Why Are You Here? | Joe Riddle | Wave Church

Because in the Riddle household we're celebrating two years of marriage today. So there you go. So it is amazing and I just want to publicly say how I am fully convinced that my wife is a signpost to the faithfulness of God. And I believe that you are an incredible example of God's goodness of mercy to me. And I am thankful to God that He has granted me the gift of going through life with you. So I love you. All right? Good deal. If after hearing that, you need a puke bucket, just ask one of our hosts, they can help you out. But that was for her right there. We've been in a series on worship. And I want to start out this morning asking a simple question. I want to ask, why are you here? Very simple question. Why are you here? You know, there have been seasons in my life where I have found I've come into the presence of God because I have wanted something. And you know what? I believe that God being a good father, I believe He loves it when we come to Him with our needs. As a matter of fact, in Scripture, He calls us to come to Him with our needs, not as a last resort, but as a first resort. Right? And so sometimes we come to God because we have great needs. Sometimes we come to Him because we have wants. How many people know there's a difference between wants and needs? Anyone know what I'm talking about? Right?

I am thankful that I have a father in heaven. And he knows the difference between what I want and what I truly need. My question is, do we come into His presence because we're convinced He is worthy? There's a big difference between coming into the presence of God because I want something, coming into the presence of God because I need something, and coming into the presence of God because I'm convinced He's worthy. You know, I know this morning it's been a nasty day yesterday, all that rain, kind of chilly weather. How many people are glad it's starting to feel like fall? All right. How many people here wish that it was just summer year-round? All of you need Jesus right now, there you go, okay? For some people, it's a little bit like Goldilocks. If the weather's too nasty, they don't go to church. If the weather's too nice, they don't go to church. It's got to be just right, right? We take our church like we take our porridge, right? And it's the Goldilocks Christian right there, where we have no problem coming to God when the weather's just right, when we have something we want, when we have something we need. But the moment there's a little bit of sacrifice involved, it's easy for our attention to be diverted elsewhere. And so here's the thing, I want to encourage us that if we want to be true worshipers, which I love the message Pastor Josh preached last week, talking to us about being a church that worships. Let me tell you something, it's important that we search our hearts and figure out, is Jesus more useful or more glorious? Do I come to Jesus because of his usefulness or do I come to Jesus because of his glory? See if Jesus is simply just a cosmic lever that I pull when I want a little bit more health, I want a little bit more peace, I want a little bit more wealth, I want a little bit more success, I just want life to go a little bit more my way, I want my politicians

in office and not their politicians in office, or whatever that need is. If that is the only moment God is on my mind, then I believe we might be in danger of not truly worshiping Christ, but instead worshiping what we want from him. We cannot worship Christ in spirit and in truth if he's the means to the end. And so that is why I asked a question this morning, why are you here? Why am I here? I want us to look in our Bibles in the book of Revelation so you can go ahead and turn there right now if you're happened to be in church today and you're single and someone has caught your eye and they're turning to revelation. The word of the Lord for you today is let them cook. They need a bit more time, OK? If you do not know where revelation is, that is cool. I'm just doing you a favor, and I'm telling that person a few seats down from you to give you time to fall in love with Jesus. That's all I'm saying. But we're turning to the last book of the Bible. That was to help someone out who was about to turn to the table of contents right there. We're going to the last book of the Bible, all right? And we're going to go to the first chapter of that last book. Now, some of you are sitting here today, and you're saying, we're going to Revelation. We're in a series on worship, like Revelation. That's where you've got beasts, and you've got bowls, and you've got trumpets, and you've got angels, and you've got demons, and you've got 666, and you've got Armageddon, and then you get distracted, and you start thinking of Aerosmith. And that's not the Armageddon we're

talking about this morning, OK? And you look through Revelation, and there's all these things going on, and here's the thing. If that is what comes to your mind when you think of Revelation, you're absolutely right. But before John gets to all the things that Jesus is going to do, Revelation begins with an image of who Jesus is. And it is my heart, it is my intent, in our time together today, that rather than push you, and prod you, and give you a key, or a pattern, or a principle on how to worship harder, or better, more than anything, what I simply want to do is I simply want to encourage you to look at our Savior. That's my intent for our time together here today, that we would look into the Scriptures, and we would contemplate the one that we will spend all of eternity worshiping. And I want to encourage you to consider that thought that someone once said, I can't remember who was off the top of my head right now, but eternity is already in session. It's already in motion. And one of the things I love most about this season of our existence, because you will live for eternity. The question is, were you lived that eternal existence in the presence of God, or separated from the presence of God? - That's good, that's good, amen. - And what's amazing about life on this earth

is that there are many things that we will get to do in eternity, many things that you will get to do in heaven. But there's one thing that we will never be able to do in heaven that we get to do on this side of eternity. And that is that you get to worship Christ without having seen Him with your own eyes. There will come a day where every knee will bow. Why? Because we will be confronted with Jesus in all of His glory. And everyone will bow in that moment. Every knee will bow. Every tongue will confess. He really is Lord. It's going to happen. And some of them with that confession, they will do it out of the heart of great fear and terror because they will realize I have ignored them with every breath that I've breathed. And they will, the scripture says that they will be so scared, they'll call out for the mountains to fall on them. Because the idea of a mountain falling on them will be better than entering into judgment. Everyone will one day know who Jesus is. And there will be some in that day who will say, he's not who I thought he was, he's even better. And there will be some people on that day who will look at him and they'll say, "I had it all completely wrong."

And so today as we're in a series on worship, I want us to simply look at how Jesus is revealed to us in scripture. Because I believe that one of the greatest ways to ensure that we're worshiping rightly is that we have a clear vision of who our Savior is and what He's like. That's one of the biggest works of the enemy is He loves to confuse your understanding of Jesus. He wants to get you to question, is He really who I thought He was? Is He really that kind? Is He really that good? Is He really that merciful? Is He really that loving? Is He really that patient? Is He really that kind? Can I really truly trust Him? And the enemy loves to get Jesus' image to be a little bit fuzzy, a little bit hazy because if I begin to doubt Jesus, then I'll begin to doubt His promises. And if I begin to doubt His promises, then I'll be tempted to go after all the other false gods of this world. And so here we are in Revelation chapter one. And John is just getting going in this vision. And it says here in verse 12, it says, "Then I turned to see a voice "or the voice that was speaking to me.

"And on turning I saw seven golden lampstands. "And in the midst of the lampstands, one," someone say, "one." Little bit more faith to it, someone say, "one." There we go, I think Pastor Steve just heard us in Uganda there. By the way, do we pray for our pastor when he goes on those trips? Do we understand that that is what God is doing in this house reaching out into the nations? I want to encourage us, let's be praying for our pastors. He's returning home, praying for the seed that has been sown in Uganda by our church in this past week. But it says, "In the midst of the lampstands, "there was one like a son of man clothed "with a long robe and with a golden sash around his chest. "And the hairs of his head were white like white wool, "like snow, and his eyes were like a flame of fire. "And his feet were like burnished bronze, "refined in a furnace, and his voice was like the roar "of many waters. "And in his right hand, he held seven stars, "and from his mouth came a sharp two-edged sword, "and his face was like the sun shining in full strength. "And when I saw him, I fell at his feet as though dead. "But he laid his right hand on me, saying, "Fear not, I am the first and the last, "in the living one. "And I died, and behold, I am alive forevermore, "and I have the keys of death and Hades."

It's a vision of the one we worship. It's a vision of what Jesus is like. You've heard the quote before, A.W. Tozer. He says, "What comes to mind when you think about God "is the most important thing about you?" You know, I believe it's impossible to walk and sin and hold this idea of Christ in our minds at the same time. It's impossible to chase after the false gods of this world and to hold an understanding of this is our savior at the same time. Over the years of pastoring in our church, there have been many times where I've talked to people who at one time we're walking with Christ, but somewhere along the way, their hearts turn to the things of this world. And what's amazing to me in this passage is there comes a moment where John says, "When I saw him," you see, sin gets a hold in our lives when we no longer see our savior clearly. And so again, my question is how clearly do you see Christ today? See, I don't know about you, but there's times where I read in Scripture and it gets kind of confusing and when I read it, I look at it and I go, "Huh!" And then I just turn the page and I keep reading. Does anyone know what I'm talking about? We're not going to do that here today. We're going to pause and look at this description of Jesus and figure out what is going on here. And why is it important that you and I see Christ in this manner? Why is it important that you and I see Christ in this way

if we truly want to be worshipers of our God? And the first thing that I want us to see in this passage here is that Jesus is revealed to us as our priest. So the first thing we need to see about Jesus, the very first thing he reveals to John is before you understand anything about me, understand this, I am a priest. Now you're looking at it and you're saying, "Joe, where do you get that?" Well, first off, we read in verse 12, it says, "I turned and I see the voice that was speaking to me." And there are seven golden lampstands. And in the midst of the lampstands, there is one. Now, if we were to read on to verse 20, we would read that Jesus himself says that those lampstands are a symbol of the church. And so the first thing we need to understand about our priest today is that he is among us. He is in our presence. And again, why is it important that we realize that? It's because I will drift from God when I think he's far from me. I will begin to look for salvation in other places. I will place my hope in other things. I will find strength in the cares and concerns of this world. If I can believe the lie for one second, that God is somewhere else, dealing with someone else, and my needs don't reach, And the very first thing that we see about Jesus is he is in the middle of his church. And I wanna challenge us today that it's not just that you're here and I'm here, but more powerful than any of that is the fact

that the spirit of God is in this place, that God is moving up and down the aisles of this room. He is moving around each and every chair. He is knocking on the doors of Christian's heart saying, "Hey, am I still your first love?" There are people who are here today and you're not even entirely sure why you're here. You've not been to our church before. If someone asked you if you're a Christian, your honest answer would be, "I'm not really sure." We are glad you are here with us today. As a matter of fact, we had you in mind long before you came through the door. And we want you to know that today we worship one who isn't just sitting far off, but he is here in the middle of our imperfect world. And he is moving and he is leading and he is guiding and he is encouraging and he is strengthening. And Jesus has revealed to us as one who is in the trenches with us. He is near. Have you ever been in a season in life where it felt like I don't feel like God's near? I've been there. I've been in that place. And the thing that kept me on a path of faithfulness, it was nothing other than a knowing of the presence of God. I've been in the valley of the shadow of death. Some of you know my life story.

My first wife Lauren, a 13 year battle with a brain tumor and she stepped into real life with God. And I remember in that final season, we couldn't come to church. So I picked up the guitar and I started to learn how to play a few chords and I would just play worship for her 'cause she couldn't go to church. So we brought church to her and she would stream online. I am so thankful for our online ministry that our church has. And I would play the guitar for her and I'd like to call it singing. I'm not sure it was singing. (audience laughing) Eventually she stepped into true life. And I remember coming home and I honestly felt so broken. Felt like my heart was ripped out of my chest. And I remember I would put the kids to bed at night and the house felt so empty. And I went into my room and I picked up that guitar and I played the three chords that Davey said I could actually play correctly. (audience laughing) And I wrote a two line worship song. I've never even shared the words out loud before. It's never gonna be a chart topper. (audience laughing) You'll never hear it on Spotify. But it shook the holds of heaven. The first line was me simply saying,

"Jesus, I trust you." And the second line was me just saying and I know that you love me. And I would just sing those two lines over and over and over and over until I realized that I was not alone in that house. And that Christ Himself was in my presence and He was my priest in the middle of the valley of the shadow of death. There's some people here today. And to worship rightly, you need to be reminded our priest is in our presence. He is in our midst. The second thing that I see in this passage is that He's one like a son of man. What on earth does that even mean? See, John's actually picking up on a very important image that comes all the way back from the book of Daniel. And if you were to turn to Daniel chapter seven, I have it right here in my Bible. I marked it with my ribbon. So I'm using cheat codes today. I'm turning there quicker. Just follow along with me on the screens. Daniel has a vision and behold with the clouds of heaven. There comes one like a son of man. So John is quoting directly from the book of Daniel to describe to us what Jesus is like. and he was presented before him. And to him was given dominion and glory

and a kingdom that all peoples, all nations, all languages would serve him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion which shall not pass away. And his kingdom is one that shall not be destroyed. And so here we are in John chapter one and it says, "I saw one who was like a son of man." And that's all he says, but what are we meant to be reminded of in this moment? It's that this figure that is walking amongst the lamp stands. He doesn't have a four-year term. He doesn't have a midterm election coming up. There's no early voting on whether or not he will still be the priest of his church. There's no eldership that can kick him out. There's no church vote going on in this situation. He is the priest of this church. He is walking amongst his people and there is no end to his reign. (congregation applauding) And so why is it important that we remember that? Because we live in a world that is constantly changing. Things are here today, they are gone tomorrow. Today, I mean, it's kind of like Pastor Mike was talking about earlier. I mean, last week we went home from church and cars stayed on ground. They stayed on the earth. And now they're trying out for the Olympics

and like synchronized car dancing through the sky, right? It's like the whole world changed in a week. All these things constantly changing, right? Just last night there were riots in France and a building that has been around for longer than America has been a nation was burned up. And I don't think anyone went to bed the night before thinking I'll never see that building again. I can remember years ago flying into Newark, New Jersey as a young boy, 16 years old and I saw the Twin Towers and it was weird to me that I'm in the sky but I'm looking level with the Twin Towers. And my plane landed and then a few days later those towers fell, never saw it coming. And what is John trying to get us to realize with the Son of Man in a world where things are constantly changing? Jesus is unchanging. (audience applauding) And what does the devil try to do? He tries to get you to confuse temporary realities as permanent conditions of your life. And John says, no, no, no, I saw one like the Son of Man. Your problem is not eternal. Your circumstance, your opposition, your medical report, this too shall pass, Jesus will remain. (audience applauding) And he's there and he's wearing a robe and he has a golden sash. You look at these terms in the Greek

and it's very clear we're talking about the clothes of the high priest in the temple. Who's the only one who could go into the presence of God and not die. I wanna remind us today of how much we need Jesus. You don't come boldly into the presence of God because you're that good. You come boldly into the presence of God because Christ has made a way. Because Jesus is our priest. That if it were not for Christ, I would be dead in my sins. I would be broken. I would be separated. I would be, if it was even possible, if I happened to be a son of Israel, I could come into a temple. I could sacrifice an animal. But if I was not of Israel, I had no hope to know the one true living God. But Christ has made a way and because of what Christ has done, you can come into the presence of God. I feel like Oprah. And you can come into the presence of God. And you can come into the presence of God. Man, we lose our minds over getting a free car. It wasn't even a good car. Yeah, we can come into the house of God and be like, are they playing my song today?

Because if they don't play my song today, I'm not lifting my hands. Are we kidding? He's made a way. My sin is forgiven. My dad is paid. Death is conquered. There are people I love that have died before me. Listen, I will see them again. It hasn't always been that way. It's because of Christ. I don't have to fear death. I don't have to fear the grave. And those who are in Christ neither do you. That is what we're needing to see here. He is our priest. [BLANK_AUDIO] Someone say help, I'm Jesus. Here's the other thing. He's sovereign. He's over all of it. He has white hair in this passage. Some of you came in here today, grieving the fact you have more white hairs in the mirror this morning. Can I tell you something? You're just living like Jesus. It's all good. It's deeply spiritual. It's there. And I have it starting to creep into my own hair as well. And I literally looked at it this morning knowing what I was going to be preaching. And I'm like, I'm looking more like Jesus. What does that mean? It is actually a biblical metaphor that is meant to imply. It goes back to Daniel 7. There's another figure in Daniel 7. It's an ancient of days. It is the one who has no beginning. And he is said to have no beginning. And it is shown by the fact that he has a white hair. And so what is John getting at here? Before your problem was born, there was a God. And it's Jesus. That whatever you face, whatever your opposition is today, Jesus was here before it. He predates it. And by the way, if we go to the end of the passage, we realize he's also the Omega, which means he's the end. So whatever you and I face in life today, it is book ended by our Savior. There was Jesus before it. The problem is come. The problem will go.

And Jesus will be the only one standing when it's all said and done. This is who we worship. Jesus' hair that is white like snow, white like the son of man's hair. It's white like snow, white like wool. He has no beginning. His eyes are a flame of fire. Theologians say this means three things. First thing it means is this. He sees through to the real you. Any area where we think we can hide our divided hearts from the people around us, we can't hide it from God. God looks straight through your heart. And let me put it to you this way. He sees your sin. And it is serious. It demands a payment. Holly will put it this way. There will be blood. And there was blood at that cross. It was my Savior's blood. Christ has eyes of fire. You may be able to fool your spouse. You may be able to fool your employer. You may be able to fool your HOA. You may be able to fool your teachers. You're using chat, they're not figuring it out. You think you're getting away with it, jokes on you. You're not learning anything. You're just wasting your time. But that's another sermon for another day. All right. We do all these things in life thinking that we're pulling a fast one on people. We can't pull a fast one on God. That is what the eyes of fire mean. But there's a second thing that it means. It means he also sees your righteousness. He sees your righteous acts. Those things you do in secret. And you don't even let your left hand celebrate it. He sees it. And he says one day I will reward your righteousness. Those eyes of fire, they're not just there to see when we sin. They're also there to see when we love him and serve him in the secret heart. And here's the third thing that theologians say these fiery eyes mean. And the band can go ahead and come on back up. I didn't get anywhere near to the end of my sermon. It means he will repay every injustice. There's some people here today who you have been wronged in life. Could be going through a divorce. Could be a business deal that went south. And it would be so easy to just look at that person and just throw punch him. And I want you to remember the fiery eyes of Jesus. Where he says, vengeance is mine. I will repay. Can I tell you something? This woman is my wife. If anyone wrongs her, they have to deal with me. Like, I will go kinetic. I'll put it that way. Something will happen. Why? Because you're messing with my bride. Well, the church is So someone is messing with you, someone is wronging you.

You know, one of the reasons we worship Christ, it's not because everything is perfect, but it's because we know that in the midst of the imperfection, we have one who fights our battles for us. We have one who as promised they will write all wrongs. Look, sometimes the injustice comes from hands that were meant to protect us, could come from the lawmakers who don't work in your best interest, could come from the first responders who you don't feel like are responding on your behalf. I don't know where it is that you feel like you've encountered injustice in your life. Today I want to encourage you to see the one who has fire in his eyes. And to know that yes he sees sin and he will handle it, yes he sees righteousness and he will reward it, and yes he sees injustice and he is saying, that's for me to work out, but as for you, worship me. There's a whole lot more in this passage I could talk about, but it's not gonna happen today. The one thing I want you to know is that in all of this, John has an overwhelming view of Christ, and he falls down like one who is dead, and it says how God with his right hand reaches down and he touches him. The right hand is the hand of power, the right hand is the hand of authority. I love the fact that John has an encounter with God, and he falls down in complete awe of who God is

and what he's like. And God doesn't look at him and say, yes stay down there you filthy sinner. No he reaches down and he says fear not. It was just last month we were talking about the yoke and the burden of Christ. And in Matthew 11, 28 to 30 he says, hey I am gentle and I am lowly in heart. That word lowly, what does it mean? It means I am approachable. He is the Almighty. He is the first and the last. He is the Alpha and Omega. He does hold the keys of death and Hades. He is the one king who will never be unseated. We will spend 1,000 over 10,000 years singing his praises. It's gonna happen. And yet with all of that might and all that power, if you rip open his heart, what is on the inside? It is gentleness and it is loneliness. And he looks at you today and he remembers your dust. He knows you came from dust and one day to dust you will return. And he looks at you and he reaches out towards you with his right hand and he says fear not. Why do you not have to fear? It's not because you're perfect. It's not because you never made a mistake. It's not because of how much money you have

in your 401k. It's not because of how good looking you think you are. You're not. It's not because of how righteous you think you are. You are not. The whole reason you do not have to fear is because he comes to you in gentleness and loneliness. [BLANK_AUDIO]