Friday, May 11, 2018
It was the
Lord’s Day, and I was worshiping in the Spirit. Suddenly, I heard behind me a loud voice like
a trumpet blast. It said, “Write in a
book everything you see, and send it to the seven churches in the cities of
Ephesus, Smyrna, Pergamum, Thyatira, Sardis, Philadelphia, and Laodicea.” When
I turned to see who was speaking to me, I saw seven gold lampstands. And standing in the middle of the lampstands
was someone like the Son of Man. He was
wearing a long robe with a gold sash across his chest. His head and his hair were white like wool, as
white as snow. And his eyes were like
flames of fire. His feet were like
polished bronze refined in a furnace, and his voice thundered like mighty ocean
waves. He held seven stars in his right
hand, and a sharp two-edged sword came from his mouth. And his face was like the sun in all its
brilliance. When I saw him, I fell at
his feet as if I were dead. But he laid
his right hand on me and said, “Don’t be afraid! I am the First and the Last. I am the living one. I died, but look—I am alive forever and ever! And I hold the keys of death and the grave. Revelation 1:10-18(NLT)
It had been around
sixty years since John, the beloved disciple of Jesus, had seen his Lord
face-to-face. And this time the humiliation
of beatings, blood and the brokenness of a cross were gone; in their place was
awesome majesty, a thunderous, conquering king standing before John, dressed in
shining splendor with blazing words that split anything they touched. It was so hard to look at such grandeur; as
difficult as staring right at the sun. It
is no wonder John fainted!
And then Jesus did
what Jesus does, he touched the one he loved; Jesus laid his right hand on John
and comforted the shivering apostle. This
all happened when John turned towards the Lord.
This passage of
Revelation begins with John’s simple statement that he was worshipping. It was the Lord’s Day, Sunday, and this
Christian was doing what we do. In the
process he had a face-to-face with Jesus, the crucified, buried, risen, and
glorified Master of the universe. John’s
reaction, written for us by the man who’d had a front-row seat to watching
Jesus heal thousands, feed thousands, inspire thousands, and become the firstfruits
of resurrection power, was to faint like a dead man! This was altogether something even John,
perhaps Jesus’ best student-disciple in his earthly ministry, could not have
imagined; he was head-on with the King of Glory, eternal God!
Contrast this with
our worship on Sunday mornings, and whatever other times the bulletin says we
must gather. Have you ever seen someone bored
to death at church? Do YOU get
bored? Do you suppose if you were in a
meeting like John, would there be any children running around the sanctuary,
unchecked by their parents? Would anyone
be counting ceiling tiles, or texting their BFF about where to meet for lunch?
Now, this isn’t
really a harrangue against any form of modern-day worship; it’s simply my way of
introducing a void I have experienced in what is called worship,
but is merely our comfortable and routine gathering.
Jesus met with John because He wanted the
apostle to do something…write down warnings to 7 churches in Asia minor back
then (as well as all the millions of churches all over the world here and now). The warnings were for Christian followers of
Jesus Christ to remain faithful, stop tolerating sin, and return to their first
love of serving God.
I believe God
would meet with us in our worship like He met with John IF we were ready
to do all that; if we were ready, like John, to turn to Him.
For You Today
If you haven’t
felt faint
like a dead man in worship in some time, could it be John’s
letter to the churches had your address on it?
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