Revelation: Final Battle - Week 11 - Sermons - Matt Chandler

hi guys pastor matt chandler here pray uh that this sermon this resource uh be used by god in conjunction with you belonging to a local church to grow you and sanctify you in your faith if these resources bless you would you consider giving back to us here at tbc you can do that either through the app or you can go online to tbc resources and give there again pray that this blesses you and grows you in your love for jesus christ there is a battle coming the war has already begun it is raged unseen for millennia and though we often struggle to see the conflict for what it really is all of us can feel its effects we wrestle with the powers of sin and death on a daily basis and sometimes in our darkest moments it can feel like we're losing [Music] but the word of the lord tells a different story hope echoes throughout the pages of scripture despite the mystery that surrounds it the book of revelation offers the people of god a clear message fear not tomorrow tomorrow is one good morning hi everyone uh my name is leah murray i am the next gen volunteer coordinator here on staff at the village meaning i help onboard everyone from preschool volunteers through high school volunteers and today i'm going to be reading our scripture it's revelation 19 6 through 16. then i heard what seemed to be the voice of a great multitude like the roar of many waters and like the sound of mighty peels of thunder crying out hallelujah for the lord our god the almighty reigns let us rejoice and exalt and give him the glory for the marriage of the lamb has come and his bride has made herself ready it was granted her to clothe herself with fine linen bright and pure for the fine linen is the righteous deeds of the saints and the angel said to me write this blessed are those who are invited to the marriage supper of the lamb and he said to me these are the true words of god then i fell down at his feet to worship him but he said to me you must not do that i am a fellow servant with you and your brothers who hold to the testimony of jesus worship god for the testimony of jesus is the spirit of prophecy and then i saw heaven opened and behold a white horse the one sitting on it is called faithful and true and in righteousness he judges and makes war his eyes are like a flame of fire and on his head are many diadems and he has a name written that no one knows but himself he is clothed in a robe dipped in blood and the name by which he is called is the word of god and the armies of heaven arrayed in fine linen white and pure were following him on white horses from his mouth comes a sharp sword with which to strike down the nations and he will rule them with a rod of iron he will tread the winepress of the fury of the wrath of god the almighty on his robe and on his thigh he has a name written king of kings and lord of lords this is the word of the lord thanks be to god leah you got a fan you gotta shout out that's never even happened to me i've been here like 20 years hey good morning if you have your bibles you're going to need to open them this is kind of the big one if you will like after this week we'll no longer in this study talk about sin or death or wrath or fear or shame or it's just gone right so this is kind of a big one this week uh next week we get our imaginations blown uh by what all things will be when they're made new uh but this week we get to watch the final battle non-battle thing happen right which is like this massive gathering of might that jesus just shows up and goes nah and they all destroy uh right so just like the least epic battle to end all battles that anyone could have ever uh imagined i i think most of you know this about 11 years ago in fact almost 12 years ago now i was diagnosed with malignant brain cancer given about two to three years uh to live i had to do a craniotomy so no right frontal lobe that helps some of you kind of place me uh and then i had to do 18 months of high dose chemo did uh six weeks of radiation with some low dose chemo um and and then when i was done uh with those 18 months of chemo i just did what i knew how to do which okay let's get back to work all right it looks like the lord spared me who knows how many days i have let me get back to what the lord had given me uh to do and i just started grinding here's what's crazy i felt fine i mean i literally felt fine i felt great i was preaching again i was leading in the rooms that i meant to lead in again i was starting to write books again i was just trying to step into what god had for me in about three years after my last dose of chemo i got the only one i know how to explain is i woke up one day and i had more energy than i knew what to do with right god just pray for my sweet wife right i'm like you know i mean i just well it was like i shifted into a gear i i didn't even know that i hadn't been using for the last three years and then all of a sudden i was like i could remember oh yeah it used to be like this and man i was just getting it done and then i started probably three or four years after that i started noticing just kind of these small little cognitive weird things that would happen to me like i'd forget stuff that you shouldn't forget not your normal stuff like where's my keys like my put the car in park memory kind of thing right uh and so i was like oh no like if that happens to you is like i need some sleep that happens to me i'm like i need an mri all right uh and so that was happening so and i did have my mri you're fine there's nothing there you should be so i was like hey i want to wean off my meds i don't i don't know how you're wired i would like to not take medicine if i could not take it uh now plea look let's just do this i please don't send me your oils that's not what i'm saying right now all right i love you i don't i don't need your oils that's how i'm not even trying to god bless you you're like get make that money sis i'm just saying i don't want to long term be on medication if i don't have to be uh so i was on an anti-seizure med um and and it's a newer med so in some sense it works but i'm kind of a guinea pig like what's what's the 20-year game on this well i don't know let's watch matt i don't like that and so i asked my oncologist can i wean off of this um and she just kind of laid before me we can try here are some things that i want you to be aware of and she kind of listed out some dangers in doing that uh like you don't want to be driving your car with your kids in the car and you don't remember what it's like to have a seizure you sure you want to roll the dice on this uh and so we just started to slowly but surely wean me off of kepra and and then uh we finally got there i was taking what she called a granny dose and and that basically meant this doesn't actually work anymore right you're taking a little it doesn't work for your body weight it's just not so so just let's just try it and so just completely stopped taking it and then man listen i don't guys i went to the doctor i said i got some cognitive things going wrong in me and then i got off those meds and then all of a sudden about a month later bam it was like i had a sixth or seventh gear and then all of a sudden i had more i had clarity of thought everything was back and the point i'm trying to make here is that i was in a fog and i was in a funk and i had no idea that i was i was physically and mentally handicapped and had no idea that it was actually i felt fine because it was all that i knew it was all that i knew until i was reminded and until i was set free and if we're to talk about today we're going to talk about the final defeat of sin and death and our enemy i've got to show you a couple i've got to show you a meal and then we got to talk about the millennium i know you're like what's he going to do i'm going to talk about it you know what i mean by now you think i'm going to avoid that it can be controversial we're going in right and we've got to talk about the meal and the millennium for this reason if you and i are going to be able to imagine next week a world an existence that exists in perfect harmony peace comfort no knowledge or experience of sin guilt shame death disease division loss fear anger if we're to even be able to imagine that because we it's the world we live in right and now you and i live in a day with the screen that's constantly pumping information that it's all going to break right we're ooching out of the pandemic and what's happening well it could be a variant we could all have certainly there's another one on the horizon greenhouse gas going to kill us all in five years anyway it's just non-stop it's just always another wave of bad news always another way like we the stuff we're carrying right now we can't even imagine like what it would be like just like huh and have all of that fall off we wouldn't know what to do some of us are held together by anger and anxiety like literally you just fall on the ground dead and so if we're going to imagine what jesus wants us to imagine next week just got to do a little work around that because there's a day coming in fact we are closer when this reality is true that there will be no remembrance of the former things dad gum that's good but that's next week thanks deb that's next week though don't start this one went long and the 8 30. don't do this to me so we got to talk about the meal we got to talk about the millennium and then the great invitation so uh here we go let's start with the meal um the first part of our passage here if you have your bibles open is the marriage supper of the lamb now if you know your bibles well if you don't know your bibles well let me let me just remind you of some things god for whatever reason has chosen i think i know the reason we don't have a lot of time for this but he has chosen to shape inform and form his people around tables god has chosen to encourage to build up to empower to remind and to strengthen his people around meals it should not surprise us that the book is ending with a meal when throughout the whole story of god's people he said hey come here have a seat let me get you something to drink if we think back to exodus if you remember the story of exodus the people of god are enslaved they are imprisoned they're sitting under a kind of oppression that again would be hard for us to imagine and what does exodus 3 say and i heard their cry and i saw their oppression and what does he do he calls them to a table he calls them to a meal the passover right and does not the passover be become this kind of anchor point in the story of god's people throughout the entire old testament he's like sit down remember i saw you i heard you i delivered you don't be afraid remember those egyptian gods man there was no fight at all if you weren't here when we covered the exodus each one of each one of the plagues tied to a corresponding egyptian god you remember that so so what's god doing by going hey sit down take the take the bitter herb taste the bitter herb why are we eating bitter herbs kale people why are we doing that right well i'll tell you why the people of god do it they ain't doing it because it's a superfood they're doing it so they can remember the bitterness of their old enemy that christ knocked out overnight that's what the bitter remember there is no power that can stay my hand who ra the sun god where's he blacked out the sun oh the life-giving nile turned it to blood we think god's trying to teach his people at the table you need me what does he call him into the wilderness for first service is what the hebrew word is it means to be with him to worship him this table forms the people of god they come back to it over and over and over again as they gather anchoring themselves in their story not getting lost in the one that's projected to them all around remember things are not as they seem things are not as they seem so god says to hey okay i know assyria terrible have a seat absolutely get the herbs get the lamb remember the blood over the doorway look like what spirit is going to triumph over you no one will triumph over you i am your god have a seat we see this in the institution of the lord's supper don't we are they not at a passover mirror when he goes okay let me let me fill in the rest of this for you does he not tell his people as long as you gather until everything is made new remember sit down have a seat this is hard for us we are not a culture that understands feasting we're culture built for speed so many of us dinner is chucking chicken nuggets into the back of the suburban it's survival right it's just survival it's like you just eat it no we can't go to chick-fil-a the lion's like four hours long at four in the afternoon no just eat the mcdonald's nuggets they're cheaper right i mean it's just let's just we're built for speed and because we don't understand feasting we're more famished for it because we don't understand pace and quiet and look at me and that jesus is the host you ain't bringing the wine to this dinner he is you ain't bringing nothing to the meal you get to sit down i don't know what to wear that's fine because they got some linen robes for you right like th this meal it's meant to sit down i have you yeah before the first service i like to mingle walk around and talk to people and people that normally sit over here were sitting here like hey what you're going to throw me off are you over here right you're going to mess with it you got you've got to get back where you're like well our home group's coming to our house as soon as this is over she didn't really talk with a list but i don't know i'm doing that um um our home group's coming to our house as soon as service is over so we don't have to jet a little bit early so we said oh over here so like what's happening a lot like they're here they're they're in church and they're like okay okay okay all right okay okay i gotta vacuum i gotta get that dog out that's not that's not what you're invited to here not the marriage supper of the lamb it's just like jesus pulling a chair like hey i have a seat god my clothes are so nasty mm-hmm here let me let me take that for you here here's white linen the uniform of a priest have a seat what do you want to drink i got i got you what do you listen here's this is the feast it's gonna be i mean we're just going to eat and eat and eat and drink drink drink and laugh and laugh and live we're going to sit at this table and this is what david is rejoicing about in the 23rd psalm like watch the flow it's it's funny because these meals the the meal and the exodus the the lord's supper they always take place right before satan's about to get blown up i love it right which is why we end our service hopefully every week with communion so you can understand now get out there get out there and throw some hands with the enemy let me get back to it i know soldier wartime stuff isn't popular just way too loving for that now psalm 23 starting verse 4. even though i walk through the valley of the shadow of death i will fear no evil why for you are with me why am i not going to be afraid because you're with me do you see like here it's great this is not our victory and it gives it to us that's crazy like we don't win anything like this didn't say that though i walk through the valley of the shadow down fear no evil because you're gonna make me a baddie that's not what happened here no he's like you're with me your rod your staff your victory that you go hey great job wait why i didn't do anything no great job you won victory is yours well victory is yours jesus i'm giving it to you let me keep going here you prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies you anoint my head with oil my cup overflows surely goodness and mercy will follow me all the days of my life don't ever read psalm 23 fast don't ever do it you read it slow you let it do that thing it does the the holy spirit will use the 23rd psalm just give you a spiritual hug just don't be like no stop that read it slow let the spirit minister to you i'm telling you you'll feel a little just a little bit right but but i love the imagery here walk through the valley of the shadow of death i'm going to fear any evil why because you're with me and you've got a rod and you've got a staff so you got to you got a rod you can handle those enemies got a staff this way buddy and then this imagery you prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies how incredible is that right this all this imagery is tied together god forms his people around tables you know ecclesiastes says seven times that good food with good one with good friends is holy i don't remember hearing that growing up in church like how are we formed when we sit in the presence of jesus with others around meals like feasting is this profound act of defiance and look at we just stink at it it's really busy what we do consistently and together is what forms us what we do consistently and together forms us you can have some practices that are consistent and all alone it will be like the brother who never does legs at the gym i'm not trying to hate you but you're a real person right your chest looks fine do some legs bro squats deads whatever just but like i'm saying you just you're just like i'm doing this consistently great great looking buys but you have to carry anything you're going to collapse like a toothpick right or or if you're doing everything together but not very consistently so it's together and consistent that forms the people of god which is why we build our discipleship pathways the way we do it's why you're always sitting around a round table together it's why there's a rhythm to it because it's consistent this is how we're formed and david here is saying not that the enemies are gone but that even as they snip and whine and wail and thrash we're like all right i mean this is a beautiful i love how eugene peterson puts it i usually love how eugene peterson puts it the lord presides over a meal as host a war has rendered all enemies powerless to harm psalm 23 and revelation 19 are companion pieces in the exposition of salvation showing forth the two elements of salvation rescue from the catastrophe of the shadow of death hospitality at a table where we are made whole with the intimacies of goodness and mercy that's incredible right what is the table showing us well it's showing us two things one that our enemy is powerless two the hospitality of jesus where he feeds us what goodness and mercy it might be good for you to think that jesus is the meal right that he is the bread of life listen if i could if i could ever convince you that there's an actual presence of jesus for you to know and walk in oh my gosh if i could ever convince you or even make you hungry for it that if you ever started orienting your life around blessed are those who hunger and thirst for they were be filled like if i could make you um divinely discontented in where you are good lord what might happen like you just keep start saying i want more than i have i want more than i will don't you have salvation yes but apparently i want more i'm hungry i'm thirsty if we could ever awaken to this meal god help the enemy and he's not going to right so it's about this meal it's about meals these meals were christ and his presence it's the sustaining power but it's also about the millennium now let's let's chat about the millennium in chapter 20 here's what you have you have a thousand-year reign of jesus christ that's clear he reigns for a thousand years satan the dragon is bound thrown into a pit and jesus is reigning on earth with his people that's the imagery that we're given there are three orthodox views of this passage i'm going to briefly blow through there are pre-millennialism there is post-millennialism and there is ah millennialism here's what you need to know we agree on more than we disagree we agree here's what we all agree on jesus wins christ returns the beast is thrown into hell forever that ultimate victory is christ we all agree and here's what i know if somebody in a camp that's different than mine is right and i'm wrong i will not be pouting in heaven right like if the primal brothers are right i'm not going to be like in heaven dad come and i missed it i let so many people astray i'm gonna be like man you guys nailed it whoa like that's how it's gonna play out and it's not that these views of this passage don't have implications for how they how we live our lives they absolutely do which is why i land where i land there is no official position from the elders have not dove into this and broken out said the village church lands here so all i can do today is go let me show you what i see and i think if you've been listening at all you know where i'm going like i do not believe that this thousand years is a literal reign you know i know that the bible's already told me in two places that a thousand years is a day and a day a thousand years it's the biblical equivalent of a bazillion how much is he worth a bazillion ain't really worth the bazillion is that a lot so i don't know that you read like again how you approach it it matters this has implications i'm going to get to the implications of i've seeing it the way i see it we all believe that we're called to share in the victory of jesus we all have that in common all three views we all believe that when all said and done the book ends with the creator god of the universe having made all things new with us reigning and ruling alongside of him forever we all agree there and then we disagree and i think there's got to be room there's got to be room for that i think we live in a day where we're real quick to kind of accuse people of heresy if you're going to ever say that word please look up its meaning that's all i'm going to ask heresy doesn't mean he believes differently than i do i don't know if you knew that that's not heresy heresy has an actual definition and so if you can use that word in light of its definition it you won't slander people i'm just saying just be careful with that word that there is something called heresy look up that definition and then use in kind but don't be like oh they do what with women here she's heretical it's not it's a secondary issue stop so this and the interpretation of it's a secondary issue right but it does shape and form so it's important so i want you to look at this and i'm going to try to get to where i land although i think i've already out of myself revelation 19 11-16 look at me this is the picture of jesus we need right now although it's not the popular one then i saw heaven opened and behold by the way this is our last window and behold a white horse the one sitting on it is called faithful and true and in righteousness he judges and makes war his eyes are like a flame of fire and on his head are many diadems and he has a name written that no one knows but himself he is clothed in a robe dipped in blood just side point it's his blood it's his blood he ain't no battle yet this is his blood and the name by which he is called is the word of god and the armies of heaven arrayed in fine linen white and pure were following him on white horses so much here why are warriors dressed like priests in this big fight why are they dressed in white linen you'll go to war and white linen you go to war and armor and why are they on white horses only the victor gets the white horse why why is he sharing this victory with us and from his mouth comes a sharp sword with which to strike down the nations and he will rule them with a rod of iron he will tread the wine press of the fury of the wrath of god the almighty and on his robe and on his thigh he has a name written king of kings and lord of lords the two prevailing images of jesus christ in the imaginations of people our baby jesus and the manger and god help us feathered hair jesus who never never says anything mean to anybody he's just spirit sprinkles for everybody right these are the two prevailing images of jesus christ in the western world's imagination of who he is this is who king jesus is terrifying and lovely all powerful and worthy this is tattoo on the side you this i ain't playing around no more jesus right this is i've given you thousands of years to turn from the beasts and the dragon and to come into the salvation that i have purchased with you by this blood that's all over my robe you have chosen the beast you have chosen the dragon and time is up that's the jesus that comes to reign and rule not that everybody's gonna be all right spirit sprinkle that's not the jesus of the bible and we need this one so we don't need to lash out like it's all on us like what am i going to do if that's that's my lord like what am i send you a mean email what am i going to do when people hate me well the bible says i should consider myself blessed because they hated my savior first you just take that on the chin and move on knowing this guy's coming and he will either extend grace to that enemy like he did to me praise god or that sword's coming and that lets me love everyone and not see anyone as my enemy right so in mark 1 we see jesus begin his ministry and here's how he begins it now after john was arrested jesus came into galilee proclaiming the gospel of god and saying the time is fulfilled and the kingdom of god is at hand repent and believe in the gospel so jesus's ministry begins with and continues to be the kingdom of god is at hand the kingdom of god is here the kingdom of god is within you that jesus's message is that the kingdom has now come and then he acts out the power of the kingdom every time he sees somebody demonized or sick or something in the natural order that's broken and not in line with the original he just starts walking in the power of the kingdom and then goodness sakes then he gives it to the disciples and they head out and you know 72 and they're healing the sick and raising the dead and they're cursing things in nature and they're calling things back into order and the kingdom starts to move out there's always the already but not yet tension like we see the disciples stumble oh we see this happen imperfectly why can't we drive this one out well brother you gotta pray and fast for that i don't have to be you gotta you gotta prayer and fast like you ain't me my spirit's in you but i am the god man and the disciples they go out and then man just this just keeps happening there's this moment i think this is the moment that unlocks it there's two moments i'm gonna do one and then quickly mention the other there's this moment where jesus is he's casting out demons and it's this it's fascinating if you like scary movies they not one ever argues with them i'm just saying it just doesn't cause you like we talk about this all the time you watching the scary movie and the priest shows up you know that dude's gone right i mean call me a liar like you know the kid's possessed and here comes you know father ben or something you're like that dude is gone gone gone right you just know it ain't gonna go well for him but in the bible but in the bible there ain't nothing but pleading and begging from jesus what are you doing here if you come early if you come to destroy us before the appointed time that didn't sound like the demons are like finally you're here let's get it no the team is like oh gosh i thought we had a a little bit more time here and then he kind of like hey can you just send it in so jesus is casting all these demons and the pharisees know these are acts of power it it disorients them and it takes their authority away from them they don't like it so they begin to say this about him he cast out demons by the power of demons he cast out demons by the power of demons and and jesus knowing what they were thinking it's one of my favorite sentences in the bible how terrifying would i mean how would you be guarding your mind if jesus was in the room it's like 23rd song just think the 23rd song 23rd song there's twenty thirds you're gonna be thinking yellowstone's in june yeah you're gonna be like twenty third song twenty three songs i walk through the valley of if you don't know either right so he turns and then he he confronts them and begins to talk about how a kingdom divided against itself couldn't stand and then this is what he says and this is why i believe that we're currently in the millennium and that it began with the coming of jesus christ and right now the strong man's bound we get to plunder his stuff watch this but if it is by the spirit of god that i cast out demons then the kingdom of god has come upon you or how can someone enter a strong man's house and plunder his goods unless he is first unless he first binds the strong man then indeed he may plunder his house i love this passage because the pharisees are like he's casting out demons by the power of demons and jesus like no i'm not but what you're seeing and me casting them out is that the strong man has been bound and that demonically oppressed soul is mine and i'm taking it back as a trophy of victory now here's what i want you to think about there are 2.38 billion christians in the world we are not geographically centered anywhere that sounds like some serious plunder have you ever thought about yourself as a trophy of god's grace like the many diadems image that he gave us it could it be that you and i might just be one of those diamonds on those many many many diadems like where here's another thing this is quick and easy when's the last time we read about the dragon it seems like these beasts are all over the place when's the last time we heard about the dragon chapter 13. where's he at like why aren't we hearing about the dragon why do we just hear about culture and political power and and false religion where's the dragon at last time we saw him he stood on the shores and he called up these beasts because he know he just got handed himself and um and so he he so satan is currently attacking the world like a mafia boss in prison can't do jack make some phone calls which means friends the world is ours for plundering and i know listen it i know we don't like this kind of language right like even there have been plenty we shouldn't sing onward christian soldiers that's so violent imagery this is violent stuff but it's the weapons of our warfare like um compassion mercy grace healing power evangelism hospitality those are the weapons of our warfare but it is violent and it has been given to us to share in the victory of christ it was largely accepted in the 20th century that secularism would ultimately drive religion out i mean it's just like you can you google scholar this i don't know google scholar is the thing google scholar this like it was widely believed that secularism all the way back to the enlightenment pushing for would actually push religion out and we'd all just believe in science and science would show us oh that's not really god it's this or it's that and here's what's crazy the exact opposite has happened in fact let me read this quote to you this is based on a pew research that was done uh honestly it's probably done about eight to ten years ago so it's actually better than this right now but this is tim keller in in one of his books here's what he says demographers tell us that the 21st century will be less secular than the 20th there have been seismic religious shifts towards christianity in sub-sahara africa and china while evangelicalism and pentecostalism have grown exponentially in latin america even in the united states the growth of the nuns has been mainly among those who previously identified but were nominal or disengaged with the faith while divide devoutly religious in the united states and europe are growing no this is plunder guys this is victory in fact for all the kind of name-calling that gets that's happening in our world today if you want to see you want a front row seat to legitimate xenophobia and classism you need to go you don't need to go back and watch an episode of friends you need to look at any secular mindset towards the explosion of christianity in other parts of the world the arrogance that's there it's not enlightenment it's an arrogant like they'll they'll say it i mean i mean it's africa i mean it's latin america i mean like it's xenophobia it's oh it's among the poor of course the poor need it i mean think about how terrible that is how evil that is christian faith isn't shrinking look at me it's shifting locations and that's partly on us that's partly on us i don't feel called into this fight because i think we're gonna lose i i feel called into this fight because wherever i see brokenness sin lost suffering anxiety i want to plunder the strong man's property i want to take from him what ultimately belongs to the king of kings and lord of lords who is coming to take it all back and in the space between you and i have been given the holy spirit and been given the great commission and the great commandment to love and to make disciples so i'm trying to every act of surrender and obedience to jesus christ is an act of plundering what the enemy thinks is his sometimes it looks as small as you apologizing to your kids asking forgiveness reminding them that you need jesus just as much as they do sometimes it looks like you finally owning to your spouse that you have been cruel and not kind that's all plunder that's all listen brothers if you like it's a funny thing when i've watched guys get around like military guys um like you get around somebody that like that you find oh my gosh they were a seal i've told the story before being at a party and there was a secret service guy there that actually ran uh counter-ops which is somebody tried to assassinate the president him and his team roll they're always just locked and loaded ready some of them want something to happen that kind of guy and i'm at this party and him and i are saying we're just talking he's a good dude and some guy comes up he's oh brad pins was in the last word he comes out he's like hey so what i'm such and such we're all talking like so what do you do and he's like oh man let's work for the government i mean like what do you what do you do for the government uh like secret service like who have you guarded he's like well my my crew we don't really guard we do this this and this awesome what do you do i was like oh man i passed her the village oh okay like you're like what so man maybe you're one of those brothers sisters you're like i'd love to be like that kind of man that kind of woman right to get out there and and fight the fight listen you can you've actually been invited into it and you've been trained and empowered to do it you just got to actually step out and go like what do you think your neighborhood's all about you don't think your neighborhood's about this i think your co-workers are about you you think your co-workers aren't about this what anything about raising children is about you don't think it's about this we're not coming together and worshiping you know what we're doing even in here today tell me in our singing and our rejoicing in our baptisms last service in our communion taking in our trusting one another as best we can in our gathering together you don't think what we're doing right now is these crazy acts of violence against this bound enemy against these two beasts that are trying to destroy us we stand in defiance today and i'm trying to invite you a little bit deeper in [Applause] you angry there's a place to put that anger righteous anger at the work of the enemy gosh we could ever see it that way and and what is righteous anger at the act of the enemy looks like it looks like a lot of prayer a lot of kindness a lot of hospitality a lot of power right remember right this is all the way back like you're getting all riled up and angry actually you're just serving the very beast that's causing the anger to begin with that's how we recruit you remember she's fine we talked about this last week babylon said she should be really upset about this let's make a crazy meme should it make it really mocking and belittling it's gonna be awesome gotta get them let's call that person a heretic let's get it right you see what you've just done you've just been recruited i don't know to act in kindness to give the benefit of the doubt to pray to pray over brother sister you've got a sick co-worker you should be saying can i pray for you man i hate that let me pray for you if they're like you're praying for me like fine i'm gonna pray for you i'm gonna go here bro i'm praying for you they're like that's in that's for taking stuff you got unbelieving neighbors that you start praying for you start inviting into your home it's taking stuff it's plunder from your neighborhood to the ends of the earth the dragon's been bound and the people of god have been set free to plunder look at me we are not on our heels he is on his and i know this because jesus looks at peter and says i will build my church and the gates of hell not the cannons of hell right not the 50 cows of hell no gates like they're the ones going oh no except sometimes i think they're not sometimes i think they're not i think that's what's happened in sub-saharan africa right now i think that's what's happened in iran right now in a way that i think that's what's happening in a lot of other places in the world and god help us i still think we just kind of want to be seen as reasonable and rational and i want to be seen as goofy dad gum there's some good stuff on netflix two invitations and i'ma pray for us here's the first one if you're a christian it's just a practice i'm going to give you homework it's great home i think you're going to love the homework here's my homework for this week if you're in a home group at the village let let's not just get together this week know what you think about sermon what do you think this text means kind of gather an opinion accuracy there around the text but but let's eat let's eat let's drink let's laugh and here's just here's what i encourage you to do get together with your home group don't put all this on the one person with hospitality all right spread it out show up give it some time start a little earlier don't start at eight right and then just spend the night going hey tell me when jesus saved you from your sins you go around that room and tell the story of redemption over good food and good drink and you watch what the presence of jesus does among you you watch how i encourage you watch all of a sudden oh my gosh i do know how to pray you let somebody you love around that table to say man i'm the only christian in my family you watch how odd the holy spirit will just make your heart hurt for that person it's crazy how this works like someone's like man i'm the only the tearing up i'm the only christian in my family like my parents someone i've been and you watch it's like you'll be moved and then all of a sudden you're like man we need to pray for you oh my god i said that me and then all of a sudden this is gonna be crazy like you're gonna pray for the person the spirit of god is just gonna get thicker in the room and then somebody else is going to go and they're like when i was saving this but i still if i'm being honest like some of those things i still wrestle with some shame for where i came out of and then somebody's just going to feel prompted by the holy spirit just say hey look shames from the enemy that's an accusation don't believe that he said let's pray let's pray for our sister all of a sudden we're gonna be praying for people and i'm gonna leave like refreshed and invigorated and around the table and so i'm just gonna this is homework this week right home group this week is a meal if you're not in a group call your christian friends party at my house you're bringing this and then get it and listen here's what's killing me here's bible belt insanity this is free i got i didn't plan on saying i'm just provoked um let's do it it is not the democrats that's going to get you it's soccer and i ain't hating on the game it's a beautiful i mean i don't understand it but it's a beaut but that's what's going to get you right i'm telling you everybody's like this is coming we're going to be destroyed how plugged now how consistently are you around the things of god i mean i go to church on sunday i was in a group once but i have a little panic attack going to groups those people are strange right like no no listen your big downfall our big downfall isn't some outside pressure it's a real lack of commitment to sit at the table and receive from jesus his presence and kindness and grace it's a refusal to actually make this what your life is about but rather an add-on to your life and gosh man listen i i love sports man if you ever sat by me in the stands like my son was in a seven on seven game yesterday and a kid turned around there was a bad call um a kid turned around a little punky like to the crowd and then i like i was like what's up gloves and i was like don't don't mock the high schooler on the sidelines oh i can't be real like you telling me that ain't you like like i'm trying to restrain myself i'm little punky i don't even like that kid i'm like wait am i he's like he's like 15 years old like let me find him in the parking lot like something's broke i love sports i want my kids to excel i tell them all you're all in i'm all in to a point to a point right and i'm telling you the stuff that's jacking your world up right now doesn't have anything to do with all the stuff that you're getting outraged about it has to do with the lack of commitment to make this what your life is so some of your anger and rage needs to be taken to the feet of jesus and laid down and you get to say that's on me forgive me invitation one come to the table invitation two if you're not a christian here's what's great do you remember maybe maybe this didn't stand out to you blessed is he happy is he is how to translate that happy is he who has been invited to the wedding supper of the lamb hey eyes on i'm inviting you okay you want to come like you want to sit at the table and let the king of kings and lord of lords pour you the most amazing wine you've ever imagined to sit at that feast that goes on for millennia to enjoy goodness and mercy ever increasing for eternity as we reign and rule around the new heavens and earth that's next week with him blessed are you listen i'm i'm here come to the table i don't like the yeah you're not dressed for it that's why he's got some robes for you doc they got a linen robe for you the they got the uniform of a priest just waiting for you right now don't you come have a seat are you tired enough yet okay i love you are you tired enough yet come on i gotta do that no you don't you just gotta sit down remember that old mary martha thing i just i gotta stop this mary martha thing you tracking with me you know mary martha yeah right mary's just like at his feet tears snot i'm not moving martha's like good lord i've got to do everything around here hey look at me you got to do that this ain't that kind of table you ain't gotta rush out of here just gotta sit down what does that look like this is where it gets hard you gotta repent look at me but even repentance is an invitation to have a seat the confession my table's terrible my food doesn't satisfy my wine is cheap there's never enough to be full and that's that'd be a great prayer today that'd be a great prayer jesus my table is bankrupt i don't want to sit here anymore will you forgive me will you let me sit at your table will you give me the blamelessness required will you welcome me into your presence and here's his answer yeah blessed are you we've been invited to the wedding supper of the lamb don't you do me a favor once you close your eyes about your heads we're almost done here you've been so great so patient at the very end of uh 20 verses 11 through 15 there's this moment of judgment the great white throne where jesus judges from among the living and the dead and and and this is that moment i was talking about where time is up and all of god's ways of wooing you to himself showing you the beauties of common grace letting you feel the sting of your rebellion against him all of those are invitations into this life that we're talking about all of those are invitations to sit at this table and so while there's time before the feast has officially begun i want to do what the word of god bids me to do i want to do what god himself bids me to do this morning which is invite you in i don't need to know your background don't need to know what you're currently struggling with if you're willing before god to say i don't want to sit at this table i want to repent i want to turn i want to come sit at that one i want that robe i want that meal i want that piece i want that provision i want to sit there i'm tired of trying to whip and work man i just want to rest in you jesus you prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies that's available to you today i know that sounds so simple it's just that prayer of no not me anymore you you will be my life that prayer is a simple prayer but i think the holy spirit will empower you to live out so here's what i want to do i want to just do some practical um repenting here this morning if you're in the room and you're a christian like you've got a seat at this table in fact uh oftentimes you do sit down at this table you you enjoy the lord's table you understand to some sense the provision and the the beauty of jesus christ and yet golly you don't know not quite sure how it happened you got swept up into wild busyness and man you you're back at your own table again man you you not walking in the joy of the lord not thirsty or zealous for the presence of jesus not willingly plundering the enemy's property or the enemy's home with our lord's property just kind of fell asleep again and if today you're like man i don't want to do that i want to come sit back down where i belong i want to sit i don't even know how i got over here i don't know what time i when i got up and walked away and came sat at this janky table when i'm done with this and you're like man i i want to come sit at that table again that that table that's been prepared in the presence of my enemies if that's you and you're a christian like man i'm gonna get back there this morning i just need to repent won't you raise your hand right now just as an act of repentance i'm repenting man i'm coming back get that thing up high we keep baptists raising our hands that's not good for us praise god won't you put your hands down now let me ask you this if you're here today and you have never in your life said jesus you will be my life i'm not adding you on to this or i am saying you are my life i'm getting up from this table and i'm sitting on yours and you will be my life if you've never done that in your life and today something's clicked god's shown you something he's been working on you the last few weeks months or something you just kind of went oh wow yeah that's it i want that table i want that robe i want to walk away from this life and sit at that table with jesus for the first time if that's you like i'm just never said yes i've never surrendered i've never done i want to do it this morning if that's you would you just raise your hand where you are like gosh if that's available i want to go get that hand huh like there's nothing to be ashamed of here this is just we're just plundering the strong man's joint today praise god why don't you put your hands down now everybody look at me everybody and i gotta we gotta get we gotta go i'm gonna pray for us and then we are going to we are gonna sing why because the strong man's been bound why because our salvation is secure why because the earth is the lord's and everything in it why because what can separate us from the love of god in christ jesus that's why why are we gonna sing as loud as we can right to rebel to resist gosh to remind the enemy that he's lost and then here's what i would here's what i would say there were a few of you uh that that raised your hands and just said man i've never never said that i've never done that i've never said geez i want you to be my life and here's what we want to do we want you to pray before the lord today i'm i'm doing i'm saying yes to you i'm turning my you're my life now you're not gonna learn you'll learn all the implications of that the next few decades of your life just just like the rest of us but but in this moment as best i understand it you are my life we'd love to just celebrate with you today so you're going to pray the prayer we're not going to do anything like you repeat after me you just you lay your heart out before the lord you just pray what you got whatever i want that what is that yes i don't want to be at this table i want to be at yours jeez i want you to be my life i don't want to run my life i want you to run my life you pray that prayer and then here's where they're going to be some men and women on that back wall if you'd go up to them and just like man i just i just prayed that prayer i just told jesus that he was going to be my life i want to sit at the table here's what we just love to baptize you today right we're just like do it publicly in front of everybody so we can come alongside of you and we can say us too brother sister we were plunder and he found us we were rescued we were pulled out of the muck of the mark we were transferred out of the domain of darkness we'll lose our mind to celebrate the holy spirit's work of regeneration in you right so i want you to come with me we're just going to plunder to the ends of the earth together starting in these neighborhoods and to the ends of the earth it's going to be awesome it's already been awesome give you a second just to pray you you repent before lord what does it look like for you to come back and sit where you're supposed to be sitting non-believer what's it like for you now just to pray that prayer i want you to be my life i don't want to run my life anymore you run my life father we bless you we praise you we lift you high jesus you are our savior our king our lord you are our life spirit of the living god do what only you can do illuminate convict draw in empower break loose help us plunder to the ends of the earth and it's for your beautiful name i pray amen

Channel: The Village Church Resources

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Keywords: Matt Chandler, The Village Church

Id: sl24vbf5jJM

Length: 55min 10sec (3310 seconds)

Published: Mon Apr 26 2021