People who Encountered God (3): John

서론

- Since a few weeks ago, I have shared about people who encountered God in the Bible.

- The man we will talk about today is Apostle John.

요한 소개

- John was one of the Twelve disciples of Jesus. He was the only disciple who did not betray Jesus and followed Jesus to the cross.

- And he was not martyred differently from other disciples. He lived more than 90 years.

- Maybe he had his special mission. He wrote many scriptures like the Gospel of John, three letters of John, and very important book, Revelation.

- Moreover, he had a mission of taking care of Jesus’ physical mother Mary.

- John was Jesus’ especially beloved disciple. Even, his nickname was “the beloved disciple.” He was often leaning on Jesus or was embraced in Jesus’ arms.

- He saw Jesus, touched Jesus, smelled Jesus. He ate food with Jesus and actually lived with Jesus.

본문 소개

- Today’s text says of the vivid experience that the disciple John met the Lord in his latter years.

- At that time, John was exiled to the Island Patmos for the reason why he preached the word of God and testified about Jesus.

- One day, it was the Lord’s day. Maybe it was today’s Sunday.

- Some loud voice suddenly sounded behind John. So he turned around to see what the voice was.

- There was Jesus. The expression “a son of man” in verse 13 refers to Jesus in the Bible.

- By the way, the appearance of Jesus was different from that of Jesus who John lived with and ate and drank with on this earth. Jesus appeared in his original form, completely glorious form.

Description on the appreance of Jesus

- Jesus was dressed in a robe reaching down to his feet (13)

- with golden sash around his chest (13)

- the hair on his head was white as wool, as white as snow (14)

- His eyes were like blazing fire (14)

- His feet were like bronze glowig in a furnace (15)

- His voice was like the sound of the rushing waters (15)

- In his right hand, he was holding seven stars (16)

- Coming out of his mouth was a sharp, double-edged sword (16)

- Jesus’ face was like the sun shining in full strength (16)

!! These are what John described the appearance in his own way. That is, the appearance was beauty itself!

The Beauty of Jesus

!! Our Jesus is a beautiful one. <PPT>

- If we come to experience our Lord deeply with the grace of God, we cannot help falling in love with the Lord.

- Why? Our Lord is a beautiful and glorious one.

- EX: When I met my wife first at some cafe, she looked so pretty. I really thought she looked like 아이유. She really has that feeling. <PPT>

- Interestingly, my wife said to me later that I looked 180 cm tall in height when we met first. In English, it’s 5.9 feet.

- Do you know when she realized the reality? She realized my real height when we did wedding shooting. It’s too late. cannot cancel the wedding.

- Because we looked attractive to each other, we fell in love, right?

- Jesus did not look beautiful. He is acutally beautiful. More exactly, his beauty was revealed to John. He is originally beautiful and glorious!

- John saw and experienced this Jesus.

John’s Response

<< Rev 1:17 / He fell at Jesus’ feet as though dead.

- This does not mean that John consciously fell to worship Jesus.

- This means that John was overwelmed by the glorious beaty so he almost fainted before Jesus.

- EX: I heard this story from my friend. When my friend’s sister went to Seoul, she happened to meet a very famous actor for his handsome face, 장동. <PPT>

- My friend said she cried on the street as soon as seeing his face because he was so handsome.

- If my friend’s sister cried to see the handsome face, it is understandable that John almost faint because the Lord is so beautiful. 우리 주님은 이런 분이시다.

Jesus approaches the fallen John.

- Jesus approaches the fallen John. And he places his right hand on John’s head.

- And Jesus says.

<< Revelation 1:17-18

정리/적용

- This awesome Jesus appeared to John, and John saw and experience this Jesus.

- How would John feel? How entrancing the experience was? How sweet?

- Maybe, John wouldn’t have forget this experience until he died. Remembering this experience, he would live for God to the end.

>> I bless you guys may have this sweet experience.

- Some of you may misunderstand about experience. You may think it is too stimulating. Too emotional!

- But being emotional is not bad. A person consists of intellect, emotion, and will. These three should be in balance. Emotion is needed for balance.

- Experience is not a bad thing. It is not unnecessary. If it is unnecessary, why did John describe this experience in detail? In the Bible? Because it is necessary.

!! The experience with God makes the relationship with God closer and more lasting.

>> I hope each of your experience this beauty of Jesus.

중요한 비결: “성령 안에서"

- There is an important key for this experience.

<< Rev 1:10 / “I was in the Spirit.”

- Who is the Holy Spirit? He is the same God as God the Father and God the Son. We believe in the Spriit, too. Apostle’s Creed!

- What does the Spirit do? He makes us experience God. Especially, the Spirit makes us experience the beauty of the Lord.

- EX: 어느 날, 세미너리 길을 걷는데… 길 가에 있는 나무가 너무 아름다웠다.

- I saw leaves on the trees. The leaves were softly glowing with the brightly shining sunlight.

- I felt like God’s creatures were so beautiful. My heart got so peaceful.

- Interestingly, the path is the path on which I used to walk almost everyday. In the past, I had never thought about that.

- On that day, the Holy Spirit opened my eyes for me to see the beauty of God’s creature. He changed my viewpoint for a while.

- Holy Spirit is important.

- So, we have to pray that the Holy Spirit may touch our hearts and open our eyes of faith.

- We have to pray that the Spirit may work in us.

>> Then, we are able to experience the amazing beauty of Jesus.

결론

- The Apostle John saw the beauty of Jesus on the island Patmos.

- Our Jesus is a beautiful one.

- The key that John could experience the beauty of Jesus was because he was in the Spirit.

찬양: 예수 아름다우신

기도제목

성령 안에서 거하게 하소서

주님의 아름다움을 경험하게 하소서

내일 수련회를 위해서!

하나님께서 은혜를 주셔서 우리에게 나타나시는 수련회, 우리가 하나님을 만나는 수련회가 될 수 있도록