Sermon Tone Analysis

Revelation 1:9-20

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Stephen Caswell © 2004

Christ – The Head Of The Church

 

The Church of God apart from the Person of Christ is a useless structure.

However ornate it may be in its organization, however perfect in all its arrangements, however rich and increased with goods, if the Church is not revealing the Person of Christ, lifting Him to the height where all men can see Him, then the Church becomes an impertinence and a sham, a blasphemy and a fraud, and the sooner the world is rid of it, the better.

*/G.

Campbell Morgan/*

 

When we commenced the Book of Revelation we saw that it centers round Jesus Christ and His return.

This book is so relevant today because Christ’s return is very near.

Today we will be looking at two things; */The Ministry Of John, The Ministry Of Jesus Christ./*

/Firstly, /The Ministry Of John

/ /

/a.

God’s Word  *3 Essentials to John’s ministry, God’s Word, God’s Power, God’s Day.*/

/ /

*Revelation 1:9:* /I, John, both your brother and companion in the tribulation and kingdom and patience of Jesus Christ, was on the island that is called Patmos for the *word of God* and for the *testimony of* *Jesus Christ.*/

/ /

*/Firstly, John served the Lord./*

In verse 1 we read that John was a servant of Christ and the Church.

John ministered to the family of God referring to himself as John your brother.

/In verse 2 and verse 9 we see that his service was tied to preaching God’s Word and testifying for Jesus Christ.

John worked tirelessly for the kingdom of God./ */Sharing the Gospel is the most important thing we can do./*

John obeyed the Great Commission of Jesus Christ, to make disciples.

*/Are you sharing the Gospel with others?

Are you witnessing for Him?

What is more important than the kingdom of God?/*

 

*/Secondly, John suffered for the Lord and the Gospel./*

He served the Church and was a companion with them in suffering.

As an apostle he experienced the same tribulation that other believers went through when they shared God’s Word.

John suffered for his faithfulness to the Lord.

The Roman authorities arrested John and exiled him on the Isle of Patmos to stop him preaching God’s Word.

But this didn’t stop God’s plans from being fulfilled.

While John was on Patmos God gave Him this Revelation.

*/Are you suffering for the Gospel?

Are you prepared to suffer for Christ should it come to that?/*

/ /

/b.

God’s Power /

/ /

*Revelation 1:10:* /I was *in the Spirit* on the *Lord’s Day*, and I heard behind me a loud voice, as of a trumpet.

/

/ /

John was about 90 years old when he wrote the Book of Revelation.

He just kept right on serving God.

Through suffering and trials he persevered.

*/How did he do it without burning out?/*/

What was John’s secret to 60+ years of fruitful ministry?

/*The Holy Spirit.*

/On the Day of Pentecost John waited in Jerusalem for the power of God that Christ promised./

From that day on John served the Lord in the Holy Spirit.

He served, suffered, lived and worshipped God in the Spirit’s power.

/The Spirit was the key to John’s life./

*/On the Lord’s Day, John was in the Spirit.

/*/Christ tells us to worship in spirit and in truth./

In spite of his exile and suffering John was in the Spirit.

His heart was right with God.

This would indicate that John was walking with Jesus Christ.

*/He was filled with the Holy Spirit not living in his own strength/*.

John had the right perspective on life.

/Are you serving the Lord in the Spirit’s power?/ *If you’re not you will burn out.*

/How can we draw on the Holy Spirit’s power?/

Jesus talked about the abiding life in John 15.  Christ said that without Him we can do nothing.

*How true this is!* */We either live in the Flesh or walk in the Spirit.

It’s one or the other./*

The abiding life is a life of faith.

*Colossians 2:6 says:* /As you therefore have received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in Him.

/The only way to receive Christ is by faith in Him, and the only way to live in the Spirit is by faith */in Him/*.

*/Prayer, God’s Word and Faith in Christ/* are all involved in the abiding life.

In fact it’s impossible to live in the Spirit without them.

Abiding, Not Striving or Struggling

 

Missionary pioneer J. Hudson Taylor of China was working and worrying so frantically that his health was about to break.

Just when his friends feared he was near a breakdown, Taylor received a letter from fellow missionary John McCarthy that told of a discovery McCarthy had made from John 15 — the joy of abiding in Christ.

McCarthy’s letter said in part: /Abiding, not striving or struggling; looking off unto Him; trusting Him for present power … this is not new, and yet ’tis new to me.… Christ literally all seems to me now the power, the only power for service; the only ground for unchanging joy./

As Hudson Taylor read this letter at his mission station in Chin-kiang on Saturday, September 4, 1869, his own eyes were opened.

As I read, he recalled, I saw it all.

I looked to Jesus, and when I saw, oh how the joy flowed!

Writing to his sister in England, he said: /As to work, mine was never so plentiful, so responsible, or so difficult; but the weight and strain are all gone.

The last month or more has been perhaps the happiest of my life, and I long to tell you a little of what the Lord has done for my soul.…/

/When the agony of soul was at its height, a sentence in a letter from dear McCarthy was used to remove the scales from my eyes, and the Spirit of God revealed the truth of our oneness with Jesus as I had never known it before.

McCarthy, who had been much exercised by the same sense of failure, but saw the light before I did, wrote (I quote from memory): But how to get faith strengthened?

Not by striving after faith but by resting on the Faithful One.

As I read, I saw it all!..

As I thought of the Vine and the branches, what light the blessed Spirit poured into my soul!/

 

/c.

God’s Day/

 

*/John was right where God wanted him to be./*

He was living spiritually.

He was ready to listen on the Lord’s Day.

*/What was the result?/*

God spoke to him; even on Patmos.

He was ready to receive revelation from God. God can’t speak to us when we are busy.

We need unrushed time alone with Him every day.

We need time with God’s people to hear the Word together.

John sets a good example for every believer.

*/God could speak to him and through Him./* */He was in the Spirit on the Lord’s Day.

He was ready./*

In The Lord’s Army

 

There was an ex-soldier that only went to Church at Easter and Christmas.

After this had happened for about 3 years the minister challenged him.

He said you should be in Church every week to hear God’s Word.

/When are you going to join the Lord’s army?/

He replied, but pastor I am in the Lord’s army.

I’m in the secret service.

·  *Anzac Day* - We remember the soldiers who died for our freedom.

*/Lest we forget./*

·  *Lord’s Table* - We remember the Lord’s death till He come.

*/Lest we forget.