Sermon Tone Analysis

How many of you have heard that song before?

I grew up watching Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood.

Fred Rogers was a Christian gentleman who epitomized gentleness, patience, and love.

I think most people see Jesus kind of like Mr Rodgers… meek, humble, kind, patient, soft spoken…

That is, with the exception of Jesus.

Be honest.

Most of us have always thought of Jesus as a deified Mister Rogers with a beard.

Our minds picture Jesus as a baby born in a Bethlehem manger, a carpenter who worked with His father in Nazareth, a teaching rabbi who walked the streets of Jerusalem, a lover of children, a beaten and wounded prophet who died on a cross.

They see Jesus as a Mr. Rodgers with a beard and sandals!

Jesus was humble, meek, and kind… but that is not complete picture of Jesus!

It is for sure not the Jesus of Revelation...

The Jesus of revelation, is the King of Kings and Lord of lords… He is the Alpha and Omega, He is the warrior and judge…

Whether we like that picture of Jesus or not… it doesn’t change the fact that Jesus is not Mr. Rodgers with a Beard and sandals...

AND THE BOOK OF REVELATION GIVES US A FULL PICTURE OF WHO JESUS IS!

If you have your Bible ope with me to we are going to unpack verse 9-20 verse by verse...

If you don’t have a Bible...

LET’S PRAY!

There’s an old saying that says, "A picture is worth a thousand words."

I think that’s pretty accurate; Jesus seems to have thought so too.

His favorite method of teaching was in parables - vivid, illustrative word pictures that helped his audience to understand.

So over the next several weeks I want to take you on a tour of the book of Revelation… using pictures.

Not visual pictures, but mental pictures..

First of all, I want you to think about the title - "Revelation."

This is taken from the very first verse of the first chapter: "The Revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave Him to show to his servants..." ().

Now, what do you do when something’s revealed to you?

You LOOK at it, or examine it .

And that’s what we’re going to do.

Did you hear how John describes himself: “your brother and partner”.

1. THE RECIPIENT AND THE REALITY OF THE REVELATION (v.

9).

There’s a lot of things that John could’ve said about himself.

You ask some people to introduce themselves and they start spewing out their resume.

Men especially tend to be like that (not that you ladies are above that sort of thing).

John could’ve said:

John could have given himself a little bigger introduction… He was an apostle, a close friend to Jesus, he was a leader in the Church… He could have written a pretty good resume!

"I’m one of the apostles, but I’m not just any ordinary apostle.

I belonged to the inner circle; I was the one who Jesus really loved."

But he doesn’t do that… He introduces himself as a brother and partner...

But that’s not what he said.

Notice how John describes himself: “your brother and companion”.

You see, John wasn’t out to elevate himself.

His purpose is to show us that we are united in a common bond; that bond is Jesus.

I want you to let that sink in for a minute!!!!

The Apostles....

The heroes of the faith… they were people on a journey with Jesus just like us…

We are all traveling in the same direction…

John was

This revelation given to John was a real event in history.

It’s not just some made up fairy tale.

John was on a real island located in the Mediterranean Sea and he was given a message to be delivered to real churches that existed during that time.

It’s a book that is rooted in history.

So if I we want to understand it, then we’ve got to place it the context of the world in which it was written.

2. THE RESIDENCE OF THE REVELATION (Vv.

10-12).

John was worshiping in the Spirit on the Lord’s Day… On Sunday!

Remember John is on the Island of Patmos… He has been exiled here because they couldn’t making stop preaching and they couldn’t kill him...

John hears a voice like a trumpet, and apparently it came from behind him.

I don’t know about you, but when something loud happens behind me, it tends to startle me.

I imagine this voice startled John as well.

The tried boiling him in oil but it didn’t work...

As far as we know there was not church on Patmos...

Yet John is still worshiping on the Lord’s Day!

If anyone had an excuse to skip church is was John on the island of Patmos…

While he is in the Spirit… he hears a loud voice like a trumpet.

Notice it says LIKE!

hearslike a trumpet, and apparently it came from behind him.

I don’t know about you, but when something loud happens behind me, it tends to startle me.

I imagine this voice startled John as well.

John is trying to discribe a heavenly experience with words we will understand… The voice didn’t necessarily sound like a trumpet… It was loud, like a trumpet!

Now if you were all alone lost in worship… and some snuck up behind you and blew a trumpet…

Now if you were all alone lost in worship… and some snuck up behind you and blew a trumpet…

What would you do?

I would jump.... it would startle me!

I imagine this voice startled John as well.

He turns and looks to see where this voice came from, but instead he sees seven golden lampstands.

So what’s so important about the lampstands?

So what’s so important about the lampstands?

Most commentators agree these were menorahs

(SHOW PICTURE)

tells what these lamp stands were to look like!

They were made to bear resemblance to an almond tree, with 7 branches… 3 branches on each side and a center branch.

The menorah is represents God’s divine light spreading through out the world, In Jewish tradition if also depicts the tree of life, from the Garden of Eden.

https://www.oneforisrael.org/bible-based-teaching-from-israel/the-meaning-behind-the-menorah/

Here in Revelation the Lamp Stands represent the Church… who job is is to spread the light of God through out the world and offer eternal through Jesus Christ!

The Lamp Stands represent light and life:

WE also see these lamps stands in Zechariah’s vision in

The Lamp Stands represent light and life:

That is the primary message of the Church!

My prayer as your pastor is that you will hear that message over and over again...

More than anything else… I want Jesus, I need Jesus…

BUT THE TRUTH

Jesus has to be at the center of everything we do!

So the 7 lamps stands represent the complete church, who’s mission is to spread the light of christ to the world and preach the message of Eternal Life that is found only in Jesus!

The imagery of this book is so amazing…

The imagery of this book is so amazing...

BUT, John’s focus was not on the Lamp Stands, It was on the one who was standing in the middle of the 7 Lamp Stands...

They were associated with the Temple.

In the original Tabernacle, there was a lampstand shaped like a tree with one branch in the middle and three branches on each side.

They were made of solid gold and held seven oil lamps.

(Show picture)

When God gave instructions for the building of the Tabernacle and later for the Temple, there was a reason He included a lamp stand in the shape of a tree.

It represented His promise of restored life…a tree that lit the way into the Holy place.