SERIES - WHAT THE MESSIAH IS SAYING TO THE CHURCH
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John to the seven churches that are in Asia:
Grace to you and peace from him who is and who was and who is to come, and from the seven spirits who are before his throne,
and from Jesus Christ the faithful witness, the firstborn of the dead, and the ruler of kings on earth.
To him who loves us and has freed us from our sins by his blood
and made us a kingdom, priests to his God and Father, to him be glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen.
Behold, he is coming with the clouds, and every eye will see him, even those who pierced him, and all tribes of the earth will wail on account of him. Even so. Amen.
“I am the Alpha and the Omega,” says the Lord God, “who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty.”
I, John, your brother and partner in the tribulation and the kingdom and the patient endurance that are in Jesus, was on the island called Patmos on account of the word of God and the testimony of Jesus.
I was in the Spirit on the Lord’s day, and I heard behind me a loud voice like a trumpet
saying, “Write what you see in a book and send it to the seven churches, to Ephesus and to Smyrna and to Pergamum and to Thyatira and to Sardis and to Philadelphia and to Laodicea.”
Then I turned to see the voice that was speaking to me, and on turning I saw seven golden lampstands,
and in the midst of the lampstands one like a son of man, clothed with a long robe and with a golden sash around his chest.
The hairs of his head were white, like white wool, like snow. His eyes were like a flame of fire,
his feet were like burnished bronze, refined in a furnace, and his voice was like the roar of many waters.
In his right hand he held seven stars, from his mouth came a sharp two-edged sword, and his face was like the sun shining in full strength.
When I saw him, I fell at his feet as though dead. But he laid his right hand on me, saying, “Fear not, I am the first and the last,
and the living one. I died, and behold I am alive forevermore, and I have the keys of Death and Hades.
Write therefore the things that you have seen, those that are and those that are to take place after this.
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.
Lisa grainy screen
SERMON: “THE ETERNAL SUMMARY – Refocusing Our Church Lens”
SERMON: “THE ETERNAL SUMMARY – Refocusing Our Church Lens”
I. The Church Is A Picture of God’s Gracious Invitation
I. The Church Is A Picture of God’s Gracious Invitation
Angels long to see (1 Peter 1)
Principalities and powers - Ephesians
Trophies of God’s grace: we cannot demonstrate value to that for which we don’t know the value of it.
A. We Are Being Loved By Him
A. We Are Being Loved By Him
NOTE THE PRESENT TENSE OF THE VERB:
and from Jesus Christ the faithful witness, the firstborn of the dead, and the ruler of kings on earth.
To him who loves us and has freed us from our sins by his blood
B. We Are Freed Through Him
B. We Are Freed Through Him
NOT THE PAST TENSE OF THE VERB
and from Jesus Christ the faithful witness, the firstborn of the dead, and the ruler of kings on earth.
To him who loves us and has freed us from our sins by his blood
And they sang a new song, saying,
“Worthy are you to take the scroll
and to open its seals,
for you were slain, and by your blood you ransomed people for God
from every tribe and language and people and nation,
I said to him, “Sir, you know.” And he said to me, “These are the ones coming out of the great tribulation. They have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.
and, having been set free from sin, have become slaves of righteousness.
THIS IS WHO YOU ARE: SLAVES TO RIGHTEOUSNESS. THAT IS WHO YOU ARE: DESPITE THE ACCUSATIONS BY THE ENEMY AND DESPITE THE INTERNAL; LONGINGS TO SIN KNOW THIS: YOU HAVE BEEN AND THEREFORE ARE FREED FROM SIN
C. We Are Reigning With Him, Now
C. We Are Reigning With Him, Now
NOTE THE PAST TENSE OF THE PHRASE: MADE US
and made us a kingdom, priests to his God and Father, to him be glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen.
II. The Church Is A Picture of God’s Blinding Glory
II. The Church Is A Picture of God’s Blinding Glory
Now to him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us,
to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever. Amen.
A. The Glory of God and the Pastor
A. The Glory of God and the Pastor
1. He Must Understand His Place
1. He Must Understand His Place
He is in the hands of Jesus
This is a reminder to the pastor that the church He is serving in is NOT his church - he is dependent on the one in whose hands he is held
2. He must speak the Content of
Truth Without Apology
2. He must speak the Content of
Truth Without Apology
EXPLAIN THE THOUGHT AS IT RELATES TO WHAT THE LORD IS SAYING TO THE CHURCH - PASTORS
PAUL PUT IT THIS WAY
I charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who is to judge the living and the dead, and by his appearing and his kingdom:
preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, and exhort, with complete patience and teaching.
EXPLAIN HERE:
THE CHARGE IS IN THE PRESENCE OF GOD (HE IS IN CHRIST’S HAND)
WHO IS TO JUDGE....
Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who has no need to be ashamed, rightly handling the word of truth.
BE READY IN AND OUT OF SEASON
WHY IS HE CALLING TIMOTHY WITH SUCH WEIGHTY WORDS?
For the time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching, but having itching ears they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions,
PREACH THE WORD!!!!! WITHOUT APOLOGY
§ But as such he speaks for and should be heard as such
And we also thank God constantly for this, that when you received the word of God, which you heard from us, you accepted it not as the word of men but as what it really is, the word of God, which is at work in you believers.
2. He must reflect the Character of
God Without Excuse
2. He must reflect the Character of
God Without Excuse
EXPLAIN IN THE CONTEXT OF WHAT GOD IS SAYING TO THE CHURCH - THE PASTOR
He shall speak for you to the people, and he shall be your mouth, and you shall be as God to him.
AS THE PASTOR YOU STAND AS THE GATE-KEEPER OF THE PEOPLE OF GOD BROUGHT BY AND WITH THE BLOOD OF CHRIST
YOU STAND AS THE PRIEST - DEFENDING AND PROTECTING THE PEOPLE OF GOD FROM THE ENEMY OF GOD.
AS GOD’S MAN BEFORE HIS PEOPLE, YOU ARE NOT ONLY THE FIRST LINE OF DEFENSE - BHUT YOU ARE THE FIRST TO HEAR MY WORD AGAINST THE CHURCH
THIS DOES NOT MEAN THAT THE PASTOR IS GOD - IN ESSENCE, BUT THAT THEIR POSITION IS ONE IN WHICH THEY SHOULD BE LISTENED TO, FOLLOWED AND RESPECTED
B. The Glory of God and the Congregation
B. The Glory of God and the Congregation
1. Death comes by hearing and seeing Christ
1. Death comes by hearing and seeing Christ
- Death is necessary for the Life of God Can Be Shown Through You
- Death is necessary for the Life of God Can Be Shown Through You
HEARING - John mentions two-edged sword that came from His mouth
For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart.
SEEING - John , immediately after he mentions the Word, begins describing Jesus’s face as blinding like the sun at full strength
THIS IS WHY PAUL SAID
I protest, brothers, by my pride in you, which I have in Christ Jesus our Lord, I die every day!
WHAT HAPPENED TO JOHN PHYSICALLY IN THESE VERSES IS WHAT HAPPENS TO US SPIRITUALLY WHEN WE ARE CONSTANTLY HEARING AND SEEING CHRIST: WE DIE!!!!
DIE TO SELF
DIE TO FLESHLY DESIRES
DIE TO THE WORLD
2. Death is embraced only when I trust Christ
2. Death is embraced only when I trust Christ
- He is the first and the last
- He is the first and the last
When I saw him, I fell at his feet as though dead. But he laid his right hand on me, saying, “Fear not, I am the first and the last,
- He died and is alive
- He died and is alive
and the living one. I died, and behold I am alive forevermore, and I have the keys of Death and Hades.
- He has the keys of death and hades
- He has the keys of death and hades
Write therefore the things that you have seen, those that are and those that are to take place after this.
III. Let’s Be THAT Picture in 2021
III. Let’s Be THAT Picture in 2021