Blue Lake Presbyterian Church | 4-11-2016
Good morning,
It is great seeing you all on the second Sunday in April.
Today’s message is about dreams, visions and the keys to the Kingdom, based on Revelation 5:11-14
A few days ago driving to work early in the morning I was listening to the radio program “Family Life Today” with Dennis Rainey and Bob Lepine, and the subject was honoring your father and your mother.
Dennis Rainey gave a tribute to his dad who passed away years earlier. This made me think of the hymn “The Holy City”, a song that holds a special place in my heart. Let me tell you why: in the summer of 2013 my father had passed away.
Less than a week before he died we had talked about the Holy City. At his funeral I gave a eulogy and as a tribute I also sang this timeless hymn in this ancient church in the town my father grew up in Holland.
His whole life my father had longed to visit Jerusalem but never made it there.
The hymn the Holy City provides a beautiful depiction of life, death and the promise of salvation. I wasn’t too familiar with the song at the time and only knew part of the melody.
Without music and being far away from home, I listened to U-tube to familiarize myself with the whole song.
One of the recordings was by gospel singer Bill Shaw a former member of the “Blackwood Brothers Quartet” during 50’s and 60s.In this U-tube clip, before singing “The Holy City” he quoted from Revelation 21:2 : Then I John, saw the Holy City the new Jerusalem coming down from heaven prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.
This led me to explore this book more extensively. It starts as the Revelation of Jesus Christ made known by sending an angel to his servant John. But who is John?? There is ample compelling evidence that the author of Revelation is the Apostle John.
In Acts we read about the inception of the early church and how the 12 disciples scattered across the Mediterranean region to spread the good news of Jesus Christ and how the early church grew rapidly but was met by widespread persecution and most of the apostles were martyred.
-In acts 12:2 Herod had James “put to death with the sword,” -Peter was crucified upside-down in Rome.
-Matthew was killed by a sword-wound in Ethiopia,.
-James, the brother of Jesus was thrown from the temple.
-Bartholomew, was killed in Armenia. -Andrew was crucified on an x-shaped cross in Greece. -Thomas was stabbed with a spear in India. -Matthias, the apostle who replaced Judas Iscariot, was stoned and then beheaded. -Paul was beheaded by Emperor Nero in Rome in A.D. 67.
And then there was John, the apostle Jesus loved.(5x)
He was in the inner circle of Jesus together with his brother James and Peter he was the one in the presence of Jesus on Mt tabor during the transfiguration with Moses and Elijah.
John was also the only disciple present at the cross. During the wave of persecution in Rome, John was thrown in a huge basin of boiling oil.
Oil boils three times hotter than water. In other words this meant certain death. Similarly to Daniel’s three friends 700 years earlier who were thrown in the furnace by king Nebuchadnezzar and were spared with the presence of the son of man, so was John spared by the will of God and was miraculously delivered from death.
John was then sentenced to the mines on the prison island of Patmos. It is here where the angel gave the visions and John wrote his prophetic book of Revelation. He was later freed and returned to what is now modern-day Turkey. He died as an old man, the only apostle to die peacefully……
In today’s society and culture we are fascinated with stories and films about heaven and hell. Letterbox.com lists 111 movies dating back to the1940’s depicting heaven and hell.
Just in the last few years we have seen best-selling books and movies, like 90 minutes in heaven, Heaven is for real, and now in theaters “Miracles from Heaven”. Then there are stories of near death experiences. A few weeks ago Eureka Presbyterian Pastor Dan Price talked about Bill Ayer, an atheist who was clinically dead for more than 4 minutes , and after coming back he privately acknowledged to his physician that there is a divine presence and changed his outlook on life and became a new person.
Let’s now turn a detailed account what John wrote in in today’s reading of Revelation 5:11 can be found on page…..
11 Then I looked, and I heard the voice of many angels surrounding the throne and the living creatures and the elders; they numbered myriads of myriads and thousands of thousands, 12 singing with full voice,
“Worthy is the Lamb that was slaughtered
to receive power and wealth and wisdom and might
and honor and glory and blessing!”
13 Then I heard every creature in heaven and on earth and under the earth and in the sea, and all that is in them, singing,
“To the one seated on the throne and to the Lamb
be blessing and honor and glory and might
forever and ever!”
14 And the four living creatures said, “Amen!” And the elders fell down and worshiped.
This scripture reading was on the lectionary for today and somehow I felt inclined to give a message on this controversial book in the NT the last book of the bible.
Last week a motivational speaker and best-selling author came to Arcata to coach and train our management and sales team, his name is Barry Gotlieb he published a number of books including “Every day is a gift” and “TGIT”.
Among the many nuggets of wisdom he shared, was the concept of alpha and beta waves of the brain and how 30 minutes after waking and just before going to bed the brain is in alpha mode and the information entering the brain is virtually unfiltered and it is not a good idea to watch news or the like since 80% of it is negative and these negatrons affect how we think and act the rest of the day. Once our mind is in full swing the beta waves set in and so does the filter.
Last Sunday after sleeping in a bit and determined to put my new learnings to work, I first read a book and purposely did not turn on the news while eating breakfast and instead turned the dial to the Trinity Broadcasting Channel. Low and behold, David Jeremy in his program “Turning Point” starts talking about the book of Revelation. The book that is more than about signs and wonders but about things to come found in the beginning of the book with 7 letters to 7 churches of early Christians.
Charles Swindoll once asked: how would you react If Jesus Christ Himself were to show up unannounced, this is exactly what Christ did, according to the book of Revelation, much to the surprise of the apostle John, who didn’t expect to see the Lord again until his own death, Christ appeared in majestic glory to deliver visions of the future and to dictate timely messages
Verse 11 says Then I looked, and I heard the voice of many angels surrounding the throne and the living creatures and the elders; they numbered myriads of myriads and thousands of thousands, 12 singing with full voice, Just like the angles in the Holy City hymn.
Look in the back of the hymnal in the pews and it shows hymns based on the books in the bible. 27 hymns are attributed to the book of Revelation, including the ones we sing today.
Or how about Handel Messiah, the last song prior to the Amen is straight from Revelation 5:12 and 13 worthy is the lamb that was slain and hath redeemed us to God. Take a moment to listen to that last song in Handel’s messiah; it is like a preview of those angels singing.
Here is another Daniel parallel: in chapter 7:10 Daniel describes a scene around the Throne of the Ancient of Days. ” ten thousand times ten thousand stood before Him: ”
There is so much similarity to both Daniel and Revelation, that it appears both were recording the same event from Old Testament and New Testament perspectives while they were written nearly 700 years apart.
Verse 12 Worthy is the Lamb that was slaughtered
to receive power and wealth and wisdom and might
and honor and glory and blessing!”
During the summer we grow Iris in the fields in Arcata and preferably on virgin soil, meaning fields that have never seen an iris before, this makes for some of the best quality iris, one can imagine and at the same time it is a sustainable farming practice that minimizes the need for chemicals.
For this crop rotation we are always on the lookout for new ground. This year we are growing our Iris on a sheep farmer field. Talking to him last summer he explained how vulnerable sheep are to predators, like coyotes, mountain lions but also dogs. A sheep has no natural defense mechanism and especially lambs are even more vulnerable.
Lambs are mentioned quite frequently in the bible, 155 times in the OT of which the majority (109) in the Torah the first 5 books of the bible that Moses wrote.
Almost all references to lambs in the NT can be found in the book of revelation (29)
Isn’t it interesting that John in his vision sees the lamb that was slaughtered as a sacrifice to mankind to carry the guilt for our sins. But also it is like a world upside down. Here is the son of God, the one that has the power to heal; cast out demons brings Lazarus back from the dead.
Here he is portrayed in John’s vision as the lamb that was slaughtered to receive wisdom and power and wealth and glory and honor.
His son on the cross and the death of Jesus Christ crucified reveals God’s character as love and God’s passion for mankind.
How does Revelation apply to our own lives? The book teaches us that if we open our hearts and take a break from all the noise and allow a moment of silence and listen, God will speak to us.
That happened this week driving home listening to a program called “Haven Today” by Charles Morris, and this past week he highlighted a book called “The Cost by Ali Husnain a remarkable journey of a young man born into a prominent Shia Muslim family in Pakistan who left everything behind to follow the one thing he knew to be true. Through excommunication from his home and family, near-death experience, a miraculous healing, Ali’s faith sustained him while also compelling him to bring the gospel to Muslims—no matter the cost.
This book is a must-read for anyone who wants to be informed and inspired by just how much a single light in the darkness can make a difference.
In another book, “Seeking Allah finding Jesus”, Nabeel Qureshi gives his testimony how Jesus entered his heart.
Jesus appearing in dreams and visions is becoming common place across the Muslim world.
According to Nizar Shaheen, host of Light for the Nations “I see many, many Arabic-speaking people turning to Christ, accepting Him as Lord and Savior,” “It’s happening all over the Arab world. It’s happening in North Africa. It’s happening in the Middle East. It’s happening in the Gulf countries.
“What’s happening nowadays in the Muslim world has never happened before,” said Father Zakaria Boutros, an Egyptian Coptic priest who is one of the foremost evangelists to the Muslim world. He says a cross-section of Muslims are accepting Jesus Christ. “Young and old, educated and not educated, males and females, even those who are fanatic.”
One fanatic Muslim who came to faith in Jesus Christ is Samer Achmad Muhammed. He studied for years to become a Wahhabi sheik, one of the most active forms of Islam. He hated Christians and the church, but his heart changed when he heard the Gospel and Jesus touched his heart.
“I dedicated my life to Jesus Christ, Jesus forgave me for my sins,” he said. “He gave me eternal life and peace. And the second thing, I really suffered in my daily life, but I had peace, I had joy because Jesus entered my heart.”
Heidi Baker of Iris Ministries sees thousands of African Muslims receiving Jesus and getting baptized. “Many people are having dreams. They see Jesus appear to them. Probably half our pastors were leaders, imams in Moslem mosques. They were leaders in these mosques, now they’re pastors.”
Another significant evangelistic movement among Muslims links China and Jerusalem. Chinese house churches plan to send at least 100,000 evangelists from China through many predominantly Muslim nations all the way back to Jerusalem.
This quiet but amazing movement of roaming evangelists is bringing the story of Jesus Christ into the heart of the Muslim world. Technologies like satellite television and the Internet also penetrate the world of Islam.
These powerful stories of Jesus appearing in dreams all over the Muslim world underscore that the power of the Holy Spirit is strong and alive.
Even though the BOOK of revelation was written almost 2000 years ago, the REVELATION of Jesus never stopped , As evidenced Jesus appears in dreams and visions and the hearts of believers every day and night, 24/7.
Jesus said in Matthew 16:19 I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven.
What a great prospect the kingdom of heaven, John wrote in revelation 21:
Gods dwelling place is now among the people, and he will dwell with them.
He will wipe away every tear from their eyes.
There will be no more death, no mourning, no crying, no pain, because what first was is no more.
I will give of the fountain of the water of life freely to those who thirst.
The city had no need for the Sun or of the moon to shine in it for the Glory of God illuminated it.
John wrote, he showed me a pure river of the water of life, and on either side was the tree of life.
Blessed are those who do his commandments that they may have the right to the tree of life and may enter through the gates into the city.
Ladies and gentlemen, let us open our hearts,
Incline our ears,
To let the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ,
The love of God
and the power of the Holy Spirit enter our hearts and quench our thirsty souls, with the water of Life.
Repent of our sins, accept Jesus in our hearts and he will give us the keys of the Kingdom of Heaven
Amen
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