WEBVTT 00:00:00.180 --> 00:00:02.560 I'm going to invite you today to Revelation. 00:00:03.020 --> 00:00:04.250 Chapter one is where we're at together. 00:00:05.300 --> 00:00:07.460 Revelation chapter one. 00:00:07.460 --> 00:00:14.340 where, anytime you get to the book of Revelation, you just you just say to yourself, oh, we're going to open the can of crazy today, are we? 00:00:14.340 --> 00:00:15.430 And get into that book. 00:00:15.700 --> 00:00:24.080 I find when people talk about this book, there is some fondness I think people have for it, because you look at the imagery that's described, it's beautiful. 00:00:24.100 --> 00:00:28.080 and but some of that imagery, for some of us, it's clouded in a little bit of mystery. 00:00:28.080 --> 00:00:29.040 We don't understand. 00:00:29.280 --> 00:00:32.210 So there's this kind of attraction to the book one, because it's a beautiful book. 00:00:32.680 --> 00:00:35.260 You know, it's talking about the future, so that gets people excited. 00:00:35.740 --> 00:00:38.480 Then there's a little bit of mystery, of not quite knowing what it is. 00:00:38.620 --> 00:00:41.580 For some of us, it causes maybe a little bit of fear, you know. 00:00:41.600 --> 00:00:48.880 And I encourage you last week, written to the church, this book is not a book written to the church to make you walk in fear, but rather 00:00:48.880 --> 00:00:49.760 in hope. 00:00:49.900 --> 00:00:55.160 This is a this is a book of hope for God's people to know that God is still in control and has a plan. 00:00:55.180 --> 00:00:59.580 So this shouldn't be a book that causes you fear. 00:00:59.640 --> 00:01:03.420 So that's generally a the typical group of people I find with Revelation. 00:01:03.600 --> 00:01:03.640 Right. 00:01:03.720 --> 00:01:06.220 There's like I like it I like what I'm reading. 00:01:06.220 --> 00:01:08.930 I don't completely understand it, but it seems like a great book. 00:01:09.000 --> 00:01:09.560 Right. 00:01:09.560 --> 00:01:17.120 And then there's another group, and I'm just going to pretend like everybody today is in that first group, because in that other group, these 00:01:17.120 --> 00:01:21.200 are the people that get out the flip charts and just walk paranoid all the time. 00:01:21.200 --> 00:01:25.740 They're kind of like they do the Cramer everywhere they go and everything they say reverts back to Revelation. 00:01:26.860 --> 00:01:28.420 that's weird. 00:01:28.420 --> 00:01:28.760 All right. 00:01:28.760 --> 00:01:35.060 So if we if that's you today, we want you to start moving to the first group. 00:01:35.060 --> 00:01:38.860 And then we're going to walk through the mystery of Revelation together and understand what it is. 00:01:38.880 --> 00:01:43.280 And to be honest, at different points in my life, I probably fell in either one of those groups. 00:01:43.380 --> 00:01:43.720 Right? 00:01:43.780 --> 00:01:50.800 I one of the things that I've, as I've read Revelation, I think is a beautiful image for me, or maybe a maybe not beautiful, 00:01:50.820 --> 00:01:57.960 but an image that kind of describes how I've seen Revelation is the image that I was familiar 00:01:57.960 --> 00:01:59.540 with in the 90s. 00:01:59.620 --> 00:02:04.800 I don't know if it was like this everywhere but the mall where I grew up in the 90s, malls were cool. 00:02:04.920 --> 00:02:07.500 People used to hang out kids, in case you're curious about that. 00:02:07.500 --> 00:02:09.970 But when I remember in the 90s, when you. 00:02:09.979 --> 00:02:17.100 I don't know if I was never cool, but in the 90s, you walk through the mall and there were these photos that would often come across that 00:02:17.100 --> 00:02:19.040 were they're called autostereograms. 00:02:19.760 --> 00:02:24.940 I don't know if you're familiar with these, if they were where you grew up, but you'd walk by these little kiosks in the middle of the mall. 00:02:24.960 --> 00:02:32.020 And there were always these photos of autostereograms, which are these images that if you stare at long enough, they're supposed to be something that kind of pops out 00:02:32.020 --> 00:02:32.710 of them. 00:02:32.820 --> 00:02:39.860 And I don't even know if this would work, but I just I got one off the internet and it just kind of Wikipedia provided this one, but it just kind of pops out to 00:02:39.860 --> 00:02:43.190 you and you look at the image long enough, you start to see something emerge. 00:02:43.840 --> 00:02:48.770 Well, part of my frustration with these autostereograms is I have never been able to do one. 00:02:49.060 --> 00:02:51.030 I mean, it doesn't matter how long I've stared at these things. 00:02:51.300 --> 00:02:56.490 I mean, it got to the point where I would sit and stare and stare and stare and I would ask strangers walking by me, what do you see? 00:02:56.920 --> 00:02:57.860 And they would tell me something. 00:02:58.000 --> 00:02:58.660 I'd get so mad. 00:02:58.660 --> 00:03:02.120 I'm like, you made it up, and the next person come by, you'd be like, what do you see? 00:03:02.280 --> 00:03:05.860 And then they would say what the other person said without even talking to each other. 00:03:05.860 --> 00:03:07.360 I'm like, man, right? 00:03:07.360 --> 00:03:09.070 So frustrating, I don't understand. 00:03:09.720 --> 00:03:12.960 Well, for a lot of people, I think that's what Revelation is. 00:03:13.820 --> 00:03:18.930 And we get into a big mistake when we read this book and we think, is John's writing this letter to the church? 00:03:19.240 --> 00:03:22.300 He's thinking about 21st century America, right? 00:03:22.320 --> 00:03:25.130 He's like, man, I can't wait till these guys get this book. 00:03:25.240 --> 00:03:27.700 This book is going to mean nothing to people for 20 centuries. 00:03:28.220 --> 00:03:32.140 But in 21st century, right, it's now all of a sudden going to matter. 00:03:32.560 --> 00:03:39.660 And if you approach the book that way you're going to walk away with some, some crazy thoughts about what 00:03:39.660 --> 00:03:40.640 Revelation means. 00:03:41.320 --> 00:03:47.740 In fact, anytime a book of the Bible is written, it's always important to ask the question, what did it mean to the people there and then before? 00:03:48.080 --> 00:03:49.760 It means anything to us in the here and now. 00:03:50.160 --> 00:03:53.660 You got to put it in the text of the century in which it was written. 00:03:54.060 --> 00:03:59.110 And so if you want to understand Revelation, the best thing that you can do in order to go forward, you first have to go backwards. 00:04:00.020 --> 00:04:07.080 You have to look at the image that John's talking about, the images that John is describing and say, what did that image mean to the first century 00:04:07.080 --> 00:04:07.780 reader? 00:04:08.040 --> 00:04:15.040 What did they understand from the Hebrew pool of images from the Old Testament, in order to comprehend what's what's being written in their 00:04:15.040 --> 00:04:17.760 day, so I can make proper application to my day. 00:04:18.160 --> 00:04:23.680 Because while the book was written for the there and then, it's been relevant for every generation of God's people. 00:04:23.760 --> 00:04:30.780 But you can't make good application until you have good interpretation, but you can't have good interpretation until you understand the images from which 00:04:30.780 --> 00:04:33.410 John is drawing from in the Old Testament. 00:04:34.180 --> 00:04:40.360 And so rather than move forward immediately, we want to go back and look at the Jewish mindset. 00:04:40.360 --> 00:04:48.020 And what you discover in the book of Revelation is that this is a book born out of tribulation and adversity, and 00:04:48.020 --> 00:04:51.060 there's this broken world that we find ourselves in. 00:04:51.120 --> 00:04:54.180 And sometimes in the midst of that brokenness, you might ask yourself the question. 00:04:54.220 --> 00:04:55.200 God, where are you? 00:04:56.120 --> 00:04:58.660 And is what you said, is that really going to happen? 00:04:58.660 --> 00:04:59.460 Are you true? 00:05:00.080 --> 00:05:02.800 And are you determining the future? 00:05:03.140 --> 00:05:05.980 Because right now, in the midst of adversity, it's not looking that way. 00:05:06.120 --> 00:05:13.280 In fact, when you look at the early, early church in the way that they lived life for God's glory, it was certainly in the midst of challenge. 00:05:13.640 --> 00:05:15.520 And I just threw up a few historians here. 00:05:15.560 --> 00:05:16.920 The first one is a political leader. 00:05:17.140 --> 00:05:19.230 The second one is a historian, Tacitus. 00:05:19.240 --> 00:05:23.170 The third one is Tertullian, and each of them describing what the early church encountered. 00:05:23.380 --> 00:05:25.730 In fact, the political leaders said this about Christians. 00:05:26.540 --> 00:05:27.100 This is Pliny. 00:05:27.280 --> 00:05:28.920 He's often referred to as Pliny the Younger. 00:05:29.360 --> 00:05:32.830 He said Christians were depraved, and they followed an excessive superstition. 00:05:33.880 --> 00:05:40.490 And the contagion of the superstition has spread not only in the cities, but in the villages and rural districts as well. 00:05:40.760 --> 00:05:44.240 So he's acknowledging there's this frustration among political leaders over Christianity. 00:05:44.600 --> 00:05:46.930 But how it's taking over Rome. 00:05:47.360 --> 00:05:54.560 the Roman historian Tacitus, in looking at how Roman leaders have treated Christians, he wrote this Nero fastened the guilt and 00:05:54.560 --> 00:05:58.070 inflicted the most exquisite tortures on a class called Christians. 00:05:58.600 --> 00:06:01.050 Mockery of every sort was added to their deaths. 00:06:01.140 --> 00:06:06.400 Covered with the skins of beasts, they were torn by dogs, nailed to crosses, or doomed to the flames. 00:06:07.220 --> 00:06:07.860 Yeah, he's. 00:06:07.960 --> 00:06:08.740 He's acknowledging. 00:06:08.740 --> 00:06:11.340 This was during a time when Rome caught on fire. 00:06:11.420 --> 00:06:12.800 Nero blamed the Christians. 00:06:12.900 --> 00:06:14.310 And this is what Nero did to the Christians. 00:06:15.060 --> 00:06:22.420 Even Tertullian, who was a church leader in the second and to the third century, said this If the Tiber reaches the walls, 00:06:22.500 --> 00:06:23.780 talking about the river reaches the walls. 00:06:23.780 --> 00:06:31.030 If the Nile does not rise to the fields, if the sky does not move on the earth, or the earth does, if there is famine, if there is a plague, 00:06:31.520 --> 00:06:34.810 the cry is at once Christians to the lion. 00:06:36.140 --> 00:06:41.020 In Rome, Christians were actually viewed as atheists because they were monotheistic. 00:06:41.020 --> 00:06:42.220 They only worshiped one God. 00:06:42.220 --> 00:06:43.280 And in Rome it was. 00:06:43.400 --> 00:06:45.440 It was determined that you were to worship many gods. 00:06:45.440 --> 00:06:49.900 You would worship the gods of your ancestors, and if you lived in a city, you would worship the gods of that particular city. 00:06:50.360 --> 00:06:53.670 And if you ever moved to a different town, you would worship the gods of those areas as well. 00:06:53.780 --> 00:07:00.900 And part of the reason they were encouraged to do this is because if anything bad ever happened, it was because the gods got angry and the people 00:07:00.900 --> 00:07:04.660 weren't worshiping them well, and so they would have to try to appease the gods. 00:07:04.960 --> 00:07:12.080 And when they look to the Christians who only worship one God, if anything bad happened, they immediately blamed the Christians because they angered 00:07:12.080 --> 00:07:14.060 the other gods, that they refused to worship. 00:07:14.240 --> 00:07:16.750 And because of that they faced judgment and punishment. 00:07:18.120 --> 00:07:24.990 But this is what the Christians endured in the early church, and even continuing to do so today. 00:07:25.820 --> 00:07:29.570 And you know, Jesus promised us in Scripture that we would face adversity. 00:07:29.680 --> 00:07:34.600 So that should not be a shock to us that just because you follow Jesus, it doesn't mean life goes easy. 00:07:35.460 --> 00:07:40.560 In fact, because you follow Jesus, there can oftentimes be more challenges with that. 00:07:40.660 --> 00:07:47.700 In fact, Jesus promised us in Matthew 24, in verse nine, then they will deliver you up to tribulation and put you to 00:07:47.700 --> 00:07:52.280 death, And you will be hated by all nations for my name's sake. 00:07:52.280 --> 00:07:53.960 Acts 1422. 00:07:53.960 --> 00:07:57.040 Through many tribulations, we must enter the kingdom of God. 00:07:57.080 --> 00:07:58.840 Romans 1212. 00:07:58.840 --> 00:07:59.920 Rejoice in hope. 00:07:59.920 --> 00:08:01.580 Be patient in tribulation. 00:08:01.600 --> 00:08:03.760 Be constant in prayer. 00:08:04.800 --> 00:08:08.440 Jesus certainly said there's going to be tribulation for his people. 00:08:09.060 --> 00:08:09.570 But you know what's interesting? 00:08:09.940 --> 00:08:17.320 When you compare what Jesus says to his church with early Rome, Rome promised its people peace, but what they received 00:08:17.320 --> 00:08:18.300 was brutality. 00:08:19.360 --> 00:08:24.470 Jesus told us there would be tribulation, but what we receive in him is peace. 00:08:26.140 --> 00:08:28.840 And the book of Revelation, born out of adversity. 00:08:28.840 --> 00:08:34.559 Born out of tribulation is a book that helps us understand how to live in light of fallen Babylon. 00:08:35.539 --> 00:08:42.640 We walk in a broken world, but in the midst of that brokenness, God doesn't move despite the brokenness, but rather 00:08:42.640 --> 00:08:45.420 God has the power to move through the brokenness. 00:08:46.320 --> 00:08:47.680 And we don't put our life on pause. 00:08:47.920 --> 00:08:50.250 Wait for things to get better before we follow Jesus. 00:08:51.380 --> 00:08:58.540 But rather, what John is saying to the church is that in the midst of all of this adversity on the mountaintops and the peaks, God is the same and 00:08:58.540 --> 00:09:00.100 he moves through it all. 00:09:01.200 --> 00:09:08.240 And so this is what we're going to talk about today as we look at the second half of chapter one is how do we live life well and whether we're in good times or bad, 00:09:08.280 --> 00:09:11.160 and especially in bad times, that's often where we need the most encouragement. 00:09:12.340 --> 00:09:15.890 And when things are going well, it's easy to remain optimistic. 00:09:15.980 --> 00:09:18.780 But when you're going through adversity, how do we know? 00:09:18.780 --> 00:09:19.590 How can we be reassured? 00:09:19.720 --> 00:09:20.790 How can we move forward confidently? 00:09:21.060 --> 00:09:22.300 God, what are you doing? 00:09:23.400 --> 00:09:27.320 How do we how do we do life well or live life well? 00:09:27.440 --> 00:09:28.660 Especially discouraged? 00:09:29.380 --> 00:09:36.900 Point number one in your notes is this be devoted to a team on mission for Jesus. 00:09:38.080 --> 00:09:43.620 Be devoted to a team on mission for Jesus. 00:09:44.000 --> 00:09:45.680 I mean, this is talking about the church, right? 00:09:45.740 --> 00:09:50.440 The team on mission is the church, and God wants you to be a part of that group. 00:09:50.520 --> 00:09:54.190 And there's a few primary reasons why that becomes essential. 00:09:54.780 --> 00:09:55.980 One, Because God is glorified. 00:09:56.180 --> 00:09:57.580 This is this is his bride. 00:09:57.580 --> 00:10:02.220 One of the best ways to show your love for Jesus is loving his bride, right? 00:10:02.260 --> 00:10:06.000 As a maybe if you're a husband this morning, you know what that means, right? 00:10:06.180 --> 00:10:08.000 Someone comes against your bride, you're going to take them out. 00:10:08.540 --> 00:10:10.200 But someone wants to honor your bride. 00:10:10.220 --> 00:10:12.160 You're blessed by that, right? 00:10:12.280 --> 00:10:13.690 Because you want to honor her. 00:10:13.860 --> 00:10:14.120 And. 00:10:14.200 --> 00:10:16.940 And one of the best ways to show your love for Jesus is that way. 00:10:17.120 --> 00:10:24.440 And then, in a practical way, as it is, it connects to us as people in our relationship is, there are 00:10:24.440 --> 00:10:30.690 two things I think the church primarily that we can focus on is one is helping us walk through the difficult times. 00:10:30.700 --> 00:10:32.200 Relationships do that. 00:10:32.280 --> 00:10:34.390 This is certainly what John is focused on in this chapter. 00:10:35.620 --> 00:10:43.200 Relationships help us when we when life gets challenging and we might be in a place of despair, the depth 00:10:43.200 --> 00:10:48.220 of the friendships that we have become the place in which God often wants to work to encourage us. 00:10:48.840 --> 00:10:53.680 And so the quality of the relationships you take time to develop within God's community is important. 00:10:53.680 --> 00:11:00.240 They're there to spur you on, but not only just for bad days, not only for discouraging days, but also to move forward. 00:11:00.780 --> 00:11:03.640 Because every day is not necessarily a discouraging day. 00:11:04.420 --> 00:11:07.420 And we can be answering the question, God, what is the next? 00:11:07.740 --> 00:11:09.580 What is the next mountain you've called us to climb? 00:11:09.580 --> 00:11:11.850 What's the next target in front of us you want us to achieve? 00:11:12.120 --> 00:11:17.950 What's our next step as ABC in order to walk as light in our community? 00:11:18.260 --> 00:11:19.550 God, what do you have for us? 00:11:20.280 --> 00:11:27.380 And so we get to collaborate and work together amongst one another according to our giftedness, to achieve what God desires to do through our 00:11:27.380 --> 00:11:27.980 community. 00:11:28.380 --> 00:11:33.470 In fact, seat back in front of you are those cards you can take home to remind you of what our church is doing now. 00:11:33.840 --> 00:11:40.840 But the only reason we're able to do this is because the beautiful work God has done, and the continued collaborative effort as God's people united towards 00:11:40.840 --> 00:11:43.280 that mission in which God has called us on. 00:11:43.360 --> 00:11:47.770 This is a tangible expression of how Jesus is moving in his community. 00:11:48.640 --> 00:11:55.660 And so John is writing to the church for that desire to encourage them in the brokenness, to move forward in adversity, to recognize 00:11:55.660 --> 00:11:57.880 that God has so much more for them. 00:11:57.960 --> 00:12:03.200 I had someone this week send me a message from an individual that it was a talk they were giving. 00:12:03.200 --> 00:12:04.770 It was an individual dying from cancer. 00:12:05.940 --> 00:12:09.760 And in that, in that talk, he gave something very, I think, important. 00:12:09.760 --> 00:12:16.720 He said, the closer I get to death, it's kind of, he said, refining me in what should matter in life. 00:12:16.920 --> 00:12:18.550 And there are two things that he focused on. 00:12:18.580 --> 00:12:20.680 He said love and legacy. 00:12:21.700 --> 00:12:24.360 How can I really appreciate the relationships around me? 00:12:24.380 --> 00:12:26.240 He said, first with God and then with others. 00:12:26.860 --> 00:12:28.780 How can I just savor that? 00:12:29.320 --> 00:12:32.240 But then, how can I make my life meaningful, leaving a legacy? 00:12:32.900 --> 00:12:36.540 How can I make a difference with the life that God has given me with whatever time I have left? 00:12:37.580 --> 00:12:42.260 And I think it's the beautiful, beautiful thing about God's people is knowing who Jesus is. 00:12:42.420 --> 00:12:48.700 It refines us in our mission in this world as light, in the midst of darkness, in the midst of a broken, fallen Babylon. 00:12:48.740 --> 00:12:50.760 What it means to find peace in Christ. 00:12:50.760 --> 00:12:55.960 And I hope that transcends our circumstance because of who he is in John. 00:12:55.960 --> 00:12:56.800 I should jump into the text. 00:12:56.940 --> 00:12:58.980 Does that in Revelation chapter one, verse nine. 00:12:58.980 --> 00:12:59.510 Look at this. 00:12:59.900 --> 00:13:02.330 I, John, your brother and partner in the tribulation. 00:13:02.920 --> 00:13:04.390 Do you see that connectedness there? 00:13:04.840 --> 00:13:06.120 He's saying, I see you. 00:13:06.280 --> 00:13:08.420 Not only do I see you, but I'm with you. 00:13:09.640 --> 00:13:17.060 And I think that's one of the most valuable things we can offer to people in the midst of adversity that you're seeing, and I care. 00:13:17.060 --> 00:13:18.170 I'm right there with you. 00:13:18.600 --> 00:13:19.780 And this is what John's doing. 00:13:19.780 --> 00:13:22.460 Maybe we could ask in a personal way and in your own life. 00:13:22.460 --> 00:13:24.800 I mean, what is God's community to you? 00:13:26.200 --> 00:13:33.300 Do you under do you understand it in the in thought of this is his bride, and there's nothing more valuable to 00:13:33.300 --> 00:13:35.550 Jesus than than his bride. 00:13:37.360 --> 00:13:44.720 And therefore, how am I connecting in relationship to this bride to spur it on for what God has called them to do. 00:13:45.060 --> 00:13:47.580 I have depth of relationship among God's community. 00:13:47.580 --> 00:13:48.750 Or do I just show up and leave? 00:13:49.800 --> 00:13:55.740 Am I looking for ways to put roots down, to develop community for which God has called me to in him? 00:13:55.940 --> 00:13:58.720 This is what John's saying, and especially in adversity. 00:13:58.900 --> 00:13:59.920 This is how we work through it. 00:13:59.940 --> 00:14:03.520 I see you, you're not alone, right? 00:14:03.560 --> 00:14:07.540 And he says, in the tribulation and the kingdom and the patient endurance that are in Jesus. 00:14:08.000 --> 00:14:12.540 I was on the island called Patmos on account of the word of God and the testimony of Jesus. 00:14:12.540 --> 00:14:17.500 He's saying to us, look, not not only am I with you, but I'm sticking it out. 00:14:18.560 --> 00:14:19.800 We're going to get through this together. 00:14:19.940 --> 00:14:21.560 This is patient endurance. 00:14:21.560 --> 00:14:26.330 He's talking about to the point that he's even been exiled as a prisoner to another island. 00:14:27.780 --> 00:14:32.640 And John is writing from this island, encouraging God's people, saying, this is not the end of the story. 00:14:32.640 --> 00:14:33.980 This is not over yet. 00:14:34.120 --> 00:14:36.900 Our best days are still in front of us because of the one that we're following. 00:14:37.440 --> 00:14:42.550 And then he goes on, I was in the spirit on the Lord's day, and I heard behind me a loud voice like a trumpet. 00:14:43.600 --> 00:14:48.540 There's a couple of ways in this passage when you hear God speak that it describes God's voice. 00:14:48.600 --> 00:14:50.500 One is like water we're going to see in a little bit. 00:14:50.500 --> 00:14:51.370 The other is this trumpet. 00:14:51.960 --> 00:14:53.620 And both of those come from different passages. 00:14:53.840 --> 00:14:55.380 The water from a passage in Ezekiel. 00:14:55.980 --> 00:15:01.020 The trumpet comes from a passage in Exodus chapter 19 and chapter 20. 00:15:01.320 --> 00:15:05.780 But what it's saying in both of those examples is that God's voice is unmistakable here. 00:15:05.820 --> 00:15:13.360 It's so loud, it's drowning out everything else that this should be paramount to us in understanding how we live life well in the midst of adversity. 00:15:13.660 --> 00:15:20.860 And it starts in the development of healthy community in Jesus, our identity together in him. 00:15:21.680 --> 00:15:23.080 Are you saying this is on the Lord's Day? 00:15:23.120 --> 00:15:25.460 And there's a little bit of debate as to what the Lord's Day is? 00:15:26.180 --> 00:15:33.060 Some say that this is Sunday and actually became common vernacular in the second century to refer to Sunday as the Lord's Day. 00:15:33.160 --> 00:15:37.620 And so if you do that today, you've been observing a practice since the second century. 00:15:38.340 --> 00:15:42.580 The what's important in thinking about the Lord's Day is honestly, every day is the Lord's Day. 00:15:42.600 --> 00:15:45.770 Now, because Jesus is your rest, Jesus is your true rest. 00:15:46.060 --> 00:15:51.890 But this is also the day that the church is acknowledged as Jesus's resurrection day, which is the ultimate sign of victory for his people. 00:15:52.220 --> 00:15:55.840 Then, in the midst of darkness, the worst day in history is the crucifixion of Christ. 00:15:56.420 --> 00:16:02.960 The resurrection becomes the greatest day of celebration, that God takes the darkest day and turned it into the greatest of moments for God's people. 00:16:03.760 --> 00:16:05.650 And so we rejoice on that day. 00:16:06.640 --> 00:16:07.850 And so there's this gathering. 00:16:07.940 --> 00:16:09.200 The other is the day of the Lord. 00:16:09.200 --> 00:16:11.780 It could be the day of the Lord, which is the day of judgment and rescue. 00:16:13.920 --> 00:16:18.560 theologians don't really know because this is the only time in the New Testament this word is used the Lord's day. 00:16:18.620 --> 00:16:21.280 But either way, it's encouraging towards worship. 00:16:21.520 --> 00:16:25.280 And it says, and he says, write these things down. 00:16:25.280 --> 00:16:32.520 And verse 11 saying, write what you see in a book and send it to the seven churches, to Ephesus and to Smyrna, and to Pergamum, Thyatira, and to Sardis, 00:16:32.760 --> 00:16:33.870 Philadelphia and Laodicea. 00:16:35.020 --> 00:16:37.680 So he's saying, John, John, write this letter and send it. 00:16:37.840 --> 00:16:38.830 You need to encourage John. 00:16:39.540 --> 00:16:39.720 Tell. 00:16:39.820 --> 00:16:41.820 Tell the churches that are going through it right now. 00:16:41.840 --> 00:16:43.260 We want them to have hope. 00:16:43.260 --> 00:16:44.560 We don't want them to lose sight. 00:16:44.960 --> 00:16:49.760 We want them to keep perspective transcending where they are and the greatness of who God is. 00:16:49.780 --> 00:16:50.900 That I have not given up on them. 00:16:50.940 --> 00:16:58.040 But my plan is working beautifully in the midst of darkness as they stand for the light of which I am so he's encouraging John to write this 00:16:58.040 --> 00:16:58.320 letter. 00:16:58.360 --> 00:17:02.460 But here's my question when you read, this is why seven churches? 00:17:03.940 --> 00:17:05.000 Why not all of them? 00:17:06.440 --> 00:17:07.079 Why? 00:17:07.160 --> 00:17:08.000 Why not six of them? 00:17:08.040 --> 00:17:08.180 Why? 00:17:08.180 --> 00:17:09.020 Why not eight of them? 00:17:09.020 --> 00:17:12.740 You know why these particular seven churches? 00:17:12.740 --> 00:17:13.040 You know what? 00:17:13.040 --> 00:17:14.300 What makes that so important? 00:17:14.400 --> 00:17:16.940 I mean, when you look at the name of the churches, why is it these churches? 00:17:17.220 --> 00:17:21.069 Some of them, you might be familiar with their names because you read some of them in the New Testament. 00:17:21.380 --> 00:17:22.000 Other ones? 00:17:22.000 --> 00:17:23.040 This is the only time they're mentioned. 00:17:23.420 --> 00:17:25.210 And none of these churches exist today. 00:17:26.940 --> 00:17:29.080 Why is he writing to these seven churches? 00:17:29.320 --> 00:17:35.460 Well, if you ever study these churches, you find these churches exist in what is in today modern day Turkey. 00:17:35.880 --> 00:17:38.310 And they make a perfect circle, which I find interesting. 00:17:39.320 --> 00:17:42.840 But the idea of seven, I think, is more important than the name of the church itself. 00:17:43.880 --> 00:17:47.510 He's going to get into the particulars of the church as we're going to read about them in chapter two and chapter three. 00:17:48.480 --> 00:17:52.550 But the idea of seven is a number that you're going to hear repeated throughout the book of Revelation. 00:17:53.800 --> 00:17:57.980 And that number seven is a word for completeness, fullness, wholeness. 00:17:58.060 --> 00:18:05.360 In fact, we became familiar with the idea of seven all the way back from the very beginning of Genesis, Genesis chapter one and Genesis chapter two, because 00:18:05.360 --> 00:18:07.200 that's the in Genesis one and two. 00:18:07.260 --> 00:18:11.040 Those are the seven days of creation and what you find. 00:18:11.040 --> 00:18:16.250 What we find unique about the seven days of creation is that God was finished with his creation on the seventh day. 00:18:16.680 --> 00:18:21.310 It was complete seven meaning complete, but on the seventh day of creation. 00:18:21.400 --> 00:18:28.420 What's interesting is in that seventh day, there was never in God's design an intention for the seventh day 00:18:28.420 --> 00:18:29.120 to end. 00:18:29.500 --> 00:18:36.890 If you read the first six days of God's creation, Genesis chapter one, It says with each day it was morning and evening of the first day, morning and evening of the second day, 00:18:37.060 --> 00:18:38.360 morning and evening of the third day. 00:18:38.660 --> 00:18:43.200 When you get to chapter two, it then starts the seventh day, but it never says. 00:18:43.200 --> 00:18:50.360 It was morning and evening of the seventh day, that in God's design his desire for us was for mankind to rule 00:18:50.360 --> 00:18:57.380 and to reign this world honoring God and everything that we did and walking in beautiful, harmonious 00:18:57.380 --> 00:18:59.400 shalom relationship with him. 00:18:59.400 --> 00:19:00.460 That's the Hebrew word for peace. 00:19:01.220 --> 00:19:08.680 This holistic well-being of all of creation, including us in his presence, forever perfect and complete. 00:19:10.160 --> 00:19:14.400 But mankind rebelled against God in our in our rebellion. 00:19:14.440 --> 00:19:15.460 All of that was broken. 00:19:16.740 --> 00:19:23.860 And that's why Jesus pursued us with his life, to restore what was broken and bring us back into relationship with him. 00:19:24.000 --> 00:19:26.440 And so this idea of seven is this picture of completeness. 00:19:27.400 --> 00:19:33.520 And God is moving, is telling us in this story through the churches to accomplish his will to bring about his plan. 00:19:34.260 --> 00:19:36.320 That's God's desire for us. 00:19:36.340 --> 00:19:40.840 So he's saying, write to the churches and let them know my plan is completely alive. 00:19:40.940 --> 00:19:48.120 In the midst of a broken world, the King of Kings continues to rule, but God's people are called to be that encouragement to 00:19:48.120 --> 00:19:48.740 one another. 00:19:48.860 --> 00:19:49.800 So how do we live life? 00:19:49.800 --> 00:19:52.080 Well, it starts in community. 00:19:52.760 --> 00:19:58.980 A community according to how God's called us, that we are devoted to the team to live on mission. 00:20:00.260 --> 00:20:03.090 And John is saying here he's going to endure patiently. 00:20:03.220 --> 00:20:09.780 But my question may be related to John's statement is to ask John to say, John, how do you know you're going to be faithful? 00:20:11.520 --> 00:20:17.880 How can you say that so confidently with the things that you've gone through and the things that you are going to go through? 00:20:18.900 --> 00:20:20.460 I mean, the world is against you. 00:20:20.960 --> 00:20:24.120 How can you walk faithfully with point number two in your notes gives us an answer. 00:20:24.140 --> 00:20:27.050 Let me let me give you the blank and I'll get in the next passage. 00:20:27.440 --> 00:20:29.880 But embrace the glory of Christ. 00:20:32.060 --> 00:20:33.180 Embrace the glory of Christ. 00:20:33.300 --> 00:20:34.410 How do we live life well? 00:20:35.340 --> 00:20:38.580 We're devoted to a team on mission, and we embrace the glory of Christ. 00:20:38.620 --> 00:20:45.060 Now, that's a flowery way of saying what I could say more practically, which is this church worship. 00:20:47.500 --> 00:20:51.350 What John encourages the church to do in this moment is worship. 00:20:53.380 --> 00:21:00.460 And the best thing that you can do in your life when you're facing adversity is dive deeper into the richness of who Christ 00:21:00.460 --> 00:21:00.940 is. 00:21:02.660 --> 00:21:09.600 How can you be confident that you're going to have hope, where your confidence is built on everything that Jesus is? 00:21:10.260 --> 00:21:16.660 And so the truthfulness of who Christ is should matter to all of us, not some Jesus that we make up. 00:21:17.640 --> 00:21:24.230 But honestly, what Scripture says about him, let the Word of God fill our hearts with the truth of who he is. 00:21:24.660 --> 00:21:27.160 And this is what John does in verse 12 to 16. 00:21:28.060 --> 00:21:35.140 I mean, John takes these images of the Old Testament and says, church, let me just encourage you to worship in the way I want you to do this, is to see 00:21:35.140 --> 00:21:37.860 how God has been faithful from beginning to end. 00:21:37.900 --> 00:21:45.560 And I'm going to pull from the Old Testament, and I want you to see from the Old Testament the faithful hand of God, even into today, so that you can rest secure 00:21:45.560 --> 00:21:47.820 in his presence in your life. 00:21:47.840 --> 00:21:55.160 And when John does this in verse 12 to 16, he predominantly takes the ideas of Jesus from two passages in the Old Testament. 00:21:55.180 --> 00:21:57.790 One is Zechariah four and the other is Daniel seven. 00:21:58.700 --> 00:22:00.340 He takes two stories from Zechariah four. 00:22:00.340 --> 00:22:00.920 Daniel seven. 00:22:00.920 --> 00:22:04.680 He ties them together and says, now church worship, because this is who Christ is. 00:22:06.000 --> 00:22:09.160 And I want you to see the beauty of that in this passage. 00:22:09.220 --> 00:22:10.060 Let me read it. 00:22:10.140 --> 00:22:12.720 And then I want to kind of break it down just real quickly. 00:22:13.280 --> 00:22:18.090 And then we're going to talk about why those passages are important and focus it on this phrase, son of man, which is why it's highlighted. 00:22:18.680 --> 00:22:18.980 It says. 00:22:18.980 --> 00:22:26.010 Then I turned to see the voice that was speaking to me, and on turning I saw seven golden lampstands, and in the midst of the lampstands, 00:22:26.480 --> 00:22:33.680 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 00:22:33.680 --> 00:22:35.540 were white like wool, like snow. 00:22:35.540 --> 00:22:37.040 His eyes were like a flame of fire. 00:22:37.480 --> 00:22:44.780 Now, if you didn't know John was taking these words from the Old Testament, you might be thinking, what on like Grateful Dead concert 00:22:44.780 --> 00:22:45.780 is he talking about? 00:22:45.780 --> 00:22:46.100 Right? 00:22:46.100 --> 00:22:48.000 Like, he is, he is. 00:22:48.400 --> 00:22:49.040 He is on some right. 00:22:49.040 --> 00:22:50.220 Like this guy is. 00:22:50.500 --> 00:22:50.880 Woo. 00:22:50.940 --> 00:22:56.320 But when you read the when you, when you read the image of the Old Testament, you realize, oh, what John is doing here. 00:22:56.320 --> 00:22:59.880 He's not just making something up just how he feels in this moment. 00:22:59.880 --> 00:23:03.740 He's taking the beauty of Scripture and everything that Jesus is. 00:23:03.740 --> 00:23:08.900 And so verse 15, it says his feet were like the burnished bronze refined in a furnace. 00:23:08.920 --> 00:23:11.090 And his voice was like the roar of many waters. 00:23:11.300 --> 00:23:14.040 In his right hand he held the seven stars. 00:23:14.060 --> 00:23:20.840 For his mouth came a sharp, two edged sword, and his face was like the sun shining in full strength. 00:23:21.680 --> 00:23:23.020 So these images are important. 00:23:23.020 --> 00:23:27.000 It's telling us something about about who God is, for example. 00:23:27.120 --> 00:23:33.710 I'll dive in this a little bit more, but the sash and the that he's wearing in the robe is symbolic of a priest or royalty. 00:23:34.500 --> 00:23:38.260 And then his the purity of his hair being white shows one who is pure. 00:23:38.520 --> 00:23:44.760 His eye is like a flame of fire, saying that he sees into everything with the purity of his own eyes. 00:23:44.760 --> 00:23:47.170 There's nothing that's hidden from him. 00:23:47.220 --> 00:23:53.940 His feet, like the burnished bronze is saying, being bronze wherever he goes, it's got a step of authority as a as a ruler. 00:23:54.200 --> 00:23:57.650 And also his authority is pure because this bronze is refined. 00:23:57.940 --> 00:24:00.890 So his rule ruling is one with authority and of purity. 00:24:01.060 --> 00:24:08.140 His voice again, like many waters which it drowns out the sound of everything else around it, so that you could see with clarity and who 00:24:08.140 --> 00:24:08.900 Christ is. 00:24:09.100 --> 00:24:11.700 And then his right hand is this hand of authority. 00:24:12.060 --> 00:24:19.080 He controls the seven stars, which, if you read in verse 20, you find out this is the image of the angels, and he's in front of this 00:24:19.080 --> 00:24:21.740 lampstand, which is the image of the seven churches. 00:24:22.680 --> 00:24:30.140 And so he's showing the authority of who Christ is with this two edged sword, which is one that's coming with judgment and protection, protecting his people, 00:24:30.140 --> 00:24:37.450 judgment against injustice, and his face shining like a sun, which is an image of purity that he's radiating in. 00:24:37.960 --> 00:24:45.140 Like you can think of times in the New Testament where when Jesus was transfigured on the mountain, the disciples fell down before the purity 00:24:45.140 --> 00:24:46.000 of Christ. 00:24:46.260 --> 00:24:50.750 The Apostle Paul went blind at the great light that was the Lord coming before him. 00:24:51.100 --> 00:24:54.040 And so this is giving us that image of who Jesus is. 00:24:54.100 --> 00:24:56.080 But the important thing is, where did this come from? 00:24:56.080 --> 00:24:57.080 Why did John pick this? 00:24:58.500 --> 00:25:04.280 Well, to really understand this, I think it's important to understand the concept of the Son of Man. 00:25:04.540 --> 00:25:05.980 What does that mean for us? 00:25:06.340 --> 00:25:13.680 And this is especially important for Bible students as you read God's Word, because this was Jesus's favorite way of referring 00:25:13.680 --> 00:25:15.510 to himself in the Gospels. 00:25:16.080 --> 00:25:21.720 And so if you don't understand this phrase, son of man, you're not going to understand a lot of what Jesus is saying about himself in the Gospels. 00:25:22.020 --> 00:25:29.060 And part of the reason this is important is because Jesus chose this name to represent himself, because in the first century, when he came, the Jews 00:25:29.060 --> 00:25:31.500 had this idea of what the Messiah should be. 00:25:32.400 --> 00:25:38.480 And their preconceived ideas of the Messiah were so strong they were going to miss who the Messiah truly was. 00:25:39.180 --> 00:25:44.160 And so, in order to help them understand, Jesus chose this phrase that comes from Daniel chapter seven. 00:25:44.920 --> 00:25:52.080 Now, what makes this phrase important is when you study this in the Old Testament, what you discover is the phrase Son of Man was actually how God referred to 00:25:52.080 --> 00:25:53.170 all of us. 00:25:53.660 --> 00:26:00.780 In fact, when God created us at the beginning of time, God, when he makes the earth, he tells us as sons of man 00:26:00.780 --> 00:26:06.460 to rule the earth, to display the glory of God and all that we do and bless those around us. 00:26:06.900 --> 00:26:13.980 That's what God's called to you in Genesis 128 was that you, the sons of man, would rule and reign, represent at the hands and 00:26:13.980 --> 00:26:18.180 feet of God in this world, because nothing else in this world that God made is made in his image. 00:26:18.180 --> 00:26:20.200 Only mankind was made in the image of God. 00:26:20.320 --> 00:26:22.280 So we become the reflection of God in this world. 00:26:22.300 --> 00:26:25.720 And because we're made in God's image, we're made to connect to God. 00:26:25.900 --> 00:26:30.220 But rather than follow after what God has called us to, we rebelled against God. 00:26:30.340 --> 00:26:35.390 And we usurp the position of God, declaring life for our own glory rather than for his. 00:26:35.640 --> 00:26:42.980 And because of that, all of creation is broken, and we, rather than ruling over the beasts, are now dominated by 00:26:42.980 --> 00:26:44.190 the beasts. 00:26:44.520 --> 00:26:50.700 In fact, if you were to read Psalm eight, you see the description of that, the intentions for the Son of Man. 00:26:50.820 --> 00:26:57.860 It says, when I look at your heavens, the works of your fingers, the moon and the stars which you have set in place, what is man that you are mindful of him, and 00:26:57.860 --> 00:26:59.630 the Son of Man, that you care for him. 00:26:59.700 --> 00:27:03.400 Yet you have made him a little lower than the heavenly beings, and crowned him with glory and honor. 00:27:03.620 --> 00:27:11.080 And you have given him dominion over the works of your hands, and you have put all things under his feet, all the sheep and oxen, and the beasts of the fields. 00:27:11.740 --> 00:27:19.000 So saying, this is what you were created for, to reflect the glory of God and the way that you demonstrate your life in this world, to bless others, not, not domineer 00:27:19.000 --> 00:27:24.860 over them, but rather represent who God is in shalom, in harmony. 00:27:25.580 --> 00:27:28.820 But rebelling against God, we became like the beasts. 00:27:28.820 --> 00:27:29.380 And rather than. 00:27:29.420 --> 00:27:30.960 Rule the beasts ruled us. 00:27:31.820 --> 00:27:34.940 And when you get to Daniel chapter seven, that's exactly what you find. 00:27:35.820 --> 00:27:42.860 In Daniel chapter seven, the book of Daniel talks about four different beasts that are dominating humanity, and they are destructive beasts. 00:27:43.960 --> 00:27:47.890 But in Daniel chapter seven, verse 11 and 12, those beasts are destroyed. 00:27:48.160 --> 00:27:53.840 And when those beasts are destroyed in verse 13, you're introduced to someone else who rules and reigns. 00:27:54.520 --> 00:28:01.620 And rather than it being a son of Man, it becomes the Son of Man, the one who was truly faithful, 00:28:01.640 --> 00:28:02.290 which is Jesus. 00:28:02.360 --> 00:28:02.840 Look at this. 00:28:03.340 --> 00:28:04.360 I saw in the night visions. 00:28:04.460 --> 00:28:10.660 And behold, with the clouds, which is a sign of deity, the clouds of heaven, there came one like a son of man. 00:28:11.340 --> 00:28:14.060 And he came to the Ancient of days, and was presented before him. 00:28:14.080 --> 00:28:19.960 And to him was given dominion and glory, and a kingdom that all peoples, nations, and languages should serve him. 00:28:20.120 --> 00:28:27.340 His dominion is an everlasting dominion which shall not pass away, that in the midst of the fallen Babylon, where the beasts try 00:28:27.340 --> 00:28:31.820 to rule, there is a greater ruler who will overrule them all. 00:28:32.500 --> 00:28:34.160 And he is an a son of man. 00:28:34.700 --> 00:28:41.530 But rather, when Jesus shows up, he tells us he is the Son of Man, the one who truly lives the way which we were intended to. 00:28:42.400 --> 00:28:43.550 He is the ultimate deliverer. 00:28:44.580 --> 00:28:50.300 In fact, in Daniel chapter seven verse nine, When the Son of Man comes before the Ancient of Days, it describes that Ancient of Days. 00:28:50.320 --> 00:28:50.750 Look at this. 00:28:51.340 --> 00:28:55.060 As I looked, thrones were placed and the Ancient of Days took his seat. 00:28:55.060 --> 00:28:55.620 And look at this. 00:28:55.640 --> 00:29:00.340 His clothing was white as snow and his hair of his head like pure wool. 00:29:00.340 --> 00:29:01.890 His throne was a fiery flame. 00:29:03.320 --> 00:29:10.760 And when you look at Revelation chapter 12, verse 16, this is exactly how it's describing Jesus white hair of wool, this fiery bronze burning 00:29:10.760 --> 00:29:12.520 flame beneath him. 00:29:12.900 --> 00:29:13.580 It's this. 00:29:13.940 --> 00:29:17.360 It's this demonstration of Jesus being both of these things. 00:29:17.360 --> 00:29:18.660 He is the Ancient of Days. 00:29:18.660 --> 00:29:20.180 He is the Son of Man. 00:29:20.240 --> 00:29:22.680 All of Daniel culminated in Christ himself. 00:29:23.540 --> 00:29:25.030 How could John be so confident? 00:29:25.780 --> 00:29:28.170 Well, it's because this is who Jesus is. 00:29:28.480 --> 00:29:35.760 And connecting to him in worship in the midst of our challenges helps us understand that in the eyes of God, these things are just momentary and 00:29:35.760 --> 00:29:43.320 the glory of who he is, that he is ultimately in control of all things, that this is not my defeat or demise, but 00:29:43.320 --> 00:29:45.530 this is just a moment in which I am going through. 00:29:45.780 --> 00:29:47.350 But I am not going through this alone. 00:29:48.140 --> 00:29:50.990 That God's people are called to walk through me with me in this. 00:29:51.440 --> 00:29:55.140 And God certainly walks through this with me. 00:29:55.460 --> 00:29:59.320 And not only do you have Daniel chapter seven, but you also have Zechariah chapter four. 00:29:59.340 --> 00:30:01.200 And what's interesting is Zechariah chapter four. 00:30:01.420 --> 00:30:06.370 Zechariah four is this image of two olive trees and a candle stand. 00:30:06.640 --> 00:30:07.300 And this is this. 00:30:07.320 --> 00:30:10.140 This candle stand is represented as the menorah that would burn in the temple. 00:30:11.040 --> 00:30:18.560 And when you read Zechariah chapter four, it's important to understand the context is that God's people have gone through the Babylonian captivity, their temple destroyed, 00:30:18.960 --> 00:30:21.890 and now they're coming back from captivity and they're discouraged. 00:30:22.960 --> 00:30:30.020 But God gives Zechariah this vision and tells the people, he gives this vision to the priest and to the king, to the priest Joshua, and to the kings 00:30:30.020 --> 00:30:30.320 rubble. 00:30:30.900 --> 00:30:38.040 And he says, tell the people that they are going to be faithful to what I call them to, and they will be successful in what I've called them 00:30:38.040 --> 00:30:40.770 to, that they will rebuild, the temple will be rebuilt. 00:30:41.620 --> 00:30:49.220 And in Zechariah four, these two olive trees, one represented Zerubbabel the king and the other represented Joshua the priest. 00:30:50.080 --> 00:30:57.220 And they were seen as the ones that were supplying to Israel the light, the light of God, that they would be, that they would be successful in 00:30:57.220 --> 00:31:04.520 what God called them to do, that the light of who God is would burn through God's people, that it would radiate around 00:31:04.520 --> 00:31:05.470 them. 00:31:05.960 --> 00:31:10.050 And when you get to the New Testament, this is in Revelation again, what John is describing. 00:31:10.900 --> 00:31:14.570 But what's interesting about this story is the way that John has shaped the image? 00:31:15.240 --> 00:31:22.420 Because in messianic understanding, when the Jews would read Zechariah chapter four, they would look at the king 00:31:22.420 --> 00:31:26.310 represented by Zerubbabel, and they would look at the priest represented by Joshua. 00:31:26.980 --> 00:31:33.780 And in Zechariah four they saw Joshua and the king in this story, but they also saw a future calling of a greater Messiah who would come. 00:31:33.780 --> 00:31:36.970 And in fact, when they would read Zechariah four, they often thought it was going to be two messiahs. 00:31:37.160 --> 00:31:40.180 There would be a messiah who was a king, and there would be a messiah who was a priest. 00:31:41.560 --> 00:31:48.560 But what you find in Revelation chapter one is Jesus is the combination of both of those things, that he is the priest and he 00:31:48.560 --> 00:31:50.820 is the King, and he is ruling. 00:31:51.340 --> 00:31:58.980 And rather than ruling in a temple, he has called the church to be the living temple of God, the light to the world that 00:31:58.980 --> 00:32:06.160 this king is working within his people, the seven churches, which is a representation of all of God's churches of all time, 00:32:06.220 --> 00:32:13.140 fulfilling his plan in this world, and that he will supply what we need to be faithful to what he's called us to. 00:32:14.660 --> 00:32:16.880 And so Zechariah becomes this beautiful image. 00:32:17.220 --> 00:32:22.080 And John, therefore, is encouraging us, church in the midst of adversity. 00:32:22.080 --> 00:32:25.440 What we need is what happened. 00:32:28.320 --> 00:32:30.840 Important moment. 00:32:33.180 --> 00:32:33.780 Worship. 00:32:35.940 --> 00:32:36.740 Worship. 00:32:40.720 --> 00:32:41.660 What are you going through right now? 00:32:45.760 --> 00:32:47.100 What challenges are you facing? 00:32:52.160 --> 00:32:53.800 How is your heart engaged in worship? 00:32:57.160 --> 00:33:04.780 Do you see not only the importance of worship in your own life, but also for this community that 00:33:04.780 --> 00:33:08.400 we would be successful in what God has called us to together faithfully. 00:33:10.720 --> 00:33:13.280 And the reason we're able to do that is because he is faithful. 00:33:14.780 --> 00:33:22.000 And this is what John wants us to understand, from Zechariah to Daniel, all the way into the book of Revelation, here is how God has worked 00:33:22.000 --> 00:33:22.580 his story. 00:33:24.260 --> 00:33:27.180 Church, does that not inspire your heart to worship? 00:33:29.200 --> 00:33:30.600 All this is going to fade away. 00:33:31.880 --> 00:33:32.660 All of it will be gone. 00:33:34.180 --> 00:33:40.960 But the one thing that it will endure forever is the Word of God and the people of God and His presence for eternity. 00:33:42.880 --> 00:33:43.420 Worship. 00:33:45.560 --> 00:33:46.200 Worship. 00:33:48.500 --> 00:33:49.230 Point number three. 00:33:49.320 --> 00:33:56.900 Then, in relation to that worship, is this that you would walk in the power of the gospel, that 00:33:56.900 --> 00:33:58.420 you would walk in the power of the gospel. 00:33:59.560 --> 00:34:03.640 And what I really mean is walk in the truthfulness of what Jesus says about you. 00:34:05.880 --> 00:34:08.420 What is it Jesus says about you in light of who he is? 00:34:09.300 --> 00:34:15.800 You know, oftentimes when people had an encounter with the Lord, the way that they responded was in fear, in fact, as if they were dead. 00:34:16.940 --> 00:34:24.060 And when you come before a holy, perfect God, as it's described in this first verse 12 to verse 16, the only thing that God 00:34:24.060 --> 00:34:25.900 owes us truthfully is judgment. 00:34:27.100 --> 00:34:34.440 But what's amazing is that rather than judge, he gives us grace, not because of us impressing him, but 00:34:34.440 --> 00:34:36.340 because of what Jesus does on our behalf. 00:34:37.280 --> 00:34:38.840 And look, John says, says it. 00:34:38.840 --> 00:34:41.130 When I saw him, I fell at his feet as though dead. 00:34:41.440 --> 00:34:45.310 But he laid the right hand on me, saying, fear not, for I am the first and the last. 00:34:46.580 --> 00:34:49.150 And can I just tell you John's response very common in Scripture. 00:34:49.400 --> 00:34:51.480 Isaiah did it in Isaiah chapter six verse five. 00:34:51.480 --> 00:34:52.250 I am a dead man. 00:34:52.739 --> 00:34:54.420 Ezekiel does it in Ezekiel chapter one. 00:34:54.420 --> 00:34:55.940 Daniel does it in Daniel chapter ten. 00:34:56.360 --> 00:35:01.960 I mean, all these prophets, when they see the glory of God revealed to them, this is how they describe their posture before this God I am a dead man. 00:35:02.080 --> 00:35:04.620 But rather than destroy us, what God does is pick us up. 00:35:05.320 --> 00:35:11.040 I love this he lays his right hand of a favor on John and the first things he says. 00:35:11.740 --> 00:35:12.150 Don't be afraid. 00:35:13.360 --> 00:35:14.180 Don't be afraid of me. 00:35:15.460 --> 00:35:16.650 Don't be afraid of your future. 00:35:17.760 --> 00:35:24.920 I mean, this is this is truly resting in who you are because of who he is, not because of what you do, but because of what he's done. 00:35:25.880 --> 00:35:27.020 This is saying you get to. 00:35:27.100 --> 00:35:34.140 You get to rid yourself of the past and walk with your head held high, looking to a glorious future because your future is wrapped up in his 00:35:34.140 --> 00:35:36.260 strength and what he has accomplished for you on the cross. 00:35:38.040 --> 00:35:40.340 Don't listen to what Satan says about you. 00:35:41.140 --> 00:35:47.480 Don't let the past of the things you've done weigh upon you, but rather in the present for what Christ has done for you. 00:35:48.420 --> 00:35:50.320 That is where true freedom is found. 00:35:50.940 --> 00:35:55.030 And now, because of that, we get to walk in the newness of life, but not the way that we want to. 00:35:55.360 --> 00:35:59.960 The way that he's always called us to because of what he's allowed us to do in him. 00:36:01.360 --> 00:36:02.940 And so he says, fear not. 00:36:02.940 --> 00:36:07.790 And then verse 18, and in the living one, I died, and behold, I am alive for evermore. 00:36:07.920 --> 00:36:09.440 And I have the keys of death and Hades. 00:36:09.500 --> 00:36:13.420 So he's saying, look, you thought the story was over when you killed me. 00:36:13.960 --> 00:36:15.160 But that was just the beginning. 00:36:16.180 --> 00:36:18.100 Jesus saying not even death could hold me back. 00:36:18.100 --> 00:36:19.720 In fact, I have the keys to death and Hades. 00:36:19.720 --> 00:36:22.830 Hades is the place for the dead which shows authority and control. 00:36:23.000 --> 00:36:24.340 I am in charge of all of this. 00:36:24.340 --> 00:36:24.520 So? 00:36:24.620 --> 00:36:26.440 So what can man do against you? 00:36:26.920 --> 00:36:34.040 Nothing Jesus is saying, because I have ultimate authority over all things, and write these things that you have seen, 00:36:34.040 --> 00:36:39.320 those that are and those that are, those that are and those that are to take place after this. 00:36:39.320 --> 00:36:40.400 That's a great way of seeing Revelation. 00:36:40.760 --> 00:36:42.920 There are some things immediate, some things that are going to take place. 00:36:43.280 --> 00:36:50.560 As for the mystery of the seven stars that you saw in my right hand and the seven golden lampstands, the seven stars are the angels, let me give you a 00:36:50.560 --> 00:36:52.380 nerd Revelation moment for a minute. 00:36:53.620 --> 00:36:58.920 I don't know what these angels are, and if you want to go study it and figure out what these angels are, feel free. 00:36:58.920 --> 00:37:03.220 It doesn't take away from the text, but the word angels literally translates messenger. 00:37:03.940 --> 00:37:11.020 And so sometimes angels can literally be what we often think about as those figures with wings playing a harp, which sounds more like hell with a harp 00:37:11.020 --> 00:37:12.100 to me than than heaven. 00:37:12.240 --> 00:37:16.680 But you kind of get that image of little babies with wings playing harps. 00:37:16.920 --> 00:37:18.840 so it's that kind of an angel. 00:37:18.860 --> 00:37:21.170 Or it could just mean someone sent out as a messenger. 00:37:22.100 --> 00:37:25.220 Someone sent out to declare a message on behalf of God, which could be a human being. 00:37:25.900 --> 00:37:31.680 But either way, this message is going out to the seven churches, which is a representation of all of God's churches. 00:37:32.260 --> 00:37:39.260 Was saying, in the midst of a broken, fallen Babylon, where a people still have tremendous hope because we serve a greater King, the Son of Man 00:37:39.260 --> 00:37:43.440 has conquered the beast, and we rule and reign with him. 00:37:43.580 --> 00:37:48.860 So we get to step bravely in the midst of darkness, piercing it with the glory of the light of Christ. 00:37:50.180 --> 00:37:57.320 How do we live life successfully recognizing the importance of God's community, worshiping in the truthfulness of who Christ 00:37:57.320 --> 00:38:04.400 is, and walking in the power of that gospel, The matchless splendor of 00:38:04.400 --> 00:38:12.200 Heaven's King attracts the attention and compels the obedience of the church that John addresses in this passage. 00:38:12.280 --> 00:38:16.760 Adversity may be on the journey, but victory is mine. 00:38:17.060 --> 00:38:24.140 You know, when I think about church history, I read in the beginning just some some of the thoughts towards the early church in this first couple of centuries 00:38:24.140 --> 00:38:25.420 in the midst of adversity. 00:38:26.140 --> 00:38:31.880 And I want to close thinking about a more recent illustration with a man by the name of Richard Wurmbrand. 00:38:32.040 --> 00:38:34.020 This is his wife, Sabina, in the picture. 00:38:34.080 --> 00:38:35.180 They passed away. 00:38:35.200 --> 00:38:41.530 Sabina passed away in 2000, and Richard passed away in 2001, and both of them were living in California at the time when they passed away. 00:38:42.480 --> 00:38:45.080 But what's amazing about their story is that they ministered. 00:38:45.660 --> 00:38:52.820 He was a he was an evangelical Lutheran minister in Romania, and he ministered during the time of Holocaust, the 00:38:52.820 --> 00:38:53.280 Holocaust. 00:38:53.280 --> 00:38:55.070 And he would often preach in bomb shelters. 00:38:55.540 --> 00:38:57.580 And he helped Jews escape the Holocaust. 00:38:58.080 --> 00:39:02.000 And at one point he was captured and imprisoned, and he was tortured for 14 years. 00:39:02.000 --> 00:39:09.260 He was tortured, and at one point he describes in his in his own autobiography how he was tortured so severely that he couldn't walk for 00:39:09.260 --> 00:39:10.060 several days. 00:39:11.060 --> 00:39:17.580 And on that particular occasion, when he was drugged back to his cell, he started to pray for those who tortured him. 00:39:19.020 --> 00:39:26.100 And as he prayed, his own heart was softened to them, and he remarked, I want to pray for them because I'm broken 00:39:26.100 --> 00:39:27.040 just like they are. 00:39:28.200 --> 00:39:34.220 And he continued to pray, and God started to work on the hearts of those soldiers that would abuse him. 00:39:34.940 --> 00:39:37.540 And eventually they started to give their lives to Christ. 00:39:38.600 --> 00:39:45.020 After 14 years, Richard Wurmbrand left that prison cell, and he went on to start an organization called the Voice of the martyrs. 00:39:45.740 --> 00:39:49.700 And he became a voice for our brothers and sisters in Christ who faced tribulation every day. 00:39:50.300 --> 00:39:53.360 I mean, you can still get his magazine today, even though he's passed away. 00:39:53.900 --> 00:39:59.700 But they share the story again and again of what God's doing around the world despite tribulation. 00:40:00.200 --> 00:40:01.660 You know what's amazing about Christianity? 00:40:01.660 --> 00:40:04.520 Can I tell you the place where Christianity is growing in this world? 00:40:05.680 --> 00:40:09.180 It's everywhere where the church is facing adversity for their faithfulness in Jesus. 00:40:10.240 --> 00:40:15.180 I mean, if there's anything that speaks to the power of who God is, it's when the church faces an obstacle. 00:40:15.580 --> 00:40:19.650 How they rise up to the challenge to demonstrate the goodness of Jesus. 00:40:20.000 --> 00:40:26.060 I mean, I tell my friends constantly, I think when it comes to America, the strength of America's church is going to be here in Utah. 00:40:27.320 --> 00:40:34.480 When you when you pay a price for your faith in Jesus, there's something about the sweetness of Jesus that comes real to you 00:40:35.860 --> 00:40:36.980 in the midst of trials. 00:40:37.120 --> 00:40:38.540 How do we live life faithfully? 00:40:39.200 --> 00:40:46.240 Connect in community worship with all that we are, the goodness of who God is and let's the richness of his gospel pour over us.