A Worshipping Heart
BY KENT HUGHES Revelation 1:9-20
AMONG the original apostles, John had an especially close relationship with Christ. He was one of the privileged inner circle that consisted of Peter, James and himself. At the Last Supper, John reclined next to the Lord and conversed confidentially with Him. And with genuine humility he later referred to himself as "the disciple whom Jesus loved".
John loved and worshipped Christ from the very first. It all began on the day when he heard John the Baptist call out, "Behold, the Lamb of God." Writing 50 years or so later about that momentous event, he remembered even the time of day"the tenth hour" (John 1:39).
John had other memorable hours with Jesus. He saw the face of the transfigured Jesus shine as the sun. He heard the Lord cry "It is finished" at the Cross. And he saw Jesus ascending into heaven. All of which further elevated John's heart of devotion.
Sublime trauma. Now John, in his nineties, is exiled on the island of Patmos. And the Lord comes to him again with a revelation that takes him through the corridors of history to its very end, and then on into eternity. The opening vision was no doubt the most memorable for John because of the sublime trauma of seeing Christ again after so many years and because Christ appeared in a form completely new to John's aged eyes.
But that opening vision also served to reveal to us John's supremely worshipping heart. If we understand our textor better yet, if we experience itthe vision will in
still in all of us, as well as it instilled in John, a desire to worship Jesus with a truly worshipping heart.The Vision
Initially, the best way to describe this visionwithout any implication that it was unrealis to say that it is "unreal". Christ's head and hair are the snow-white of sheep's wool. Where His eyes belong there are flames. Instead of a tongue, there proceeds from His mouth a broad two-edged sword. All of this is bathed in a dazzling brightness like the sun in its strength.And from the midst emanates a voice like the roar of the sea, saying, "I am the First and the Last." From His head to His feet extends a regal robe. His feet glow orange like the mythical electrum, an alloy of gold and silver, direct from the furnace. And in His right hand, He holds seven stars.
More importantly, though, John's vision of Christ is meant to reinforce to us that Christ is God. It is a composite picture drawn from the visions with which God the Father revealed Himself in the Old Testament.
Image of holiness. Daniel 7:9, for example, describes the Ancient of Days, who is God Himself, as having white hair like pure wool. Ezekiel 43:2 speaks of God's voice as the sound of many waters. And "I am the First and the Last" is an almost word-for-word quotation of the Father's words in Isaiah 44:6, "I am the first, and I am the last."
The transcending, intended point of this dazzling vision is that Jesus Christ is God and is in profound continuity with the revelation of God in the Old Testament. The galvanizing imagery is meant to be a visual aid by which we, the church, ascend to spiritual heights.
Such, then, is the vision of a worshipping heart and of a worshipping church.
The Realization
Verses 10 and 12 tell us that when John turned, the very first thing to meet his eyes were seven golden lampstands and among them, the Present Christ. Verse 20 explains that the lampstands represent the seven churches. They in turn stand for the whole church of Christ. So, the initial realization that came to Johnand now to usis that Christ is present in the midst of His church. His ever presence is a plain, literal fact.As Christians we all give mental assent to this reality. We have to. We cannot be Biblical Christians if we didn't. But do we all personally experience Christ's presence? If you, believing it with all your heart, experience that presence, your lives will never be the same. If not, then pray for belief.
Once you experience His presence, you'll realize His purpose. In Exodus 37, we are told that the lampstands God wants are not candles which are self-consuming, but lamps that must be perpetually trimmed and fed with oil. Similarly, believers are to submit fully to Christ's trimming, and be always filled with the Spirit. Only then will they become, in Jesus' great words, "the light of the world" (Matt. 5:14).
Priest and King. The way Jesus brings this about is beautifully pictured in the various aspects of His startling appearance. Christ's full-length robe is that of a priest. His chest-high belt is emblematic of royalty. So, we see here a picture of Jesus as our Priest and King.
His snow white hair speaks of His eternal preexistence and of the great wisdom with which He now moves among His churches. His flaming eyes tell us of His penetrating insight. Nothing is hidden from Him (Heb. 4:13).
Christ's blazing feet speak of the strength and swiftness of His feet in ministering to His own and in judging the unrighteous. He holds the seven stars, the concerns of His churches.
These sublime realizations regarding the Christ of the present coursed over John's transported soul. Christ was to John, and is to the church, the Priest and King who ministers with complete wisdom and penetrating insight, holding His people in absolute care by the power of His Word.
Jesus, the Ancient of Days, walks our aisles, sits in our pews, indwells us by His Holy Spirit, whose oil lights our lives. He is here. He is ministering now.
The Vocation
Now, we turn from the vision and realization of the worshipping heart to its vocation. In verse 17, John wrote, "And when I saw him, I fell at his feet as a dead man."
This vision of Jesus was of such magnitude that to stand erect as equal would have been tantamount to This is the apostle who had been intimately close to Jesus. This is the apostle who had walked side by side with Christ throughout the Lord's several years of earthly ministry. But this vision of Jesus was of such magnitude that to stand erect as equal would have been tantamount to blasphemy.
Fellow believers, if Christ is here (and He is!), if Christ is ministering in the fullness which the vision suggests (and He is!), then the only acceptable response from us must be total submis-sion and deep heart-and-soul adoration. Anything else would simply be blasphemy.
To bring this home to us, let's imagine that at this very moment Jesus were to enter the sanctuary and stride slowly down the center aisle. What would happen? First, we would all humble ourselves before Him in the deepest reverential awe. Some of us would be lying flat, face down; others would be kneeling. There would be a reverential fear, a sense of our own unworthiness and an intense desire to worship Him.
Participatory worship. Next, we would have a grand compulsion to praise Him. Many of us would be at a loss as to what to say or do. How thankful we would be for our hymnals; so, when we would sing, we would sing every word to Him with all we have. We would intensely follow the choir or soloist, inwardly taking their words up to Jesus.
Our corporate prayer would be as one, as we join our hearts in worship and supplication. And we would listen attentively to the pastor knowing that Christ is using him to minister His Word to us.
In short, there would be a transcending desire to make sure that everything we do is honoring to Christ.
Eager anticipation. Let's consider further what would happen if we knew that He was going to be back next Sunday. We can think of many things, but one is for sure: we would spend the whole week looking forward to that day, praying for that service. On Sunday morning we would be on time, perhaps even arriving early to pray and meditate. And we would worship even better than the week before.
The fact is, Jesus Christ is indeed present with us. And worshipping Him is indeed the highest work in which the Christian soul can engage itself.
May this awareness become part of our thinking all the time. May God the Holy Spirit take John's great vision of Christ and make it ours. May the vision give birth to a new realization of what the Lord Jesus Christ is now, today, to the church. And may we take up, as the apostle John did, our greatest vocation: worshipping God with a worshipping heart. o
Dr. R. Kent Hughes is pastor of College Church in Wheaton, 330 East Union Avenue, Wheaton, IL 60187.