THIS WEBSITE IS UNDER THE DIRECTION OF, AND FOR THE GLORY OF, GOD THE FATHER, GOD THE SON, AND GOD THE HOLY SPIRIT.
YOU ARE ENTERING THE SANCTUARY OF GOD'S MEETING HOUSE. WE PRAY THAT YOU WILL REACH OUT TO THE HOLY SPIRIT AND INVITE HIM INTO YOUR HEART.
PASTOR HOWARD HAS BEEN A CREDENTIALLED MINISTER WITH THE ASSEMBLIES OF GOD FOR OVER 25 YRS.
SEVERAL YEARS AGO WE WERE HONORED TO RECEIVE A POEM WRITTEN BY A FRIEND IN NEW YORK. IT IS SO APROPO WE ARE PUBLISHING IT AGAIN. THIS DEAR SAINT, EVA MAY YOUNG HAS HAD TO HAVE A LEG REMOVED AND IS NOW IN A NURSING HOME. SHE NO LONGER HAS AN INTERNET CONNECTION, BUT IF YOU WANT TO WRITE TO HER, I'M SURE SHE WOULD APPRECIATE IT. WE HAVE HER ADDRESS.
Every Sunday morning, I meet with God at his church, And when we've finished singing, there comes a sermon from the heart. I thank you, Lord in heaven for this awesome internet,
LET'S PRAISE THE LORD WITH OUR SINGING AND HAVE A WONDERFUL SERVICE THAT BRINGS JOY TO OUR HEARTS. BY SINGING WE CAN EXPRESS OUR PRAISE TO GOD. LET'S GET INTO THE SERVICE WITH SOME MUSIC TO BRIGHTEN THE SOUL. NOW LET US LIFT OUR VOICES IN SONG AS WE SING AN OLD FAVORITE:CLICK THE BOX TO START THE MUSIC. AND NOW, PLEASE SING WITH US AND LET YOUR VOICES RING WITH
I turn on my trusted email, and don't have far to search.
There it is, God's Meeting House with it's sermons and its prayers,
Reverend Harold and Flora are always waiting for us there.
And as I read through each line, My worries and fears depart.
There is always a warm message, a message that speaks of God's peace.
And a heartfelt knowing when we believe it will always increase.
That is used to spread the Gospel in a message we can't forget.
Your Sunday morning meeting brings a thankful sigh.
Someday we'll have a grand reunion in God's Meeting House on high.
"DOWN IN MY HEART".
If you will, please open your Bible and read with me from the Book of Revelation 1:1-20. I am reading from the New International Version--"The revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave him to show his servants what must soon take place. He made it known by sending his angel to his servant, John, who testifies to everything he saw--that is the Word of God and the testimony of Jesus Christ. Blessed is the one who reads the words of this prophesy and blessed are those who hear it and take it to heart what is written in it because the time is near.
John, to the seven churches in the province of Asia: Grace and peace to you from him who is, and who was and who is to come, and from the seven spirits before his thone, and from Jesus Christ, who is the faithful witness, the firstborn from the dead, and the ruler of the kings of the earth. To him who loves us and has freed us from our sins by his blood, and has made us to be a kingdom and priests to serve his God and Father--to him be glory and power, for ever and ever. AMEN!
Look, he is coming with the clouds, and every eye will see him, even those who pierced him, and all the peoples opf the earth will mourn becasuse of him. So shall it be. 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, Johm, your brother and companion in the suffering and kingdom and patient endurance that are ours in Jesus, was on the Island of Patmos, because of the Word of God and the testimony of Jesus. In the Lord's Day, I was in the Spirit, and I heard behind me a loud voice like a trumpet, which said, 'Write on a scroll what you see and send it to the seven churches: to Ephesus, Smyrna, Pergamun, Thyatira, Sardis, Philadelphia, and Laodicea.'
I turned around to see the voice that was speaking to me. And when I turned, I saw seven golden lampstands, and among the lampstands was someone like a son of man, dressed in a robe reaching down to his feet and with a golden sash around his chest. His head and hair were white like wool, as white as snow and his eyes were like blazing fire. His feet were like bronze glowing in a furnace, and his voice was like the sound of rushing waters. In his right hand he held seven stars, and out of his mouth came a sharp double-edged sword. His face was like the sun shining in all its brilliance.
"When I saw Him, I fell at his feet as though dead. Then He placed his right hand on me and said, 'Do not be afraid. I am the First and the Last. I am the living one; I was dead. and behold I am alive forever and ever! And I hold the keys of death and Hades. Write therefore, what you have seen what is now and what will take place later. The mystery of the seven stars that you saw in my right hand and of the seven golden lampstands is this: The seven stars are the angels of the seven churches, and the seven lampstands are the seven churches.'"
The book of Revelation is often ignored in Bible study groups, and even by preachers because of all the difficult symbolism and sometimes vague sounding visions but it is the one book in the Bible that God promises a special blessing to those who simply read it. (Rev. 1:3) Another reason it is often ignored is because it is not understood correctly, and the focus of those who study it is skewed toward trying to piece together a detailed plan of the future. While there certainly are predictive elements to the book about the future this is not the total focus of the book, even its title should help us see this, it is NOT "THE REVELATION OF THE FUTURE" but "THE REVELATION OF JESUS CHRIST." It is as much about Christ as it is about the future! In fact, this is where the book begins one cannot look to the future without first coming to Christ who holds the future! Without Christ there is no guaranteed future, and without hope for a future there is no striving to be better!
The book of Revelation shows us the glorified Christ and the certainty of His ruling over all things we are not stumbling toward an uncertain future but we will not enjoy this future if we are not in fellowship with the King!
THE FOCUS is CHRIST (vv1:1-6).
There would be no reason to detail the future without first detailing who is in control of it
and so the book of Revelation begins with a vision of Christ, not a vision of future details of history! John reveals Christ differently here from the Gospels. In the Gospels we are introduced to the baby Jesus, the Son of man, the one who was the suffering servant
who willingly subjected Himself to wicked humanity and died for our sins. This was Jesus at His first coming
a man that most were not afraid of, nor was Rome impressed with Him
and certainly the Jews didn't take Him seriously for the most part. Jesus in the Gospels is the man of sorrow, acquainted with grief, pierced with our iniquities, etc. But here John REVEALS Christ as the King of Glory! Jesus here is the conqueror, the one in charge of history, the one who alone controls the future, controls the nations, controls all of the universe! This is the Jesus who is coming! We must see this Jesus for faith in the future! No other leader has ever emerged that controls the future!
The tragic arrogance of man that keeps him from coming to God is that he believes he is in control of the future without God. This revelation that ONLY God controls the future should bring us to our knees to acknowledge Him as Lord! John's view of the future begins with Christ and so must ours!
Revelation of the Church (1:4-6.) John's vision of Revelation moves from Christ to the Church the body of Christ! The Church is not some passive actor on the stage of life. Jesus as King rules not only the universe, but His Church as well. One day the Church will rule with Him all of creation! This vision is given to John to awaken the Church to both who Jesus Christ is as the risen Lord, the Lord of the second coming, and also to call the Church to prepare for the future as the ruling body of Christ! We cannot afford to be lax in our living as His Church, we should be planning on the future!
Plan ahead--it was not raining when Noah built the ark. -- Croft M. Pentz, The Complete Book of Zingers (Wheaton: Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., 1990).
This Revelation was to stir the Church to being on guard, to live knowing that Christ's return was imminent, that God has a plan that we are to be ready for. In fact, as we will discover, the first part of the book reveals the coming King Jesus in power and the next part contains messages to the Churches about being ready, and impacting the world while there is still time.
A strange sign greets visitors to Vienna, Austria. Translated from the German, it says, "Welcome to Vienna, where the salt is in the saltshaker." Of course, the salt is in the saltshaker. Where else should it be? They mean that they don't put salt on the streets in the winter! The church, however, must never make the same boast. We are the salt of the earth, but we do no good if we stay in the saltshaker. -- Robert C. Shannon, 1000 Windows, (Cincinnati, Ohio: Standard Publishing Company, 1997).
This revelation is given to rouse the Church, to impact the world, to get its own house in order to be at the ready for Christ's triumphant return. The Church cannot take the luxury of deciding it has plenty of time, there is a sense of immediacy and urgency to the book of Revelation. The early Church expected Christ's return at any moment and so should we we are closer now to His return than at any other time in history! John is clear in the Revelation given him that the Church is called to be a nation of priests to serve God we are on a mission, a time sensitive one!
THEN THE FUTURE 1:7-20
John now turns to the future, but still with Christ as the focal point! He sees Jesus in power, the people of the earth when they view Christ will mourn
those who don't know Him as Savior that is. Jesus is shown now as the "Alpha and Omega" - the first and the last! Christ is over all things, this is more than the suffering servant, it is the ruling king!
Jesus will reveal to John a broad stroke picture of the future, these rumblings of what is to come were meant to cause both the Church and the world to get ready to prepare for the future God has planned. Such warnings should not be ignored, too often they are! Today many people ignore the teaching of the Church that Jesus is coming back again this will prove very unfortunate for those who ignore the opportunity NOW. Even more tragic is that some Churches don't preach or teach about the second of Christ anymore! How can this be!!!??? This REVELATION was being given to John to send to the 7 churches, the world will not prepare if the Church does not! Knowledge about the future was not intended to satisfy our curiosity about specific details on tomorrow, it was meant to change us in the present as we realize that He is coming again with a certain future! It also was meant to show that evil will not triumphant over God, or His Church. The 7 churches were being asked to take seriously the future by living seriously in the present, there are practical purposes to prophecy! This REVELATION from God was meant to drive home the fact that death is the not the final end there are serious things to consider because we continue to live after death!
A letter came from Health and Human Services to a resident of Greenville County, South Carolina: "Your food stamps will be stopped, effective March 1992, because we received notice that you passed away. May God bless you. You may reapply if your circumstances change." -- S. Bowen Matthews, Wilmington, Delaware. Leadership, Vol. 17, no. 3.
The 7 lampstands are the 7 churches (see 1:20 - it is so stated here!) Notice that Christ is said to be "among the lampstands" -- He is among His Church! Even in the frightening pictures of disaster that Revelation will later speak about there should be calm in the Church, for Christ is among the church! The second coming of Christ is our blessed hope! Again John sees the glorified Christ, brilliant and powerful this picture of Christ's supremacy was meant to inspire fear in the ungodly, but calm to the godly! How many times did Jesus use the phrase with those He loved, "Do not be afraid, it is I." -- or "fear not" This view of Jesus is one of power, absolute power nothing is greater than Christ and this alone should have allayed any fears or nervousness they might have had about the future. Jesus alone holds the keys of Hell and death and for those who belong to Him the future is only a good one!
Not only was Jesus among the 7 lampstands, the Church but it also says he held in His hand the 7 stars the 7 stars are said to the be "angels" of the 7 churches meaning the "messengers" or pastors! (Greek word here "aggelos" [angelos] can mean either supernatural or natural messengers) What a comfort to every pastor especially when they feel their work is in vain, God holds every Pastor who is preaching the truth in His hand! As John is about to reveal frightening details about the future they are only frightening to those who have no relationship with God, for those who belong to Christ these frightening events are simply assurances that tomorrow belongs to God and so do those who belong to Him, thus they calm us about the future! We cannot miss the meaning of this book: To reveal Christ in His power and glory; To reveal the future as under God's control.
To figure out the date of Jesus' second coming, or who the person will be who will become the antichrist this is not the thrust of the book, the thrust of the Revelation of Jesus Christ is to reveal Jesus Christ and His control over tomorrow and to be ready for the future when it gets here! And it will get here! And only those who belong to Christ will welcome it and benefit from it. Are you ready for the future?
AND IN CONCLUSION: The book of Revelation is first and foremost a Revelation about Jesus, not just the future -- even the title of the book suggests this: "THE REVELATION OF JESUS CHRIST." The focus is not just the future, it is the power of God in control of the future. You can get lost in the symbols and miss the message -- the message is simply, "GOD HAS A PLAN FOR TOMORROW -- AND HIS CHURCH WILL BE TRIUMPHANT!" What is your hope of the future based on, and are you ready for it?
Now Let's sing
"KNEEL AT THE CROSS".