Jesus IS

“…Grace and peace to you from him who is, and who was, and who is to come…” Revelation 1:4

The ordering of this verse is very interesting. If we were writing this in the normal way we would, in English, say: “Grace and peace to you from him who was and is, and who is to come.” Pretty much like whoever wrote Hebrews 13:8, where it says: “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.” However, Jesus chose to greet the seven churches by saying that He is and was, and is to come. The emphasis is very much on the fact that Jesus is who is, right now!

I’ve been thinking about this all day. Maybe like me, you read the Bible, particularly the New Testament and you read about all that Jesus did whilst He was here on earth and I think “well, that was over 2,000 years ago and now things are different and Jesus doesn’t do any of those things anymore.” Even if we would say otherwise, the way we live shows that we don’t really believe that what we read in the Bible could really happen today and in the every day life of 2017.

Now before I go any further, I want to make it clear that I’m not seeking miracles for miracles sake and I’m not interested in trying to move in the miraculous for any kind of financial gain or for fame or anything like that. I think we are all quite aware of some of the sickening things that can go on via the media, particularly the television and so called ‘evangelists’ who we can all see are doing very nicely financially and are so well known that they are just like huge celebrities. No, I, like you, am hungering for a genuine presence of our Lord and Saviour and if Jesus was really in our midst, wouldn’t our lives be totally different and wouldn’t people say of us, like they did of Jesus, that we ‘went about doing good (Acts 10:38).

To be honest, when I really think about the way I live, then I’m no different from anyone else. The fact that I call myself a Christian doesn’t always translate into living any differently. For instance, if I feel sick in any way, what’s the first thing that I do? Most times, I reach for the third drawer down in our kitchen and get some pain killers. Or. I might “Google” the symptoms to try and see what I might have wrong with me. Prayer, consulting the Lord is, well, quite a bit down the list of priorities. Why? Because I’ve prayed before and well, nothing usually happens and so I think to myself, “what’s the point!”

Or what’s worse, when I meet people who are not well, even friends and family, my first response is usually to advise them to see a doctor or recommend some other means of relief, other than offer to pray for them.

And what about our church services (even the word ‘services’ is a bit off putting). Are you, like me, so tired of going to church on a Sunday and knowing exactly what’s going to happen and when it’s going to happen – almost to the exact minute! Please, don’t get me wrong, I’m not knocking or getting at the wonderful people in charge. My wife and I go to the Church of Scotland and our minister does absolutely everything, well, he doesn’t always open the service or collect the offering, but he does everything else. We do sometimes feel the presence of the Lord. But what if Jesus really was in our midst, I’m sure things would look and feel a whole lot different!

Like me, you’ve probably read a lot of books about revivals and maybe you have even experienced some yourselves? I know just the other day, I was telling a friend about how I entered the church for the first time, in Florida, during the Pensacola revival and as soon as I entered the building I felt like Isaiah must have done when he said, “Woe is me, I’m undone!” I felt so un-holy and began to weep; there was no doubt then that I was in the presence of the Holy One then. And there have been a few other times like that, but very few and far between.

The other thing I was thinking about was the fact that the devil is so real and manifesting all around us today. Last week, my wife went to a lady’s prayer brunch in a hotel which had the night before hosted a ‘Clairvoyant Night’. People had paid £25 each to attend this and apparently the place was absolutely mobbed. Now, before I became a Christian, I was involved in the occult and I felt and experienced many things that really convinced me that the demonic realm is so real and so easy to see manifest. So then, why can’t we see visible signs and manifestations of God’s Kingdom here in our midst. Oh, don’t we so need them!

I’m not talking about signs for signs sake. I don’t want to be like the Pharisees and religious people when Jesus was physically here on earth and Jesus Himself got quite annoyed with people always wanting ‘signs’. You will recall that He said that the only sign that He offered them was the ‘sign of Jonah’.

No, the signs and wonders that I long to see would be born out of compassion for those that are suffering and don’t seem to have any other hope. Like me, you probably know a lot of people who are suffering with depression. Lots of people I know and meet have things wrong with them that the doctors are not able to help them with. I’m sure that if Jesus was physically here now, just like He did 2,000 years ago, He would have compassion – that’s what I’m talking about, out of compassion for people we would see Jesus still doing amazing things right now in 2017. Jesus would get the glory, people would be more attentive to the Word of God and be more responsive to the call of Salvation and a relationship with a living, right now, ever present God, One who IS as well as was, and yes, is still yet to come – Hallelujah, Even so, come quickly Lord! Amen