Patient Endurance - Shane Willard

alright so Revelation chapter 12 let me let me set this up and then and then we're gonna look at this passage my goal when I speak is that Jesus gets bigger the cross works better the resurrection is central and scriptures get bigger not smaller I hope we can make this book come alive for us so we could do that oh we could the goal is not to explain the book although you have to sort of explain what's going on when you read any Bible passage you want to ask what happened and more importantly you want to ask what's happening in me right now because of what happened and the way you do that is you find yourself in the story we're not called really to read the Bible we're called to allow the Bible to read us and that's two different things right and so we want we want to look at that and basically the context of this if you missed other meetings and that's that's okay is this this the world is in the worst spot it's ever been it is in the worst it is a one world government with one world currency and that currency and how people buy a cell is being controlled by a megalomaniac who thinks he's God and that guy's name is Caesar this is a terrible terrible situation that the world is in he is economically marginalizing and oppressing the vast majority of people in order to enrich the top 2% they created a nine level class system to define who was the best humans and who were less than humans and the less than humans were used oftentimes for sport they were eaten by lions for the entertainment of the upper class this was maniacal this was ridiculous the lower class was often used in in ritual activities of sexual abuse in either acts of worship or in traditions like dual souling it would have been a terrible time to be alive the military superpower was surviving based on the excessive taxation of everybody else it was circular despair they would tax everybody at really high rates in order to fund the military that was in their hometown torturing them this would have been terrible in a place like MIG Dahl it was Roman law that all women were Roman property in other words it was not against the law for a Roman soldier to rape any woman in Migdal by the way that's where a lady named Mary Magdalene is from right and so and so that you could see how later says that she had seven demons that just means she was full of them why because when you're living in that level of torment it starts to affect your life this this is the world that John is writing this letter into and this was meant to be a circular letter to seven places seven real places at real times with real people living in real oppression in the in the Asia Minor region of the Roman Empire and John is offering them hope he's offering them a new narrative revelation is not a secret code about the end of the world revelation is the revelation of how all human authority if not submitted to the risen Christ way of seeing the world turns into a new Babylon it turns in to a new system to oppress certain people and enrich a few people and that's what that's what's going on here and that's what's coming against and and John offers this thing that the book of Revelation follows a five-step pattern that I think follows the pattern of our life and it's the pattern of the pattern of my life your life it's the pattern of history and that is this it starts out with with an offer to repent repent is not ashamed based activity it was an offer to think about the world in a brand-new way hey this is the narrative the Empire Caesar is Lord no other name on earth by which men can be saved and the whole Empire was about the propagation of that Imperial cult but the problem with that is is it left most people in disarray and darkness and death and oppression and raping and pillaging and economic disaster it was a horrific situation Jean offers a new way of looking at the world and he reminds people that there's a kingdom of this Christ and at the end of the day the kingdom of this Christ gets the last word Caesar Domitian Caesar Nero do not get the last word Jesus does and there's this offer to realign yourself to see the world how they see it believing in Jesus was not the point I guess it could be a starting point but it was definitely not the finishing point as if Jesus can be relegated to a bullet point on a what I believe pamphlet no Jesus was supposed to be more profound in that Jesus is not something to believe in Jesus was supposed to be a fundamental way of seeing the whole world right and so we're all this narrative and there's of course a lot of people that say yes to that and when they say yes to that they're gonna meet resistance and so part of the book of Revelation is is once you've agreed to align yourself with an anti Empire way of seeing the world once you agree to do that you're gonna meet lots of resistance you're gonna meet lots of like the decision to follow Christ does not enter the world in neutral space rather it is contested space there is a force coming against life it's called death it's called anti-christ anti-life and you can personify that in lots of different metaphors and they do that in the book of Revelation but the main point is is that when we say yes to Jesus and to see the world as Jesus sees the world it's gonna put us in opposition to things that are ant event that are Antichrist that bring death and and disrepair to the world and so what you find in the book of Revelation there's an offer to repent and then when people say yes to that there's there's resistance and then there's this call to patient endurance there's this call to some sort of resilience there's there's a call to have some grit there's a call to that but then the oppression gets a bit much and then there's this calls to worship and the worship allows us to reaffirm our commitment to see it Jesus's way so it goes in a circle so there's a call to see it Jesus's way there's resistance to that there's a call to have some grit there's then a call to worship and then there's a reef for every affirmation that Christ way of seeing the world is the best way to see the world and that's that's where you're at in the story now on Sunday night we talked about chapter 11 where what happens is is God's plan with two witnesses to help redeem the world they end up getting killed by the force of evil they end up getting killed and we talked about how that's part of our life story to that resurrections a thing but resurrection is not a thing unless there's a cross and all of us experience loss and suffering and a bit of grief and that doesn't mean we lack faith great faith is not having enough faith to get out of something rather great faith is keeping our head up our shoulders back our hands clean or heart pure and our taste sweet in the middle of that something great faith is not the absence of doubt great faith is the of profound trust even when we still have questions that is what we're talking about here and so there's this there's the thing then the good thing is the book of Revelation at this point changes and goes pretty positive pretty quick I mean things start looking up a bit and that's where we are in this story let me um let me here this is a revelation chapter five it's a description John is trying to describe in metaphor and symbols and apocalyptic literature how evil that stands against if if this way of looking at the world is so much better for everybody then how is it that the thing that stands against that got such a foothold and so he describes this conflict in heaven between a pregnant woman with 12 crowns and a dragon now this is this is obvious imagery about a woman who is carrying life and trying to bring life to the world and in this case the twelve get this is this is an imagery of God's people and a woman who wants to bring life to the world and of course something that is aunt Yvette life and and the enemy in this case is personified as a dragon and this is this is what it says and she gave birth to a male child one to two would rule all the nations with a rod of iron her child was caught up to God and to his throne and the woman fled into the wilderness where she has a place prepared by God in which she will be nourished for 1260 days now war rose in heaven and Michael and his angels fought against the Dragon and the dragon and his angels fought back but the dragon was defeated and there he was no longer any place for them in heaven like that you you can't if you're gonna come against everything heaven is you can't be here and the Great Dragon was thrown down that ancient serpent who is called the devil and Satan the deceiver the whole world almost every title given to this enemy was listed in that one sentence dragon ancient serpent devil Satan deceiver see it in in this culture Satan wasn't so much a person per se as much as it was the ha Satan the it they actually when they say they always put a uh an article in it the ha Satan the accuser that the thing the personification of the things standing against God's good life in God's good world he was thrown down to the earth he and his angels were thrown down with him and I saw a beast rising out of the sea with ten horns and seven heads and ten diadem's on the horns and blasphemous names on the heads and the Beast that I saw was like a leopard its feet was like a bear and its mouth was like a lion's mouth obviously metaphors into it the dragon was given power and his throne and great Authority in other words John saying the Roman Empire owes its power to its allegiance to this Antichrist life-force this is an T this ante this force that is an t life it's actually pro-death now what happened here and let's ask ourselves that and then let's go into what do we do with what happened here all right so first revelation 12 to 14 or john revealing signs and symbols of the impending victory of the lamb over the beast it is the center of a chiasm it is the climax of the story the slain lamb is overcoming the world by humility service and dying for people the exact opposite of what you would expect Revelation 12 starts with the symbol of a cosmic battle between a pregnant woman with a crown and 12 stars and a red dragon the this was common imagery and apocalyptic literature there's something trying to bring lysed in this case a pregnant woman trying to bring life and there's an anti life force coming against the life this person is trying to bring in other words the idea is the world is not neutral God's Messiah and plan for life is met with herbs opposition the dragon is then cast down to the earth and stirs up people against the creator and his plan for life so so so the dragon gets a lot of of people on side hey hey the best life is found in being pro-death or at least anti life that the pay hey you could get ahead if you if you buy into the class systems if you pay into the economic marginalization you can actually it can enrich you if you see the world in such a way that doesn't honor the Christ that holds all things together in them we if we create here's all you got to do to be anti-life create a system of us in them here's a and then somehow convince yourself that God is for you and not for them but and that is this is what makes Christianity so special Christianity is the world view when taught rightly that says actually one God one Christ holding the whole thing together and our job is to come together and allow people to participate in this good plan where there's not Jew nor Greek slave nor free male nor female and we're gonna do away with the class systems that we're gonna we're gonna lift the lowly to the place of the elite and we're gonna bring heaven to earth that that's the idea that's the idea is it is important let's say this way it's important that we see the source of evil so that we don't look for evil in each other it's important that we see that underneath abominable things is a force that has been at work against life since the beginning that actually if we don't see the source of the evil we will look for it in each other and that would be a death knell to God's good world that he's trying to create let's say it this way the followers of God conquered the dragon through the blood of the Lamb it says it this way and they overcame by the blood of the Lamb and the word of his testimony well what's the blood of the lamb its service its sacrifice its humility in other words they didn't overcome by escalating violence and trying to conquer militarily that this was a misunderstanding Jesus had to deal with remember there's this one time where Jesus Jesus said I have come to bring the kingdom of God and it is for this reason that I have come to the earth so in Jesus when Jesus was asked why did you come to the earth he didn't say he came to forgive sins although he surely did that it didn't say he did not say his primary purpose was to show ethical living although he certainly did that when Jesus was pinned down - why are you here bro here's what he said I've come to declare the coming of the kingdom of God for this purpose I was sent and the Pharisees react exactly how we would if we saw Kingdom as a military thing they say great well when are you gonna take over Rome then bro we'd love to mark our calendars so we can witness this and remember what Jesus says he says the kingdom of God is not coming in ways that can be observed nor will they say here it is or there it is for the kingdom of God is already inside you in other words let me let me quote it again the kingdom of God is not coming in ways that can be observed normal they say here it is or there it is the king of gods are inside even other words if you can see it not kingdom not Kingdom it might be a result of Kingdom that's not Kingdom it's very important to Jesus that we don't name our experiences Kingdom because as soon as we name what we see kingdoms and things that aren't that or automatically anti Kingdom and we just create another system of us in them actually actually when you see a good worship service is that Kingdom nope but it could be a result of a lot of people saying yes to the kingdom of God at work on the inside of him absolutely absolutely even really good - hey if we fed 15,000 people that wouldn't eat without us next week is that the kingdom nope no why because you can see it you can see it not Kingdom now it might be a result of Kingdom it might be a result of a whole lot of people saying yes to the work of the Spirit of God on the inside of them and what you're seeing is the result of Kingdom but it's not Kingdom itself and so what what what Jesus was doing and what revelation is doing is this turning the idea of how to rule and reign upside down in this story the guy with all the military he's gonna lose his voice and the slain lamb who is willing to suffer and serve the world ends up getting the last word this is incredibly confronting it was confronting to the Pharisees in Jesus's day it was confronting to the people of the first century and let's just be honest even in 2020 in Toowoomba that idea is confronting that the way to have the most influence and the most life and to be connected with the with Christ in the most profound way is to make a commitment to serve be compassionate be humble never lord over somebody that in this story what you keep seeing happen is that violence and judgment do not produce the results they promised but rather service humility suffering mourning being in it with people that we do not run from the disorder nor do we escalate violence over the top of it we enter into it in order to reorder to bring out beauty new life fresh start second chances new creation clean slates and the opportunity to write a better story hey this is revelation 13 this is the next chapter one of its heads talking about the beast seem to have a mortal wound but its mortal wound was healed and the whole earth marveled as they followed the Beast and they worshipped the dragon for you've given his authority to the Beast oh my guess this is this is John like he's gone hey the guy that says he's God he's not only not God he's empowered by a by the center of the force of evil in the universe he has given his authority to beasts and they worship the Beast saying who is like the Beast and who can fight against it so revelation 13 is another symbol for John about two beasts that the first beast represents military power the second beast is an economic propaganda to keep the military in power but the first beast seems to have a wound on its head that was healed in other words this beast wants to appear as the slain lamb but turns out it's a counterfeit turns out that sight he wants to appear like he's humble and willing to suffer with people but turns out he won't one of the propagandas about Caesar was Caesar is Lord and there'll be peace on earth and good will to all men it was written on their coins is that sounding familiar to anybody in terms of language but Caesars Lord there'll be peace on earth and goodwill to all men was that true no there was peace in Rome the Pax Romana but there was horror everywhere else one of the propagandas on Caesars lordship was Caesar is Lord he'll be a multiplier of bread for all people right was that true no lots of bread in Rome not a whole lot of bread any where else in other words Caesar wanted to appear as if he was identifying with humanity but it turns out the wound was false but the slain lamb that wound is real because that God was the God that chose to empty himself of his godness in order to identify with human beings suffer serve and ultimately bring a new way to see the world in a way that brings light and life and increase the second beast makes people too a mark on their forehead or their forehand now this is an obvious reference politically to the mark of Domitian and spiritually to the Shema so let me let me explain so Domitian created an economic marginalized system by which he made everybody take a mark in their forehead or forehand before they could buy and sell in the Agora just outside of Ephesus so this was something that was happening in the first century and it was forcing good god-fearing Jews into underground economic systems where they're paying four and five times too much for stuff in order to just buy basic goods this was economic oppression at the highest level it's also an obvious echoing and a a Ramez to the Sh'ma this right the here o Israel the Lord your God the Lord is one it was to be written on the hands and the head it was the idea was it was a submission of all thought and all practice to God it was a commitment that says all my thought and all my practice I submit to God on a daily or a couple times daily basis my thought and my practice I submit to God so we start where I thought why because all behavior starts with thought it doesn't matter if in here there's lots of different people lots different personalities lots of different passions lots of different references but all of us behave in roughly the same pattern we think it we feel it we say it we do it we think it we feel it we say it we do it you could see it in the Psalms this was true David's life as well David said my heart grew hot within me and as I meditated the fire burned hotter and then I spoke with my mouth that's the idea is that once something gets our attention that thing gets bigger and bigger and bigger and bigger and bigger until we start speaking it and then we end up doing it we think it we feel it we say it we do it so the the the the Jews had this really nice um ritual where they would read aloud the the here o Israel the Lord our God the Lord is one here o Israel the Lord your God the Lord is one here o Israel the Lord our God the Lord is one and they find a way to carry it around on their forehead or in their hands and it was a way of it was a way it was a ritual that wasn't meant to inaugurate a new reality rather it was meant to remind us of what's always true that the way of life is submitting our thoughts and our actions to God and the thoughts and the actions are intimately connected that actually there is no such thing as emotional control emotional control is actually imagination control when we can bring our imagination under the obedience of Jesus's way of seeing the world that in itself results in emotional control but emotional control starts with imagination control it was the submission of my my thoughts and my ways to God in the anti-life way of seeing the world the one purported by the Beast he said you're gonna put my mark on your forehead and your forehand you're gonna I'm gonna control the way you buy and sell and you're gonna submit your thoughts and your actions to me or you're gonna suffer economic consequences like you have never seen let's say this way the mark was an auntie Shama it was an auntie it was it was the auntie hey hey you want to submit your thoughts and your ways to the god of life you to survive and roam you're gonna have to submit your thoughts and ways to an auntie life way of do it you're gonna have to participate in the system that is systemically oppressing a lot of people then there's this interesting sort of part that we're all familiar with it's in movies it's analysand sitcoms it's it's it's sort of lost its meaning because it's so many places it says that the number of the beast was 666 well 666 is just the number of man it was John saying that Cesar's not a God he's a man he's a man he's a man see Hebrew letters were numbers there's no numbers in ancient Hebrew a is 1 B is 2 G is 3 D is 4 and so forth and so if you if you spell out Emperor Nero it says 666 you spell out beast is 666 so this is this is John going hey if you just check their name not only are they not gods they're actually they're a man they're man this is not somebody sitting high and mighty is the God this is a man and that man is an anti-life way of seeing the world seeing apocalyptic literature Persia Babylon Greece from they were all referred to as beasts see it's not so much the word as much as it is our imagination of what that word looks like and acts like and it is so so so if things like this have sort of lost some of their profundity and they've lost some of their life because because people have grabbed the images and they just put it everywhere Google apocalypse and click on images and it's always some kind of meteor coming to the earth of some nuclear explosion but the word apocalypse just means I'm fixing to uncover a hidden thing it's the force of an T I'm gonna I'm gonna I'm gonna show it for what it is that's what apocalypse that's what apocalypse is you know six six six people like admit it we've all thought it if you drew a license plate that had 666 in it you're taking it back right it's like oh oh you don't want that you don't want that right because this is how words work as words journey through history it's like a container ship as words journey through history they pick up different connotations different imaginations different meanings well I'll give you example the ancient Hebrew word for righteous sadoc that that that had the Hebrew word for righteous was sadaq the Hebrew word for generous was sadaqa right so righteousness was generosity in other words righteousness in its earliest form had nothing to do with not making mistakes it had everything to do with how you see your world looking for opportunities to be generous and make other people's life better with no expectation of return that is a profound way of looking at the world but somehow righteousness over time stopped at this port that port this port that port this port that port and by 1950 in America right just to Schmitt you didn't smoke right - my grandmother's generation righteousness was a list of things you don't do but in the ancient world righteousness was not what you abstained from it was what you entered into it was just better that way like my grandparents thought they'd go to hell for smoking or drinking or going to an r-rated movie but they could hate black people that was okay how that's what happens when we stuff up language in our imagination hell is another great example hell hell something that has been the idea the imaginations are hell have been robbed so much that actually hell almost has no meaning now like like we use it all over the place like it's hot as hell so is hell a description of temperature is it oh we might use it to describe something we went through like I had to go through chemo it was hell okay so is it temperatures it's something we go through or people might use it to describe a relationship like my marriage is hell sowhat's hell is it is it chemo or a marriage right or we could use it describe circumstances like um I had to drive from West Sydney to Sydney Airport at 7 o'clock in the morning one time right took me like two and a half hours and and people might sit in traffic like that and go and traffic today was hell yes so so what is hell is it temperature is it chemo is it a relationship is it traffic because those are all really different things right then we might use it as a descriptive word like like we we could use it as a point of emphasis to say we can say somebody's a week we could use the word hell to say somebody's a good person you can say all they're a hell of a person right that means they're good or you could say they're held to deal with and that means they're bad right so what is it is it temperature is it a relationship is it chemo is it traffic is it a good person is that a bad person and you can see where when you add so many different imaginations to what something is actually before you know it it actually almost means nothing and we lose the profundity of what the original writer was even talking about and that's what we're trying to recapture here this is revelation at 1310 if anyone is to be taken captive well to captivity he goes if anyone is to be slain with the sword with the sword he must be slain you you see no thought here of if anyone's we take you captive just have more faith you'll get out of it nope he must be slaying sword yeah hey believe harder fast longer yet no watch what he says and he wants to be taken captive well there it goes if any wants to be slaying with a sword with the sword he must be slain here is a call for the endurance and faith of the saints which brings me to church why are we here what are we doing if you ever wondered I wonder what this is if you're new you're they don't know what is really all about when one of the things that's all about is that the life that Christ called us to live requires us to see the world a certain way and to see the world a certain way requires something that John seven times in the book of Revelation calls patient endurance and he calls us to do that and the only way to have patient endurance is that you know you're not alone and there's a group of people in it with you that you're coming together to see the world the right way and that requires patient endurance in other words patience is not passive it's charging in with a specific way of seeing the world patient endurance is empowered by a growing sense of community and togetherness the idea that we are not alone seven times in this book John calls the church to patient endurance now and my attempt for the rest of this message is to try to put some language around that what does that mean see in this passage endurance does not mean finding your social or political allegiance as if God's a Republican or if God's a Democrat as if Jesus would always vote labor Jesus would always vote liberal it's not a it's not about that it's the church at its worst begins to worship false power and be seduced by his promises let's ask a few questions about this one do we take our ethics from the way things are or the way they are supposed to be as revealed in Jesus's way of seeing the world do we actually believe that faith is not a list of what's but rather faith is a who do you trust word do we actually believe that Jesus's way of seeing our story in our world is the best way to bring life to our world and in that sense do we take our ethic from what is or from what he sees and that's two different things for our we rely politics to change the world if anything's obvious about the Book of Revelations it's that politics is not the way to change the world you can't legislate people seeing the world differently in their heart or are we taking our role seriously to be a part of changing hearts like I was so discouraged I was um I was in Melbourne when Scott Morrison got elected and let me be clear I'm glad he got elected okay like I'm for him right he's obviously doing what God's called him to do in this moment all right what was discouraging to me was the sheer panic expressed by Christians when he was nine points down in the polls southern this is seriously what somebody said to me Shea who know if the other side wins you are there to do they're gonna take the plaque with the Lord's Prayer on it out of Parliament House I don't mean to be Johnny raincloud here but if the Lord's Prayer is not active in someone's heart having it on a plaque on the wall is not doing anything how small do you think God is just a quick history of God he overcame the watery chaos and Genesis 1 and brought new creation out of it he overcame the flood in Genesis 6 and brought new creation out of it he overcame the Egyptian Empire the Babylonian Empire the Assyrian Empire he overcame Antiochus Epiphanes and 157 BC spreading pig's blood through the Holy of Holies he overcame Pompey Magnus in 63 BC walking into the Holy of Holies and not dying he overcame the Roman Empire he overcame the Dark Ages he overcame the Renaissance he overcame Renaissance art I think he can handle the Labor Party right but God's not in heaven going oh my me what am I gonna do if Labour wins are you kidding me you know he's not threatened by Donald Trump you know this guy overcame Nero he overcame Domitian cube Allah he overcame Nebuchadnezzar man TIG laughs policer who was peeling people's faces off and leaving them alive if they crossed him in the Assyrian Empire God said I'll send Jonah there go tell them what's up right like like the point of Revelation is if the church is doing its jump politics is easy like win the church this back that just depends on politicians to do to legislate what we should be doing in people's hearts that's on us that's on us five Jesus could have aligned himself with Rome but did not it would have saved his life we are not to align ourselves with power for powers sake see patient endurance does not escalate violence one of the ways one of the things that patient endurance looks like it doesn't escalate violence a sheet before his Shearer's is silent as it says in the prophecies about Jesus I'll just say it this way Jesus doesn't engage everything that pokes him remember there's like written pilots like they say you say you're a king Jesus like I am whatever you say I am I'm in your court bro like like I find this so inspiring and I've worked very hard to build this into my own life Jesus does not engage everything that pokes him Donald Trump engages everything that pokes them Jesus Christ does not engage everything that pokes him eight patient endurance looks centered and not frantic patient have you ever looked something ISM have you ever found out that someone you've known had cancer and then when you find out you're like I'm so sorry and you find out that they've known for six months and yet their countenance their disposition their level of trust and you're like that what's good you are so patient endurance looks centered and not frantic in the middle of opposition patient endurance looks like channeled energy it's it's knowing when to engage and when to let God engage it's it's knowing when we are at the end of everything we could do so we step back and like Oh what only God can do it's it's that it's taking seriously our involvement in our participation but having wisdom to know when we stop and God starts and where the two are intermingled let's say this way patient endurance looks like intentional attention being attentive matters because it determines what we worship like the idea is is whatever gets your attention multiplies inside so fix your eyes on Jesus the author end but the idea is is that if we can make sure that we fix our eyes to discipline ourselves to only see the world the way Jesus saw the world that life comes but but patient endurance looks like intentional attention it determines what we give worth this is revelation 14 the next chapter verse 6 then I saw another angel flying directly overhead with an eternal gospel to proclaim to those who dwell on the earth to every nation tribe language and people eternal gospel eternal gospel this was an in-your-face company you know it D as they inscribe Caesars mighty deeds on stone tablets all over the Empire to let people know of C as theirs mighty deeds do you know what they called those stone tablets they called them the gospel this is the good news of what life looks like because Caesar is in charge of us so when they talked about Jesus they intentionally used a Roman Empire term to exalt Caesar as Lord to say huh huh your guy says he's God or if God's a man it's gonna look like this instead of that trust me and that would be good news this is John coking a Caesar the last Caesar died this gospel is eternal because our guy is alive that is the idea so revelation 14 starts with a vision of a slain lamb and his army of every tribe versus a well-trained military militia but in job 46 he says the eternal gospel is when every tribe nation language and tongue when they're coming under this in other words this guy we'll see the gospel of Caesar the good news of Caesar only lets the 2% of people in Rome enjoy the riches of the school the gospel of this Christ has a way of looking at the world that eliminates the class systems eliminates the gender fights eliminates Jew Greek slave free male feeling it eliminates all that and says we are all one because Christ is holding us all together could you imagine a world that operated like that John calls this the eternal gospel so Roman turn about the goodness of Caesar this is the end of Romans 14 I mean Revelation 14 excuse me this was says and another angel came out of the temple calling with a loud voice to him and sat on the cloud he said put in your sickle and reap to the hour to reap has come for the harvest of the earth is fully ripe so he who sat on the cloud swung the sickle across the earth and the earth was reaped and another angel came out of the temple and he too at a sharp sickle and another angel came out from the altar and the angel who has authority over the fire and he called with a loud voice to the one who has the sharp sickle put in your sickle and gather the clusters from the vine of the earth for the grapes all right so the angel swung his sickle across the earth and gathered the grape harvest of the earth and threw it into the great winepress of the wrath of God and the winepress was trodden outside the city and blood flowed from the wine plus as high as the horse's bridle so when you see that phrase this is talk to you about this imagery of this wine press in this and in this instance God is not angry with humanity God is anger angry with the system of drunkenness underneath it of power the idea that this was a system of harvest that it is time for it to go let let's say it this way revelation 14 ends with two harvests the first is a grain harvest representing God's people the second is the grapes representing the peoples intoxication with death and sin the grape harvest is trampled by God in a holy wine press the chapter closes with God's ultimate victory over the system that was destroying most people as people in Sardis and thigh retire and Pergamum and Ephesus as they were reading this there would have been an internal shout of pray this would have been like wait a minute hang on this message is so hopeful that the system holding us all down it's days are numbered the idea is for us to choose which harvest we want to be a part of do we want to be a part of the people who see the world Christ's way and are committed to bringing that life to the world or are we content to enrich ourselves at the expense of other people knowing that that system one day will be trampled underfoot which one which one so let's ask a few questions about this and wrestle number one right now what has our attention because what has our attention matters patient endurance requires us to be intentional about what we give our attention to that our yes must be clear no but number two are we distracted are we distracted by other things net number three have we abandoned patient endurance see part of togetherness is together holding each other accountable to say hey don't lose your patient endurance you've said yes to see the world a certain way and yes there's some resistance but we're gonna get through this together because together we have the power to change the world that's the idea have we abandoned that number four can we rest into a true reality God is God in his rule or are we caught in an illusion number five are we saying God Jesus truth Kingdom but trying to rule with violence and oppression in other words where are we like the beast who has a something that looks like a woman but actually it wasn't alone or are we saying God Jesus Bible scripture truth but when you look at how we live we're bullying people we're powering over people we're we're escalating violence so we're saying all the right words God Jesus Bible scripture truth but the way we live looks more like the beast than Christ can we patiently endure I think a question we should wrestle with is what harvest can we be a part of or what harvest will be be a part of where we tempted to enter into the system that brings death to most while we're rich in ourselves knowing that systems one day going to be trampled or will we by faith go you know what jesus's way to see the world brings life and I'm going to commit myself to that way of seeing the world that Jesus is not something to believe in Jesus is a fundamental way of seeing our whole world let's say it one last way do we need to rest from our world Christ has done the work in this story it's the lamb doing all the fighting of the beasts at some point we have to weigh the tension between being actively involved in the infinite possibilities Jesus has for us to repair the world with them and when to know when to step back and know wait a minute that fight is Jesus's job that fight i if I enter into that fight I'm gonna escalate this and it's gonna bring death but if I step back and let the slain land do it now hey hey hey at this point I'm gonna step back and let Jesus be Jesus because there is no vacancy in the Trinity for me all right and and so may and to do that it takes wisdom to know what fully engaged in God's possibilities is to repair the world and when to step back and go you know what that's God's fight that's God's fight so my brothers and sisters of Toowoomba may we never panic over the results of elections knowing that Jesus has this thing in hand and he gets the last word may we know that you could never legislate the morals of men's hearts and may we do our job and let God do his job because there's no vacancy in the Trinity for us our job is that is to say yes to the infinite possibilities to be a part of Jesus's role in repairing the world and may we be heart changers instead of doctrine force feeders may we may we be the people facilitating the relationship that allows people to continue to journey with Jesus and see the world his way for that brings life let me pray for us Lord love you and we honor you we proclaim you are our King and your way of looking at the world is the best why don't we just say a meaningful prayer underneath our breath Holy Spirit help me see the world Christ's way why don't we say a prayer like this Holy Spirit I want to be a part of the grain harvest and abandon the grape harvest maybe you're here tonight and you've never said yes to Jesus and you could respond tonight by taking your first step and saying you know what I'm gonna trust Jesus's version from my life story instead of the one I've been writing on my own I'm gonna do that or would you empower us to be the church the body of Christ in this world amen would you look this way thank you so much let me be a part of your night come on back tomorrow night I promise it'll change your life Jesus will get bigger the cross will work better resurrection central scriptures get bigger not smaller may you my brothers and sisters come together and see the world Jesus's way may we be heart changers instead of doctrine force feeders we can bring life not death grace apiece everybody [Applause]

Channel: New Hope Church

Views: 4,120

Rating: 4.9285712 out of 5

Keywords: new hope, church, toowoomba

Id: I2HpLXDwbCs

Length: 43min 6sec (2586 seconds)

Published: Mon Feb 17 2020