Here's Anne Graham Lotz. If Jesus knows everything, always has, he's never had a new thought. And that means you've always been on his mind. And when he died on the cross, he was dying for you by name. When he comes back, he's coming for you by name.
He's always been thinking of you. We're glad you can join us this week for Living in the Light with Bible teacher Anne Graham Lotz. Whatever problem you're facing, divorce, maybe a recent diagnosis of a severe illness Perhaps you've lost your job or you're facing hardship because of a natural disaster Like a fire, a tornado, or even a hurricane It doesn't matter what your current circumstances are None of these life catastrophes are greater than Jesus He promises he is with us at all times It's a refocus on Jesus Let's join Anne now as she continues her message from Revelation chapter 1. I don't know if anybody here struggles with a feeling of inferiority, inadequacy. I was struggling with that at one point, and still from time to time struggle.
I think because everybody in my family is a high achiever, so it makes me feel small, you know. And I happen to be in this passage, actually. Revelation chapter 1, and I was going through these verses, and I heard the whisper of the Holy Spirit. And who's the most important man in your life? And I said, well, my husband, my father.
And then the little whisper, who do you think is the most important man in the United States? And I said, well, I expect the president is, since he's the leader. And who do you think is the most important man on planet Earth? And I said, well, the United States was the world leader, so the president of the United States would probably be the most important man on planet Earth. And then this is what the whisperer said to me, Ann, Jesus is the most important man, not just in your life, not just in the United States, not just on planet Earth, but in the entire universe.
And not just for four years or eight years, but forever and ever and ever. and the most important man in all of the universe forever and ever thinks you are so important that in his humanity, he's the savior who shed his own blood to redeem you from your sin. He's the Lord who rules your life so you can fulfill God's purpose for your life. And he's the king one day who will return just for you. How can you feel inferior?
So I found my self-worth at the foot of the cross taking a good long look at who Jesus is. He is God and he's man. And not only is his greatness and his deity and his humanity but his eternity. Verse 8, I am the Alpha and the Omega. The Alpha is the first letter of the Greek alphabet.
The Omega is the last letter of the Greek alphabet. The alphabet sums up all of our knowledge, our wisdom.
So really it's saying that Jesus is the full wisdom of God. The fullness of God's wisdom resides in him. And so it's speaking really of his omniscience. That's a fancy word for just he knows everything. And this is an interesting thought, that if he knows everything, always has, he's never had a new thought.
and that means he's always been thinking of you. You've always been on his mind and when he died on the cross he was dying for you by name. When he rose from the dead he was rising to give you eternal life and open heaven for you. When he comes back he's coming for you by name. he's never not been thinking of you he's omniscient the alpha and the omega and not only that he's omnipresent he's the one who is and was and is to come same description that was given of God earlier this is the son because he is God he's the great I am the same yesterday, today, and forever.
The one who is fully present here with us in this auditorium, fully present with you online, fully present in the tunnels in Gaza, fully present with the hostages and their families grieving, fully present with the Palestinians who live under incredible oppression to the point they're enslaved. fully present the churches in Syria. I have a friend who's planted hundreds of churches in Syria, fully present with the Christians living in Iran under the tyranny of the leaders, fully present if there's some left in North Korea, the Christians who are being persecuted now in a fresh way in China, fully present.
So fully present with whoever you left at home. Fully present with those that you're separated, who you're separated from and you long to see them and he's fully present with whoever that is. Just because he's fully present with you doesn't mean I have him less. He's omnipresent.
So he never spreads himself thin. Fully present. omniscient, omnipresent, and omnipotent. Almighty. No one is mightier than Jesus So when we see and read the headlines and we see all the saber rattling and people like a president, she who think they're so powerful and want to rule the world, I'm sure, and Putin who feels the same way and Hamas who feels the same way and the Atola in Iran and even in the White House, it doesn't matter.
It doesn't matter who you name or who the person is, or they can flex their muscles for a time. No one is mightier than Jesus.
So I don't know what problem you're facing. If you're facing a divorce, a diagnosis of a terminal illness, some disaster, maybe you've come from one of the flooded areas or places that have been ravaged by fire or tornadoes.
So many disasters haven't there been, just incredible. But it doesn't matter what problem you face, none is greater than he is. In Ephesians 1 says that when God raised him of the dead, he seated him at the right hand of the Father and he placed all authority under his feet. And one day he's going to come back and he's going to assert that authority. One day he'll come back, seizing that right to rule the world because he made it at creation.
He bought it at Calvary. He has the right to rule it, and one day he will.
So all authority, and right now, the things that are going on in our world, I just think the pieces are being put together to set the world up for his return, and there's a lot going to be happening between now and then.
So things are going to get worse before they get better for many people, but we know that God is in control and that Jesus is almighty. He is over all of it. He is omnipotent, managing the puzzle pieces on the board so that in the end, he's glorified and he reigns and he rules. What a day it's going to be when he seizes the right to rule and the world finally is ruled with justice and righteousness and compassion and the way it's meant to be ruled all this time.
So what a day that's going to be. Would you refocus on his greatness? And I think every time we read the headlines, we not only need to refocus on the gospel because the gospel is what will bring peace in people's hearts, the gospel is what will solve all these problems, and you and I need to be sharing it. But we refocus on his greatness so we don't get caught up in all of these petty dictators and these people who are flexing their evil muscles because he's over all, he is great.
So refocus on the gospel, refocus on his greatness, is refocus on his glory. In verse nine, I, John, this is still John speaking. In fact, the only place he gives a personal testimony is in verse nine in his whole book. I, John, your brother and companion in the suffering and kingdom and patient endurance that are ours in Jesus was on the island of Patmos because of the word of God and the testimony of Jesus.
So John, whose testimony I shared with you, who had been a disciple of Jesus, who'd seen the incredible miracles, who'd been there at the cross, he'd witnessed the empty tomb and the resurrection, he saw the ascension. He was there at Pentecost. When the Holy Spirit came and the gospel was preached and 3,000 people put their faith in Jesus and the church was born and then he went out and he and Peter at the gate beautiful, they, in Jesus' name, gave that lame man the ability to walk and he was healed and then John went out and he, in essence, became a worldwide evangelist through writing the Gospel of John. He wrote the Gospel of John, which is still bringing people to faith even 2,000 years later.
So this was John, and he was a people person from what I gather. I've been working through his little letters in the New Testament, and he's so loving and so warm and cares about people. And on Patmos, he was cut off from everybody. He was isolated. He was exiled.
Nobody to talk to, nobody to pray with, nobody who would encourage him. Cut off from his ministry, his church, his family, in exile on Patmos and suffering. Tradition tells us he was maybe 80 or 90 years of age at this point, but tradition tells us that Patmos was like a penal colony. It's where the Romans put their prisoners and also tells us that he was assigned hard labor. I can't imagine what that would be for somebody his age.
But he was suffering because of the word of God and the testimony of Jesus. And you and I may be called on to suffer in that same way. Christians all around the world being persecuted. It's ratcheted up enormously. And that's coming in this country.
You can feel it, can't you? The hostility to Jesus. The hostility to the gospel. The hostility to the scriptures. that are still related to everything that's good and right and holy and true.
And persecution, I think, is right around the corner. And so we may suffer because of the word of God and the testimony of Jesus. But there are other ways to suffer.
So I don't know, let me just ask you, what is your pateness? In some way, are you cut off? You know, it could be you're the only Christian in your workplace. it could be you're the only Christian in your family and you feel cut off, isolated maybe cut off from somebody that you love I think a hospital bed can be a Patmos, I remember that chemo bed when Mar and Ray Truth went with me on every side but it can be a lonely place in the radiation bed nobody was in the room with me And something like that can be a Patmos So when you suffer, this is my point, open your eyes. Because how many times does God draw near to us and give us a fresh encounter with himself when we're suffering?
In my experience, I'm old enough now to look back and see that the hard times, the difficult times, the times of suffering have been some of the sweetest times and the times when God has drawn near to me and I've seen him and gotten to know him in a fresh way.
So John, suffering physically, mentally, emotionally, I think on the Isle of Patmos, cut off from anyone to talk to or anyone who could encourage him.
So he was suffering in solitude, but in verse 10, on the Lord's day, I was in the spirits and I heard behind me a voice like a trumpet.
So you know, on Patmos, who would know what day of the week it was? And I think he maybe made a little mark on his cave wall, but I think every day was the Lord's day for John. And instead of complaining, God, just get me off of Patman's. If you'll get me off of this place, I'll just, you know, I'll serve you. I'll pastor the church.
I'll do what you want me to do. But, you know, instead, he was in a sweet spirit. I was in the spirit, he said. When you're suffering in solitude, what's your spirit like? You tend to complain.
I do. Lord, get me out of this. Feel sorry for yourself. John was in a right.
So I think that means, of course, filled with the Holy Spirit, but he also was in a sweet spirit. And he was listening for the voice of God to speak to him. For you and me, that's reading our Bibles. Every day, especially when you're suffering, do not neglect it. Read your Bible.
And we're going to talk about how to read it so you can hear God's voice speaking to you through it. Oh goodness, it revolutionized your devotional life. It'll revolutionize the way you read your Bible because you begin to read it, not as words on a page, not as facts and information to learn and fill your head with, but to hear a voice speaking to you through those words. And John turned. In verse 12, I turned around to see the voice that was speaking to me.
And I want to underscore that because John knew that behind the word of God, the voice, there was a living person who was doing the speaking. When you open your Bible, would you please keep in mind that behind the words, there's a living person. This is a living book. This is the word of God. And yes, there are facts and information and history and prophecy and poetry and all the rest of it, but it's more than that.
And when you learn how to open your ears and listen, sometimes it's when we're suffering and we're in solitude and there are less distractions and we're not running around and we're confined in some way or cut off or isolated that's when we look up. That was Isaiah in chapter 6. It was when King Uzziah died that he looked up and he saw the Lord.
So when you're in a hard place look up. Listen for the voice of God to speak to you.
So he turned around to see the voice that was speaking to him. And when I turned, I saw seven golden lampstands. From the end of chapter one, we know the seven golden lamps. That's the church. And I told you at the beginning of this message, the church was suffering.
They were being persecuted. In verse 13, among the lampstands was someone like the Son of Man. That's Jesus drawing near to those who are suffering.
So when you're suffering, sometimes we feel that we're all alone, but you're not. After some of the things I've been through, My husband's sudden home going and my father's in my cancer journey, I wrote a book, Jesus in Me, about the Holy Spirit. And how when we're suffering in just ways that we never dreamed, the Holy Spirit draws near to us. I can testify to his comfort, his strength, his encouragement, his help.
so the Son of Man was drawing near, dressed in a robe reaching down to his feet. That's the robe of a high priest. Jesus ever lives to make intercession for us. Right now, he's praying for you, praying for me by name. Remember, his omniscience.
And he has a golden sash around his chest. I don't know if you watched King Charles' coronation and gold sash across his chest, and it's the dress of a king. Jesus is the king. He's in charge. The hair on his head was white like wool, as white as snow.
He's the ancient of days. He's all wisdom. He never makes mistakes. There are no accidents with him. He doesn't have to second guess himself.
He does it all right every time. His eyes were like blazing fire. Because at this stage, I believe he's angry. Angry at those who would cause your suffering. And so can I just say a word to Hamas or Iran or Russia or China or anybody who would come against God's people?
When you come against God's people, you're coming against God. And the God of Israel is God. And he's going to rise up and defend his people, I can tell you. And amen. Amen.
his eyes are like blazing fire and it says his feet like burnished bronze because he coming back in judgment trampling judgment All those that would be raised up against him and those that he loves And he told Abraham in Genesis chapter 12, I will bless those who bless you and I'll curse those who curse you. And all those bad characters I just named you, watch out because you'll be under the curse of God and can't be any worse place to be.
So feet like bronze glowing in a furnace, his voice like the sound of rushing waters I don't know if you stood beside a waterfall or a rushing stream, and it drowns out the sound of your voice. And so all the profanity, obscenity, the rioting, the things that people are saying, one day he's going to have the last word, and his voice will drown out all those other voices. In his right hand, he holds seven stars. We know from the end of this chapter, those are the leaders of the church. And in my right hand, I hold my comb, my fork, my pen, the things I use.
So I think he's saying, not just to the leaders of the church, but to you, he wants to use you. He's holding you in his hand in the midst of all of this mayhem and chaos. And he wants to use you, has something for you to do. And coming out of his mouth was a sharp double-edged sword. That is his word.
Chapter 19, when he comes back, that double-edged sword is coming out of his mouth and it's what he uses to smite all of his enemies. When they turn their missiles against him and all their bombs, all he does is speak a word, and they drop dead.
So why would we leave it on the shelf? Why would we leave it to collect dust? And if he uses the word to overcome his enemies, why do we think we can overcome our enemies without it?
So read the word. His face was like the sun shining in all of its brilliance. Oh my goodness. John's night turned to day in the light of who Jesus is. And it was his face.
It wasn't his hands and what he would do for John or not do it. It wasn't his feet and where he would go, but it was his face, just who Jesus is. and John said in verse 17 when I saw him like this the only reasonable response I could give is to fall at his feet as though dead what does that mean to fall at his feet as though dead I've never heard a dead man speak so it means you're silent no more giving excuses no more defending yourself no more rationalizing your behavior and a dead man I've never seen him move so it means you're still you're not wrestling with God anymore not insisting that he go your way and trying to get him to go your way instead of you go his way silent and still you know what it is Paul described it in Galatians 2.20 when he said I've been crucified with Christ nevertheless I live but the life I now live, I live by faith in the Son of God who loved me and gave himself for me. When have you fully surrendered to the Lord like that? I believe with all of my heart, nothing less will get us through the coming days.
We need to fully surrender everything. and when you refocus on who Jesus is on his gospel on his greatness on his glory the only reasonable response we can make is just to lay at his feet I think all John cared about was feeling the hand of God on his life and verse 17 then he placed his right hand on me and he said don't be afraid somebody here afraid to fully surrender like that. And I know what it is. You think if you fully surrender to the Lord like that, that somehow you're going to lose by it. That if you don't get what you want, you're going to have less.
Then I can give you testimony that when you fully surrender to the Lord, he'll give you so much more than you ever could have taken for yourself. And your life will be richer and bigger and more satisfying. But the way up is down. on your face before him. And then John heard in verse 18, write therefore, what you've seen, what is now, what will take place later.
John, I have something for you to do right there on Patmos. I want you to serve me. The rest of the book of Revelation is his obedience to that command. And as a result for 2,000 years, the church has been encouraged to focus on Jesus. And we know the end of the story.
We know Jesus wins.
So, Jesus is coming. Jesus is coming. And I don't mean just like, well, yeah, he came and now he's coming. I mean imminent. Any moment he's coming, are you ready?
The moment he comes, you won't have a second to get ready. You need to be ready. And I think one of the best ways to be ready is to make sure you're focused on Him, on His gospel, on His greatness, and on His glory. You can hear Living in the Light with Ann Graham Lotz weekly and for ways to experience the God-filled life as you pursue your personal Bible study, go to anngramlotz.org and she'll help you get started with free resources you can use and share with others. Join us here each week for Living in the Light.
