Sermon by Pastor Dale Wolcott
October 13, 2001
(Scriptures quoted are from New King James Version unless otherwise noted)
If you had to choose between being a goldfish and being an elephant, which would you choose? Think about that if you have some spare time in the next few minutes. We’ll come back to it later.
In next few months, God willing, we’re going to take a journey together through the book of Revelation that will be different than any I’ve taken before.
If you’ve studied Revelation at all, you’ve probably felt a bit like Dr. Jon Paulien at Andrews University who recently produced a cassette-tape series on Revelation called, "How to Study Revelation Without Losing Your Mind." Another scholar said, "Revelation either finds a man mad or leaves him mad" (i.e., insane). Martin Luther commented that back in his time, it seemed to him that fanatics were the ones who liked to study Revelation. Luther got so frustrated that he was ready to throw Revelation clear out of the Bible. So I suppose some people think Adventists are a bit crazy for emphasizing the study of Revelation. But I’d like to express a sharply different opinion and conviction:
I believe it’s a wonderfully positive thing that Adventists are known as specialists in Revelation. (After all, the book begins by saying it is "the Revelation of Jesus Christ"!) Uriah Smith’s book, Thoughts on Daniel and the Revelation, has been a bestseller for over a century and is still in print today. In the 1980's Harry Robinson developed a Revelation Seminar that has led thousands to a life-changing understanding of Bible prophecy. So Adventists have focused on Revelation for a long time, and that is a very good thing.
Having said all this: Has it ever seemed to you (if you’ve spent some time studying Bible prophecy) that Revelation is sort of detached from everyday life? Can the study of Bible prophecy — Revelation in particular — be practical? I’ve concluded, "Yes!" So we’re calling this new series that begins today, "Revelation in Overalls."
Thanks to my wife Nancy for our logo, this pair of overalls that will remind us of our theme month by month. [A pair of white overalls was displayed next to the pulpit.] Also to Brother Wil who gave the overalls some legs to stand on! The point is that Revelation is a practical book.
I hope and pray and expect that in the next few months you’ll discover that what you learn from the study of Revelation will work in your life. Let’s pray.
Lord, there’s probably someone here this morning who feels as if his or her life is on hold; whose past is confused; whose future is uncertain; therefore the present is murky and muddled. I pray as we open this amazing Book and catch a glimpse of the open gates of heaven that you will take that person back to the future you have in mind for her or him — and do the same for each of us, in Jesus’ name, Amen.
Life may have seemed a bit murky for John and his fellow Christians at the end of the first century A.D. Sixty-plus years had passed since John had watched his friend Jesus disappear into the vapor above the Mt. of Olives outside Jerusalem. Over those years, thousands had taken the name of Jesus in the hope and confident belief that He would soon reappear, come again, just as the disciples had seen Him go up into heaven.
For many of those years John had been the pastor, the spiritual leader, for at least seven congregations of Christian believers in seven cities in the Roman province known as "Asia" (the western portion of Turkey on today’s map). But now hard times have come. John is the only living survivor of Jesus’ original 12 disciples, and he is a Roman prisoner on an island penal colony called the "Isle of Patmos," off the Turkish coast.
The Roman emperor Domitian has basically decreed that if you’re a Christian, you’re a criminal. So John is not simply feeling sorry for himself; he’s deeply concerned about the churches back home. The very survival of Christianity seems uncertain. Note how John introduces himself in Revelation 1:9: "I, John, both your brother and companion in . . . tribulation."
So when Jesus comes and gives John this great vision we call the "book of Revelation," He comes for a very practical purpose: to cheer up some people who are being beat down with a lot of tough stuff. Note verses 10 & 11: "I was in the Spirit on the Lord’s Day, and I heard behind me a loud voice, as of a trumpet, saying, ‘I am the Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last,’ and, ‘What you see, write in a book and send it to the seven churches,’" and he names all seven of them.
Imagine you had been there with John that Sabbath on Patmos, hearing this loud, piercing voice over your shoulder. What would you do? Turn around and look, right? That’s exactly what John did. Note verse 12, "Then I turned to see the voice that spoke with me. And having turned I saw seven golden lampstands."
Suddenly John thinks, "I’m in heaven!" because this is a sanctuary scene. The earthly sanctuary in Jerusalem had been destroyed 25 years before, so this must be the heavenly sanctuary! But now notice verse 13. Who did John see among these lampstands? "And in the midst of the seven lampstands One like the Son of Man, clothed with a garment down to the feet and girded about the chest with a golden band." It was Jesus! This book is the Revelation of Jesus Christ!
John is all alone. He’s considered a criminal; he has no one with him who shares his faith. Perhaps he’s wondering why these things are happening; probably he’s worrying about all his Christian brothers and sisters in those seven churches and all the others. And that’s when "Heaven came down and glory filled his soul." Jesus came for a visit!
This morning I’m praying that someone here will sense that Jesus has come to you today; that Heaven itself has come down and brought you close to the God of the universe. My sermon in one sentence is this: You can meet Jesus today; He’s closer than you think. Are you feeling alone this morning? Are you dealing with some anxieties? Do you feel imprisoned by circumstances? In the next few minutes, let’s note three basic facts about Jesus in Revelation chapter 1 that can bring Him as close to you this Lord’s Day as He came to John that Sabbath on Patmos.
First of all, when John sees Jesus, what is Jesus doing? Specifically, what kind of work is He doing? Is there anything about Jesus’ apparel that gives a clue about His occupation?
Is he wearing a crown? No, He doesn’t appear as a king, sitting on a throne. (That comes later in Revelation.) Does John see Him with a sharp sickle in his hand (as he will later), like a farmer reaping the harvest? No.
Chapter 1:13 says He’s "clothed with a garment down to the feet and girded about the chest with a golden band." Whose work uniform is this? John recognizes immediately that Jesus is dressed as a priest. This is Jesus’ everyday garb up in heaven – these are His workaday overalls! And what does a priest do? A priest is a go-between; an intermediary. The first and foremost fact about Jesus in Revelation is that He’s at work bringing Heaven and Earth together; bringing heaven down, and lifting people up; bringing God and people together.
I’ve asked Frank and Flo to help me share a song with you — sort of a theme song for "Revelation in Overalls." As they come and prepare to sing, the ushers will share a handout. [Handout is reproduced below.] Please look this over carefully as you listen to the song, "Heaven Came Down and Glory Filled My Soul."
Did you notice the quote at the bottom of the handout? "One thing will certainly be understood from the study of Revelation – that the connection between God and His people is close and decided" (Ellen G. White, Testimonies to Ministers, p. 114).
Note that all through Revelation, the scenes alternate between heaven and earth until finally "heaven and earth become one forever." If you sometimes feel like heaven is far away — read Revelation! Be sure to pick up the free 48-page magazine, The Bible’s Book of Revelation, Hope for Earth’s Last Days, as you leave. [This magazine is offered to everyone who attends any one of this series of messages.]
Back to the description of Jesus as John saw Him, starting at verse 14: "His head and hair were white like wool, as white as snow, and His eyes like a flame of fire; His feet were like fine brass, as if refined in a furnace, and His voice as the sound of many waters." As John describes Jesus, he wants his readers to recognize that this is the same Person we’ve read about in the book of Daniel chapters 7 and 10.
But when John sees Jesus he’s not just seeing Someone he’s read about in a book. When Jesus comes to visit John on Patmos, He comes in a way that reminds John very vividly of a time in John’s past when he and Jesus were together. As we go on here, see if you can think of a story in the Gospels that might have come to John’s mind: "His countenance was like the sun shining in its strength. And when I saw Him, I fell at His feet as dead." Now turn to Matthew 17.
While you’re going there — did you decide whether you’d rather be a goldfish or an elephant? One of the differences between goldfish and elephants is that an elephant has an excellent memory — so good, in fact, that if you tie a baby elephant to a post with a rope, and he learns that he can’t get away, for rest of life he’ll remember that he can’t get away from that post. The trainer can use a very small rope, and the full-grown elephant will never try to get away because he has such a good memory. I’m glad I’m not an elephant.
A goldfish, on the other hand, I’m told, has a maximum memory span of 3 seconds! It lives in the eternal present! It never worries about anything because it never remembers anything! I’m glad I don’t have to choose between the elephant and the goldfish; I’m glad we’re made in the image of God!
What does this have to do with Revelation? (Remember, we’re on our way to Matthew 17.) The world today has decided we are not made in the image of God — and it has opted for the goldfish. The dominant philosophy of Western civilization in the 20th Century (which has just ended) was "existentialism." Existentialism says "I can’t know where I came from; I can’t know where I’m going (or, I know I came from primeval slime bog, and I know I’m going into eternal oblivion); therefore since the past and future are meaningless, I can only seek for meaning in the present, in my existence" (hence, existentialism).
Now in the 21st Century we have what’s being called "post-modernism," which says that it’s impossible to arrive at absolute, objective truth. I can only decide what’s "right for me," and certainly I must never impose my idea of what’s "right" on anybody else!"
If Osama bin Laden has a different idea of what’s right for him over in Afghanistan, that’s OK (says the post-modernist), and we surely shouldn’t send missionaries to Afghanistan to try to teach him otherwise. In fact, the only reason Osama bin Laden’s idea of "right" is a problem is that it threatens me and my idea of what’s right! To the post-modernist and the existentialist, I’m nothing but a goldfish! The past is meaningless; the future is irrelevant. Therefore live for today, make up your rules as you go along, and nothing is absolute.
In Revelation 1, John is in a situation where an existentialist would probably be opting for suicide, and Jesus comes and says to John, I want to give you comfort where you’re existing right now by giving you a Revelation of your future. I want you to look forward to the future, but let’s start by going back to something in the past. Let’s go Back to the Future.
Note Matthew 17, starting at verse 1: "Now after six days Jesus took Peter, James, and John his brother, and led them up on a high mountain by themselves; and He was transfigured before them. His face shone like the sun, and His clothes became as white as the light.… While He was still speaking, behold, a bright cloud overshadowed them; and suddenly a voice came out of the cloud, saying, ‘This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased. Hear Him!’ And when the disciples heard it, they fell on their faces and were greatly afraid. But Jesus came and touched them and said, ‘Arise, and do not be afraid.’
When John sees Jesus on Patmos, he sees the same Jesus He saw on the mountain; he reacts the same way — deja vu — and then he feels the same hand on his shoulder and hears the same words from the same voice: "Don’t be afraid."
Most people think of Revelation as only a book about the future. One of the keys to understanding Revelation is that it’s also a book about the past. Jesus says, "I’m the Alpha and the Omega," the beginning as well as the end. Note the rest of Revelation 1:17, 18, "And when I saw Him, I fell at His feet as dead. But He laid His right hand on me, saying to me, ‘Do not be afraid; I am the First and the Last. I am He who lives, and was dead, and behold, I am alive forevermore. Amen. And I have the keys of Hades and of Death."
Jesus has keys to the future because of His past: His cross, His resurrection, His ascension. Revelation tells us that history is important! Something else you’ll see as you get into Revelation is that it’s chock full of Old Testament language — language from the past. You can’t hope to understand Revelation unless you know the Old Testament.
But it’s not just ancient history that’s important for you. Your own history has reminders in it that Heaven is close to your life. This morning Jesus wants to remind you of some of those. I don’t know what they are, but He does, and you do too. And just as Jesus came and reminded John of that dramatic moment on the mountain years before, which proved that John wasn’t hallucinating or just imagining this, so God wants to call back some memories of what He’s done in your life. If you’re bogged down in some kind of trouble, go back and review the ways He’s led you, protected you, taught you in the past. Someone said, "When you’re in the dark, look where you last saw the light."
So what have we seen so far?
#1 Jesus is working for us up in heaven. He has His work clothes on. That’s why Revelation is a practical book.
#2 When John is hurting, Jesus takes him back to remember the times when John was close to Him (Jesus) before.
#3 The third fact about Jesus in Revelation 1 is so obvious we won’t spend long with it this morning. It was already mentioned at the end of verse 18 — He’s going to unlock the graves someday. Note the end of verse 19 — Jesus tells John to write "the things that will take place after this."
Revelation is a book about the future — a bright future if we know Jesus; a rather scary future if we don’t — but a future where ultimately heaven and earth will be one forever. Verse 7 introduces that future: "Behold, He is coming with clouds, and every eye will see Him," and of course that’s where we’re headed as we go on in our series. Bring somebody next time! The next topic will be "Does Church Make Jesus Sick? --- what to do when religion is as appealing as warm pop."
Now, there’s one more powerful verse we need to look at as we wrap up. And before we do that, let me tell you about Paulo.
Paulo is 8 years old. On September 11, 2001, he happened to be on a sidewalk in lower Manhattan, right in front of a Catholic church, when one of the towers collapsed. As the dust cloud billowed up and out, Paulo saw a man come crawling on hands and knees out of the dust cloud down the street toward him. The victim was caked with a thick layer of that chalky vaporized concrete; in fact the acid content had burned his eyes so badly that he could hardly see, which was why he was on his hands and knees.
As Pastor Dick Duerksen tells this story in the October, 2001, issue of the Lake Union Herald, 8-yr-old Paulo took this man who’d been blinded by the enemy’s filth, took him by the hand and led him into the narthex of the cathedral. Paulo had obviously been there before, because he knew there was a font of holy water there by the door, and he took that water and washed the acid dust out of the man’s eyes so he could see to make his way on to safety.
Our last scripture is a benediction, a "word of blessing," tucked away in the middle of chapter 1. It starts halfway through verse 5: "To Him who loved us," — this book of Revelation is from Somebody who loves you! And how do we know He loves us? Ah, it’s because of something from the past. It says He "washed us from our sins in His own blood."
Do you have any memory of any sins that Jesus has ever washed away for you? If you’ve ever overcome a bad habit — that was Jesus’ blood that gave you the victory, whether you knew it or not. If you’ve ever known you were guilty for something, and then found forgiveness from a friend, an enemy, someone you love — it was the love of Jesus given to you through His blood shed on the cross that washed away that guilt.
Maybe you were baptized sometime long ago and you’ve kind of forgotten that all-over clean feeling that Jesus gave you on that day when His blood washed the acid of sin out of your eyes and you went on your way rejoicing just like the man in Manhattan. Jesus wants to take you back to the future this morning.
Notice how the prayer ends in verse 6, "and has made us kings and priests to His God and Father." He’s got a pair of overalls for you! You can share in His work of bringing Heaven and earth together. "To Him be glory and dominion forever and ever" when He comes in those clouds someday very soon! Let’s turn to hymn #219, "When Jesus Comes in Glory."
As we sing, if you feel a need for a washing this morning, just tell Jesus about it. Maybe you’ve never experienced the forgiving that Revelation 1 talks about. You can bring the troubles in your life to Jesus to wash away as we sing this song. Maybe you’ve met Jesus before, but you need to come back to the future He has for you. Tell Him about that. Maybe you would like to plan on being baptized sometime soon, as soon as you’re ready. Whatever’s on your heart, just bring it to Jesus as we sing, and then if you wish, write it on the "I wish" card and return it at the door as you leave.
When Jesus Comes in Glory |
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His voice like rushing waters will
reach with mighty sound And we who are believing and His
appearing love, O hasten Thine appearing, Thou
bright and Morning Star! |
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[Handout used with this sermon]
How Jesus Connects Heaven and Earth in the Book of Revelation
| "One thing will certainly be understood from the study of Revelation — that the connection between God and His people is close and decided." -- Ellen White |