John's Reaction to the Revelation

Revelation 22:8-10

Recap:

· John has been shown the marvelous things to come, and he has also seen the beauty and splendor of our future home.

· He is accompanied by an angel guide, who once was tasked with pouring out judgment on the earth.

· Then we read how the angel and the Lord spake to John, and John was given the reminder of how the Lord was coming soon.

· And then John is told about the blessing for those who keep the Word of God.

· As we can see, the final chapter has taken a different focus in writing. As John shifts back to Jesus rather than Jerusalem.

· This brings us to our text for tonight and that is in verses 8-10, and we see four main things.

(Read Scripture)

1. The Affirming Witness

John has been the witness of all the things in the book of Revelation. He has witnessed this in two ways.

a. By what he has seen.

- John had seen the plans of God, the revelation of Christ, the mystery revealed.

- There is strength in an eye-witness. (Compare this to courtroom setting)

- John is reaffirming to the churches and to us, that this is not something he imagined, or thought he saw, this was the truth of what he had seen.

- How have we seen the Lord with our eyes?

b. By what he has heard.

- John goes even further to make us aware as a witness of this that he has also heard these things.

- He had heard it from the four living beasts, the 24 elders, the angels, and he had heard it from God.

- What he has heard has built his faith, for faith cometh by hearing.

- God has spoken to us through His word, are we a witness that could recount what we have heard?

2. The Act of Worship

John has seen and heard such wonderful things, that he is overwhelmed by his desire to give worship.

In this we see how worship is given. There are three fundamentals that are part of worship.

a. He falls down (Where)

- John responds with worship by falling down.

- By falling down, he is showing submission. He is giving up any strength he has.

- People don’t always have the same view of what worship should look like.

- It is not about copying what someone else does, it is responding with what we know we should do.

- When it comes to worship, there is always a where. Where should we worship.

b. Angel (Who)

- The second part of worship is the (who), in this case it was given to the angel.

- John is in the presence of beings who are privy to things we cannot even understand.

- This is the second time he is has tried to worship this angel. Why would John fail at this again?

- Angels are spiritual beings that can take on physical appearances, but they are a created being. They are not the object of worship.

- But when it comes to worship there always must be a “who”.

- Someone or something that worship is directed towards.

- Though John loved the Lord, he was directing his worship towards the wrong person.

- There is a great tragedy among many, that they are worshipping their idea of what God is like.

- The angel was not God, but to John this is who he thought he should worship.

- When it comes to worship, we must be very careful in knowing who it is we are worshipping.

c. Shewed John these things (Why)

- The third thing we see when it comes to the act of worship is the “why”.

- Why do we worship? Because we recognize there is something greater or more powerful than us, or the way it makes us feel.

- People will worship money? Why, because of the power it holds. Worship of other people, because they make us feel good. Worship false gods, because they are able to what makes them feel happy.

- John worshipped at the feet of this angel because he had showed him things he had never seen before.

- Just as much as who, the why needs to be understood when it comes to worship.

- Why do you worship Jesus? Do you understand the why, or is it because you see others doing it?

In every person, there is a desire to worship. The who, where, and why.

3. The Admonishment of Wrong

When John begins to worship the angel, John is quickly admonished for doing this by the angel.

Then angel knew this was wrong, and we see his approach, that is the same approach we can model after as well.

a. Recognizes

- The angel immediately recognized what John was doing.

- When it comes to worship, do we even recognize it anymore?

- What John was doing was wrong, and he saw that it was wrong.

- It is imperative that we not allow the wrong worship to take place. When worship is wrong, we should recognize it, and not partake in it.

b. Reacts

- The second thing we see here, is that the angel reacts to the worship.

- John was bowing down to an angel. He is not meant to worship the created. He is meant to worship the creator.

- The angel does not allow this to happen. He immediately interjects.

- When something is wrong, it is important that we not let it continue.

- It is easy to be govern by manners and opinions, but when something like worship is in error, we should not let it continue.

c. Reason

- Now the angel had a reason to admonish John. And that is the third thing we see. That there must be a reason.

- To admonish someone for worshipping, have the right reason.

- People sometimes dislike the worship style, and they will come up with the wrong reasons for not worshipping.

- The angel had the right reason, he was just another fellow servant.

- We do not worship angels, as powerful and beautiful as they might be. They are not the focus of our worship.

- Now when it comes to fellow servants, it is important to remember that we don’t worship them.

- We do not worship the pastor, deacons, teachers, or members of the church.

- People often worship the man, instead of God. This is wrong. It is important that our worship be focused on Christ.

- Now the angel gave the reason to John. And when we see people who are worshipping in error, give them the biblical reason why they are wrong.

d. Redirects

- The fourth thing we see the angel do in verse 9 in his admonishment of John is that he redirects the worship.

- The angel knew that he was not worthy of worship, and he makes John aware of who it is that deserves it.

- There is only one who is to be worshipped. And the angel tells us it is God.

- When it comes to worship we should make it clear about who it is we should worship.

- If we are not point them to Christ, we are point them the wrong way.

- The message to worship should be simple, we often make it more complicated, but the angel gives two simple words about worship.

4. The Angel’s Warrant

The last portion of our text deals with the angel giving instruction to John in regards to the book of Revelation.

a. Specific

- The angel makes this statement directly to John.

- God will speak directly to us, he is specific.

- When the message is specific it is important that we listen.

- How is God speaking specifically to you? Are you listening to what he is saying or is your mind somewhere else?

b. Seal not the sayings

- John is instructed to not seal up the book.

- Sealing the book meant that only certain ones may read it or it was only meant to be read at a certain time.

- Daniel in 12:4 was instructed to seal up the vision he saw.

- The reason John is not to seal it up, is because it is meant to be read and understood now.

- We are not to keep back the Word of God from people, in fact, we are to share the Word of God.

- If you are sealing up the Word of God in your life, you are living a disobedient life.

- The Word of God should be read from these pages, from our lives and from our lips.

c. Time is at hand

- The final warrant that we get from the angel is that the time is at hand.

- The Book of Revelation has already begun. Now everyone believes that we are living in the last days.

- When it comes to what we read, it can happen at any moment, and we need to be aware of this.

- Just because it seems like a long time to us, doesn’t mean that God isn’t coming back.

- We need to be prepared. Do you believe the Bible? Do you believe what is said right here?