When Morning Guilds the Skies
Alas! and did my saviour Bleed.
O For a Thousand Tongues
Christ Whose Glory Fills the Skies
Christ of all my hopes the ground
Now Blessed be the Lord our God
Words of Assurance: Isaiah 54:7-8 (ESV) If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
God's will for our Lives: Ephesians 4:19-32
The Sermon:
Intro: It doesn't take much looking around to find things to fear. Disease, disaster, terror attacks, weather, persecution, opposition and so much more. It is easy to fear for the future.
Preached on this last week but didn't really preach on the middle section.
John received a vision.
John saw how Christ is there regardless of what is going on in the church and the world surrounding her. Christ is here in the midst of us.
John saw but a glimpse of this, and his response was to fall on he ground as if dead. He was so overwhelmed by Christ.
But Christ said Fear Not.
Christ wants us to Fear Not.
He is with us wherever we go.
He holds the keys of death and of Hades.
He is the first and the last, he will always be there.
He is the living one, in him is life itself. He is the only one who can really give life to anything else.
Yet he died...willingly laid down his life, for us, did this willingly and yet he is now alive, death could not hang onto him.
After all. he lives forevermore despite choosing to die for us.
He has so completely overcome death that death won't come for us unless he wills it.
We may physically die....but we will live in him.
Outside of Christ, death ushers them into hell.
But for those who love him, he keeps us from hell. He holds the keys.
Jesus wants us to LOOK at him. Just as I need to look for Christ in Scripture I need to look to him. I need to see Christ in all my life. This is why we need to Fear not!
And so John needed to write these things down. Write them John, remind people to FEAR NOT!
Jesus has won. We can take heart and know this truly.
Take heart and fear not.