If the apostle John thought that his Sunday morning on the Isle of Patmos was going to reflect the state of boredom often associated with incarceration, he was in for a shock. And if the document we know as the Book of Revelation is revealed in eternity to be Jesus’ Sunday morning sermon for John, I, for one, will not be surprised. Nothing I have ever read and listened to has come close to the mystery, imagery, depth, and excitement of John’s visions on that particular “First Day of the week” (Revelation 1:10).
Someone asked me why I don’t exhort parents to bring their disinterested teenage kids to church as much as I used to. It most certainly isn’t out of a lack of love and concern, I assure you. Instead, the problem sits with the disinterest that those teenage kids are seeing in their parents.
Read the Book of Revelation in one sitting and then ask yourself if your perception of the war going on in the spiritual realm (of which we are all a part), resembles the reality laid out by John.
The message of the visions was so impactful that John fell and worshiped the angel before him. The angel told him that he was a fellow servant with John, the other prophets, and all who “keep the words of this book,” and that he must “Worship God!” (Revelation 22:8-9).
I believe we would see transformation in The Lord’s Church if all of us were impacted by God’s revelation on the Lord’s Day the way John was. We would stop our silly conversations about “church attendance” and instead, “Fall down and Worship God.” There, in Christ, we will live out the excitement of our victory over the devil through the Blood of the Lamb. But there, outside of Christ, we will see those who refuse to worship. John writes these sobering words:
“Let the one who does wrong, still do wrong; and the one who is filthy, still be filthy; and let the one who is righteous, still practice righteousness; and the one who is holy, still keep himself holy” (Revelation 22:11).
John Staiger
0 Comments