John's Vision of Heaven: Message No. 1. "To Whom Do You Belong?" - Revelation 1:1-20

Week after Easter

April 15, 2007

Revelation 1:1-20

Rev. Stephen Filyer

Bothwell & Clachan Baptist Churches

INTRODUCTION

DESCRIBING SOMETHING THAT NO ONE HAS EVER SEEN

How would you describe something that no one has ever before seen?

As most of you are aware, Antarctica has icebergs. If we had no television satellites, how would you describe an iceberg to an individual who had lived for his or her entire life, in say, the Caribbean? What examples would you use? "Well, there is this amazingly huge ice-cube floating in the water?" "Well then, why doesn’t it melt?" might be the reply. "Well it’s too large to melt." "How can anything be too large to melt?" Even icebreakers have trouble navigating around the mountainous sized ‘bergs. I thought of that example because this week an icebreaker got into trouble near Antarctica. Unfortunately, some of the scientists on Antarctica rely on that icebreaker to take them out to civilization.

Trying to describe something that no one has ever seen. Please hold onto that thought. We will come back to that topic.

"'TWAS THE WEEK AFTER EASTER"

Today, it is the week after Easter. We had such excitement last week as we celebrated and remembered the details of the Easter story, as we read of Jesus and the disciples reunited after his resurrection. Many churches today are reading the story of Jesus’ return to heaven 40 days after the resurrection happened. But rather than reading that story from the Bible’s Book of the Acts of the Apostles, I have chosen the one that takes place even later and gives us a picture of Jesus in Heaven.

Today’s Bible reading takes place many years after Jesus’ Ascension, probably 60 years later. The disciple, John, who had earlier seen Jesus return to Heaven, is now a much older man. By now many, if not most of the other original disciples are dead. Reliable religious history from that time tells us that the Roman emperor had imprisoned John on an island, named Patmos, located out in the Agean Sea off of what is now modern day Turkey.

This week, many of you saw TV coverage from that same area where John was being held captive. Tourists, including some Canadian students from Alberta, had to be rescued when a ferry went off course and ran aground in the Agean, just off of Greece. Fortunately, all but 2 of the 1500 on board survived.

BIBLE BACKGROUND

BACK TO BIBLE TIMES (Rev. 1)

Ok, lets use that current event to segue back to Bible times. Segue? That what some of the guitar players did earlier this morning as they were sliding from one key to the next in order to move from one worship piece to another. Thank-you worship band! The island of Patmos, is not very large. It is only about 16 km long and 8 km wide. The Roman Empire used it as a type of "Alcatraz" location for some of their prisoners who were sent into exile. The prisoners were forced to work in mines located on the island.

JOHN'S SUNDAY MORNING STROLL (Rev 1:9-10)

According to verses 9 & 10 of Revelation Chapter 1, it appears that on a Sunday morning, just like this one, John was taking a walk stroll down by the shore. He was probably wondering if he would ever get back home to Ephesus. Up to now he adventure has not seemed to be too excellent. Being taken away from the churches and people he loved to do slave labour for who knows how long? But suddenly, he is thrust into the middle of a remarkable experience. So remarkable that he had trouble putting it into words. Which brings us back to our earlier question: "How would you describe something that no one has ever before seen?" This was even harder than trying to explain an iceberg to someone who has always lived in a tropical area. John had to describe what the risen, resurrected Jesus looked like after he went back to Heaven. There were also some other things he tries to describe in the Book of Revelation as well, easier stuff, like what the end of the world will be like. But that part is probably easier for us to understand because we’ve seen Bruce Willis try to save the world from destruction in Independence Day and Fifth Element. But the people of John’s day didn’t have Bruce Willis, so they had to use their imaginations.

How do you describe a heavenly being that no on else has ever seen? You see, after Jesus’ resurrection, it appears that some changes took place when Jesus ascended to heaven. His appearance seems to have changed slightly from when he and the disciples walked along the lakeshore in Galilee.

SHINY JESUS (Rev 1:14-17)

Now, I don’t want any of you to freak out on me, but it reminds me a little of a character in Lord of the Rings. And no, I’m not trying to say this character has anything to do with Jesus. But in that story, the character Gandalf has a mighty conflict with evil. Before the conflict he wears a grey cloak. But after he wins this "ginormous" -sized battle with the "badguy" forces of evil, not only is his cloak turned into a dazzling shade of white but even his hair becomes white and shiny. In that way his appearance changes. ["Ginormous" is a term that I have borrowed from my niece Heather. I believe that it is a scientific word that means "very much larger than gigantic."]

According to verse 14 here in John’s descriptions, after Jesus’ "ginormous" battle with sin and death and the grave on Good Friday, when he later returns back into Heaven his appearance also seems to have changed. Those wonderful new theologians that the children love so much describe it like this: (Which theologians? Oh they would be from the Veggie Tales. And no, they are not the "Pirates Who Don’t Do Anything.") I don’t want to give away the story, but these are the fellows watching as Mr. Nezzar throws Rack, Shack, and Bennie into the scary chocolate melting maching after they refurse to bow down and worship Mr. Nezzar's giant chocolate bunny. Anyways they described the unexpected fourth presence in the machine as being "very, very, shiiinneee." Here John describes "Heavenly" Jesus as someone who has also become "very, very, shiiinnee."

And not only a shiny appearance, but verse 15 also speaks of Jesus having a voice as huge and noisy as Niagara Falls. I think that is what it must mean when it speaks of a voice that sounded like "many waters." Then in verse 17 it says "When I say him, I fell at his feet as though dead." This vision is so overwhelming and John is so freaked out, it appears that he has suffered a fatal stoke.

GIANT LEAP (Rev 1:3,7)

So now that John seems to have died, lets take a little break. Before we go any further, we will try to make a giant leap forward in time into today’s Canadian news. Our media continue to speculate about a Federal election. Will the Prime Minister call one in the Springtime? (Assuming we get a Springtime this year in Canada.) And if he does, will the Official Opposition party’s new alliance with the Ecologically based Green Party make a difference? Sorry, but I have no answer to who will be Canada’s future political leaders. But I do know who the Bible says is the ultimate ruler of the universe, ruler of all of earth and heaven, for all of eternity. You do not need to consult a pollster. The Bible says that it will be non other than "Shiny Jesus." Later on in the Book of Revelation, it says that every one will eventually bow down to him. Here in back in verse 7 it infers that we will either do it willingly during our lifetime or "wailingly" afterwards at the Judgement Day. Is "waillingly" a word? Sadly, the Bible doesn’t just talk about "happy" heaven; it unfortunately also talks about a day of "wailing" for those who do not accept Jesus as their Lord.

But there is good news in the midst of this. Way back in verse 3 it says that you are "blessed" if you know this stuff, if you read it and think about it’s meaning.

PICTURE OF GOD (Rev 1:4-5)

It seems like this is such a special vision, and such a special message that all of God was involved in sharing it. Verse 4 not only speaks of "Him who is, and who was and who is to come, but also of Spirits and of Jesus. Some have seen this as a reference to God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. The description of God the Father reminds me a little of Dicken’s "A Christmas Carol" That story had in it the three "Ghosts of Christmas" that transport "Scrooge" into the Past, Present and Future. "Him who is, and who was and who is to come."

Well before we get transported too far away lets come "Back to the Future" shall we? Speaking of someone with white shiny hair... Sorry, where were we?

CLOSING

GOOD NEWS (Rev 1:5-7,17)

This is where we come to the "Good News." The rest of Verses 5 and into verse 6: "To him who loves us, and has freed us from our sins by his blood and made us a kingdom, priests to his God & Father." You see, it doesn’t matter how shiny and powerful Jesus gets, he still loves us. He is the one who died for us on Good Friday to pay for our sin. He is still the one who broke out of the tomb of death on Resurrection morning to defeat the ultimate power of Satan. And yes, according to verse 7, he will come back to take us to Heaven.

In verse 17 He reaches out to comfort and heal John "Fear not, I am the first and the last, and the living one; I died, and behold I am alive for evermore. And I have the keys to death and Hades"

Yes, someday we will see him as Lord of the Universe, King of the World. But he will also be the one who would have come to this world and died, even if you were the only one who was in trouble.

The end of this message is really the same message as the band brought to us at the beginning of the service. Because of John’s reassuring vision, We do know that "Our Redeemer Lives." He was the only one who was "Good Enough" to die for us so that he could free us from our sins. "Only a God Like Him" could have done that for us. "How Great is our God!"

Every Sunday is a Resurrection Day. Each Sunday morning service should be a reminder of all that Jesus had done for us. Yes, "Tis the Week after Easter." And today we can continue to rejoice and celebrate if we know that "we belong to him."