Why Christians NEED to go to Church | Chris Gordon

The Vision of Christ’s Sovereignty and Victory Over Death

Importance. I know your situations more intimately and better than you do. I know your sufferings and I've appointed them for a purpose. I am he who lives and was dead. I died. But you know what I did?

I rose. I defeated it. I'm alive forevermore. And I hold these keys. I control the destinies. When he was born, this child was destined for the fall and rising of many in Israel. I am sovereign over all.

I am coming to judge. I am the one who triumphed over death, says Jesus. I've risen victorious. I hold the keys of the kingdom. Meaning that even if you are put to death for me, death can't injure you.

Death can't touch you. Whoever believes in me, even though he dies, he shall live. God is not the God of the dead, but of the living. And so the vision says, fix your eyes on Jesus. He's the vision you need today.

The Great Commission and the Call to Endure

And remember your commission in life. Remember your purpose in life. Jesus said it so clearly in the midst of the Olivet Discourse. The gospel of the kingdom will be preached and all the world is a witness and then the end will come.

There are all kinds of social media pundits today telling us and pulling us away from this. See it. But there's one great encouragement to close this today. One great encouragement. I wonder if anyone missed it.

Worship on the Lord’s Day and the Means of Grace

When did John see this vision? Verse 10, I was in the Spirit on the Lord's day. Now there's been debate about that, but the received position is that he received this vision when? When the Christians gathered on the first day of the week for worship.

When the gathering of the saints happened, a lot of people go through a lot of suffering and a lot of hardship themselves because they've still not appreciated where their strength is coming. All of this is meant to say to you, if you want to see clearly through this age, if you want to have a proper vision through this age, if you want to have strength through this present distress, the encouragement that you need is come every Sunday to the well and drink freely from the water of life.

There was a reason Jesus gave this vision on the Lord's day. It was to encourage the church to continue to gather and continue to worship because where his people are gathered and there's fellowship around the word, Jesus Christ is feeding and keeping and strengthening his church.

That's why he cares about what the church is doing. And I can't help but to think this is John's way of saying to us, when he found himself vanished in great tribulation, the way he remained committed to the testimony of Jesus and the way that he remained patient through it all was the blessing of Lord's day worship.

The Church’s Strength in Suffering and the Hope of Seeing Jesus

Can I say that? I want to be as clear as possible as I can on that because we as pastors meet all the time people who just don't get this concept. There's means of grace for you. There's a gospel preached to you.

There's a sacrament given for you to uphold you, strengthen you. So my friends, this is the vision we need today. Whatever he calls you to endure, every path will look different. You know, most likely if there's going to be martyrs, it's going to be the pastors.

But hey, we signed up for that when we went into this. We said that we would die for the doctrine. He will not abandon us no matter what. He calls us to trust him and no one dies in their own strength.

Let me just say that. He calls us ever to go through that. It's his power resting upon us. Our sufferings don't define us in the sense of who we are. They testify to who we belong to. So be strong and courageous in the gospel and worship the Lord and make that the priority of your lives.

And the encouragement of Revelation 1 is you too will see Jesus. You will see him in power. You will see him in glory. That's what's held out for you in the life to come. But even now it's held out in the word and sacrament.