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Revelation 1:9-18; Luke 5:7-8
Genesis 17:1-3: Abraham Fell Face Down
Exodus 33:18-21 Moses Can’t See God’s Face
Ezekiel 1:28 Ezekiel fell face down
It's all about the experience of “Awe” in the presence of God. Spirit
manifestations like “being slain in the Spirit” or any other manifestations, should not only produce spiritual giddiness, laughter or even happiness, but at times “awe” or fear and reverence for the Lord. Scripture tells us about the “Fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom or knowledge but the foolish despise or reject such impartations (Proverbs 1:7)”
The above people of God, prophets in their own right, all experienced this fear,
reverence or “awe.” “Awe” defined by our biblical examples goes beyond just “to
admire” but a feeling of being in the presence of someone so vast that it transcends our
understanding or capacity to bear!
So many of them fell forward in awe. What’s necessary in our personal
experience with God is both to know that He is love and also that He is “awesome”: to
experience His unconditional love and His fearful majesty. Otherwise we don’t get the
full picture as both Peter in Luke 5:7-8, and John in Revelation 1 ( our main text) and
others who experienced His miraculous presence: again that He is both loving and
awesome. If God is just lovey dovey then we might get the idea that as His children we
can get away with anything and He won’t mind. No! Note what Ananias and Saphira
learned the hard way, that God’s person is not to be taken lightly even lied to (Acts
1-11). We need to sit on his lap, as daddy and kneel at His feet as King. Let’s explore
John’s experience in Revelation 1:9-18.
A) What John saw and how He reacted
a) What he saw and heard.
i) He was in the Spirit on the Lord’s day
ii) He heard a loud voice like a trumpet blast behind him (Shock,
surprise!)
iii) He was commanded to write down what he hears and sees for
seven churches (There is a message; not just a shocking
experience)
iv) The vision and message is in Apocalyptic language borrowed from
O.T. passages like, Daniel 7:9-13; 10:6; (See also Revelation
19:13). Among the lampstands stood someone like the son of man
but how he was dressed, looked and spoke did not resemble the
gentle shepherd Jesus presented in the Gospels: read verses
13-16
B) How he reacted, 1:17 and how Jesus responded.
He saw and heard and physically and emotionally reacted by fear and
awe: Message: This is some serious business, now listen up! But the revelation
doesn’t end here. Note again the latter part of verse 7: Jesus' consolation: He
physically placed His right hand on him and said stop being afraid(awe) etc.
Verse 18. What started as awe, fear and reverence ends in consolation, and a
crucial message about the Kingdom.
C) Out of it all comes an awesome Revelation and mission. And because of the
experience John had with the Risen Christ and the ensuing awe, he got right to it.
This happened while he was still imprisoned in Patmos.
a) The Manifestation that the Lord gave John produced the experience of
awe that propelled him to write the message in spite of his prison situation
(Compare him with Jeremiah). He felt down awestruck at His presence
and got up fearless in His calling.
Read 1 Peter 6:6-9
Amen