More Than Conquerors (Revelation 1:1-8)

WEBVTT 1 00:00:00.320 --> 00:00:06.360 Revelation one, verses one through eight. Revelation chapter one, beginning in the 2 00:00:06.480 --> 00:00:11.830 first verse. This is the word of the Lord, the revelation of Jesus 3 00:00:11.869 --> 00:00:17.629 Christ, which God gave him to show his servants things which must shortly take 4 00:00:17.789 --> 00:00:22.899 place, and he sent and signified it by his angel to his servant John, 5 00:00:22.940 --> 00:00:26.980 who bore witness to the word of God and to the testimony of Jesus 6 00:00:27.019 --> 00:00:31.980 Christ, to all things that he saw. Blessed is he who reads and 7 00:00:32.179 --> 00:00:37.090 those who hear the words of this prophecy and keep those things which are written 8 00:00:37.090 --> 00:00:42.289 in it, for the time is near. John, to the seven churches 9 00:00:42.409 --> 00:00:46.250 which are in Asia. Grace to you in peace, from Him who is 10 00:00:46.689 --> 00:00:50.840 and who was and who is to come, and from the seven spirits who 11 00:00:50.840 --> 00:00:55.320 were before his throne, and from Jesus Christ, the faithful witness, the 12 00:00:55.479 --> 00:00:59.399 first born from the dead and the ruler over the kings of the earth, 13 00:01:00.200 --> 00:01:03.239 to him who loved us and washed us from our sins in his own blood 14 00:01:03.590 --> 00:01:07.790 and has made us kings and priests to his God and father. To him 15 00:01:07.829 --> 00:01:14.870 be glory and dominion forever and ever. Behold, he is coming with clouds 16 00:01:15.390 --> 00:01:19.180 and every eye will see him, even they who pierced him in all the 17 00:01:19.299 --> 00:01:25.260 tribes of the earth will mourn because of him. Even so, Amen, 18 00:01:26.340 --> 00:01:27.939 I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning, in the end, 19 00:01:29.060 --> 00:01:33.650 says the Lord, who was and who is, and who was and who 20 00:01:33.730 --> 00:01:38.450 is to come, the Almighty. Thus, farthest reading of God's holy word, 21 00:01:38.530 --> 00:01:42.969 the grass withers in the flower fades, but the word of our Lord 22 00:01:42.010 --> 00:01:48.439 endears forever. Please be seated. Let's pray. Father, we thank you 23 00:01:48.959 --> 00:01:53.239 for this, your word that you have given to your apostle to give to 24 00:01:53.400 --> 00:02:00.079 us. We thank you for this apocalypse of Jesus Christ. Give us your 25 00:02:00.120 --> 00:02:05.349 grace, Lord. That is we turn our attention this evening to this vast 26 00:02:05.469 --> 00:02:12.590 and and and often times confusing topic, that we might get a firmer understanding 27 00:02:12.710 --> 00:02:15.740 of what it is that you want us to know from this book that is 28 00:02:15.860 --> 00:02:22.020 so often laden with such mystery and confusion. Give US clarity, Lord, 29 00:02:22.860 --> 00:02:28.379 speak to our hearts through your Holy Spirit, illumine our minds that we might 30 00:02:28.539 --> 00:02:32.449 understand and believe the things that you would have us know and trust in. 31 00:02:34.889 --> 00:02:38.610 Help us this evening, Lord, that we could have a greater appreciation of 32 00:02:38.650 --> 00:02:42.169 who you are, and that is we come in a few minutes to your 33 00:02:42.289 --> 00:02:47.439 table to celebrate this sacrament of the new covenant. We pray that you would 34 00:02:47.479 --> 00:02:53.800 help us to appreciate what it is that you have done for us in delivering 35 00:02:53.919 --> 00:02:58.080 us from the power of sin, that we might go forth and follow you. 36 00:03:00.189 --> 00:03:02.270 And so we ask that the words of our of my mouth, and 37 00:03:02.310 --> 00:03:07.669 the meditations of our hearts would be pleasing to you, and we commit this 38 00:03:07.830 --> 00:03:12.939 time to our Lord, your son Jesus Christ, and whose name we pray. 39 00:03:12.939 --> 00:03:20.460 Amen. All right. Well, I thought that talking about revelation this 40 00:03:20.659 --> 00:03:24.340 evening is a sort of a summary overview, would be sort of an interesting 41 00:03:24.379 --> 00:03:29.849 way for those who've been attending the Bible study at our house to kind of 42 00:03:30.210 --> 00:03:32.569 wrap it up and bring it in for a landing and for the rest of 43 00:03:32.650 --> 00:03:38.969 you perhaps to hear what great suffering your brothers and sisters have endured at my 44 00:03:38.129 --> 00:03:45.639 house. So I thought it would be good it could give a brief overview, 45 00:03:46.439 --> 00:03:50.800 as brief as probably any I could conceive, of of what it is 46 00:03:50.960 --> 00:03:58.270 that John's talking about in this book of revelation. Now, as I was 47 00:03:58.349 --> 00:04:04.150 thinking about this, I was thinking about the peanuts cartoons. I like peanuts, 48 00:04:04.189 --> 00:04:09.469 I love peanuts, Charlie Brown and Lucy and Linus and snoopy and all 49 00:04:09.509 --> 00:04:13.620 the rest of my I really like them. And as I was thinking about 50 00:04:13.699 --> 00:04:19.939 how to talk about revelation, there's this one cartoon from peanuts that kept coming 51 00:04:20.060 --> 00:04:24.180 to mind, and some of you may know it. I don't know, 52 00:04:24.769 --> 00:04:28.250 but this one cartoon shows Lucy, who we all know as a know it 53 00:04:28.329 --> 00:04:32.209 all right, and Lucy is teaching her little brother, Linus, who's in 54 00:04:32.329 --> 00:04:39.399 preschool. But the supposed knowledge that Lucy's giving to linus as a bunch of 55 00:04:39.519 --> 00:04:45.920 Bunco it's a bunch of silly, far fetched suppositions of someone who really has 56 00:04:46.240 --> 00:04:49.959 no idea what it is she's talking about. And in the last frame of 57 00:04:50.040 --> 00:04:55.949 that cartoon there's Charlie Brown shaking his head and he says Linus is going to 58 00:04:56.029 --> 00:05:01.230 have to spend two years in kindergarten, one year to UN learn everything Lucy's 59 00:05:01.269 --> 00:05:06.379 taught him in a second year to get it all right. And the reason 60 00:05:06.420 --> 00:05:11.180 I thought of that is it. Unfortunately, I think that's just the same 61 00:05:11.500 --> 00:05:15.540 for most Christian folk. As we come to the book of revelation, there 62 00:05:15.660 --> 00:05:20.970 is so much confusion in regard to this book. There is so much I 63 00:05:21.089 --> 00:05:28.689 mean honestly, just whacky, bizarre misinformation out there that it's no surprise that 64 00:05:28.930 --> 00:05:32.490 most Christians don't even read revelation, let alone try to figure it out. 65 00:05:34.410 --> 00:05:38.839 And it's true, if you've ever looked at those statistics that Ligonier and other 66 00:05:38.879 --> 00:05:43.360 people put out, revelation is hardly ever read by Christians. It's like one 67 00:05:43.360 --> 00:05:46.839 of the most irrelevant books to the practical life of most Christian folk, right 68 00:05:46.879 --> 00:05:50.829 up there with like Obadiah and Zeph and I ah, which most people don't 69 00:05:50.870 --> 00:06:00.470 read either. So I've knew people even in seminary who felt daunted looking at 70 00:06:00.509 --> 00:06:06.300 this and they said, you know, Calvin himself wrote commentaries on every book 71 00:06:06.300 --> 00:06:12.420 of the Bible except revelation, as if that gets them off the hook from 72 00:06:12.500 --> 00:06:16.660 trying to understand this last book of the Bible. And unfortunately, far too 73 00:06:16.779 --> 00:06:21.370 often when people read books on revelation, they find themselves reading books that sound 74 00:06:21.449 --> 00:06:28.410 more like science fiction or fantasy than Biblical exposition. I've seen books, for 75 00:06:28.529 --> 00:06:32.600 instance, that try to take every symbol, every image in revelation at a 76 00:06:32.759 --> 00:06:39.319 hyperliteral face value, and so I've seen books that actually say that at the 77 00:06:39.399 --> 00:06:43.720 end of the world there will be a giant seven headed Godzilla that crawls out 78 00:06:43.759 --> 00:06:47.230 of the ocean and joins forces with a great dragon with lamb's horns on its 79 00:06:47.310 --> 00:06:51.790 head. I've seen a commentary on the book of revelation that says that at 80 00:06:51.829 --> 00:06:57.709 the end of days there will be soldiers from the United Nations with jet packs 81 00:06:58.069 --> 00:07:02.220 and they're going to fulfill John's vision of the locusts. Other people have said 82 00:07:02.379 --> 00:07:06.939 that the that the vision of the locusts is a bunch of Apache helicopters sent 83 00:07:08.139 --> 00:07:13.660 from the UN or some other agency to overrun the world. Wild eyed speculators 84 00:07:14.060 --> 00:07:19.089 have identified as the Anti Christ everyone from Napoleon Bonaparte to Kaiservillelm the second, 85 00:07:19.449 --> 00:07:25.250 to Hitler, to Gorba Chop to Psama bin Ladden, even President Obama and 86 00:07:25.410 --> 00:07:30.480 President George W Bush. I've seen all of this stuff and it's sad really. 87 00:07:31.560 --> 00:07:36.800 This was the last book of the Bible that was written. To think 88 00:07:36.839 --> 00:07:44.790 about that. This book was the last piece of the good news that God 89 00:07:45.029 --> 00:07:49.509 wanted us to have. John, who is the last living apostle, wrote 90 00:07:49.589 --> 00:07:54.550 this to be his magnum opus, you know, his greatest work. It 91 00:07:55.110 --> 00:08:01.459 possibly even more valuable in some regards if we can make comparisons then his gospel, 92 00:08:03.339 --> 00:08:09.019 because it's the last thing God wanted written for our edification. And most 93 00:08:09.060 --> 00:08:15.329 of us are either so intimidated by this book that we don't read it or 94 00:08:15.410 --> 00:08:20.129 we've ressed read so many of these how lindsay books or are left behind books 95 00:08:20.170 --> 00:08:24.730 or some other silly nonsense, that it fills our heads like linuses, with 96 00:08:24.930 --> 00:08:31.560 more fat or with more fiction and fantasy than fact or gospel. And so 97 00:08:31.759 --> 00:08:37.240 please, whatever you take away from what I have to say this evening, 98 00:08:37.279 --> 00:08:45.230 I just want you to know that left behind and other hyperliteral or scary or 99 00:08:45.470 --> 00:08:50.029 science fiction sounding books and so on, these things about revelation, they are 100 00:08:50.190 --> 00:08:54.070 truly, truly not on the mark. Jesus didn't give you this book to 101 00:08:54.309 --> 00:08:58.779 scare you into hiding am mo out in the desert or to look for the 102 00:08:58.899 --> 00:09:03.700 beast in every bar code at Walmart. That is not why he gave us 103 00:09:03.220 --> 00:09:07.860 this book. So what I want us to do this evening is simply to 104 00:09:07.980 --> 00:09:15.129 ask ourselves some very introdo introductory questions about revelation. There three I want to 105 00:09:15.210 --> 00:09:20.450 ask of our of this book. First, what is it? Second, 106 00:09:20.049 --> 00:09:26.960 what is it about? And third, what's the point? What is it 107 00:09:26.679 --> 00:09:31.120 what's it about? What's the point? So, first of all, what 108 00:09:31.480 --> 00:09:37.480 is revelation? What kind of literature is it? To be more specific, 109 00:09:39.070 --> 00:09:41.710 see, when you're reading literature, I think most of us know this, 110 00:09:43.029 --> 00:09:48.230 the first and most important question to ask of anything you go to read is 111 00:09:48.309 --> 00:09:52.139 to know what kind of literature it is. It's a question of genre, 112 00:09:52.899 --> 00:09:58.059 right, what kind of literature it is? In order to understand any literature, 113 00:09:58.100 --> 00:10:01.259 you first have to know what it is you're reading, because if you 114 00:10:01.419 --> 00:10:07.210 miss that point, then you'll miss the point of whatever it might be. 115 00:10:07.409 --> 00:10:13.370 For instance, if you're reading a technical manual or a physics book written by 116 00:10:13.370 --> 00:10:20.679 Albert Einstein and you think that it's poetry, you're going to think that Einstein 117 00:10:22.000 --> 00:10:26.960 was an idiot right, when in reality we all know Einstein was a genius. 118 00:10:26.559 --> 00:10:33.799 But the problem is you're reading of physics text and looking for love poetry, 119 00:10:33.840 --> 00:10:37.990 and so it makes no sense to you. So in our case, 120 00:10:39.149 --> 00:10:46.750 what kind of literature is revelation? See How you answer this question will determine 121 00:10:46.190 --> 00:10:50.299 the way you interpret the whole thing, what you think revelation is about. 122 00:10:50.980 --> 00:10:56.659 So what genre is it? Well, I think most people come to revelation 123 00:10:56.980 --> 00:11:03.570 thinking that it's some kind of history written beforehand. Most people come thinking that 124 00:11:03.649 --> 00:11:11.809 it's history written beforehand. Isaiah, chapter forty five is that kind of literature. 125 00:11:11.129 --> 00:11:16.529 Isaiah wrote that chapter of his prophecy a hundred and twenty years before the 126 00:11:16.649 --> 00:11:22.039 fall of Jerusalem and about a hundred and ninety years before the end of that 127 00:11:22.320 --> 00:11:28.919 exile. And yet Isaiah was able to give us specific details about what was 128 00:11:28.000 --> 00:11:33.309 going to happen in those years. He even knew the name of the Persian 129 00:11:33.389 --> 00:11:37.990 King of a Persian Empire that didn't yet exist. He knew the name of 130 00:11:39.149 --> 00:11:43.909 the Persian king who would end the exile one hundred fifty years before that king 131 00:11:45.509 --> 00:11:50.700 was born, a hundred and fifty years beforehand. Isaiah said this is going 132 00:11:50.820 --> 00:11:56.500 to happen. That's what you call future history. It is a fortelling of 133 00:11:56.659 --> 00:12:01.129 the future. Now, if you read revelation like that, you're going to 134 00:12:01.210 --> 00:12:07.450 be consumed with identifying each detail in it as corresponding to something that you see 135 00:12:07.690 --> 00:12:11.730 in recent or current events or in a history book or something like that. 136 00:12:13.850 --> 00:12:20.600 But there's a problem with that. You See, unlike Isaiah, revelation is 137 00:12:20.759 --> 00:12:28.320 full of all kinds of symbolism and crazy imagery. Isaiah, along with most 138 00:12:28.360 --> 00:12:33.029 of what you might call future history that God gives us in scripture. It's 139 00:12:33.110 --> 00:12:37.190 pretty straightforward. Isaiah says there's this going to be this Persian guy and he's 140 00:12:37.230 --> 00:12:41.070 going to be the king and his name is going to be Cyrus and he's 141 00:12:41.110 --> 00:12:46.860 going to end the exile. Pretty straightforward. He doesn't use weird imagery to 142 00:12:48.059 --> 00:12:54.539 hint at such a thing. But reading revelation like this leaves you confused and, 143 00:12:54.500 --> 00:12:58.009 frankly, it leaves you sounding like you have a tinfull hat or that 144 00:12:58.129 --> 00:13:03.090 you are into science fiction or something far more so than a Bible scholar. 145 00:13:05.289 --> 00:13:09.450 This is where we get the bizarre associations of John's visions with Apache, helicopters 146 00:13:09.490 --> 00:13:18.480 and stuff. This kind of problem comes when we look at revelation, misunderstanding 147 00:13:18.559 --> 00:13:24.480 its genre, because, you see, revelation is not a fortelling of future 148 00:13:24.519 --> 00:13:31.149 events. It's not future history. Rather, revelation belongs to a sort of 149 00:13:31.309 --> 00:13:39.029 narrow slice of ancient literature called Apocalyptic Literature. The Greek name for the book 150 00:13:39.029 --> 00:13:46.580 actually is Apocalypsis, Yes to Christ, which is the apocalypse of Jesus Christ. 151 00:13:46.659 --> 00:13:50.620 Now, if there's a genre and it says and you read a book 152 00:13:50.620 --> 00:13:54.620 and it says this is the history of Napoleon Bonaparte. You're I'm pretty firm 153 00:13:54.700 --> 00:13:58.370 ground to read it as if it's history. If you open up a book 154 00:13:58.409 --> 00:14:01.809 and it says this is the apocalypse of Jesus Christ, you're I'm pretty firm 155 00:14:01.850 --> 00:14:09.409 ground to read it as apocalyptic literature. And the word apocalypse in Greek simply 156 00:14:09.450 --> 00:14:13.720 means revealing. That's where the English word comes from, revelation. It's a 157 00:14:13.799 --> 00:14:20.399 revealing it's what you would say about pulling back a curtain to show what's behind 158 00:14:20.480 --> 00:14:26.470 it. But it isn't revealing the future. Apocalyptic literature is is intended to 159 00:14:26.549 --> 00:14:33.710 reveal what's going on right now. It's supposed to show you, giving you 160 00:14:33.149 --> 00:14:37.350 symbolic imagery of things that are happening in the now. Want you to listen 161 00:14:37.389 --> 00:14:43.860 to what one fellow scholar, guy named Marvin Pate, has this four books 162 00:14:43.019 --> 00:14:46.139 on the or four of use on the book of revelation. If you're interested 163 00:14:46.220 --> 00:14:52.169 in views other than mine, you can read it. But pate defines apocalypse 164 00:14:52.289 --> 00:14:58.529 this way. He Says Scholars Describe this pictorial representation of truth as Apocalypptic, 165 00:14:58.610 --> 00:15:07.049 a style of communication and writing characterized by bold colors vimit images unique symbols in 166 00:15:07.159 --> 00:15:11.679 a simple story line, a hero and a happy ending. Thus, in 167 00:15:11.759 --> 00:15:16.279 revelation you meet angels, animals and numbers. You see lightning and hear thunder. 168 00:15:16.679 --> 00:15:20.399 US witness earthquakes and battles. You see the sparkle of jewels and a 169 00:15:20.470 --> 00:15:26.269 woman clothed with the sun facing a terrifying dragon. You see a rider on 170 00:15:26.309 --> 00:15:30.549 a white horse and hear the lyrics of the Hallelujah Chorus. You Reproach. 171 00:15:30.710 --> 00:15:35.500 You approach apocalyptic literature differently than you would a letter or one of the Gospels, 172 00:15:37.059 --> 00:15:41.500 and revelation words take the place of pigments and brushes to create a portrait 173 00:15:41.940 --> 00:15:50.450 designed to visualize great principles, not particular incidents. Resisting the temptation to dissect 174 00:15:50.610 --> 00:15:56.289 the portrait described in each vision, you let the Vision as a whole impress 175 00:15:56.370 --> 00:16:02.129 you. That's key. You Let the Vision as a whole impress you. 176 00:16:03.610 --> 00:16:11.559 Apocalyptic literature is a revealing of the truth using figurative imagery, and a good 177 00:16:11.559 --> 00:16:15.080 way to think of this is to think of the wizard of odds. You 178 00:16:15.080 --> 00:16:18.230 remember how, in the book or in the movie, Dorothy and the others, 179 00:16:18.269 --> 00:16:22.750 they go off to see the wizards right and they get there and the 180 00:16:22.870 --> 00:16:29.509 wizard is a scary and powerful, frightening guy, and they're all just quaking 181 00:16:29.549 --> 00:16:36.820 in their shoes, or at least they're quaking in their shoes until Dorothy's little 182 00:16:36.820 --> 00:16:41.419 dog, Toto, pulls back the curtain so they could see the truth. 183 00:16:41.740 --> 00:16:47.610 And the truth toto revealed was that the wizard was just a silly little man 184 00:16:48.169 --> 00:16:52.250 who had no power over them. Right, don't look at the man behind 185 00:16:52.250 --> 00:17:00.970 the curtain. He was nothing. He was nothing. And this is what 186 00:17:00.129 --> 00:17:04.640 the book of revelation does. It pulls back the curtain on the world. 187 00:17:06.920 --> 00:17:11.119 The book of revelation is revealing of the truth about the world that we live 188 00:17:11.240 --> 00:17:17.309 in as it is right now. Just because it's physically placed at the end 189 00:17:17.349 --> 00:17:21.589 of your Bible doesn't mean it's necessarily about the things that are going to happen 190 00:17:21.750 --> 00:17:26.750 right at the end of the age after all. Right, at the beginning 191 00:17:26.789 --> 00:17:32.740 and chapter one, verse one of revelation, he says the revelation of Jesus 192 00:17:32.819 --> 00:17:37.819 Christ, which God gave to him to show his servants things which must shortly 193 00:17:38.619 --> 00:17:45.210 take place. It's about out stuff it was going to be shortly taking place, 194 00:17:45.250 --> 00:17:52.410 as in John's lifetime. Revelation reveals to us the truth about what's going 195 00:17:52.569 --> 00:17:57.529 on in the world in this era between the ascension and the second coming, 196 00:18:00.799 --> 00:18:06.200 and it is really, really good news, and it's good news because of 197 00:18:06.359 --> 00:18:11.039 what it's about. And this brings us to my second point. What is 198 00:18:11.079 --> 00:18:15.230 it about? Now? To lead into this, I want to have a 199 00:18:15.309 --> 00:18:18.869 little quickie quiz. Okay, those of you who have been in my Bible 200 00:18:18.910 --> 00:18:23.390 study it probably heard me ask this question before, so you can't answer summer. 201 00:18:23.750 --> 00:18:30.539 Okay, so here's the quickie quiz. Four questions. I have four 202 00:18:30.619 --> 00:18:37.859 questions for you. First question, what are the only two things that you 203 00:18:37.940 --> 00:18:45.410 can do now that you cannot do in glory? Any ideas? That's one 204 00:18:45.490 --> 00:18:52.410 of them. Right you, but man, all right, let's go home, 205 00:18:53.250 --> 00:18:59.480 right, right. It's important. It's important to know this. There 206 00:18:59.519 --> 00:19:03.160 are only two things you can do now that you cannot do in glory. 207 00:19:03.519 --> 00:19:08.039 One of them is to sin, because there is no sin in God's presence. 208 00:19:08.799 --> 00:19:11.630 When we're face to face with him, that's going to all be in 209 00:19:11.710 --> 00:19:18.069 the past. And the second thing you can do now that you cannot do 210 00:19:18.309 --> 00:19:26.980 in glory is to introduce somebody to Jesus Christ, because by definition, everyone 211 00:19:29.579 --> 00:19:36.660 will already know him in heaven. So those are only two things. Now, 212 00:19:37.099 --> 00:19:41.609 as you think about that, I think that's a really like clearifying way 213 00:19:41.730 --> 00:19:45.730 to look at things, because it kind of makes it obvious why he left 214 00:19:45.769 --> 00:19:49.849 us here. Right, because he didn't leave us here to keep on sitting. 215 00:19:52.609 --> 00:19:57.319 So he must have left us here to help other people meet Jesus. 216 00:19:59.160 --> 00:20:03.240 All right, you did good so far. So here's question number two. 217 00:20:06.039 --> 00:20:10.509 What was the last thing that Jesus did before he ascended to his father? 218 00:20:12.750 --> 00:20:19.509 The last thing Jesus did before he ascended to his father two things. One, 219 00:20:22.980 --> 00:20:27.660 he went up onto a mountain and Jesus spoke to them, saying all 220 00:20:27.740 --> 00:20:33.220 authority and Heaven and on Earth has been given to me. Go there for 221 00:20:33.579 --> 00:20:37.690 and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the 222 00:20:37.849 --> 00:20:41.609 father and of the son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe 223 00:20:41.650 --> 00:20:45.089 all things that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you 224 00:20:45.170 --> 00:20:49.240 always, even to the end of the age. Matthew, twenty eight. 225 00:20:51.599 --> 00:20:53.640 And the other thing that we read is right there at the beginning of acts, 226 00:20:53.640 --> 00:21:00.920 acts one, eight and nine, he says it is not for you 227 00:21:00.960 --> 00:21:04.630 to know times or seasons which the fathers put in his own authority, but 228 00:21:04.910 --> 00:21:10.789 you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you 229 00:21:10.950 --> 00:21:15.869 shall be witnesses to me in Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria and to the ends 230 00:21:17.230 --> 00:21:19.980 of the Earth. Now, when he had spoken these things while they watched, 231 00:21:21.339 --> 00:21:26.460 he was taken up and a cloud received him out of their sight. 232 00:21:26.700 --> 00:21:32.970 The last act of the Messiah, before he ascended to take his throne and 233 00:21:33.329 --> 00:21:37.650 glory, was to entrust the fate of the world, to entrust the fate 234 00:21:37.730 --> 00:21:48.000 of every man and woman and boy and girl to us, to nincompoops like 235 00:21:48.119 --> 00:21:53.640 you and me. He decided to use US and our willingness to be his 236 00:21:53.880 --> 00:22:00.990 witnesses to make the difference between Heaven and Hell for every person on this planet. 237 00:22:02.349 --> 00:22:06.950 That's the second thing. What did he do? He said, I 238 00:22:07.109 --> 00:22:15.150 want you to go. Third Question. Do you believe Jesus knows what he's 239 00:22:15.190 --> 00:22:25.940 doing? You and I are far too realistic to in trust so great a 240 00:22:26.059 --> 00:22:32.089 responsibility to people like us. And even if there weren't anything wrong with us, 241 00:22:32.329 --> 00:22:34.170 I mean because we've got it all pretty much together right. But even 242 00:22:34.170 --> 00:22:37.650 if there wasn't anything wrong with us, this world that was a joke. 243 00:22:38.089 --> 00:22:44.839 This world is a really hostile place for this great commission to be any sort 244 00:22:44.880 --> 00:22:49.440 of reasonable expectation. I want you, a bunch of silly, jokey, 245 00:22:49.960 --> 00:22:55.839 sinful, foolish people, to take the message of the Messiah, the Savior 246 00:22:55.880 --> 00:23:03.390 of the world, to people everywhere. Mean how can weak people like you 247 00:23:03.549 --> 00:23:10.430 and I stand up to the powers and principalities of this world? Peter says 248 00:23:10.710 --> 00:23:15.900 that our enemy, the devil, prows about like a roaring lion seeking those 249 00:23:15.980 --> 00:23:22.859 whom he might devour. Our enemy. It's not just those people over there, 250 00:23:22.900 --> 00:23:26.019 and there's no people who are enemy. Our enemy, according to scripture, 251 00:23:26.099 --> 00:23:30.569 is the evil one, Satan, and he schemes and he uses the 252 00:23:30.690 --> 00:23:37.450 world and he uses our own sinful natures against us to devour us like a 253 00:23:37.609 --> 00:23:41.640 lion. And Peter goes on to say he's doing this everywhere you go in 254 00:23:41.680 --> 00:23:48.519 the whole world. See, like the Hebrews, we have been delivered from 255 00:23:48.640 --> 00:23:56.349 slavery to Faaraoh, only our Faraoh wasn't a man. Our Faraoh was the 256 00:23:56.470 --> 00:24:03.789 power of sin. Our Pharaoh was our old nature, the sin and condemnation 257 00:24:04.029 --> 00:24:11.059 that was controlling us, ruining our lives, destroying us, making us serve 258 00:24:11.700 --> 00:24:18.259 sin. And it isn't a coincidence that John repeatedly refers to Jesus and revelation 259 00:24:18.380 --> 00:24:23.970 as a lamb. Twenty seven times in the book of revelation he refers to 260 00:24:25.089 --> 00:24:30.329 Jesus as a lamb, usually a lamb who has been slain and Jesus preserve. 261 00:24:30.450 --> 00:24:37.049 John Presents Jesus as a lamb to remind us that Jesus is our Passover. 262 00:24:38.559 --> 00:24:44.960 He is the perfect, spotless lamb who was slain so that we might 263 00:24:45.119 --> 00:24:52.160 go free from bondage to follow him and serve him in his promised land that 264 00:24:52.319 --> 00:25:00.430 is in glory forever. And yet, like the Hebrews fleeing Egypt, between 265 00:25:00.509 --> 00:25:06.950 us and the promised land is this parched, miserable bewilderness. Between US and 266 00:25:07.180 --> 00:25:15.700 glory is a lifetime of suffering. It's dry, it's so spiritually dry. 267 00:25:15.859 --> 00:25:21.140 It's a hostile life. We have to live in their enemies everywhere and as 268 00:25:21.259 --> 00:25:25.529 we go along and we feel like maybe at best we're getting our daily bread 269 00:25:25.569 --> 00:25:30.369 and little else, we find ourselves yearning for the flesh pots we've left behind, 270 00:25:30.450 --> 00:25:37.720 the lusts and the allurements of those that those who follow Christ have to 271 00:25:37.880 --> 00:25:45.519 abandon, like the Hebrews abandoning Egypt. And like those Hebrews, we too 272 00:25:45.599 --> 00:25:52.589 have been charged to take the land, only this time the land is no 273 00:25:52.789 --> 00:25:56.269 longer Canaan, and this time I wept. Our weapon is not a sword. 274 00:25:57.309 --> 00:26:03.190 Now, according to Luke and acts one eight, the land is Jerusalem, 275 00:26:03.230 --> 00:26:08.140 Judea, Samaria and to the ends of the Earth. That is the 276 00:26:08.220 --> 00:26:17.059 land, and our weapon of warfare is the word of God. We read 277 00:26:17.140 --> 00:26:22.450 that the law came through Moses, but grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. 278 00:26:22.650 --> 00:26:27.569 Through Moses, God told his people to slaughter the Canaanites and to take 279 00:26:27.690 --> 00:26:34.319 their land captive. Through Jesus, the Prophet Raader Than Moses, God tells 280 00:26:34.359 --> 00:26:40.640 us to take every thought captive, to be ready, in season and out, 281 00:26:40.759 --> 00:26:44.720 to proclaim the word, to always to be ready to give an answer 282 00:26:44.759 --> 00:26:48.789 to everyone who asks us for a reason for the hope that we have within 283 00:26:48.910 --> 00:26:52.029 us. And he does that all to the end that his kingdom would come, 284 00:26:52.390 --> 00:26:56.630 and it is will would be done on earth, even as it is 285 00:26:57.230 --> 00:27:02.940 in heaven. All Authority, he said, on hat in heaven and on 286 00:27:03.059 --> 00:27:14.579 Earth, has been given to me. Therefore, you go now. For 287 00:27:14.700 --> 00:27:17.849 those of you who are keeping score, I said there were four questions. 288 00:27:17.930 --> 00:27:22.930 As going to ask. So here's the fourth question. Why in the world 289 00:27:23.049 --> 00:27:30.200 am I talking about God's call to mission and the book of revelation at the 290 00:27:30.240 --> 00:27:37.519 same time? nonsecuit or anyone. Well, in order to answer that, 291 00:27:37.680 --> 00:27:42.759 let me ask you this question. What is the purpose of revelation? That's 292 00:27:42.759 --> 00:27:48.309 your fourth question. What is the purpose of revelation? Is it to titilate 293 00:27:48.430 --> 00:27:55.789 you with far fetched ideas about men in rocket suits and helicopters? Is it 294 00:27:55.950 --> 00:28:00.380 to frighten you that the Youn or the trilateral commission is going to take make 295 00:28:00.420 --> 00:28:03.980 you tattoo a bar code on your forehead? Is that why he gave us 296 00:28:04.059 --> 00:28:14.250 revelation? Come on, Oh, the purpose of revelation is to encourage you 297 00:28:14.569 --> 00:28:19.970 in your work of mission. That, after all, is why you're here. 298 00:28:22.130 --> 00:28:26.329 It's not to read scary books or to bury emmo in the desert. 299 00:28:26.369 --> 00:28:30.880 Our God has given us the book of revelation because he is an incredibly realistic 300 00:28:32.160 --> 00:28:37.240 God. He has given us a commission. He's given us the Great Commission 301 00:28:37.640 --> 00:28:45.150 to take the good news about Jesus to everybody on this planet. But he 302 00:28:45.430 --> 00:28:52.029 knows what we're like. We are easily frightened and if we're not easily frightened. 303 00:28:52.069 --> 00:28:56.460 We're easily distracted and if it's not fried or distraction, it's well, 304 00:28:56.500 --> 00:29:03.059 it's always something, isn't it? There's always something to get us disengaged from 305 00:29:03.099 --> 00:29:08.180 this awesome missionary calling that he's given to us. And so he's given us 306 00:29:08.380 --> 00:29:15.690 this book to remind us of the big picture as he sends us out. 307 00:29:17.930 --> 00:29:22.690 So let me say this again. The purpose of revelation is to encourage you 308 00:29:22.970 --> 00:29:30.000 in the work of mission. We weren't left behind, we were left for 309 00:29:30.240 --> 00:29:37.039 mission. Now here's let me explain this. Step back a second, explain 310 00:29:37.160 --> 00:29:41.269 this in a way that may help you understand what I'm trying to get at 311 00:29:41.309 --> 00:29:45.630 about revelation. Okay, revelation is at the end of the Bible, but 312 00:29:45.789 --> 00:29:49.630 instead of thinking of revelation where it's physically placed, at the end of the 313 00:29:49.750 --> 00:29:55.220 Bible, I want you to think of revelation is belonging somewhere else, at 314 00:29:55.259 --> 00:30:03.779 least thematically or or conceptually. So let me draw a structural parallel for you 315 00:30:03.940 --> 00:30:08.009 between the Old Testament and the New Testament. In the beginning of the Old 316 00:30:08.130 --> 00:30:15.369 Testament, Moses gives four books, four books that describe the formation of God's 317 00:30:15.450 --> 00:30:22.599 people, their liberation from slavery and their receipt of a great mission. And 318 00:30:22.759 --> 00:30:26.680 then, starting with Joshua, we have twelve historical books describing for us the 319 00:30:26.880 --> 00:30:30.880 history of Israel's living out that mission as they go to take the land. 320 00:30:30.880 --> 00:30:37.549 Right then, after the histories, we have the prophets, and the purpose 321 00:30:37.630 --> 00:30:41.269 of the prophets is to help the people figure out what Faithful Covenant Life looks 322 00:30:41.309 --> 00:30:48.109 like as they're on their mission to take the land. But I left something 323 00:30:48.190 --> 00:30:55.339 out. What comes between the first four books of the law and the beginning 324 00:30:55.380 --> 00:31:00.900 of their mission in Joshua? What comes comes between the creation of God's people 325 00:31:00.299 --> 00:31:07.569 and their mission? It's the book of Deuteronomy. And what is Deuteronomy? 326 00:31:08.289 --> 00:31:14.970 Well, Deuteronomy is Moses is reminding his people of the big picture. Right 327 00:31:15.130 --> 00:31:19.480 before he departs to be with God, right before he dies and Joshua leads 328 00:31:19.559 --> 00:31:25.920 them to conquer the land, Moses reminds the people of this wonderful, gracious 329 00:31:26.160 --> 00:31:30.319 covenant that God has given them. He reminds them of the law, he 330 00:31:30.480 --> 00:31:34.069 reminds them that their God will never leave them nor forsake them, and he 331 00:31:34.349 --> 00:31:40.230 reminds them that though they will face trial and suffering, he will be with 332 00:31:41.069 --> 00:31:48.059 them. So with that in mind, here's my parallel again. It's thematic. 333 00:31:48.460 --> 00:31:52.819 In the beginning of the New Testament, Jesus gives us four books, 334 00:31:55.539 --> 00:31:59.980 four books that describe for us the formation of the New Testament, Israel, 335 00:32:00.180 --> 00:32:07.049 the church. And those books describe the Church's Liberation From slavery to sin and 336 00:32:07.210 --> 00:32:12.410 the receipt of a great mission. And then what do we have? Well, 337 00:32:12.450 --> 00:32:15.450 we have a book of history, the Book of acts, and the 338 00:32:15.529 --> 00:32:20.359 book of acts describes the very beginning of the church's mission as they set out 339 00:32:20.400 --> 00:32:24.039 from Jerusalem to Judea, to Samaria and finally to the end of the Earth, 340 00:32:24.160 --> 00:32:29.200 represented by the city of Rome. And then, after the history, 341 00:32:30.069 --> 00:32:36.349 we have the epistles, which help us figure out what Faithful Covenant Life Looks 342 00:32:36.390 --> 00:32:44.420 Like as we take the Gospel to the ends of the Earth. Now I 343 00:32:44.619 --> 00:32:51.380 want you to think of revelation as being the New Testament Deuteronomy. Instead of 344 00:32:51.460 --> 00:32:54.460 envisioning it at the end of the Bible with the implication that it's about the 345 00:32:54.619 --> 00:33:00.769 end times, try thinking about it as lodged right between John and acts. 346 00:33:02.369 --> 00:33:10.849 Think of Revelation Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, revelation acts. See 347 00:33:12.650 --> 00:33:20.039 like Moses right before John, the last Living Apostle, a one hundred some 348 00:33:20.200 --> 00:33:23.880 odd year old man. He's a man who's been persecuted. He was reputed 349 00:33:23.920 --> 00:33:30.269 to have been bald and all beaten and finally exiled to this little tiny speck 350 00:33:30.390 --> 00:33:38.029 of an island right before the last of the apostles dies. He reminds us 351 00:33:38.630 --> 00:33:45.140 of the big picture. He reminds us of the big picture so that we 352 00:33:45.220 --> 00:33:54.180 will have a powerful encouragement today as we go to take the land bless it 353 00:33:54.299 --> 00:34:00.569 is he who reads and those who hear the words of this prophecy and keep 354 00:34:00.690 --> 00:34:06.529 those things which are written in it. For the time is near, John 355 00:34:06.650 --> 00:34:14.599 says, but near for what? Well, you remember how the book of 356 00:34:14.639 --> 00:34:21.679 Joshua Begins. We're told that Moses dies after the death of Moses, the 357 00:34:21.840 --> 00:34:24.550 servants of the Lord. It came to pass that the Lord spoke to Joshua, 358 00:34:24.750 --> 00:34:30.309 the son of none, Moses is assistant, saying Moses, my servant 359 00:34:30.429 --> 00:34:35.510 is dead. You gotta love those like self evident truths like well, we 360 00:34:35.670 --> 00:34:38.579 just buried him, Yep, he's Dad. Okay, Moses is dead. 361 00:34:39.059 --> 00:34:44.059 Now, therefore, arise, go over this Jordan, you and all the 362 00:34:44.219 --> 00:34:46.219 people, to the land which I am giving to them. The children of 363 00:34:46.300 --> 00:34:51.500 Israel, every place that the soul of your foot will tread upon, I 364 00:34:51.619 --> 00:34:54.730 have given to you, as I said to Moses, from the Wilderness and 365 00:34:54.889 --> 00:34:59.570 this Lebanon, as far as the great river, the River Euphrates, all 366 00:34:59.650 --> 00:35:02.969 the land of the hittights and to the great sea going down toward the Sun, 367 00:35:04.210 --> 00:35:07.440 shall be your territory. No Man shall be able to stand before you 368 00:35:07.559 --> 00:35:13.000 all the days of your life, as I was with Moses. So I 369 00:35:13.159 --> 00:35:19.920 will be with you. I will not leave you nor forsake you. And 370 00:35:20.199 --> 00:35:23.710 shortly after we read this in chapter five, and it came to pass, 371 00:35:23.829 --> 00:35:28.789 when Joshua was by Jericho, that he lifted his eyes and looked and behold 372 00:35:28.829 --> 00:35:32.869 a man stood opposite him with his sword drawn in his hand, and Joshua 373 00:35:32.909 --> 00:35:37.420 went to him and said, are you for us or for our adversaries? 374 00:35:37.260 --> 00:35:42.500 So the man said no, but as the commander of the Army of the 375 00:35:42.659 --> 00:35:47.219 Lord, I have now come. And Joshua fell on his face to the 376 00:35:47.460 --> 00:35:52.610 earth and worshiped and said to him, what does my Lord say to his 377 00:35:52.809 --> 00:35:57.090 servant? Then the commander of the Lord's Army said to Joshua, take your 378 00:35:57.210 --> 00:36:00.889 sandal off your foot, for the place where you stand is holy, and 379 00:36:01.090 --> 00:36:09.639 Joshua did so. This is Jesus appearing to Joshua. That's why Joshua falls 380 00:36:09.719 --> 00:36:20.110 down and calls him Lord. Moses is dead. So now the people are 381 00:36:20.190 --> 00:36:23.590 to follow the Lord himself who, as the commander of the Army of the 382 00:36:23.670 --> 00:36:30.949 Lord, will lead them personally into battle. So, with that in mind, 383 00:36:30.989 --> 00:36:37.659 I asked the question again. The time is near for what? Well, 384 00:36:37.179 --> 00:36:43.780 what do we see in revelation? Right after we're shown the vision of 385 00:36:43.980 --> 00:36:49.610 Jesus in His glory reigning in Heaven. In revelation chapter six, we read 386 00:36:49.690 --> 00:36:52.610 this. Now, when the lamb open and one of the seals, I 387 00:36:52.769 --> 00:36:57.210 heard one of the four living creatures saying, with a voice like thunder, 388 00:36:57.369 --> 00:37:01.320 come and see, and I looked and behold a white horse, and he 389 00:37:01.519 --> 00:37:06.360 who sat on it had a bow and a crown was given to him, 390 00:37:06.360 --> 00:37:13.000 and he went forth conquering and to conquer. Who Rides on the White Horse? 391 00:37:14.480 --> 00:37:19.150 It's the good guy, right, right, it's the good guy. 392 00:37:20.150 --> 00:37:23.030 You See, as he did for Joshua, the Lord Jesus, who is 393 00:37:23.269 --> 00:37:29.269 the commander of the Army of the Lord, leads his people into battle. 394 00:37:31.300 --> 00:37:37.380 So the time is come for what? Well, according to revelation. The 395 00:37:37.579 --> 00:37:40.579 time has come for each of us to shake the dust off our feet, 396 00:37:40.980 --> 00:37:45.449 to gird up our loins, to arm ourselves with the full armor of God 397 00:37:45.690 --> 00:37:51.610 that Paul Describes, so that we can set out following the commander of the 398 00:37:51.809 --> 00:37:58.010 Army of the Lord as he goes forth conquering and to conquer. The time 399 00:37:58.250 --> 00:38:02.400 is near for each of God's people to stand up to the Dragon, that 400 00:38:02.840 --> 00:38:07.559 serpent of old called the devil and Satan, and to take the Gospel, 401 00:38:08.039 --> 00:38:12.989 not the sword of the flesh, but the sword of the spirit, to 402 00:38:13.070 --> 00:38:19.110 the very ends of the earth. See that that is what revelation is all 403 00:38:19.190 --> 00:38:30.059 about. So what's the point then? What's this big picture that John is 404 00:38:30.179 --> 00:38:35.460 showing us? Well, I want you to bear with me while I read 405 00:38:35.500 --> 00:38:39.059 a couple of sort of lengthy passages, but because their pat lengthy, I 406 00:38:39.099 --> 00:38:43.369 want you to follow along with me. So if you take two fingers and 407 00:38:43.650 --> 00:38:51.489 stick one at revelation five and one at revelation nineteen, want you to read 408 00:38:51.530 --> 00:39:08.159 along with me revelation five one and nineteen. Chapter Nineteen Ready, Chapter Five, 409 00:39:08.239 --> 00:39:13.670 verse one. And I saw in the right hand who of Him who 410 00:39:13.710 --> 00:39:17.710 sat on the throne, a scroll written inside and on the back sealed with 411 00:39:17.869 --> 00:39:23.230 seven seals. Then I saw a strong angel proclaiming with a loud voice who 412 00:39:23.340 --> 00:39:29.900 is worthy to open the scroll and to loose at seals? And no one 413 00:39:29.980 --> 00:39:32.099 in heaven or on Earth or under the Earth was able to open the scroll 414 00:39:32.300 --> 00:39:37.739 or look at it. So I wept much because no one was found worthy 415 00:39:37.820 --> 00:39:40.289 to open and read the scroll or look at it. But one of the 416 00:39:40.369 --> 00:39:45.210 elders said to me, do not weep, behold the lion of the tribe 417 00:39:45.289 --> 00:39:50.650 of Judah, the root of David, has prevailed to open the scroll and 418 00:39:50.769 --> 00:39:54.000 to loose its seven seals. And I looked and behold, in the midst 419 00:39:54.039 --> 00:39:57.719 of the throne and of the four living creatures and in the midst of the 420 00:39:57.760 --> 00:40:01.119 elders, stood the lamb, as though it had been slain, having seven 421 00:40:01.239 --> 00:40:06.079 horns and seven eyes, which are the seven spirits of God sent out into 422 00:40:06.079 --> 00:40:09.469 all the earth. Then he came and took the scroll out of the right 423 00:40:09.510 --> 00:40:14.110 hand of Him who sat on the throne. Now, when he had taken 424 00:40:14.150 --> 00:40:17.150 the scroll, the four living creatures and the twenty four elders fell down before 425 00:40:17.190 --> 00:40:22.820 the lamb, each having a harp and Golden Bowls full of incense. which 426 00:40:22.820 --> 00:40:24.860 are the prayers of the saints, and they sang a new song, saying 427 00:40:25.699 --> 00:40:30.539 you are worthy to take the scroll and to open it seals, for you 428 00:40:30.659 --> 00:40:34.900 were slain and you have redeemed us to God by your blood, out of 429 00:40:35.019 --> 00:40:38.849 every tribe and tongue and people and nation, and have made us kings and 430 00:40:39.090 --> 00:40:44.809 priests to our God, and we shall reign on the earth. Then I 431 00:40:45.010 --> 00:40:47.889 looked and I heard the voice of many angels around the throne, the living 432 00:40:49.050 --> 00:40:52.400 creatures and the elders, and the number of them was ten thousand, time 433 00:40:52.559 --> 00:40:57.920 ten thousand, and thousands of thousands sang with a loud voice. Worthy is 434 00:40:58.000 --> 00:41:01.599 the lamb who was slain to receive power and riches and wisdom and strength and 435 00:41:01.760 --> 00:41:07.150 honor and glory and blessing, and every creature which is in heaven and on 436 00:41:07.230 --> 00:41:09.309 the Earth and under the earth and such as are in the sea and all 437 00:41:09.389 --> 00:41:14.630 that in we're in them. I heard saying blessing and honor and glory and 438 00:41:14.750 --> 00:41:19.460 Power Be Unto Him who sits on the throne into the lamb forever and ever. 439 00:41:20.179 --> 00:41:23.699 Then the for living creatures set Amen and the twenty four elders fell down 440 00:41:23.820 --> 00:41:29.980 and worshiped him who lives forever and ever. And when I saw that, 441 00:41:30.059 --> 00:41:32.369 the lamb opened one of the seals and I heard one of the four living 442 00:41:32.449 --> 00:41:37.849 creatures saying, with a loud voice like thunder, come and see, and 443 00:41:37.010 --> 00:41:42.849 I looked and behold a white horse, and so on, as we read 444 00:41:42.889 --> 00:41:50.880 earlier, and then in revelation nineteen and beginning in the eleven first this is 445 00:41:50.920 --> 00:41:54.320 where we see the guy on the white horse come back. In chapter six 446 00:41:54.480 --> 00:42:00.000 he goes forth conquering into conquer and in Chapter Nineteen we read this now. 447 00:42:00.039 --> 00:42:05.269 I saw heaven opened and behold a white horse, and he who sat on 448 00:42:05.309 --> 00:42:08.710 him was called faithful and true. And in righteousness he judges, in makes 449 00:42:08.789 --> 00:42:13.349 war. His eyes were like a flame of fire, and on his head 450 00:42:13.429 --> 00:42:16.579 were many crowns. He had a name written that no one knew except himself. 451 00:42:17.300 --> 00:42:22.059 He was clothed with a robe drenched in blood. In his name is 452 00:42:22.179 --> 00:42:25.579 called the word of God, and the armies in heaven, clothed in fine 453 00:42:25.659 --> 00:42:30.889 linen, wide and clean, followed him on white horses. Now out of 454 00:42:30.929 --> 00:42:34.690 his mouth goes a sharp sword, that with it he should strike the nation's 455 00:42:35.170 --> 00:42:38.489 and he himself will rule them with a rod of iron. He himself treads 456 00:42:38.610 --> 00:42:44.250 the wine press of the fierceness and Wrath of Almighty God, and he has 457 00:42:44.320 --> 00:42:49.599 on his robe and on his thigh and name written king of kings and Lord 458 00:42:49.760 --> 00:42:52.960 of Lords. Then I saw an angel standing in the sun and he cried 459 00:42:53.079 --> 00:42:57.079 with a loud voice, saying to all the birds that fly in the midst 460 00:42:57.079 --> 00:43:00.389 of Heaven, come and gather together for the supper of the Great God, 461 00:43:00.829 --> 00:43:04.909 that you may eat the flesh of kings, the flesh of captains, the 462 00:43:04.989 --> 00:43:07.869 flesh of mighty men, the flesh of horses and those who sit on them, 463 00:43:08.190 --> 00:43:12.590 and the flesh of all people, free and slave, both small and 464 00:43:12.789 --> 00:43:15.820 great. And I saw the beast. The kings of the earth and their 465 00:43:15.860 --> 00:43:21.099 armies gathered together to make war against him who sat on the horse and against 466 00:43:21.179 --> 00:43:25.139 his army. Then the beast was captured and with him the false prophet who 467 00:43:25.139 --> 00:43:30.610 worked signs in his presence by which he deceived those who received the mark of 468 00:43:30.690 --> 00:43:35.130 the beast and those who worshiped his image. These two were cast alive into 469 00:43:35.170 --> 00:43:38.210 the lake of burning fire, burning with brimstone, and the rest were killed 470 00:43:38.289 --> 00:43:42.719 with the sword which proceeded from the mouth of Him who sat on the Horse, 471 00:43:43.159 --> 00:43:46.920 and all the birds were filled with their flesh. Then I saw an 472 00:43:46.920 --> 00:43:52.800 angel coming down from heaven, having the key to the bottomless pit and a 473 00:43:52.920 --> 00:43:57.150 great chain in his hand, and he laid hold of the Dragon, that 474 00:43:57.429 --> 00:44:00.710 serpent of old, who is called the devil and Satan, and bound him 475 00:44:00.789 --> 00:44:05.190 for a thousand years, and he cast him into the bottomless pit and shut 476 00:44:05.230 --> 00:44:08.309 him up and set a seal on him so that he should deceive the nation's 477 00:44:08.469 --> 00:44:14.300 no more till the thousand years were finished. But after these things he must 478 00:44:14.300 --> 00:44:20.500 be released, least for a time. Now, quickly, remembering that an 479 00:44:20.579 --> 00:44:24.730 apocalyptic literature, you're not focusing on the details, but on the big picture. 480 00:44:27.170 --> 00:44:30.849 What does it seem like? The point is it might help you to 481 00:44:30.929 --> 00:44:36.090 know that a thousand years stands for a vast span of time. It's the 482 00:44:36.210 --> 00:44:40.440 period from Christ's ascension to a second coming, and the defeated army is everything 483 00:44:40.559 --> 00:44:45.840 that opposes God's people as they seek to be faithful in their mission. It's 484 00:44:45.920 --> 00:44:51.800 kings and philosophers and mockers and persecutors, it's all the forces of the world, 485 00:44:51.920 --> 00:44:57.150 the flesh and the devil that Satan uses to deter God's people from telling 486 00:44:57.190 --> 00:45:01.710 the World About The gospel of Jesus Christ. And did you notice why? 487 00:45:01.909 --> 00:45:07.460 We're told Satan is bound and restrained? It's so he should deceive the nations 488 00:45:07.619 --> 00:45:14.380 no longer. It's so that the nation's might hear and believe the good news 489 00:45:14.619 --> 00:45:17.860 that we have been sent to tell them. So again, with that said, 490 00:45:20.579 --> 00:45:25.170 what's the big picture? What stands out here? Might also help you 491 00:45:25.289 --> 00:45:30.570 to know that the scroll that the lamb opens is the book in which he's 492 00:45:30.610 --> 00:45:35.960 written every detail of history, from the beginning to the end. It's symbolizes 493 00:45:36.000 --> 00:45:42.079 Christ's power and authority over every single detail of history and of all the facts 494 00:45:42.119 --> 00:45:45.320 of the universe. So, again, what stands out to you here? 495 00:45:47.079 --> 00:45:59.070 Who Wins? Who Rules? Who is reigning? Now, Jesus, the 496 00:45:59.190 --> 00:46:02.269 king of kings and the Lord of Lords, see like toto in the wizard 497 00:46:02.349 --> 00:46:07.460 of Oz, the littlest apostle, John, pulls back the curtain to show 498 00:46:07.460 --> 00:46:13.820 us what's going on behind the scenes in this fallen world in which we live. 499 00:46:14.579 --> 00:46:16.820 And when he pulls that curtain back in the book of revelation, what 500 00:46:16.940 --> 00:46:22.369 do we see? What we see is that that dragon, that terrifying serpent 501 00:46:22.449 --> 00:46:28.050 of old, who is the devil and Satan, he is nothing he is 502 00:46:28.090 --> 00:46:32.039 a great fool who has no power over the Church of Jesus Christ. He 503 00:46:32.119 --> 00:46:38.760 has bound with a chain like a yard dog. He is nothing compared to 504 00:46:38.880 --> 00:46:44.280 our king, who has gone forth conquering into conquer and is coming back soon 505 00:46:44.559 --> 00:46:47.989 with a robe drenched with the blood of his enemies. And why is Satan 506 00:46:49.110 --> 00:46:55.230 nothing? Well, the two names mentioned. They're literally the devil and Satan. 507 00:46:57.269 --> 00:47:00.699 It's the one who has cast out and the accuser. That's what those 508 00:47:00.739 --> 00:47:08.500 two meet names mean. He has been cast out, but we stand before 509 00:47:08.579 --> 00:47:14.539 our King's presence day and night and in the face of all of his accusations. 510 00:47:14.699 --> 00:47:19.250 Were loves, your nose in your sin, Paul cries out. He 511 00:47:19.409 --> 00:47:24.289 says, who shall bring a charge against God's elect who is he who condemns? 512 00:47:24.329 --> 00:47:29.849 It is Christ who died and, furthermore, is now risen, who 513 00:47:29.969 --> 00:47:32.559 is even at the right hand of God, who makes intercession for us? 514 00:47:32.840 --> 00:47:40.320 Who Are you, Satan? I have Jesus see, the point of revelation 515 00:47:40.760 --> 00:47:46.750 isn't speculation. It isn't given to be fodder for our paranoia. It isn't 516 00:47:46.789 --> 00:47:52.510 there to make us afraid of conglomerates or multinational organizations or the World Bank or 517 00:47:52.550 --> 00:47:58.860 whatever it's not given to us so we can figure out exactly how Donald Trump 518 00:47:59.139 --> 00:48:02.820 or our Vladimir Putin is the Anti Christ. That's not why it's given and 519 00:48:04.019 --> 00:48:07.860 it's certainly isn't there to tell us to go hunker down because when the tribulation 520 00:48:08.139 --> 00:48:13.409 comes, we're all going to be safely raptured away, because obviously God always 521 00:48:13.449 --> 00:48:16.849 pulls his people out of the fire. Wait, he doesn't do that. 522 00:48:19.889 --> 00:48:27.440 It tells us that tribulation is now. Satan is troubling us now, and 523 00:48:27.599 --> 00:48:31.079 he is doing so because he wants us, wants to stop us from following 524 00:48:31.119 --> 00:48:37.960 our king as our king goes forth conquering and to conquer subduing the hearts of 525 00:48:37.039 --> 00:48:43.630 the world through the beauty of the message aged, the message of revelation is 526 00:48:43.750 --> 00:48:49.309 to encourage God's people for the work of mission. It is to encourage us 527 00:48:49.349 --> 00:48:52.949 as we set out to share the good news with other people, to the 528 00:48:52.989 --> 00:48:57.579 end that every nation, tribe, tongue and people might hear about Jesus. 529 00:48:59.059 --> 00:49:06.659 The purpose of revelation is to prepare you for mission by reminding you of the 530 00:49:06.820 --> 00:49:15.530 big picture, and that big picture is the Christ is on His throne today 531 00:49:16.369 --> 00:49:21.969 and that Satan is no more a threat to Christ church than the wizard of 532 00:49:22.090 --> 00:49:29.320 Oz and, as Paul says. Yet in all these things we are more 533 00:49:29.480 --> 00:49:34.480 than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am persuaded that neither death 534 00:49:34.639 --> 00:49:38.150 nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present 535 00:49:38.349 --> 00:49:43.070 nor things to come, nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing 536 00:49:43.590 --> 00:49:46.230 shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ. 537 00:49:46.349 --> 00:49:55.579 Jesus are listen. No matter what you are facing, then you are 538 00:49:55.619 --> 00:50:02.699 already more than a conqueror through him who loves you, and that is really 539 00:50:04.300 --> 00:50:07.610 good news. Amen, let's pray