"The Apostle John Saw The Transformed Jesus Christ."

The Apostle John saw the transformed Jesus Christ, we shall also be changed. That's our message the text is taken from 1 John Chapter 3.

The Apostle John, who was one of the sons of Zebedee, and according to church tradition, the first cousin of Jesus Christ, had a wonderful opportunity, that the other Apostles did not have. He was blessed to be able to behold the glorified Jesus Christ in a vision, while on the aisle of Patmos. And what a stunning, and even frightening image he saw which even caused him to faint. And the Lord then laid His right hand on him and revived him.

The Apostle said he was in the spirit on a Sunday, which he referred to as the Lord's day. When he saw a figure that resembled the Son of Man who is the Christ. He was dressed in a garment down to His feet, and having a golden band across His chest, His head and hair were white as wool, and as snow. His eyes flamed like fire, and His feet were like fine brass that burned in a furnace, and there was a two-edged sword coming out of His mouth. It must have been an incredible experience! I caution you that, much of this imagery in his description of Christ may be symbolic! For instance we can hardly expect that The King of Kings goes about with a physical sword protruding from His mouth at all times. Of course the sword very likely represents the Word of God. This is but one of several versions of Jesus Christ presented to us in scripture.

Father we thank You for this word. Send it forth and give understanding to Your children, in the precious and the Holy name of Jesus Christ we pray. We thank You Father for Your blessings upon the listeners to this message in Jesus' name. Amen.

Yes, my friend scripture presents us with more than one version of the Savior. The Jewish people saw one version of Him when He came to the Earth, and walked among us as an ordinary man. Then there was another version of Him seen after His resurrection, in which He still looked like an ordinary human, but yet was able to pass through walls. I want to point out also that according to John 20:17, He appeared to Mary Magdalene as she stood weeping at His tomb on resurrection morning. At that time He said to her, do not touch Me, for I have not yet ascended to My Father. For some reason He needed to ascend to His Father undefiled filed by humans after rising from the dead. Later, the apostles and disciples were able to touch Him, even to put their hands into the hole in His side as proof that it was indeed, the Son of Man, according to John 20 and 27.

In fact, each of us have more than one version of ourself. For instance, when we give ourselves to Jesus Christ, He gives it to us back as a better version of ourself, and as a new creature. He returns us as a saved born again, and soon to be sanctified version of ourself. And this version is a much improved version, although it is still imperfect. Then He begins to mold, shape and fashion this posts salvation version of all His children. His Word says that He is perfecting us. Because His Word begins burning off the dross or the impurities. We find the evidence of this in Jeremiah 23 and 29, where the Lord God said, "Is not My Word like a fire says the Lord and like a hammer that breaks the rock in pieces? And so this is one reason why the Word of God is so important to born again believers. As we dig into God's Word daily it is changing and transforming us.

Consider this: If a man is a five star army general for instance in the US Army, and we observe him going home at the end of the day. Dressed up in all his regalia, then he's driven home. When he arrives, his driver opens the door for him, salutes him and awaits his command. But as he steps into the door of his home, we begin to see another version of him. He becomes dad and husband, which are more relaxed roles, in hopefully a totally relaxed atmosphere. When his children, and his wife receive him they might embrace or kiss him. They will look at his face and not his uniform, and they will not salute him unless they do so in fun. Perhaps he takes off his shoes, changes his clothing and then goes in the garden, or goes to his couch and sits a bit. But the following day, he puts his uniform back on, and he walks out the door, and re-assumes his position as a five-star general in the US Army. And when he walks into the building, he is saluted by everyone he encounters, as they come to attention until he passes by them. Same man, different roles or you might say, different versions of the same man.

If we hold fast to the Word of God, and be obedient to Him, God will hand us back a glorious version of ourselves on that awesome day. The Apostle Paul described it this way. "Behold I tell you a mystery: we shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed-in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed, 1 Corinthians 15:51. Indeed we shall be transformed and given a new identity. Most of us will sleep the sleep of death, but some of us will be alive when Christ comes. On that day, we shall also see a completely new version of Him. But until then, we must hold fast to the imagery given us in the Book of Revelation by the Apostle John. But this promise, that we shall be changed is not to everyone. For we cannot expect to live a life in Christ any way that we want to, doing whatever we want to, and still hope to be transformed, and changed from glory to glory on the day of the Lord.

Yes, the Apostle John assures us, that one day we shall all behold Him, and see Him as He really is. Then 1 John 3:2 tells us, "Beloved, now we are children of God; and it has not yet been revealed what we shall be, but we know that when He is revealed, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is." And so, we have no idea how we will be on that day when our change shall come, nevertheless our final version will be perfect, and sealed for all eternity. There is so much we do not know! For instance we do not know how we will look or of what kind of substance He will be. All we know is that we shall be like Him being made of similar fabric.

While the Apostle John was on the aisle, he saw the version of the ascended Christ described in the beginning of this message, however this may not be the final version that we will see when we finally behold Him. In the chapters that follow, there are many depictions of the Son of God, describing His essence and His many functions. And clearly The Father wanted us to know these things about the Savior so that we could have a well-rounded understanding of who He is in truth. The songwriter said, "A wonderful Savior is Jesus my Lord, a wonderful Savior to me," and we've been given the evidence of His wonderful nature in many different ways.

I heard someone speaking about a Christian man who fell in love with a Muslim woman. The man was speaking to his parents about his plan to leave Christianity and marry the woman. This of course meant abandoning the Christian faith that he had been brought up in. The young man told his father he was doing this because Jesus Christ was not God. In his feeble attempts to defend Jesus Christ the father said to him, "No He is not God, He is the Son of God!"

Let us take a look at John 14 and 9, and let God's Word tell us who Jesus Christ really is. One day the Apostle Phillip asked Christ to show them The Father. The response he received was shocking. Shocking, because the Lord Christ showed them Himself. For He said to Phillip, "Have I been with you so long, and yet you have not known Me, Phillip? He who has seen Me has seen The Father; so how can you say, 'Show us The Father'? Do you not believe that I am in The Father, and The Father in Me? The words that I speak to you I do not speak on My own authority, but The Father who dwells in Me does the works. Believe Me that I am in The Father and The Father in Me." Suddenly, it was as if The Father Himself was speaking directly to Phillip! And what Christ said meant that, it was possible to separate Him from The Father because they are one and the same! And this is a mystery! You can be sure the Apostles grappled with trying to understand it. They struggled to wrap their minds around this truth, just as we do today!

Finally because The Father wanted us to be clear about the divinity of Jesus Christ, He laid it out clearly in the Book of Revelation, which goes to Great length to describe the Lamb of God in many ways telling us who He is. And it is no accident that we have this vast variety of depictions of the Son of God, who is described as The Almighty, The All Powerful, He's also called The Faithful Witness, and The First Begotten of the dead. He's referred to as The Prince of the kings of the earth, and The One who washed us from our sins in His blood. And then He's called The One coming in the clouds, and also called the Alpha and Omega, The Beginning and The Ending. The book also refers to Him as The One who Is, Was and Is To Come. And as The One who has the keys to hell and to death. And then He is described as The One who holds the seven stars which are the seven angels of the seven churches in His right hand. He's also called The One who has the double-edged sword in His mouth. And The One who walks in the middle of the seven churches. The One who has eyes like a flame of fire and feet like fine brass. He's also The One who has the Seven Spirits of God. The One that is Holy and true. The One that has the Key of David. Then the Book of Revelation continues by calling Him The Beginning of God's creation. The Lamb of God who was slain to receive power. And this is all found in Revelation 1:5. Glory to God, what a wonderful day it will be when we're able to behold Him as He is. And when we are transformed and become new beings. We thank God for His grace and mercy. Be encouraged my friend, God is able to do all that He has declared that He will do. God bless and keep you, in Jesus mighty name. Amen.

You've been listening to this message and perhaps you do not know Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior. We want to give you an opportunity to make that commitment today. Please engage your heart and say this prayer after me:

-Father I am a sinner.

-I'm sorry for all my sins.

-I crave Your forgiveness Lord.

-Thank You Father for Your forgiveness.

-Today I invite Jesus Christ into my heart.

-Dear Lord Jesus make my heart Your home.

-I give You the key to my heart because I now belong to You forever.

-Thank You Lord for saving my soul.

-Please give me the Holy Spirit to lead me into all truth.

-I pray this prayer in the name of The Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. Amen.

Welcome friend to the body of believers in Christ. We are all here awaiting the return of the Good Master. In the meantime we encourage you to become water baptized as quickly as possible. Let your pastor know that you've given your heart to the Lord and you want to be properly baptized.

Begin reading the Word of God. Begin in the Book of John then go to Matthew, Mark and Luke, reading audibly as often as possible, because faith comes by hearing the Word of God and reading every day. Pray daily. Attend at your local church. And one glad morning the Savior will come and receive us all unto Himself. And we shall forever be with the Lord. God bless and keep you in Jesus mighty name. Amen.