All posts for the month February, 2024

Revelation 2:1-11 – Sermon Manuscript

-Letters have become incredibly special today! I remember back when texts were the most significant thing you could get. Those things cost 5 cents each! I also remember when getting a phone call was the most significant thing! Back when you had to call a friend and awkwardly talk to their parents for a few minutes before you could ask to talk to your friend. Now, most people I know are annoyed when you get a phone call, texting is ubiquitous, and letters are incredible special and dear to your heart. Except for the ones from Anderson windows that look special and handwritten, until you open them up and find out it’s an advertisement.

-How would you feel if you got a letter from Jesus? Would you be excited or nervous? 

-It’s at times difficult for us to remember that these letters are written to real people who lived in a real place, who had real lives, and needed comfort and correction from the Lord, just like we do today. What’s even crazier is we do have a number of letters written to us: 66 of them – we call it the Bible! Each time we open it God Himself is speaking to us – which means there will be times where we challenged, and times where we’re comforted. That’s true of any and every relationship! 

READ/PRAY

-First thing to note is the similarities between all these letters.

-Chart

-7 churches, address to angel, connection back to Christ, encouragement, correction with a call to repent (of 5 of them, the 2 that don’t have that call are the least impressive and most impoverished), listen, and finally a promise on how to overcome. Keep that in mind as we walk through these churches over the next few weeks!

-Churches tend to reflect or adopt both the positives and negatives of the cities and cultures they’re in, same today. 

-You may have heard the story of asking a fish what it’s like to live in water, and the reply is “what’s water?” It’s similar for us growing up – we assume so many things but until we run into someone who lives differently than us we tend to not get challenged on those assumptions. (Thank you, the food was very good, may I please be excused)

-If you say “church isn’t like it was when I was growing up” this is part of the reason why. Acts 17:26 We all have appointed times. I’ve talked to retired pastors who have shared they’re glad they’re not ministering today because it’s much more difficult. That’s ok! They don’t need to! God called them to a specific time and season, just as He’s called me to a specific time and season, and I’m very hopeful about the future of the church! 

-As we walk through the letters to these churches, there are things that will apply to us, things that will apply to other churches, and things that applied to the churches that were written to. Written first and foremost to these churches, but have application for the church throughout all of human history.

  1. Ephesus (1-7)

-Ephesus was a major port city. 3rd largest city in the Roman empire. Roads traveling from here to all of Asia (hence why Acts can describe Paul as preaching the word to “all of Asia”)

-Major commercial port that required constant dredging to prevent the harbor from becoming completely silted over and inaccessible by boat.

-Because of the commerce, also home to 1 of the 7 wonders of the ancient world: temple to the god Artemis, 4x larger than the Parthenon in Greece. Artemis was the god of fertility, magic, and astrology (do you think it’s a coincidence that Jesus is described as holding 7 stars). 

-Not only did they worship Artemis primarily, but significant cultural centers would also become centers of emperor worship (often referred to as “imperial cults”) Ephesus had 3 temples dedicated to 3 different emperors.

-Church was founded by Paul, Aquila, and Priscilla (Acts 18-19)

-Paul there for at least 2 years (Acts 19:10), wrote a letter to them called “Ephesians” that we studied a few years ago!

-Riot against Paul for affecting the economic base (Acts 19:23-41), but I think it’s important to note that Paul’s warning when he left was to be careful not to let people lead them astray from the true faith. (Acts 20:28-30)

  1. True Orthodoxy (1-3) “straight teaching” Right belief

-Jesus is speaking to them, remember the one we just studied last week who holds the 7 stars and walks among them.

-Jesus is there and present in the church. Not some distantly removed dictator.

-Positive: works, labor, endurance, cannot tolerate evil people.

-Eugen Peterson: untiring, unflagging, and vigilant work

-Tested “apostles” not part of the 12, can be just church messengers

  • True Orthopraxy (4-7) “straight action” right action, right practice, living

-Correction: abandoned, fled, run away from first love. 

-Far more intentional than just drifting away.

-Eugene Peterson: “abandoning their first zestful love of Christ”

-A few debates about what this love is referring to, but because we know the author of this book, I think it sheds some light on what he’s referring to. Proposals: love for Jesus/God, or love toward others.

-Think of John 3:16 “For God so loved the world” or 1 John 3:18 “Little children, let us not love in word or speech, but in action and truth” or 1 John 4:7 “Dear friends, let us love one another, because love is from God, and everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God” and finally 4:11“Dear friends, if God loved us in this way, we also must love one another.”

-I think we also need to keep in mind Jesus’ words on the great commandment: Matt. 22:37-40.

-Jesus is saying it’s not enough to just have correct theology. In fact, those with the best theology are going to spend eternity in the lake of fire: James 2:19 “You believe that God is one. Good! Even the demons believe-and they shudder.” 

-Summary of God’s expectations for His people: love God supremely, love others sacrificially. It’s not enough to just mentally agree with some truth claims: those truth claims are meant to soak themselves deeply into your life and change the way you live, including even your emotional life.

-The way you could summarize this church is that they’ve become so committed to right beliefs that they’ve neglected to love God or other people. They’ve forgotten the great commandment.

-Think of just how many “heresy hunter” organizations exist today! A quick look at YouTube and it can quickly become overwhelming! True belief matters greatly, but so does the way we live. You can’t separate those 2 truths! And I think this is an area that we as a church need to be wary of. I’m honestly not worried about us drifting away from the truth: we have more seminary degrees in this room than some seminaries offer! What I do worry about is become so determined to hold onto the truth that we neglect Jesus’ command to love others too.

-This even affected the EFCA over the past couple years! A pastor was hired at a church in NJ who claims to be an expert in theology, and to have a prophetic gift from God, and wrote 3 books denouncing the EFCA as “woke,” Marxist, and social justice warriors. He was given multiple opportunities to repent, he was called out for a lack of charity and grace toward others, and at moments he literally lied about things people said. If you only listen to his side, it sounds like he was doing the right thing, but if you talk to those that have tried to engage with him it becomes clear that there’s no love and only wanting to care about true beliefs (according to him).

-And it’s not just him, there’s whole organizations devoted to the idea that we need to stand firm and fight for the truth, or else the world will fall down around us. Do you really thing that’s our job? Is God so dependent on us fighting for Him that if we don’t stand up His plans are going to fail? My encouragement to you is to be careful of those organizations that only want to fight. Yes, we must stand firm for the truth, but don’t forget to look for the fruit of those who are leading organizations. Hold their lives up to Gal. 5. Do you see outbursts of anger? What about dissensions – trying to divide people (even Christians!) apart? Same with factions – whose side are you on? 

-Church: don’t miss this reality! Those that want to constantly fight and divide are not a part of God’s kingdom, they are manifesting the works of the flesh. Correct theology doesn’t mean you get into heaven! Your life must bear fruit. Always remember what we want to hear Jesus say to us when we finally see Him: “Well done good and FAITHFUL servant.” All of us are going to be surprised at some area of our theology being wrong (doesn’t mean we give up on learning and studying) AW Tozer, Ravi Zacharias (watch your life and doctrine)

-I think it’s important for us to see how Jesus commands them to respond to this letter: remember, repent, and do. 

-I got coffee with someone this week and chatted about how forgetful we are, even when God does incredible things in our lives. That’s normal for humans! That’s why God constantly tells us to remember. But not just remember, go on to repent (turn around), and then live the way you should be living. It’s never too late to repent! 

-If they don’t go back to their first love, Jesus says he will remove their lampstand. That means they would no longer be a church. Sure they can continue meeting, continue trying to achieve certain aims, but Jesus no longer views them as a true church. If we have all the right theology, but have not love, we stop functioning as a true church. This threat fits in with the concern of the city. Remember the constant dredging they did to remove silt from the harbor? There was this constant fear that the city would stop being a city because they were completely dependent on the harbor for their economic growth. Similarly, the church needs to fear no longer being a church unless they “dredge” up the sin in their lives and deal with it.

-I don’t have time to dig into the Nicolaitans, they’ll come up next week!

-Last thing we see is that this message is far broader than just this church. ANYONE who has ears. 

-“To be an “overcomer” in the eschatological war demands a day-by-day walk with God and dependence on his strength.” (Osborne)

-Conquering comes about by the sword of the Spirit, not the sword of power and influence

-Intentional contrast between God’s provision and Artemis’ provision

  • Smyrna (8-11)

-Smyrna had a history of dying and being brought back to life. It’s also the only city that still exists today as Izmir, Turkey. 

-Another harbor city (about 35 miles N of Ephesus) Claim to fame was the birthplace of the poet Homer

-Another prominent location with temples to various gods and emperors. Had an acropolis that was referred to as “the crown of Smyrna”

-The local currency had written on it “First of Asia in beauty and size.”

-Had a large and influential Jewish population who had access to economic and cultural power in the city. The Christians at Smyrna then faced oppression from both Jews and Romans in the city. Left out economically, banned from shopping in the marketplaces, yet 1 of only 2 churches that don’t receive any rebuke from Jesus. 

  1. True Riches (8-9)

-While Smyrna thought they were the first in priority, Jesus is the true First AND the Last. Just like the city had died and come back to life, Jesus shows His true divinity by rising from the dead (and holding the keys to death and Hades in His hands)

-Jesus sees what’s going on. He sees the way they are afflicted and the material poverty that they face, but that’s not the reality spiritually. 

-Even if the church faces being social outcasts, and lacks material means, Jesus is still among them. Do we need to change some of what we view as a successful church? 3Bs: buildings, budgets, butts, ABCs: adults, buildings, cash. What if the most wealthy churches are actually impoverished spiritually? 

-Jesus says he knows exactly what’s going on: slander from Jews, affliction from Romans, and the church feels oppression from both sides.

-This isn’t an antisemitic statement. Jesus was a Jew. Early disciples were Jews. But He is saying something new/unique is now taking place. 

-When confronted by Jewish leaders, Jesus says this: John 8:44

-Because Jesus has come, suddenly genealogy doesn’t matter anymore! Suddenly anyone can become a follower of the 1 true God! So when Jesus goes on to talk about a synagogue of Satan, He’s saying that because they don’t believe in Jesus as the way, the truth, and the life, they’re serving their father Satan who can only lie. Let me say it again: this verse is NOT antisemitic, and using it to argue that is a gross misinterpretation. 

  • True Suffering (10-11)

-The only guarantee on this side of eternity is suffering. Jesus promises us that!

-10 days isn’t a literal amount of time, but most likely picks up on an idea from Daniel 1 where the prophets were similarly tested.

-Once again, we see suffering is coming, but if you remain faithful you’ll receive not the crown of Smyrna, but the crown of life.

-The promise to those who overcome (persevere) is the second death will never hurt you. Second death is the eternal death (that idea will come up again later)

-This promise to Smyrna would see it realized just a few decades later when their bishop was burned at the stake (and may have even been in the church when this letter was read!) 

-Polycarp, bishop of Smyrna: “Polycarp said: “Eighty-six years I have served him, and he never did me any wrong. How can I blaspheme my King who saved me?” … The proconsul said: “I have wild beasts. I shall throw you to them, if you do not change your mind.”

But he said: “Call them. For repentance from the better to the worse is not permitted us; but it is noble to change from what is evil to what is righteous.”

And again [he said] to him, “I shall have you consumed with fire, if you despise the wild beasts, unless you change your mind.”

But Polycarp said: “The fire you threaten burns but an hour and is quenched after a little; for you do not know the fire of the coming judgment and everlasting punishment that is laid up for the ungodly. But why do you delay? Come, do what you will.”

-Are we willing to face those kinds of threats? That kind of persecution? That kind of loss of social standing if we get the crown of life? That’s the blessing that comes from Jesus if we remain faithful unto death.

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by mikethestrand on February 25, 2024  •  Permalink
Posted in Bible, Church, History, Sermon
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Posted by mikethestrand on February 25, 2024

https://pastormikesmusings.com/2024/02/25/revelation-21-11-sermon-manuscript/

Revelation 1:9-20 – Sermon Manuscript

-When you think of Jesus, what comes to mind? Is it a nativity, where he lays silently (obviously no crying he makes!)? Or as a movie states is “Look, I like the Christmas Jesus best and I’m sayin’ grace. When you say grace, you can say it to grown-up Jesus or teenage Jesus or bearded Jesus or whoever you want.” Or do you picture him with the long flowing locks like this picture that my grandma had hanging in her house? Or the Jesus from the Cru 1979 film? Or maybe the newest rendition of Jesus from The Chosen? Let me tell you, no class at seminary prepared me for the question: “Daddy, is that really Jesus?” 

-Obviously, none of these are a direct representation of Jesus, we don’t have a painting of him, and the Bible is scarce on physical descriptions of him. We know He was a man, where He was born and lived, and someday we will actually see what He looks like. And today’s text tells us what He looks like, but it’s not the way many of us would expect Him to look!

READ/PRAY

  1. John’s Commission (9-11)

-John is chosen by God, but notice how he describes himself:

-Brother: the familial attachments of the church. I don’t know about you, but I love the fact that I get brothers in the church, because I grew up with only sisters! In fact, I still keep up with my guy friends from high school because of the closeness we had, and the faith we shared. And that’s supposed to be true in the church as well. 

-One of the ideas that has just captured my imagination over the past couple years is this idea of the church being a family. The early church realized that we cannot exist as pure individuals: we need others who will encourage us when we’re down, help us when we’re weak, take care of us when we’re sick, bring diapers when we have twins. In a world where everything tries to tell us to focus on ourselves, that we are our own isolated and independent people, the church is supposed to be the place that shows that’s not true. And we see that reality all around us. Loneliness at an all-time high, trust in other people doesn’t seem to exist anymore, and into that world we’re supposed to represent a different ideal where no matter how difficult things get, you have a group of people who love you and will walk with you. And not only is this the relationship John has with other believers, he’s also:

-Partner in 3 things that are expected for anyone in Jesus:

-Affliction (tribulation). We saw last week that John was exiled because of his beliefs about Jesus. The persecution of the church was in full force during the writing of this letter, so John writes this to remind them they’re not alone. I have a friend who was just informed this past week that he was let go from his job, and I texted him and his wife after I heard that we’re with them as they navigate this! I’ve even heard life summarized as: hard, and then you die. And there’s an element of truth to that, right? Even Jesus said: John 16:33. Yes, life is hard, the question is what do you do with that fact? If you have a partner in that reality it gets a lot easier, which leads to the second piece:

-kingdom. This is one of Jesus’ favorite topics. Think of the Lord’s prayer: “your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.” Remember, we are now a part of God’s kingdom, even though it doesn’t appear that way by what we see taking place around us. Again, part of the reason we need a partner to remind us what’s truly true! Finally:

-endurance. One of the repeated refrains throughout the NT is to endure! Remain faithful! Once again, we don’t do this alone or in isolation. I ran cross country my Sr year of high school, and one of the best ways to grow in running is to have other people pushing you on! Encouraging endurance until the end of the race. Favorite verses on this topic: Gal. 6:9-10

-Patmos (remember this map) penal colony

-Under persecution most likely for not bowing the knee to the emperor. One of the themes we’ll see throughout this book is the regular reminder to not give in to the civil religions of the world. Emperor worship, idol worship, economic worship are all rampant in the first century, and also remain rampant today. Don’t give in to their allure! 

-“In the spirit” Mentioned 4 times: here, 4:2, 17:3, 21:10 each one a precursor to the next step or revelation of John’s vision. Signifies he’s the next step in a long line of prophets. Jude 20 “But you, dear friends, as you build yourselves up in your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Spirit,”

-“Lord’s Day” only time this phrase is used in the NT. Closest is “Lord’s supper” in 1 Cor. 11:20. Change in worship from before Jesus’ resurrection to after, Acts tells us the early church met “on the first day of the week” (Acts 20:7)

-One of the reasons to believe in the reality of the resurrection! Nowhere in the Bible does it show Jesus or His disciples disobeying the law. LOTS of occasions of disobeying the man-made laws, but never once disobeying God’s revealed law. So why would these law-abiding Jews change the day of their worship, unless something dramatic happened, like Jesus rising from the dead!

-Loud voice like a trumpet: Ex. 19:16 Just as God’s presence is ushered in with the sound of a ram’s horn (trumpet) in the OT, this is telling us that God is coming.

-Contrast this with the way Elijah hears God’s voice 1 Kings 19. God can speak through a still voice, or a trumpet so loud your ears ring! Just like Jesus’ first and second comings can be compared.

-Just like every other prophet chosen by God, John is given a job.

-God is going to be revealing things to John, his job is to write them down, and unlike Daniel’s vision (which John has a TON of similarities to), his job is to share it!

  • John’s Vision (12-16)

-As one does, he turns around to see who’s talking to him. First thing he notices isn’t at person, it’s seven golden lampstands.

-Once again, if our minds aren’t saturated with the words of Scripture this won’t make any sense to us! First is the immediate context: look down at vs. 20, we know these are the 7 churches that have already been talked about a couple times. Since we know this refers to the churches, that leads us to something Jesus said: Matt. 5

-But it also references back to a couple OT passages: 

-Ex. 25:31-37: the lampstand was created to light up the tabernacle. This was the place where God’s very presence dwelt. Keep that in mind, but there’s one more passage that John’s borrowing from:

-Zech. 4:2, 10: the lampstands demonstrate God’s oversight into what’s taking place. So just as in the OT God’s prophecy to Zechariah is accompanied by God’s revelation of His plan, so in Revelation, God is revealing to John His plan.

-Only after seeing the lampstands do we see who was talking, he was standing among the lampstands “one like the Son of Man.”

-Dan. 7:13-14. In the NT, often when the author wants you to think about the whole passage of Scripture, they would only quote a portion of it. People in the 1st century had FAR better memory retention than we do – their culture trained them to hear and retain things. So Jesus on the cross when he cries out “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” people would have connected it to Psalm 22. Jesus only needs to quote the first verse, because everyone would know the rest of the story (it ends with the Psalmist having God’s victory) So when John refers back to the Son of Man, those hearing that would be thinking about the whole passage from Daniel.

-I got a complaint last week about not including any LOTR, so this is the perfect time for another clip! Gandalf the gray was thought to have been killed in the first book, and another wizard named Saruman the White was seen to be leading the forces of evil against the fellowship. Aragorn, Legolas, and Gimli are looking for 2 of the hobbits who had been captured, leading them to this point.

-Robe: think of Joseph who was given a special robe from his father. Also significant in the Greek it says it goes all the way to his feet: different levels of authority had different lengths of robe. Also denotes priestly, Ex. 28:4

-Golden sash: Ex. 28:4 priestly garment, and another reminder of royalty.

-Hair: the less color the more wisdom. Opposite today! Had a chat with a friend last week about letting the gray come in, despite all the commercials telling us to use “Just for Men” and sometimes even kids commenting that “Dad, you need some of that!” Prov. 16:31 “Gray hair is a glorious crown; it is found in the ways of righteousness.” I think this also connects back to the one moment Jesus’ glorified image was seen by the disciples in the transfiguration: Mark 9:3. Jesus is seen as full of wisdom (connecting back to the Ancient of Days, or is and was and is to come), and purity.

-Fiery eyes – as eyes age they become less bright (cataracts), not so with Jesus. Also comes up again in 2:18 and 19:12 connected to judgment. Jesus’ eyes can penetrate beneath the surface and get to the heart of the matter. Like if you’ve ever been in a conversation with someone who suddenly asks the exact question you needed to hear and it feels like they were staring directly into your soul. That’s what Jesus does!

-Feet: Dan. 10:6 denotes strength and stability, as well as complete purity. If the bronze has been polished they’ve had all their impurities removed. Notice as well the description of the voice in Daniel. Now let’s go back to Rev.:

-His voice: think of a hurricane. This also connects to Ezekiel’s vision in 2 places Ezek. 1:24 where we see the angelic beings carrying the Lord, and in43:2 where we see God’s glory finally returning to Israel.

-3 final descriptions of Jesus: 

-Holding 7 stars: Commentary on NT use of the OT quote. And the fact that they’re in Jesus’ right hand signifies that He’s in control of them. Nothing happens to them apart from His guidance.

-Sword from the mouth: Jesus’ second coming brings division. Isa. 49:2 where God’s words become a sharp sword 2 Thess. 2:8 where God’s final judgment and destruction come about through His words, Matt. 10:34-35 where we see Jesus’ arrival is accompanied by a sword. You think it’s peaceful, but He came to wage war against the works of the flesh and the devil.

-Face was shining: Matt. 17:2 another reference to the transfiguration. What the disciples got to see was a little picture of the glorified Jesus. Ex. 34:29-35 This also signifies the connection to the ultimate Prophet from the OT, Moses. Anytime Moses would meet with the Lord he would end up with a glowing face (kind of like when we MN see the sun for the first time in the summer and forget to put sunscreen on, I think there’s been some summers where my face glowed in the dark!) In order to not blind the people, Moses would put a veil over his face. Where this gets amazing is what Paul says about us today in 2 Cor. 3. Just as Jesus’ face in Revelation is said to shine like the sun, that’s what our faces are supposed to do as well. Where we once had a veil covering the us, when we turn to Jesus we now are commanded to shine brightly into the darkness of the world (just like the lampstands signified at the beginning of this section)

-Revelation is a beautiful summary, cherry on top, of the whole message of Scripture encapsulated in 1 book. All these little ideas that have been alluded to before are finding their fulfilment here!

  • John’s Response (17-20)

-Since He sees Jesus, he responds like Isaiah in Isa. 6. Isaiah sees a picture of God and comes undone! He realizes He has no right to stand in before the perfect God so he says “Woe is me for I am ruined!” And how is he able to stand before God? He’s touched by an angel and all his sins are dealt with. In this case, Jesus already dealt with the sins, but He still reaches out and touches John.

-One of the most underrated aspects of Jesus’ ministry is that of touch. Something comforting and strengthening about being touched by someone else. A hug, an arm around the shoulder. Think of all the people Jesus touched, even though He didn’t need to! A leper who hadn’t been touched in years, a women who had been dealing with a bloody discharge for 12 years leaving her unclean, a blind man whose eyes hadn’t worked since birth. All touched by the Savior!

-Jesus’ touch brings comfort and strength

-Why don’t we fear? Connects to the Ancient of Days in 7:9, 13. He’s always existed, He will always exist, so because of that we can trust in His guiding of every circumstance in our lives. Jesus is different than the Ancient of Days in that He died! The different roles of the Father and the Son.

-Defeated death and Hades. What are the keys? Keys signify authority. The church is given keys by Jesus to manage church membership (Matt. 16:17-20; 18:15-20), but Jesus is given keys to manage death and Hades. Death kills the body, Hades kills the soul (the place where the dead dwell)

-John’s commission: seen, is, will take place.

-John’s vision, directly applicable to the 1st century, blessing and connections for churches throughout history, and a picture of what will happen as Jesus returns

-Mystery explained: in the Bible, mystery often refers to something that wasn’t understood before, but is now revealed and has special redemptive purposes.

-Some debate around the angels. A couple options: pastors of the churches (every time angel is used in Rev. it refers to the spiritual beings), guardian angels of the churches, heavenly counterparts of the earthly reality. The last 2 seem the most likely, and ultimately doesn’t matter which it is, because they’re still subservient to Jesus. Remember, keep the angels in the background and Jesus in the foreground.

-Churches as lampstands? Jesus standing among them tells us the significance of being a part of the church. Do you want to be where Jesus is? Become a member of a local church. The church is who Jesus is given the keys of the kingdom to (Matt. 16, 18), and is the place where Jesus currently dwells.

-This week’s blessing: the risen Christ is present wherever His church is. If you’re a part of a church, you get Jesus’ comfort, His touch, and you get to participate in shining as a light into the world! 

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by mikethestrand on February 18, 2024  •  Permalink
Posted in Bible, Church, Sermon, Worship

Posted by mikethestrand on February 18, 2024

https://pastormikesmusings.com/2024/02/18/revelation-19-20-sermon-manuscript/

Revelation 1:1-8 – Sermon Manuscript

-I’m not much of a gambler (I’ve played the penny slots each time I’ve gone to Vegas just for fun), but I onetime got the better of a friend with a guaranteed bet. March Madness party.

READ/PRAY

  1. Blessing Comes Through God’s Word (1-3)

-Apocalypse = revealing. Opposite of hidden. 

-This is meant to be studied and understood and applied and lived out in our lives. If anyone tells you this has a hidden meaning or we shouldn’t seek to learn and discern this book, point them to the first word of the first verse. The revealing! This book is going to give us a glimpse of what takes place in the spiritual realm, a peek behind the curtain to see things through God’s eyes. 

-Revelation OF or ABOUT Jesus Christ (both) The Greek can be translated with either preposition: the point is the revelation is focused on Jesus. This should be significant to us for a couple reasons:

-First, all of history is centered on Jesus the Christ. Everything that is revealed only comes about because of what Jesus has accomplished in his life, death, and resurrection. Second, that means the focus of this book has to be on Jesus and not our experiences or perspectives on what the great tribulation period will look like. All of those stories must remain in the background as we remember and focus on the revealing of Jesus.

-If you’ve ever taken a picture of someone and you do the new portrait mode on the new phones, it allows you to choose a focal point and the rest of the image becomes blurry. If we focus our attention too much on the background we’ll miss the point of the picture. So as we walk through some pretty fantastical descriptions of events and characters, remember to keep them in the background because they’re not the main event. 

-This does NOT say “The mystery of all the events that will take place at the end of all things” it says “The revealing of Jesus.” Keep that as the focus!

-To show his servants: servants is used 7 times (perfection) to refer to believers (1:1; 2:20; 7:3; 19:2, 5; 22:3, 6). Just as this book was written to reveal, it’s also for all Christians. 

-Soon: (near vs. 3) what does it mean that Jesus is coming back “soon”? How does God view time, how do we view time? 

AT Pierson (Christian missions advocate) in 1886: “Imminence is the combination of two condition, certainty and uncertainty. An imminent event is one which is certain to occur at some time, uncertain at which time. Imminent is not synonymous with impending. It is not exact to say that what is imminent is near at hand, it may or may not be.”

-Think of a verse like 2 Peter 3:8 “With the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day.” So it’s only been 2 days since Jesus ascended into heaven, according to the Lord! That’s not long! And what if His return is delayed for 2 more days? Even my kids can tolerate waiting 4 days for a big event!

-He made it known, or signified it by sending: his angel or messenger? Angels are God’s messengers, they’re sent by God to bring messages to His people. This divine emissary speaks on God’s behalf, and we’ll see John interacting with various angels throughout this book, but again they are subservient to God. The angels aren’t the point, the angels don’t accept worship (John at one point will become so overwhelmed that he’ll fall down at an angels feet) Angels just like you and I are created beings. They have a role to play in God’s cosmic plan, but unlike us they’re not embodied creatures. 1 Peter tells us that angels wish they could understand the implications of the salvation we experience, so they have a different kind of relationship with God than we do. This angel is sent to a specific person: John (1 of the 12 disciples who ministered with Jesus during his earthly ministry, go back to last week’s message to hear about him)

-Testified to what? The Word of God. John’s not making something up, not a fanciful story. Cara and I recently watched the new Wonka movie – reused the song from the old movie Pure Imagination that begins “Come with me and you’ll be in a world of pure imagination.” I think we can have a tendency to read Revelation like that. When we read this book we’re entering a land of pure imagination. It makes no sense, logic and reason are left at the door, but that’s not true! Since it’s the word of God, we hold to it just like the other 65 books. And what is this testifying about (again) Jesus Christ!

-“See” is an important verb throughout Rev. It’s another way of telling us that John is (similarly to the angel) just a messenger recording what God is revealing to Him.

-We next get to the verse that is the reason I wanted to preach through this, what I’ve heard some people refer to as the Revelation beatitudes, the blessing that comes from reading and keeping the words of this prophecy. 

–7 blessings in this book. Once again perfection, probably signifying a full or complete blessing that comes about through this whole book (1:3, 14:13, 16:15, 19:9, 20:6, 22:7, 22:14)

-“who reads aloud” one translation adds “in the church” as I had pointed out to me last week. The way the early church received the message of these letters was by having some receive them and read them in the church. Can you imagine how shocking this letter would have been for those first Christians? 

-But it’s not enough to just hear it, it requires us to do something with it. Hear AND KEEP, or obey them. As we work our way through this book, or as you read it, look for the things that we’re supposed to be doing with the message in them. It may take some sanctified imagination, but that’s ok!

-As we just read, this revealing isn’t just for 1 person, it’s for all believers, or you could say this is for the church. We need to be a part of the church in order to correctly live out and receive the blessing God is giving through this revelation.

  • Blessing Comes In the Church (4-5a)

-Author of the book we talked about last week. Seven churches (we’ll dig into those in a couple weeks)

-Numbers are almost always symbolic. This letter is addressed to these 7 specific churches, but these churches also stand in for all churches in all times and places. 7 stands for fullness or completeness. 

-Another reason to think this is the last verse in every letter to the specific church says “Let anyone who has ears to hear listen to what the Spirit says to the churches.” (We’ll get there soon! Gotta get through this chapter first)

-Grace and peace ALWAYS comes from God in the Bible.

-On our own we can’t have either of these things. Grace is unmerited favor, the fact that God has cast our sin as far as the east is from the west. If you don’t know how far that is that’s the point. God has placed eternity between us and our sin. Because of God’s grace given to us, we now have peace with God and with each other. Without God’s work there is only fighting and disagreement, but now God allows us to have true and lasting peace.

-Just like many other greetings in the letters of Scripture, signifies the “letter” genre of this book.

-The one who is, who was, who is to come: Ex. 3:14 “I am who I am” or “I am the one who is” (Schreiner) 

-He is (he reigns even over the Roman empire), He was (He has always been the sovereign Lord, even over the Egyptian empire), He will be (we will finally see His ultimate rule and reign when He returns)

-These churches were facing a brief but intense season of persecution. When things are difficult, doesn’t it become easier to start doubting that God is working in your life? For a number of these churches, they’re seeing their friends dragged off and killed for choosing to identify with Jesus. For many of our brothers and sisters in other parts of the world, this is also true for them. I think of the church in Afghanistan that for the first time in their history were able to publicly declare their faith, then that tool because a hit list for the Taliban after we withdrew our forces. If you’re facing death it can be hard to trust that God’s still in control. That’s why we need to have good theology because our experience will train us to neglect this fact that God is, God was, and God will be.

-7 spirits: 

-Once again, 7 refers to completeness, perfection. The perfect spirit. Many believe this is a reference to Isa. 11:2. Notice the 7 descriptions of the spirit here: Lord, wisdom, understanding, counsel, might, knowledge, fear of the Lord.

-Trinitarian: and the Son. Dear friends, don’t miss this. The trinity wasn’t made up by the church in the early centuries, the church instead affirmed what God has revealed about Himself throughout Scripture. (3-fold description of Him)

-Faithful witness: the mission of the Father to seek and save the lost

-Firstborn from the dead: “Others were resuscitated (like Lazarus), but they all died again. Jesus, on the other hand, has conquered death forever.” (Schreiner) This will matter when we get to Rev. 21, so keep that in mind as we continue through this – have you ever considered that Jesus, after the resurrection, is the only example we have of what our resurrected bodies will be like? There will be some things that are the same (the disciples recognized him, his scars were still there), but there will also be some things that are different (walk through walls, able to conceal himself from others). We often miss the significance of a phrase like “firstborn” too. The firstborn was the most important child. The one who received all the recognition, a double inheritance, all the privilege and prestige. This also connects to Psalm 89, which gets us to the third description.

-Ruler of the kings: Psalm 89:27 We talked about this politically, went to a conference with Micah this week where I was reminded that every government and leader will someday give an account to the Lord for how they lead (Rev. 6). Even though it seems like the evil government was winning, in the world that really matters (which for now is unseen), they have no power. Jesus is their ruler! It’s already true spiritually, someday soon it will be true visibly.

  • Blessing Comes Only By Jesus (5b-8)

-In spite of the persecution they’re currently facing, that’s not what they’re facing in the heavenly realm.

-Loves, set free from our sins. Church don’t miss this: Jesus LOVES you. All of you. The real you. Not some future you. There is nothing you can do to make Him love you more, and nothing you can do to make Him love you less. That’s why Paul goes to such great lengths to tell us that NOTHING can separate us from God’s love in Christ Jesus our Lord.

-Freedom: Galatians 5:1. We are free to no longer sin. Where we used to be bound by sin (could only sin) we can now become slaves to Jesus, which completely frees us to be exactly who God has created us to be. And this freedom makes us: (vs. 6)

-Kingdom and priests: Ex. 19:6

-“The promise of salvation given to Adam and Eve (Gen. 3:15) and to Israel has now been fulfilled in Jesus Christ.” (Schreiner)

-Kingdom has a king, a place, and a people. Our king is Jesus, our place is heaven (which will be coming to earth), and His people is the church. And because of what Jesus has done, we can now be called priests: the people who engage with God. That’s CRAZY! We don’t need a sacrificial system, don’t need magic words, we don’t need to dress a certain way or act a certain way, we can come straight to God.

-Doxology: these realities must move us to praise God! One of my favorite questions to ask those pursuing ministry: “when is the last time the implications of the gospel emotionally moved you?” The fact that we’re saved has implications in the way we live our lives, including how we handle our emotions.

-Amen doesn’t mean “goodbye” it means “I agree” or “May it be so” it’s a way of signifying agreement. It will come up again in just a couple verses. 

-“Look” or “Behold” a way of saying “PAY ATTENTION!”

–Dan. 7:13-14, 

–Zech. 12:10 “The Zechariah text has been altered in two significant ways. The phrases “every eye” and “of the earth” (cf. Zech. 14:17) have been added to universalize its original meaning.”

-Jesus second coming will be significantly different than the first time! This time it won’t by incognito, it won’t be in a humble manger.

Schreiner: “First, “all the tribes of the earth” probably alludes to Genesis 12:3 (cf. Gen. 28:14; Ps. 72:17) and the promise to Abraham that many will become part of his family. John declares that “all the tribes of the earth”—all who have rejected Jesus Christ as Lord—have pierced Jesus. Or we could say that every human being has crucified and pierced Jesus, but those who have repented of doing so are freed from their sins (Rev. 1:5–6).

John responds to what he has written in verse 7 with an affirmation: “Even so” and “Amen.” The salvation of the righteous and the judgment of the wicked are both a matter of joy in Revelation, the latter not because of vindictiveness but as a matter of justice.”

-Remember what I said last week: don’t ever take hell, or the coming judgment lightly. Final justice is permanent. No take backs, no do overs. And everyone at some level wants that. It is fascinating to me that the natural human impulse is to want justice when you’re wronged, but grace when you the one who does wrong. We self-justify and blame others very quickly. And everyone has this impulse to want justice, but the justice is for someone else not for me. Eternity is a very long time. 

-Alpha and omega (Greek letters): like Amazon (A to Z)

-Believers can be guaranteed such vindication because God is “the Almighty.” “Almighty” (pantokratōr) in the LXX is most often a translation of the Hebrew for “Lord of hosts,” referring to Yahweh as the Lord of the armies of heaven. Keep that in mind for later too.

-Church, God is in complete control. It doesn’t matter who’s in the oval office, it doesn’t matter how socially ostracized we become, this world is not our home. Jesus has defeated sin and death, He is currently ruling over the kings of the earth, and we have nothing to be afraid of. That sounds like the greatest blessing I could ever hope for!

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by mikethestrand on February 11, 2024  •  Permalink
Posted in Bible, Blog, Sermon, Theology, Worship

Posted by mikethestrand on February 11, 2024

https://pastormikesmusings.com/2024/02/11/revelation-11-8-sermon-manuscript/

Overview of Revelation – Sermon Manuscript

Spoiler Alert: God Wins!

Revelation

-Glasses

-Why do that silly illustration? To show that we all view and interpret what takes place around us through specific filters. Ever been sharing a story with someone who remembers it completely different than you? We all wear specific glasses as we approach the text of Scripture, and our job is to work as hard as we can to take those glasses off so we can better understand the original author’s intent, as well as God’s intent through the human authors.

-And this is especially true when we come to a book like Revelation where there’s been so much debate and misunderstanding throughout history.

-Every generation since Christ ascended has become convinced Jesus would return in their lifetime. Every single one! And the 1 thing they all have in common is they’ve all been wrong! Anytime I hear someone predict the date I get a little upset because now God’s not returning on that day!

-GK Chesterton: “though St John the Evangelist saw many strange monsters in his vision, he saw no creature so wild as one of his own commentators.”

READ/PRAY (1-8)

  1. What Is Revelation?

-A letter, written by John to 7 churches. (vs. 4)

-Who was John? All sorts of debate! Some argue for a pseudonym, others argue that it was a well-known 1st century pastor, but most who uphold to a conservative evangelical belief think this was the Apostle John (“The Disciple whom Jesus loved”) who wrote the Gospel. He was well known to these churches, carried some sense of authority for them. Language used borrows heavily from Hebrew (written in Greek. Biggest reason we believe this comes from Iranaeus writing in 180 AD. Disciple of Polycarp (martyred in 156), was a friend of John. Would need some pretty conclusive contrary evidence to cast this into doubt (primarily comes from people who don’t believe the Bible to be true)

-What’s the significance of the 7 churches? From Patmos, followed a well-established mail route and roads where the letter most likely would have traveled. Each church would be responsible to read, copy, and then pass the letter along to the next church (just as Paul’s letters would have been distributed)

-Some of what makes Revelation difficult for us is it is a combination of 3 genres: apocalyptic, prophetic, epistle

-Epistle is one many of us are familiar with. It’s a letter. Paul wrote 13 of them, Peter wrote 3, John himself wrote 3 other letters reminding believers to persevere under persecution!

-Apocalyptic (The REVELATION of Jesus Christ) “entails the revelatory communication of heavenly secrets by an otherworldly being to a seer who presents the visions in a narrative framework; the visions guide the readers into a transcendent reality that takes precedence over the current situation and encourages readers to persevere in the midst of their trials. The visions reverse normal experience by making the heavenly mysteries the real world and depicting the present crisis as a temporary, illusory situation. This is achieved via God’s transforming the world for the faithful.” (Osborne, 222)

-Revealing (not trying to hide)

-Transcendent realities (what’s taking place spiritually)

-Describes those transcendent realities instead of the earthly

-Gets to God’s ultimate end.

-Prophecy: “It is impossible to distinguish ultimately between prophecy and apocalyptic, for the latter is an extension of the former.” (Osborne, 13) “Prophecy” appears 7 times in this book, but here’s a few examples that point to this explicitly being a prophecy. First note that prophecy isn’t just focused on the future. John says we’re to keep this prophecy, live it out, enact the truths revealed in it.

-Similarly to the beginning, toward the end John repeats the need to keep it, AND that this prophecy isn’t meant to be hidden away or only understood by a select few who have deciphered the “code,” but is a reminder to share these truths!

-“The prophecies predict literal events, though the descriptions do not portray the events literally.” (Blomberg, Klein, Hubbard, 443)

-Another piece that makes Revelation difficult to study is that it is stepped in OT imagery and references. But because we don’t know our Bibles they go right over our head! 

-404 verses, 518 references to earlier Scripture. “St. John has his favorite books of Scripture: Ezekiel, Daniel, Zephaniah, Zechariah, Isaiah, Exodus.”

-Because John is so steeped in his Bible, when his mind struggles to come up with the words to describe what’s being revealed to him, he relies on what he knows, and what he knows is the Bible! This is a great picture for us on how our minds should be so saturated with God’s Word that it just naturally flows out of us! It’s not a word for word reference like we’re used to in the rest of our Bibles. We need to use our “sanctified imagination” (Kevin VanHoozer) This isn’t making stuff up or claiming some new revelation from God (we’ll get to the danger in that!) this is having our minds so filled with God’s Word that it changes even the way we think. Or to refer back to the glasses, it is getting a better and better prescription until we’re able to see God’s Word and world correctly. 

-The last thing I want us to keep in mind about what Revelation is: the culmination of all of history (HIS story). My seminary professor summarized it: “God’s Plans for Cosmic History” 

-Revelation isn’t ultimately written to provide a timeline of the end times, but is written to inspire perseverance and faithfulness that even in the end times God is still sovereignly ruling on His throne!

  • Why Study Revelation?

-It’s in the Bible 

-As I’ve talked to many people in our body about studying this book there’s been a lot of nervousness and fear. Do we believe it’s God’s Word or not? We don’t get to pick and choose what’s God’s Word says! It’s our job to dig into it, to learn what it says, to get training in the correct way to interpret it and then apply it to our lives (we’ll get to that with the third point).

-“One of the great tragedies in the church in our day is how Revelation has been so narrowly and incorrectly interpreted with an obsessive focus on the future end time, with the result that we have missed the fact that it contains many profound truths and encouragements concerning Christian life and discipleship.” (Beale, 1)

-Think of what we just saw on the idea of it being a prophecy (not future oriented) there’s something we’re supposed to do with this book! It’s giving us an orientation to our lives that we’re supposed to obey.

-It stirs our hearts and imaginations in ways that prose cannot

-One of my favorite authors has become Eugene Peterson, who has an incredible way with words. He summarizes thoughts, ideas, and feelings in ways that move me. He says “I do not read Revelation to get additional information about the life of faith in Christ. I have read it all before in law and prophet, in gospel and epistle. Everything in Revelation can be found in the previous sixty-five books of the Bible. The revelation adds nothing of substance to what we already know. The truth of the gospel is already complete, revealed in Jesus Christ. There is nothing new to say on the subject. But there is a new way to say it.” “Revelation is a gift – a work of intense imagination that pulls its reader into a world of sky battles between angels and beasts, lurid punishments and glorious salvations, kaleidoscopic vision and cosmic song.” He goes on to describe John as a poet and pastor. He’s trying to train people to have their hearts stirred by the glories of the gospel. To help us keep our eyes and our gaze fixed heavenward.

-Which is another reason why we should study Revelation: it is completely Christocentric. 

-The first chapter recounts a description of the resurrected Savior that can barely be contained in words! The Son of Man, the alpha and omega, firstborn from the dead, ruler of the kings of the earth. White hair, eyes fiery, feet fine bronze, voice like cascading waters (think a hurricane instead of rippling brook). Holding 7 stars in his hand, sword coming from his mouth. Instead of stars being deities they’re mere playthings for Jesus! One of my favorite verses in the Gen. 1 vs. 16 “And the stars” There a theatrical encore, a passing note! 

-And another reason why we should study this book: Do you want to be blessed? Don’t miss this: just reading them is a blessing. Hearing them and keeping these words is a blessing. If we don’t study it we miss out on a blessing from the Lord.

-And another reason we need to study Revelation: to correct many misunderstandings: rapture (Rev. 12:5), antichrist isn’t in Revelation

-“Since Satan is not omniscient, and since only God knows the timing of the end, the devil must have an “antichrist” ready in every era, lest that turn out to be the time God has appointed for the consummation of all things.” (542)

–Left Behind isn’t an accurate account of what’s going to happen.

-There are only 2 destinies for people: one of pure bliss and happiness, the other filled with unimaginable horror. Do NOT make light of hell.

  • How Do I Study Revelation?

-VERY CAREFULLY! With humility. 

– The one thing I can claim to have some true expertise in is biblical studies. I have 2 degrees (and counting!) in biblical studies, and this series I’m spending more time and energy in preparation than most other studies.

-Define a commentary: someone who comments on a book of the Bible. Not just random people, those who have devoted their lives to the study and correct interpretation of the Bible.

-Every sermon series I’m reading anywhere from 3-5 different commentaries in preparation for my message. For revelation it’ll be more like 10-12! Here’s the list of all the commentaries I’ve already been consulting as I’ve been preparing for this series! And even though 2 of them look exactly the same, they’re not. 

-Part of the reason I do that is to do my best to understand the different interpretive options of the text we’re studying. The Bible isn’t easy to understand correctly. It’s easy to read, but that doesn’t mean we always understand it right.

-I will probably teach and say things that contradict what you have learned before. I’m ok with that! DON’T approach this as a heresy hunt! Where there’s legitimate debate, I’ll share that, but I’ll also share what I think makes sense based on the entire Bible. We can’t just rip something out of its’ context and suit it to fit our own agenda. Remember the glasses we all have! That doesn’t mean you can’t get better at understanding, but it takes time and work. 

-If you were in my class last semester, you’ve seen this, but I wanted to mention it again because it’s especially true of Revelation. We NEED biblical and historical theology. 

“Exegesis” is the word often used for careful reading. Exegesis answers the questions, What does this text actually say? and, What did the author mean by what he said? We discover this by applying sound principles of interpretation to the Bible. BT answers the question, How has God revealed his word historically and organically? HT answers the questions, How have people in the past understood the Bible? What have Christians thought about exegesis and theology? and, more specifically, How has Christian doctrine developed over the centuries, especially in response to false teachings? HT is concerned primarily with opinions in periods earlier than our own. ST answers the question, What does the whole Bible teach about certain topics? or put another way, What is true about God and his universe? PT answers the question, How should humans respond to God’s revelation?

-To get the exegesis right, he says we must apply “sound principles of interpretation to the Bible.” What are those?

-Micah’s class: what one needs to correctly interpret Scripture: “Qualifications for the Interpreter of Scripture: A Reasoned Faith in the God Who Reveals, Willingness to Obey Its Message, Willingness to Employ Appropriate Methods, Illumination of the Holy Spirit, Membership in the Church.” (Intro to Bib. Interp.)

-“The text cannot mean something that would have been completely incomprehensible to its original audience.” (Klein, Blomberg, Hubbard, 442)

“The most fundamental hermeneutical principle to follow in interpreting Revelation is to look for meanings that could have been intelligible to first-century Christians in Asia Minor, not hidden meanings decipherable only be people centuries later who think they might be living in the days immediately prior to Christ’s return.” (Blomberg)

-Need to keep in mind the genre of the text we’re reading:

-Apocalyptic literature: “Frequent features include (a) the extensive use of symbolism, often with outlandish or grotesque creatures and cosmology, much like our modern political cartoons; (b) the depiction of past, present, and/or future events of world history leading up to a decisive intervention on the part of God to right the injustices of society and to reward God’s faithful people; and (c) the assurance to those people in a setting of crisis or perceived crisis that evil would not ultimately maintain the upper hand.” (Blomberg, 512)

-How much is symbolic in Revelation? A LOT more than we realize! 

“In this light, the dictum of the popular approach to Revelation — “interpret literally unless you are forced to interpret symbolically” — should be turned on its head. Instead, the programmatic statement about the book’s precise mode of communication in 1:1 is that the warp and woof of it is symbolic, so that the preceding dictum should be reversed to say “interpret symbolically unless you are forced to interpret literally.” Better put, the reader is to expect that the main means of divine revelation in this book is symbolic.” (GK Beale)

-You may then ask, what do the signs stand for? What are they symbolizing? How are we supposed to understand what God’s messenger is talking about?

“In the case of John’s apocalypse, this background includes the Old Testament, intertestamental literature, and current or recent events in the cities of Asia Minor of John’s day. Number, though, are almost always symbolic, especially sevens and their multiples (standing for completeness or universality-based on the seven days of creation) and twelves and their multiples (standing for the twelve tribes of Israel and/or the twelve apostles-to designate God’s people as a whole).” (Blomberg, 512-3)

-Pulling in some historical theology, how has the church throughout history interpreted this book? 

-First and foremost, pretty much every generation has believed they’re living in the last days (which they are because they started the moment Jesus ascended. But generally there are 4 interpretive options.

-futurism (all future), preterism (fulfilled in AD 70) historicism (progressively fulfilled throughout church history) idealism (symbolic of the timeless struggle between God and Satan throughout the church age) eclectic redemptive-historical idealist approach

-Three Views on the Millennium and Beyond “1-All are committed to the Scripture as the ultimate authority in this discussion. 2-There has been a sense of fellowship, even in the midst of the disagreement. 3-Each view represented here foresees the eventual victory of Christ to the glory of God.” 284-5

-This isn’t a debate about inerrancy, or authority of the Bible, about God or theology proper, it’s a debate about the proper way to interpret a primarily apocalyptic text that was written 2,000 years ago! We need theological triage (remember that) in this issue! Don’t condemn someone because they differ with you, where we all agree is: Jesus is coming back, hopefully soon!

Outline: -LOTR “Things that are…”

Rev. 1:19: “What you have seen, what is, and what will take place after this.” The only question is where does the “what will take place” begin? And does it include everything in that section?  But it provides a helpful overview!

-I listened to a sermon yesterday that stood out to me on the reason we study Revelation, and it’s summarized by a story in the OT (Biblical Theology!) After 430 years in slavery, the Israelites are freed. Moses leads them to the brink of the Promised Land, and commissions 12 spies to scout the land. They go and 10 are TERRIFIED of the giants there, but 2 are determined to take it. They’re too busy looking at the giants to look to the giant slayer. Revelation commands us 70x to see or look. If we can keep our eyes on God, the enemies we face here seem to shrink in comparison, which is the point of this book. Dear friends, are you tired of feeling like the church is losing, like Christianity is failing, like there’s no hope? Stop looking at the wrong things, and cast your gaze in the right direction!

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by mikethestrand on February 4, 2024  •  Permalink
Posted in Bible, Church, History, Sermon

Posted by mikethestrand on February 4, 2024

https://pastormikesmusings.com/2024/02/04/overview-of-revelation-sermon-manuscript/