When I Saw Him

Preached yesterday on Revelation 1v9-20, or should I say, tried to preach on Revelation 1v9-20. What an amazing portrait of the Lord Jesus Christ. The general thrust of the "impressionists portrait" John writes down is a majestic, mighty, glorious, Lord who is coming to judge. One who sees all that there is to see in His church, one who has the power to act, one whose actions as Judge will one day be seen by all. What strikes me most in the passage is John's response, When I saw Him I fell down as though dead. No happy clappy dancing in the isles, no swinging hands and swaying bodies, no dour faced praise, no expressionless singing, no stampeed for the carpark, no hypnotic induced collapsing, no pally wally Jesus is my best buddy - but a man overcome by the presence of Him who is Lord of all.
And that is what the church needs more than anything - to see Him. That is what would shake us from our lethargy, that is what would stir our praise and fill our lives with joyful service. No minister would ever again have to encourage attendance at the means of grace, no programmes would have to designed to pretend that something is happening in the church. And how will we see Him? Not in a vision or dream but on the pages of our Bibles and when preachers learn to preach Christ from all the Scripture. Lord make me a Christ focussed preacher should be the daily prayer of every gospel minister. Lord make my minister a man who speaks Christ in every syllable the prayer of every church member. Mighty God send down your Spirit that He might grant us the eye to see what has been forever recorded in the pages of our Bibles, pictures of Him that will traumatise us to praise and live for the Lord Jesus Christ.