message & send it to the churches. I submit that the seven churches (since 7 is perfection & completion) symbolically represent the ‘whole’ of God’s people. To write it down & send it could be a restatement of the final words of Jesus which are, “Go & tell”. The message to the messengers is the call to the messengers to ‘show Jesus to this world so that we may tell the world about Jesus.’ If we don’t show, there is no reason to go, because they won’t hear.
* Now listen to the challenging words found in this song. “If we are the body.”
* Jesus’ return is closer than it’s ever been. When He returns, it will be too late for our family, it will be too late for our neighbors, it will be too late for our friends, and it will be too late for us. Are you ready? Are you a part of the family? If you are, respond to this message because it is sent to YOU.
