THE MYSTERIOUS PART OF THE VISION

March 18, 2001 am
MF Blume

Revelation 1:9-20  I John, who also am your brother, and companion in tribulation, and in the kingdom and patience of Jesus Christ, was in the isle that is called Patmos, for the word of God, and for the testimony of Jesus Christ.

I was in the Spirit on the Lord's day, and heard behind me a great voice, as of a trumpet, Saying, I am Alpha and Omega, the first and the last: and, What thou seest, write in a book, and send [it] unto the seven churches which are in Asia; unto Ephesus, and unto Smyrna, and unto Pergamos, and unto Thyatira, and unto Sardis, and unto Philadelphia, and unto Laodicea. And I turned to see the voice that spake with me. And being turned, I saw seven golden candlesticks; And in the midst of the seven candlesticks [one] like unto the Son of man, clothed with a garment down to the foot, and girt about the paps with a golden girdle. His head and [his] hairs [were] white like wool, as white as snow; and his eyes [were] as a flame of fire; And his feet like unto fine brass, as if they burned in a furnace; and his voice as the sound of many waters. And he had in his right hand seven stars: and out of his mouth went a sharp twoedged sword: and his countenance [was] as the sun shineth in his strength. And when I saw him, I fell at his feet as dead. And he laid his right hand upon me, saying unto me, Fear not; I am the first and the last: I [am] he that liveth, and was dead; and, behold, I am alive for evermore, Amen; and have the keys of hell and of death.

Write the things which thou hast seen, and the things which are, and the things which shall be hereafter;

The mystery of the seven stars which thou sawest in my right hand, and the seven golden candlesticks. The seven stars are the angels of the seven churches: and the seven candlesticks which thou sawest are the seven churches.


John came to Holy Ground in the Spirit when he saw Jesus in the midst of the candlesticks in this vision.

The understanding of who Jesus was, was completely understood by John, and the seven churches to whom the letters would be given. John knew that a sword coming from t he Lord's mouth represented the Word of God that is sharper than any twoedged sword (Hebrews 4:12). Putting ourselves in the picture of the Glorious Christ is a hard thing for many believers to do.


Similarly, Peter saw the revelation of who Jesus was.

Matthew 16:16-18  And Simon Peter answered and said, Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God. And Jesus answered and said unto him, Blessed art thou, Simon Barjona: for flesh and blood hath not revealed [it] unto thee, but my Father which is in heaven.
But Peter did not receive the second revelation after that, about the church being victorious over death, for when Jesus notified him that Jesus would die, Peter rebuked Him. In Revelation 1:20 we read that the seven stars that were in His hand were seven angels. And when the letters were written to the angels of the churches, look what he told the angels to do.
Revelation 2:1  Unto the angel of the church of Ephesus write;...

Revelation 2:4  Nevertheless I have somewhat against thee, because thou hast left thy first love. Remember therefore from whence thou art fallen, and repent, and do the first works; or else I will come unto thee quickly, and will remove thy candlestick out of his place, except thou repent.

An angel had to repent? So the seven stars being seven angels are referring to the ministers of God in the churches. We need to recognize our relationship to Christ. The Gospel was given by Peter on the day of Pentecost in these verses:
Acts 2:22-36  Ye men of Israel, hear these words; Jesus of Nazareth, a man approved of God among you by miracles and wonders and signs, which God did by him in the midst of you, as ye yourselves also know: Him, being delivered by the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of God, ye have taken, and by wicked hands have crucified and slain: Whom God hath raised up, having loosed the pains of death: because it was not possible that he should be holden of it. For David speaketh concerning him, I foresaw the Lord always before my face, for he is on my right hand, that I should not be moved: Therefore did my heart rejoice, and my tongue was glad; moreover also my flesh shall rest in hope: Because thou wilt not leave my soul in hell, neither wilt thou suffer thine Holy One to see corruption. Thou hast made known to me the ways of life; thou shalt make me full of joy with thy countenance. Men [and] brethren, let me freely speak unto you of the patriarch David, that he is both dead and buried, and his sepulchre is with us unto this day. Therefore being a prophet, and knowing that God had sworn with an oath to him, that of the fruit of his loins, according to the flesh, he would raise up Christ to sit on his throne; He seeing this before spake of the resurrection of Christ, that his soul was not left in hell, neither his flesh did see corruption. This Jesus hath God raised up, whereof we all are witnesses. Therefore being by the right hand of God exalted, and having received of the Father the promise of the Holy Ghost, he hath shed forth this, which ye now see and hear. For David is not ascended into the heavens: but he saith himself, The LORD said unto my Lord, Sit thou on my right hand, Until I make thy foes thy footstool. Therefore let all the house of Israel know assuredly, that God hath made that same Jesus, whom ye have crucified, both Lord and Christ.
And when people asked Peter what they should do about it...
Acts 2:37  Now when they heard [this], they were pricked in their heart, and said unto Peter and to the rest of the apostles, Men [and] brethren, what shall we do?


...Peter told them the following:

Acts 2:38  Then Peter said unto them, Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost.
That experience Peter told them to obtain does so much and allows God to to do such a great a work in you, that you need to study the Bible afterwards to learn all about what you are then made. God made us new creatures who are called "saints" in the Bible. All believers are called "saints," "holy ones" or "righteous ones" over 240 times in the New Testament. If you obeyed Acts 2:38, then you are a saint of God! Last week I briefly touched upon Paul's trials as a preacher. We all have our own descriptions of our sinful lives before salvation, but all will agree that Paul's history takes the cake!


Paul shows us the answer:

1Timothy 1:14  And the grace of our Lord was exceeding abundant with faith and love which is in Christ Jesus.

2Corinthians 5:14  For the love of Christ constraineth us; because we thus judge, that if one died for all, then were all dead:

2Corinthians 5:17-19  Therefore if any man [be] in Christ, [he is] a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new. And all things [are] of God, who hath reconciled us to himself by Jesus Christ, and hath given to us the ministry of reconciliation; To wit, that God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them; and hath committed unto us the word of reconciliation.

Acts 26:22  Having therefore obtained help of God, I continue unto this day, witnessing both to small and great, saying none other things than those which the prophets and Moses did say should come:

Paul knew that his baptism into Christ was a true burial of his entire past life, and his "old man". God did hate everything that Paul did! Here is the answer:
Isaiah 53:3-12  He is despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief: and we hid as it were [our] faces from him; he was despised, and we esteemed him not. Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows: yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted. But he [was] wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the LORD hath laid on him the iniquity of us all. He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth: he is brought as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is dumb, so he openeth not his mouth. He was taken from prison and from judgment: and who shall declare his generation? for he was cut off out of the land of the living: for the transgression of my people was he stricken. And he made his grave with the wicked, and with the rich in his death; because he had done no violence, neither [was any] deceit in his mouth. Yet it pleased the LORD to bruise him; he hath put [him] to grief: when thou shalt make his soul an offering for sin, he shall see [his] seed, he shall prolong [his] days, and the pleasure of the LORD shall prosper in his hand. He shall see of the travail of his soul, [and] shall be satisfied: by his knowledge shall my righteous servant justify many; for he shall bear their iniquities. Therefore will I divide him [a portion] with the great, and he shall divide the spoil with the strong; because he hath poured out his soul unto death: and he was numbered with the transgressors; and he bare the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors.
This is a prophecy of Jesus Christ's sacrifice on the cross for our sins. God is satisfied that the work was taken care of. Paul knew that he was crucified when Jesus was crucified. The hardships of the ancient churches could only be dealt with by the revelation of this truth. We need to know who we are now that we have been put into Christ. The book of Revelation has been used to scare people to Jesus. John was shown that Jesus overcame death, hell and the grave BY HIS BLOOD (Rev. 5:5, 9-10)! God needs our faith in order to work wonders for us! These words of Jesus are actually the explanation of what John saw in the vision. Being "in Christ" is a very important revelation we need to know! All of your former status in the world is simply gone in God's eyes once you are put in Christ. That is one revelation that will encourage every believer!
1Corinthians 15:22  For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive.
Ephesians is only 6 chapters long, but over 40 times Paul wrote about "in Christ" and "Christ in you" in that little book! It was actually Paul's entire theme of preaching!
1Corinthians 4:17  For this cause have I sent unto you Timotheus, who is my beloved son, and faithful in the Lord, who shall bring you into remembrance of my ways which be in Christ, as I teach every where in every church.
Paul made it a point, in every church to whom he preached, to speak of his ways which be "in Christ." Oh, how we need Paul's revelation!
2Corinthians 5:17  Therefore if any man [be] in Christ, [he is] a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.

Ephesians 2:10  For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.

1Peter 2:9-10  But ye [are] a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should shew forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvellous light: Which in time past [were] not a people, but [are] now the people of God: which had not obtained mercy, but now have obtained mercy.

1John 3:1-2  Behold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God: therefore the world knoweth us not, because it knew him not. Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is.

Unfortunately some of us do not even know ourselves any more than the world does not know us!

We were put "in Christ" when we obeyed the Gospel.

John 3:3-5  Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God. Nicodemus saith unto him, How can a man be born when he is old? can he enter the second time into his mother's womb, and be born? Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and [of] the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God.
Some denominations actually teach that this is not an experience that we can know today, but occurs when we physically die and are laid in our graves. Peter told people that they have, past tense, purified their souls.  And he described them as "being born again." You are spiritually alive when you are put into Christ. You have an entirely new identity. Thinking that we must perform an incredibly holy lifestyle in order to be called a saint of God is like a light bulb trying to jump and perform acrobatics and stunts in order to shine! This is the mysterious part of the vision.
SERMONS