Well, good evening, Adelaide. It's my absolute
pleasure to be here for what is the finale of ‘The Truth of It’ LIVE for 2021. Alas,
all of the lockdown free states that we could possibly get to, have pretty much been
gotten to, and so we have to face the cold, hard, reality that we need to return
to the East Coast at some point. So, if I talk for a very, very, very long time this
evening, it's just delaying the inevitable, so please excuse me. But speaking actually of covid,
I do want to make a couple of points beforehand, which will lead us into the second segment, which
is really where I’ve saved the best for last, and you'll see what I mean in just a
minute. But I want to make a point, I thought of a striking thing, recently, as I
was reflecting on all the chaos, the division, the fear, and the disaster of COVID-19.
And I appreciate that in Adelaide there's probably not as much sense of that, but we're not
allowed to go to Sydney or Melbourne to say this, so, we're going to have to live
stream it to them from here. But the thing that struck me was that in the book
of Job, there's an astonishing thing. You know, Satan had the power to send Chaldeans and Sabeans,
in units, to steal, kill and destroy. He also had the power to send natural disasters, there was
a great fire, there was a tornado or a cyclone. And here's the thing, if he has that ability,
then he does have the ability to send a pandemic. And I’m not actually being ridiculous, because I note, that so much of what is going on in
response to this pandemic, carries hallmarks of darkness. One is fearmongering, and fearfulness
- that is everywhere. It is not only something that we see from the people who are concerned
about the government response to the virus, but probably more commonly in the community,
it is fear of the virus, itself. That is a big problem. Now, whenever I express a moderate view
on this, people get very upset, they get cranky, because of the conviction that the COVID-19
virus is catastrophically deadly to us at an individual level, and it's not, it's just not.
Now that doesn't mean it's not real. [Applause] Doesn't mean it's not real, but
it does mean it's been overblown, and there is fearmongering among us.
I actually read a paper - I’ll mention this - I read a paper just this afternoon by
Professor John Ioannidis, who is one of the top 10 most cited academics in the world, and
he's an epidemiologist at Stanford University. Professor Ioannidis points out that,
up until the end of last year, in 14 countries, where the virus was strongest, and
indeed in 10 US states, that the risk of dying of covid was similar on average, to the risk of
dying of a car accident in your daily commute. Now, that's an expert, a serious expert, who
I went to find and look into this matter, and you can see that study for yourself. But
also, it's not just that these are times of fear, these are also, unfortunately, times of deception
- it's very hard to find the truth, very, very hard. It's hard to find the
truth on both sides of the argument. And indeed, not only is it the misinformation that
gets posted on social media and the extreme stuff you come across there that misinterprets
or misrepresents certain information, and stats and figures, but you know, our
leaders only have themselves to blame, as well. Because here's the thing, our leaders
haven't been so keen to say what is true, so much as what works. They say what they need to
say to get people to, quote, do the right thing, and of course, they have a political imperative
which is, get everyone vaccinated, they have a political imperative which is, get everyone
to keep the rules, and I understand why they need to do that, but they don't necessarily
say what's true, do they? They fearmonger, and there's a deception about it. I heard it
put this way, there's something of a noble lie, and of course, the noble lie is that, well yes,
to me individually and personally this pandemic is catastrophically deadly. Now that's not true,
but of course if I undermine it, and there's probably people in the room already who are upset
with me for undermining that because it's noble, right? Because it's capable of getting people to
do the right thing, so it needs to be protected, and that's the sad thing. But see, I don't
believe that lies have the capacity to do that. You know, Jesus said that Satan was a liar from
the beginning, and he does not stand in the truth. I think that they should just tell the truth
and there's a very easy argument to be made for all of the policies or some of the policies
that the government wants to see implemented, that's just based on telling the truth, and
not only would those who are easy to convince be brought on board, but those who see the
misinformation would also be brought on board, as well, because there would be confidence
in the truth. But here's the other thing, and this is why I nearly didn't
speak about this tonight. I nearly didn't speak about it because the
other hallmark here is division and strife, and this is dividing us against each other,
phenomenally, it's actually hard to talk about because people get really, really upset, and
people are so rusted into their views, and I think fear does that to us. And we're seeing angry
emails go back and forth, we're seeing theology bombs being thrown this way and that way, we're
seeing families, I know of families who are torn apart, we're seeing people leaving churches, we're
seeing so much disaster. Do you know, there's some hallmarks there, and I’ve only scratched the
surface - fear, deception, strife, and division - I say again, these are the hallmarks
of darkness. Now, my hope is that this whole thing resolves smoothly that you know, the government
has chosen that the way they'd like to resolve it is to hit a vaccine threshold and then
apparently everything goes back to normal. I truly hope that happens, I truly do, and it
might, and this might become a distant memory, and the damage that's been done so far
is healed, in time. But here's the thing, it's very difficult to know
how it exactly is going to end. But in the meantime, here's the important
thing, we mustn't promote these hallmarks of darkness ourselves, we mustn't. Do you know
in the book of Job, that's what his wife did. You remember Job's wife, where she says, "Curse
God and die". Do you know, it's amazing - it hits you like a freight train when you read Job,
because you read Chapter 1 and what does it say? It says, Satan says, just let me at this guy
and he will certainly curse You to Your face. And she's overwhelmed in the crisis, she can't
see her way out, and so the crisis does its work on her, and she says, do it, because that's
what the crisis was designed to achieve. Or indeed, Job's friends, who are
apparently godly, rational individuals, they come around him, what do they do? It's
your fault Job, you've done something wrong Job, and we know Satan elsewhere in
Scripture, is called 'the great accuser', and here they are accusing him. Again,
they're overwhelmed by the crisis, they can't see out of it, and it's doing its
work on them. And I want to say this, we need to be careful that we're not doing the work of the
evil one and playing a role in this destruction. Because here's the other side of the
coin, Job's crisis did end, it did end, but Satan was only allowed to do for a time
precisely what God allowed him to do, and no more. And that meant that God actually had an
ultimate purpose for good out of Job's troubles. Now, covid's been hard for me
to navigate, it's complicated, it's such a pig's breakfast of issues
- it's a great metaphor isn't it? But I can't get away from this thought; if
God has allowed all of this to happen and continues to hold back His hand and allow
it to continue in the way we've described, and yet it carries the hallmarks of darkness, He
must be more than able to bring good out of it. In fact, the Bible shows us, time and again,
that evil will always heel to God's purposes, it will always be made to submit, and the
ultimate example, of course, where we see that the greatest darkness brings the greatest
light, is the crucifixion of Jesus Christ. That was the worst thing that ever happened in human
history, and it created the greatest light and the greatest blessing that we ever could have
imagined, and here's what I think... [Applause] Here's what I think we should therefore
do, in the face of all of this, first. I do think this should
be bringing us to prayer. And we ought to pray that despite all the chaos
of what's going on, and despite the uncertainties, and despite the fact that we can open Facebook
and start getting fearful, for many reasons, but what we ought to do, is that we ought to
pray, actually, that God would use this to do a great work in our day and that it would
serve His good purposes and not evil ends, because there is a seismic shift taking place
right now, there really is, and I don't have time to go into it all, you might be able to ask me in
Q&A. And I don't know how this ends, but God does. And meanwhile, we can learn something else from
Job. Remember I said the crisis overwhelmed him well, it didn't overwhelm him, sorry, it
overwhelmed his wife, it overwhelmed his friends, and so it did its work on them. Here's the thing,
this too shall pass, it's very important that it doesn't do its work on us, and we don't serve
these ends for which I believe it has been sent. And see the way you see that Job didn't
fall into the trap, was right at the start, when he gets the announcement of all the
chaos and trouble that happens to him, it says, "In all this, Job did not sin." And you think
that's incredible, how not? Well, in Job 19, he reveals to us that his focus is right and true.
And his focus is this, he says, "Yet as for me, I know my Redeemer lives, and at the last He will
stand on the earth." He says, you know what? That bedrock of history remains, it hasn't shifted,
and even after I die, my skin is destroyed, and he was, he probably thought he was dying with
his boils, "Yet from my flesh I shall see God, whom I on my part, shall behold for myself,
whom my eyes shall see and not another." There is a great lesson in this, that we must
never lose our focus, we must never be like Peter, when he was walking on the water, and what did
he look at? He looked at the fears and the waves and the chaos on each side, and he lost
focus on the thing that always matters, the thing that we must endure to do and to
serve at all times in crisis and not in crisis, and that is the risen Lord Jesus Christ. Because
there is a God Who reigns, and the most important thing that you and I can do, is to just carry
on and be a testimony to that fact. [Applause] Now this is the only chance I’m
going to get to do this so... I don't know if you know, I think I said this
in the last live stream, but it just says, 'good catch', there's actually there's actually nothing
on it, and I don't think anyone caught that one, but anyway. Look, this is the next section,
and this feeds us into it really nicely, I said at the start that I’d saved the best
till last, and I don't mean my best efforts or anything like that, I mean the best content.
Because we're going to spend the rest of our time seeing our way above this chaos, seeing our way
outside of this world in which we live, into the other world in which we live, which is the eternal
world, the heavenly world. And I want to speak to you tonight about the most important thing, which
I’ve deliberately saved for now, and it is the revelation of Jesus Christ. It is the unveiling of
who He is, now, and what it means for our world, now. And the best thing I can do, is to actually,
read it. Revelation 1, it starts in verse 1, it just says, "The revelation of Jesus Christ,"
the unveiling of Jesus Christ. Verse 4: "John to the seven churches who are in Asia: Grace
to you and peace from Him who is, and who was, and who is to come, and from the seven spirits
who are before His throne, and from Jesus Christ, the faithful witness, the firstborn of the dead,
and the ruler of the kings of the earth. To Him who loves us and released us from our sins
by His blood - and He made us into a kingdom, priests to His God and Father - to Him be glory
and the dominion forever and ever. Amen. Behold, He is coming with the clouds, and every eye
will see Him, even those who pierced Him; and all the tribes of the earth will mourn
over Him. So, it is to be. Amen. 'I am the Alpha and the Omega,' says the Lord God, 'who is
and who was and who is to come, the Almighty.' I, John, your brother and fellow participant in the
tribulation and kingdom and perseverance in Jesus, was on the island called Patmos because of
the word of God and the testimony of Jesus. I was in the spirit on the Lord's day, and I
heard behind me a loud voice like the sound of a trumpet, saying 'Write on a scroll what
you see, and send it to the seven churches.' Then I turned to see the voice that was
speaking with me. And after turning I saw seven golden lampstands; and in the middle of
the lampstands, I saw one like a son of man, clothed in a robe reaching to the feet, and
wrapped around the chest with a golden sash. His head and hair were white like white wool,
like snow; and His eyes were like a flame of fire. His feet were like burnished bronze when
it has been heated to glow in a furnace, and His voice was like the roar of many waters.
In His right hand He held seven stars, and out of His mouth came a sharp two-edged sword; and His
face was like the sun shining in its strength. When I saw Him, I fell at his feet like a dead
man. And He placed His right hand on me saying, Do not be afraid, I am the first
and the last, and the living One; and I was dead and behold I am alive forevermore,
and I have the keys of death and of Hades." Honestly, one of the finest
chapters in the Bible. Do you know, the Apostle John wrote Revelation
from an overwhelming time for Christians. It was a time in which he, and all of the
Christians that he was writing to in those seven churches in Asia, would have felt like the world
was in the grip of a downward spiral. They were facing so much defeat, they were facing so much
persecution, they were facing an epic crisis, and they might well have been asking, is anybody
really in control? Or indeed, to return to what I was saying just before, they might well have
been asking, is Satan actually in control? John is writing from jail, solitary confinement,
exile, on an island, and he's been brought very low. And he's writing to Christians with friends and
family and fellow church members who have been recently executed for their faith and they
might be next. The deaths of Peter and Paul, by crucifixion and beheading, respectively, would
have been not that much of an ancient history. And we live in days when we are concerned
about the beginnings of soft persecution, and so, we certainly feel that
pressure, but we're not like this, this is something far greater
and so I think that this context, if this could help them in their time, oh
how much more can this help us in our time. You know, that's the downward spiral on that
front, and I think that is true, I mean we see the cancel culture stuff popping up from time
to time, you see the, you know, 'canaries in the coal mine' you might call them, like Israel
Folau, or with the Human Rights Law Alliance, the cases that I often rehearse and recite at
these events, and some of us know friends or have connections through church where those sorts of
things have happened to them and they face legal trouble for their faith, we see that, we feel it,
we look at the laws that are passing that don't have the conscientious objection clauses. Like I
said, there's a sense of some soft trouble coming, and it might get a lot worse, but there's also
a moral spiral. I spent a great deal of time in Hobart showing the decline of Rome in the era
of the apostles and afterwards, and we talked then about how it was characterised by sexual
liberation, abandonment of infants to death, the cheapening of human life, gluttony and excesses,
bread and circuses, and do you know, that's us. Sexual liberation has gone to a whole new
level, these days, it's celebrated under flags with the LGBT world, but, we're just as bad. This
didn't start there, this started with divorcing, it started with deserting families, it started
with affairs, fornication, pornography, in the church too, tragic, the worst of sins, according to
Paul in 1st Corinthians 6, sins against the body. We don't abandon our infants; we
abort them just before they're born. We don't cheapen life through execution, we
do so by legalising suicide, in Queensland, euthanasia, and it's a criminal offence to
talk somebody out of it, it's not a joke. We are gluttons living in an age of excess,
and do you know, it's interesting to me when covid rules are relaxed, what's the
first thing that gets the green light? The football - bread and circuses - sad isn't
it? It's tragic for all who have eyes to see, who grieve as God must grieve over a downward
spiral, a downward spiral. And it is a downward spiral because Rome was judged and fell
apart. I do believe we'll see the same. Jeremiah, spoke to a nation on the cusp of
judgment, and they said, no, no, no, no no, no, not us, no no, no, no, you must be joking. Do you
know something? There's never been a generation that has welcomed the news of judgment, never.
Every single time it's been said, everyone's going, oh no, you're joking, I’ve got other ideas.
Well, Jeremiah said, this is what the Lord says, "Stand by the ways, and see and ask for the old
paths, where the good way is and walk in it, then you will find a resting place for your
souls. But they said, we will not walk in it." Do you know, that's us? There is an active move
right through the education system, the political world, and the culture, to cast off what was good
from the past - and we call it progressive. Nobody ever liked to hear that judgment, that news of
judgment, but here's how I know there is judgment, because the things described
in Romans 1 are happening now, in far greater intensity than they were happening
then. The moral decline described therein is very real and it seems to be out of
control. And Romans 1 teaches very clearly, that when God's hand is lifted, and these things
are allowed to happen - because God does restrain evil in the world - it teaches that we are already
under judgment. The judgment train is on the move. We are in a downward spiral, but what happens
in those moments is that we tend to lose our bearings. We lose sight of the things that sustain
us and continue to matter, no matter how the world is changing. My mother is a truly excellent cook,
and she has a cookbook collection which should probably be in a museum - it's that extensive. And
I remember one day, she threw some of them out, and when she was asked why,
she said, she felt convicted that she was reading more recipe
books than she was the Bible. Do you know something - I hope I’m alright
to make that analysis, but anyway - you know something, we live in times when people are
reading more cultural commentary, news media, political podcasts, and philosophical analysis,
than they are feeding on God and His Word. Do you know something, in a downward spiral that
is the worst thing you can do? Because it will overwhelm you, it will be bad news on every hand,
and it will cause defeat in your life. It's human, it comes naturally, but in so doing, you will
never be the one who overcomes the world. The world and its trouble will
overcome you. And what's one of the reasons Revelation was written? It
was so that you might overcome the world. This sort of trouble was enveloping John, in some
ways far more intensely, in other ways perhaps a little less, but certainly his circumstances
were far more extreme, and we meet him there, that's where we meet him. He says, "I John, your
brother and fellow participant in the tribulation and kingdom and perseverance in Jesus. I was in
jail; I was on the island called Patmos because of the word of God and the testimony of Jesus
and I was in the spirit on the Lord's day and heard behind me a loud voice like the sound of
a trumpet." You know, John is a pastor, and he writes first that he is sharing their troubles.
And we share each other's troubles insofar, as these difficulties are common, even the
concerns we have about the world - isn't it wonderful to be in a room full of people who
have the same concerns - we share the concern of the world, we are brothers and
sisters in this trouble. But also, it is sad to me, you know, that worse
trouble is coming to some, from time to time. For example, the Israel Folau’s of the
world, the stories we hear of through ACL, of people as I mentioned, being cancelled and all
the rest of it, and sometimes people close to us. And we are not so used to trouble in this world,
because the last few decades have been so good. And our instinct is not to share in each other's
trouble, but to distance ourselves from those people. You know even if it's just something small
in a workplace, do you know how one other voice can make such a difference? Do you know how one
other person to stand by you, and share with you, makes such a difference? And that's why we are
here, together, to share in those troubles. You know, at best, we so often see people say, oh
well, I don't agree with everything they say, but, and you go, you know, as someone who's frequently
on the receiving end of that kind of thing, do you know how much that hurts? You're putting
your arm around someone and holding your nose, and you're winking at the people who don't like
them, because you're not really on their side. That's not standing with people, it isn't. And I
think we need to get this memo because it's going to happen a little more. And John says, this
is a feature, not a bug in the Christian, life tribulation and perseverance in Jesus, and we
share it, because we share Jesus Christ - who is the cause of so much of that trouble in this
world. He faced trouble in the world, we will too. But back to John, he's sharing in these things and
for doing so, he's found himself in very practical trouble. He's found himself on Patmos, in jail,
in solitary confinement. But see, he's not only on Patmos, John is also in the spirit. And we
see here that the Christian lives in two worlds. The Christian doesn't only live in the world of
the downward spiral, the Christian doesn't only live in a world where they see things going wrong,
the Christian doesn't only live in the world of the Ben Shapiro podcast and the Sky News and the
ABC. The Christian actually lives in eternity, with Jesus. And that life is as real, and as
vital, and as genuine, as the life we live in the temporal world. Jesus called it eternal
life. In fact, there's two words in the Greek, in the New Testament; ‘bios’, no prizes for
guessing what kind of life bios refers to, biological life. Ah, but when Jesus says, "I came
that they might have life," He doesn't say bios, He says ‘zoe’ - it's a different Greek word. He
came to bring another life that is accessible to the human soul, because it is His life, and
He gives it to those whom He regenerates. That is why the Apostle Paul wrote that the
Christian is seated in heavenly places with Christ, because spiritually each
one of us is already in heaven, we are already united to Jesus Christ in His life,
and it already fills us, it already drives us, it already dominates our thinking and our motives
and our priorities, and every true Christian is aware of the other realm to which they belong,
every true Christian is aware of the daily tension -living for eternity and living now, the tension
of the spirit and this life. And we are guided, every day, we trust, by the spirit, and once
that's in order the rest falls into place. Do you see how we so often get the order the
wrong way around? We get overwhelmed, here. Oh no, if the spirit is in order, if that
life is our priority, and it's consuming us, the rest will fall into place. These are
two worlds and we're made alive from the dead says the New Testament. Why? To be
awake, to live in, the world of eternity, where we will go, and the bios life will fall
away, but the zoe life will continue forever. Do you know, these two worlds, you might call them
time - that's what we see in here and feel - and eternity. And we can make the mistake of thinking
of eternity as if it existed before time began, and it will exist again after time finishes. I
used to think that. Eternity is all the way back there and all the way over there, that's
not quite right. Eternity is always there. You know, you might think of time like a sphere
and everything that's not the sphere is eternity. In other words, eternity is
everywhere, eternity is all around us, eternity is, well it's at your elbow, or it's
right behind you, it's at the tip of your nose. It's as close and as real as that. And
it can break through at any moment. Do you know, when the people who wrote the
Scriptures were carried along by the Holy Spirit, that was eternity breaking through.
Do you know, when Jesus came and was incarnated in human flesh and lived among
us, that was eternity breaking through. Do you know, when you were converted, and the life
of Jesus Christ, Himself, was put in your soul, that's eternity breaking through
into your life - listen. [Applause] I live in two worlds tonight, as do you, I trust.
I’m a citizen of Australia and the United Kingdom, I’m a citizen of the world, but I’m also a
citizen of heaven. I have bios for sure, but it will die, like Job knew it would die, and
the life of Christ, eternal life, will go on. And that is seen, this tension comes out in
our reason for being here. You see John says, he's in the spirit on the Lord's day on Patmos,
he's talking about his two worlds, and he says for the word of God and the testimony of Jesus. Did it
ever occur to you that John is not a special case? That is not a special calling. We are all
here, we are here in Adelaide in 2021, for the word of God and the
testimony of Jesus. [Applause] And indeed, whoever - there's people watching
on the live stream, so Adelaide doesn't apply to everybody - but wherever you are, you're in your
corner of the world. And the eternal life you have transforms your earthly existence,
that you live by the word of God, you are resourced by the word of God, and you
show and reveal the word of God to others. But also, it is broken into your life, this is
the life of Jesus, Himself, to transform you to be a Christ-like presence in this world, to
put Jesus on display and tell others about Him. I think we've forgotten priorities, sometimes.
I tell you I live in the world of politics, I work in the world of politics, it's all
great, but at the end of the day, I am here, finally, for the word of God and the testimony
of Jesus, and that is every one of us. [Applause] And so, eternity actually breaks in
through us and through Christ’s work in us. Not just in our soul, but in
our action towards the world. Now, John, has eternity break in on
him in quite a spectacular way, this is the climax, he gets just what
he needs in the moment that he's in. And you'd expect John to be weary, you'd expect
him to be tired, you'd expect him to be defeated, you'd expect him to be pessimistic, and lonely, an
old man in this place, in this condition, facing a downward spiralling world when everything's
going wrong, he might feel a little bit like a few of you felt, about 10 minutes ago, I could
feel it from up here, a little bit disappointed little bit grieved, or a lot grieved, in his case.
But see, he needed something, because this chapter actually shows us that he got what he needed
because it's anything but sad, it's exultant, it's joyful, it's rejoicing, it's victorious,
because he got the revelation of Jesus Christ, an unveiling, an eye-opener, that's what
revelation means. It is the discovery of a reality that was hidden to us until now, and
here's something of that reality we need to see today, he says, he heard behind him - eternity's
behind us, right - heard a voice of a loud trumpet and he turned to see the voice, and he sees one
like a son of man, clothed in a robe to the feet, wrapped around the chest with a golden sash,
a head and His hair white like white wool, like snow, eyes like a flame of fire, feet like
burnished bronze that's been heated in a furnace, so that it glows, a voice like the roar of
many waters - I think that's my favourite one, you know, you hear water before you see it,
especially with great waterfalls - in His right hand He's holding seven stars, and out of
His mouth there's a sharp two-edged sword and His face is like the sun shining in its strength,
and John sees Him and falls at His feet as though dead. Do you know, eternity breaks in in a big
way and it happens for a good reason because John in his trouble, needs to see Jesus,
he needs to see his Jesus, right now, as He is, right now. Not so much as he remembers
Him, because they were friends on earth, he was a disciple, but as He is, right now. Because
as a disciple, he had seen Him many times, and that's why he says in his first letter, he starts
out like this, he says, "That which was from the beginning, which we've heard, which we've seen with
our eyes, which we've looked and touched with our hands concerning the word of life," he's saying,
hey, I saw him, I touched him, I heard him, I’m an eyewitness. That's why he was an Apostle,
I saw him raised from the dead. But see, at that time we know that Jesus glory was veiled, it was
laid aside, it was masked in human flesh and bone. My favourite Christmas carol captures that, 'Hark
the Herald Angels Sing', it says, "Veiled in flesh the Godhead see, hail the incarnate Deity, pleased
as man with men to dwell, Jesus our Immanuel." Immanuel, He's God with us, but He's veiled in
flesh. And He came and His glory was veiled at that time and laid aside, and John needs to know
something, he needs an update to his picture of Jesus. He needs to know that He is not only Jesus
of Nazareth, he needs to know that He is the Lord Jesus Christ. And it's fatal, you know,
and this is a real cultural trend among us, it is fatal to be overly preoccupied with Jesus
as man. Things have changed, everything's changed, things have moved on, He's risen, He is
glorified, He is Lord. And John sees it and he writes with this optimistic tone,
as if he is saying, look at my Jesus, now. And the vision that he has, is that of a colossus, it's overwhelming, the sheer magnitude. He has
seven stars, in one hand - can you think of it? It's frightening, and John became
frightened in the midst of it. And John is jolted and shocked to reality, and
he's trying to describe, you notice the prevalence of the word, 'like', He has a face like this,
eyes like this, he's looking for his words. And what he describes is incomprehensible to us, but
it is interesting to me, that actually, the vision described in Ezekiel has a lot of overlap. He's
seeing the same risen Christ that Ezekiel saw, but he's shocked to reality and he realises
there's someone in control, and He was right there all along, He was right behind him, He was always
here. But what does this mean for me and you? The reality is, we learn from the other verses
that, this mighty one's might has been deployed in ways that meet us in our world and meet our
needs, even if we are in a downward spiral. Listen to this, this colossus, this one that he
sees is none other than Jesus Christ, the faithful witness, the firstborn of the dead, the ruler
of the kings of the earth. None other than Him who loves us and released us from our sins, by
His blood. None other than He who made us into a kingdom, priests to God His father. None other
than He to whom is glory and dominion forever and ever, and one who is coming with clouds and every
eye will see Him, even those who pierced Him, and all tribes of the earth will mourn
because of Him. He is the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end, the one who is, who was,
and who is to come - what an eye opener. And these descriptors tell us how that this mighty one's
might has been deployed for us, on our behalf. First of all, He was the faithful witness, He
was faithful in His witness through it all, come what may. In fact, the word witness here is
'martyr', and it reminds us that He was faithful to death. And Jesus wouldn't be deterred from
obedience, no matter what, no matter what. And here we see these people who are being
offered great things to renounce their faith, they are. They're being offered life, to renounce
their faith, and the question that comes to us, is, how faithful are we, when tested?
You know, God's great promises... we don't face the pressure that they
faced, that I just described. We're not tested by those who will kill us, but
we are tested by those who might mock us, who might ostracise us, we are tested by those
who might cancel us. And I used to think that the ultimate test was for me to imagine myself
standing before some Roman authority, who was going to put me to death, and I’d ask myself,
what would I do? What would I do? What would I do? And I’d try and imagine, and I'd think,
surely, I’d stick, you know, I wouldn't give in. But here's the thing, we don't need to ask
that. We need to ask, what will I do tomorrow? Will I be faithful when my flesh lusts
for something that God has forbidden? Will I be faithful when people invite me to
participate in humour or conversation which I ought to reject? Will I be faithful when
I’m challenged on account of what I believe, and I have to give an answer that
might cause me to be rejected? Will I put my flesh to death to serve Christ,
now, today? We don't have to think too far ahead. A Christian songwriter penned
these words in the 1990s, he said, "I have heard how Christians long
ago were brought before a tyrant's throne and they were told that he would spare their
lives if they would renounce the name of Christ. But one by one they chose to die, the Son of
God they would not deny, like a great angelic choir sings, I can almost hear their voices
ring; I pledge allegiance to the Lamb, with all my strength with all I am, I will seek
to honour His commands, I pledge allegiance to the Lamb. Now the years have come, and the years
have gone, but the cause of Jesus still rolls on, and now our time has come to count the cost,
to reject this world, to embrace the cross. And one by one, let us live our lives
for the One who died to give us life, till the trumpet sounds on that final day, let us
proudly stand and boldly say; I pledge allegiance to the Lamb." Do you know, the first time I
heard that sung, I was a teenager, and I said to the person singing it, "You need to stop singing
that, because how can you say those words?" Oh, when I’m brought before a tyrant's throne,
I pledge allegiance... how can you say that? Careful, you might get tested. Often the things
you say do come back to test you. And it's really sad to me, you know, that songwriter
who I got somewhat interested in the 90s, because of songs like this, there came a crisis
point in his life and he divorced his wife, he left his four children, and he
announced that he was living as a gay man. And I thought to myself, we don't have to ask
what would we do, we have to ask, what will we do, today, today, and in days when
our witness is tested, and it is, in small ways, today, it really is. Now for young
people, in particular, it is pretty difficult, I get this sense very much at our Download Program
for young people, they feel like what they believe is going to put them on the outer, you can sense
that. But see, in days when our witness is tested, we see that Jesus is the faithful witness and He's the firstborn from the dead. Do you
know, the firstborn in a family has authority, it has the authority, that was the tradition at
the time, but Jesus even has authority over death. But also, here's the thing, the firstborn also
has other brothers and sisters that follow him, and that's Jesus. John writes in other places that
he has other, God has other sons and daughters, His brothers, as it says in Hebrews Chapter 2,
and for them He has not only conquered death, but He has conquered all of the lesser
enemies that we might face, He has done that. What can we fear with one who is the
firstborn from the dead and has other brothers and sisters? He is also the ruler of the
kings of the earth. This is a lesson that Nebuchadnezzar had to learn in Daniel,
and it was a hard lesson for him to learn, but Daniel tried to say it in Chapter 2, he said,
"May the name of God be blessed forever and ever, for wisdom and power belong to Him, it is
He who changes the times and the periods, He removes kings and appoints kings,
He gives wisdom to wise men." I’ve had to believe this and trust this, a lot, even in a democracy, we do what we can, right? We
do what we can to see good come in a democratic system, but at the end of the day God allows
the person to be in charge who is in charge, that's the teaching of the Bible from start to
finish, and we have to accept that. But see, the other side of it is, of course, let
all tyrants tremble because Christ is king, and the authority that every politician
has today, they have by the grace of God. "You would have no authority at all unless it was
given to you from above," said Jesus to Pilate, and they'll give account for that. But see,
Nebuchadnezzar learned that God was on the throne, and better that he learned it then than later.
You say that, you know, it was recently a case that I knew of where some people were about to
get married, and it fell apart at the last minute, and it was really sad, but someone said, well of
course, if that's going to happen, it's better that happens now, than later. Well, it's the same
with the rulers of the earth, they will find out, but it better not be later, and every one of us
will have to see God. And in days when our rulers, our leaders, our kings, if you like, are weak
and failing, Christ is the ruler of the kings of the earth - now there's comfort,
this colossus is really in charge. It says here that, this is also Him who loves
us and released us from our sins by His blood, and notice this, it's no good just seeing
this great vision, this revelation, this unveiling of a great and mighty colossus,
there's something more, He loves us, He is for us, His will is for our good, He desires my best,
He is working all things together for good and you are top of mind for Him as He is doing
all those things. What did He say to his disciples just before He went? He said, "I am
with you always, even to the end of the age." He is for us, and the freedom that He gives
us, is that He has freed us from our sins. Do you know, here's an interesting
thing; no matter what happens to us, no matter what happens to me, imagine in 10
years I go to jail, let's say it gets that bad, probably won't but oh well, who knows, it's in
God's hands, all of those things are in God's hands, it could go to custard tomorrow, it could
go to custard in 50 years, it could never go to custard, who knows. But let's say I end up in
jail. I will still be more free than the jailer because I have been set free from the greatest
oppressor of all, and it is sin. [Applause] Someone out there is having a good time, I heard
that, "Oh yes!" This is how John must have felt, seeing this, in the pit of his despair.
"Yes", he must have been so elated, and you see it coming through. But here's the
thing, the greatest oppressor of all people is sin and that's why movements, that throw themselves
headlong into sin, they scream about oppression, and marginalisation, and hatred, and they
say it's people like me who are to blame. I tell you what, it's not me, you don't even have
to think about me again for as long as you live. The real problem is sin, because you feel it, you
feel it in your soul, and it goes with you. And I want to say something to young people, this
is really important, if you're a young person and you're looking down the barrel of your
life, I can tell you something, some wisdom, do not throw yourself into sin and foolishness,
don't do it. Don't taste the delicacies and the delights that this world has to offer you, which
God has said, 'no' to, which Christ has died for, because I will tell you this, it is true that
He releases us from our sins by His blood and they'll never condemn us again, but you'll regret
it for the rest of your life. And I have met so many people who live with regret, who live with
pain, who live with guilt, who live with heaped up troubles, because when they were younger,
they didn't hold back. I just want to say, it is the greatest oppressor of all, and it
doesn't leave you easily. But here is one who died for these things, and here is one, who
even though we may live with regret, He says, I’ve freed you from your sin, it's been dealt
with, it's been paid for at Calvary. [Applause] And if you doubt that Jesus loves you, that this
great and mighty one is for you, what does it say in the New Testament? He demonstrated, He proved
His love for you and that while you were yet a sinner, He died for you and He died for your sin.
And it says, behold, He is coming with clouds and every eye will see Him, and here's a great hope,
history is not running in circles, I often wonder about how non-Christians and people
without faith think history is actually running, if it's running at all. I mean does it just end and fizzle
out and then the whole thing will fizzle out one day, I don't know. But here's the revelation,
no it's not going in circles, it's going to a definite end, it's going to a definite object,
it has a conclusion, and the conclusion is the return of Jesus Christ, and He is already on the
way. And this should... here's the thing, right, a lot of people say, oh Jesus is coming, and they
throw their hands up and say, "Last days, what can you do?" Here's the thing, it's true, I see this
all the time on my social media, not that I should read it, it's bad for the soul, but they say, oh
well, it's all over, what good can we do anyway? Look, you're thinking wrong, the imminent return
of Jesus Christ shouldn't cause you to stop, the whole New Testament says,
well you need to be ready; you need to be ready to rejoice when He comes.
It says, will He find faith on the earth? Well, that should be you, right? Faithful, right
to the end. You know what, if you really think that Jesus is about to return - and I have no
idea, but let's say that He is - you should be more busy than you've ever been. You know,
they say if you were going to die tomorrow, you'd live differently, right? Gee if I knew Jesus
was going to come tomorrow, I’d run out in that street and start evangelising every single person,
because I’ve got nothing to lose. [Applause] And it says, every eye will see Him, not
one person is going to escape. Do you know, this infinite being, this colossus, is what I keep
saying, every enemy will face Him. Every injustice will be made right, and do you know, every one
of us, whether we're the kings of the earth or just an ordinary person, we will face Him in a
condition of everlasting terror, or everlasting bliss. It's interesting, Peter Hitchens, for those
of you who know him, the brother of the famous atheist, Christopher Hitchens, who's actually
a Christian, a really strong Christian. He was converted from a Trotskyite whatever, whatever,
and he became a Christian when he was working behind the Iron Curtain, in Russia, and he talks
about his conversion. And he went into a church, and there was a great painting in the church,
and it was a painting, and I forget which one it was, but it was depicting the second coming of
Christ, and there was Jesus returning in the air, and he looked down and there was the world beneath
him, and all the people going about their various business. And there were some people reacting
to what they were seeing, this sight in the sky, and he said his eyes fixated in the corner of
the painting, and he said, there was a man there who was so overcome with fear that he was throwing
up on the ground. And he said, the thought suddenly hit me, because he said, he looked like
me, he said, if this is real then that's me, then that's me, and he was converted. Do you know, it's
very, very important, it's very, very serious. Verse 7 says, "All tribes of the earth will mourn
over Him." We will face Jesus, we cannot delay it, and it makes me wonder that people
think that they can, they can't. And we can either face Him like Peter
Hitchens feared he would face Him, or we can face Him like John faced Him. And you
know, when John faced Him, yeah, he was afraid, that's right, he fell on his face like a dead man,
but Jesus put His hand on him and said, fear not, fear not. All this that you've just seen, all
this that you've just written, I did it for you, I have freed you, John, from your sins by My
blood, I was the faithful witness for you, John, that I might empower you to be a faithful witness.
I ruled the kings of the earth for you, John, I loved you, John, and I had that power, and you
were top of mind, John. I have the key of death, John, and I will unlock it, and you will go free.
What an amazing thing. It's astonishing to me. And that is why, when people who are in deep
trouble, when people are in deep trouble, they need to see this reality, they need the
revelation, they need the eye opener from beyond, from eternity, from the other world which is right
among us, that the Lord Jesus Christ is who He is, today, now. And he says that He is that one at all
times, Him who was, who is, and who is to come, the Almighty, He's unchanging. He was that
before the trouble started, He will be that when the trouble ends, and He is that in the midst
of your troubles. Let me read that final section, and with this I’ll close. In verse 17 it says,
"When I saw Him, I fell at His feet like a dead man, and He placed His right hand on me saying,
'Do not be afraid, I am the first and the last, and the living one, and I was dead and behold I’m
alive forevermore, and I have the keys of death and of Hades." I just referenced this, but
can I just say what Jesus said to all of us, fear not. Look who is for us, look who is in
control, what a revelation, what an unveiling. One theologian put it this way, he said, "All
things are now seen to work together for good, to yield only holiness and love," and if that
is true, then everything is all right. It is September the 18th 2021, and all's well. Have
you ever seen those old movies? [Applause] I was mimicking the night watchman from the
old movies, 'three o'clock and all's well'. Well, it's true, all is well. And can I say,
it's this conviction, it's this knowledge, it's this vision that John had, that makes mighty
men out of weaklings. It's this that brings courage in an age of fear, it's this that makes
us a faithful witness in an age of compromise, and it's this that made men stare death
in the face and say, I will not recant. Do you know something, wow, we need those men today.
Because this land could be on a downward spiral and much is at stake, including people's
souls. And I want to say, as I finish, pray that you would be that man. And
why not? Because, look at your Jesus, now. I’m Martyn Iles, and that was ‘The Truth
of It’. Thank you, ladies, and gentlemen. [Applause]
