NOTES: Awake to Wonder, Part 1
Awake to Wonder 1: Living Amazed
Date; Sunday February 12, 2023
Text: Rev. 1:12-20
Revelation 1:12-20
12 Then I turned to see the voice that was speaking to me, and on turning I saw seven golden lampstands, 13 and in the midst of the lampstands one like a son of man, clothed with a long robe and with a golden sash around his chest. 14 The hairs of his head were white, like white wool, like snow. His eyes were like a flame of fire, 15 his feet were like burnished bronze, refined in a furnace, and his voice was like the roar of many waters. 16 In his right hand he held seven stars, from his mouth came a sharp two-edged sword, and his face was like the sun shining in full strength.
17 When I saw him, I fell at his feet as though dead. But he laid his right hand on me, saying, “Fear not, I am the first and the last, 18 and the living one. I died, and behold I am alive forevermore, and I have the keys of Death and Hades. 19 Write therefore the things that you have seen, those that are and those that are to take place after this. 20 As for the mystery of the seven stars that you saw in my right hand, and the seven golden lampstands, the seven stars are the angels of the seven churches, and the seven lampstands are the seven churches.”
Let’s Connect:
Everyone wants to see something amazing.
We are in the end times.
This also means, we are now in end-time warnings and end-time joy.
A soul that is awake, is a soul amazed.
Text Explained:
Pastor Jack Hayford:
“The book of Revelation will never make sense as a collection of prophecies until it is approached as a handbook on worship”
“Revelation isn’t an invitation to speculation. It is a summons to adoration.”
Context of Revelation:
Revelation 1:9–11 (ESV)
9 I, John, your brother and partner in the tribulation and the kingdom and the patient endurance that are in Jesus, was on the island called Patmos on account of the word of God and the testimony of Jesus. 10 I was in the Spirit on the Lord’s day, and I heard behind me a loud voice like a trumpet 11 saying, “Write what you see in a book and send it to the seven churches, to Ephesus and to Smyrna and to Pergamum and to Thyatira and to Sardis and to Philadelphia and to Laodicea.”
So, what does he “look” like?
Answer: The revelation of Who he is.
His appearance reveals his identity.
• “Like a son of man” — Fully God/fully man
• “Clothed with a long robe…” High Priest of the Church
• “The hairs of his head were white…” All Wisdom
• “His eyes were like a flame of fire” All Powerful & All Knowing
• “His feet were like burnished bronze…” The Victor
• “His voice was like the roar…” The Authority of Gods Glory
• “In His right hand he held…” The One who holds His Church
• “From His mouth…two-edged sword” The Logos of God
• “His face was like the sun…” All light and truth
ILL: 1940 Warner Sellman portrayal
Denial of the true Jesus: spirit of anti-christ.
1 John 2:18-22 ESV
“Children, it is the last hour, and as you have heard that antichrist is coming, so now many antichrists have come. Therefore we know that it is the last hour…. Who is the liar but he who denies that Jesus is the Christ? This is the antichrist, he who denies the Father and the Son.”
A faulty image of Jesus can leave us weary, vulnerable, and confused.
It moves us away from truth, justice and righteousness.
17 When I saw him, I fell at his feet as though dead. But he laid his right hand on me, saying, “Fear not, I am the first and the last,”
A biblical revelation of Jesus Christ is essential for a close relationship with Him.
Rev. 1:18-20
Jesus Christ reigns and rules over all!
He is the beginning and the end.
And we say? “Even so come Lord!”
Let’s Relate:
Jesus is amazing!
How do we work amazing into our everyday life?
Our Challenge:
Revelation 1:10 (ESV)
10 I was in the Spirit on the Lord’s day, and I heard behind me a loud voice like a trumpet
Be continually in the Holy Spirit—he will reveal Jesus.