Conclusion: He's *Still Got the Whole World in His Hands

It is wonderful to have you guys here. I'm one of the pastors here at Twin Lakes Church. I want to welcome everybody who's with us, those over in venue on video, everybody watching online as well. And I want to invite you to grab your message notes that look like this. Now you can find these in your bulletins if you're in the auditorium, you're on our campus. And if you're watching online you can download our app and you can check out the notes on your app. In fact you can do that here in the auditorium as well.

We are concluding today a series that we began nine weeks ago, if you can believe it. It's called The Seven and this has been a series in the first three chapters of the book of Revelation. And as we wrap this up there is a specific group of people that I really truly want to thank today. I want to show you some of their pictures. We have had small groups all over the county and beyond studying this material every single week during the week. And I want to show you some of the pictures we asked them to send in because these groups range in age and in size and in location. But together we've all been studying the same verses in the Bible each week.

It's been very powerful and I got to tell you these groups I have been so inspired by what I have seen happening in these groups. Many of them served our community through projects like project pajamas or a school cleanup. We had a huge group of people up at Mount Hermon that gave tons of probably literally tons of pajamas to project pajamas. A group in Salinas that met in somebody's giant garage and watched it down there. We also had a Wednesday night group here. So I think there is a certain category of people that we all need to thank today. If you were a small group facilitator or host or leader could you just slip up your hands? Don't be shy just let us see your hands. Awesome. Can you put your hands up and thank these people who made this happen? That was awesome.

And we're going to have options for you if you want to continue your small group as well. And I want to mention that if you're interested in joining me and my wife Lori on a trip back to the actual archaeological sites of the seven ancient churches we're going to go in May and next Sunday over lunch after this service we're going to give you kind of an informational tour through that so you can see what to expect and see there's no obligation see if you're interested and there's more info on the study trip in the bulletins at the end of the sermon notes and also online.

Well today let's do a wrap-up of the series and I call it "He's Still Got the Whole World in His Hands." Would you just say that out loud with me? Just as an affirmation say it out loud. He's still got the whole world in his hands. Say it one more time. He's still got the whole world in his hands. Do you think we really need to hear this these days? I want you to look at some of the headlines. Terror is all over our headlines. Not only what happened in Paris nine days ago or what happened to the Russian plane or what's happening on our streets that's not even related to terror or the economic collapse of 2008 and the ripple effects we are still feeling but also in the news are all kinds of predictions about how all of this is predicting a very scary future for the world for the next several years.

The Pope even called this the third World War. A man who may not have the authority of the Pope but a man a lot of people who look to for predictions about the future the famous investor Warren Buffett said in my adult lifetime I don't think I've ever seen people as fearful. So we all need a giant dose of hope about the future. The good news is that is exactly the purpose of the Book of Revelation in the Bible. The seven letters from Jesus that start the Book of Revelation were written to seven ancient churches that were all near the west coast of the Roman province Asia Minor what we now call Turkey and the specific purpose of the Book of Revelation to these churches as we've seen was to prepare them for very rough times ahead.

So we've been studying these seven churches one each week and what I want to do this morning is sort of tell you the rest of the story. If what Jesus was doing was realizing that there are rough times ahead for these churches and analyzing their weaknesses and each church had a different strength and different weaknesses and saying this is what you guys have got to shore up because you are facing rough times then how did they do? It's funny in my whole life having studied Revelation many times I don't think I've actually ever seen a study that said so how effective was the Book of Revelation for the people to whom it was actually written? Well that's what I want to talk about today.

What was immediately ahead for the Christians in these seven churches and how did they fare? The Book of Revelation was the last book of the Bible written that's why it's the last book in your Bibles and it was written probably we're not sure but probably most scholars now say around 96 AD. Well we now know that by the time of the Emperor Trajan who was the ruler of the Roman Empire from 98 AD to 117 AD it was illegal to be a Christian. So it started right away and then for the next 250 years there was on and off again intense persecution all the way up until Diocletian and Galerius these were two co-emperors and on February 24 303 they published the Edict against the Christians which called for the elimination of all Christians.

Kind of the Nazi final solution for the Jews that led to the Holocaust only this was against Christians. The Edict ordered the destruction of all Christian scripture. It ordered the destruction of every Christian church which is why today it is very rare for them to find the remains of any church from before the fourth century because the others were wiped off the face of the earth. It became illegal for Christians to meet for worship even in private secret gatherings in their own homes and mass executions of Christians followed. Not even hidden in public in arenas. In fact to kick it all off the day the Edict was published the Caesars decided to burn down the new church at Nicomedia and it was burned with the congregation inside. Men, women, and children. It was a huge church 20,000 people perished in that one act alone and that was only the beginning.

After that during this great persecution Christians were publicly decapitated. They were drowned with lead weights around their necks. They were stoned to death buried alive burned alive. So with the whole machinery of the Roman Empire working to just eliminate Christians any trace of them from the earth how'd they do? Well you and I are here so apparently they didn't do too well because it turns out that ironically this backfires. It creates sympathy for the Christians among the Romans and curiosity about what it is that Christians believe and people begin attending churches even though they're illegal and Christians who are scattered by the persecution begin spreading the gospel all over the world and what about these seven churches?

Every one of them not only survived but they thrive through this and these seven churches end up listening to what Jesus told them and they become leaders in Asia Minor in the Christian community even the worst of them that we looked at last week in Laodicea. Remember that was the church that Jesus said you are like lukewarm tepid water you literally make me sick. That church how'd they do? They became so successful as a church that they not only survived all of that but they planted 23 churches that themselves continued for centuries and the bishop or pastor of Laodicea was one of the authors of the Nicene Creed and Christians today 1,700 late years later still recite the Nicene Creed in fact one of the songs we sang during the worship service was based in part on the words written by the pastor of the Church of Laodicea.

My point is the words of Jesus in these seven letters worked and if what is in the book of Revelation enabled these people to do that you know by extension it'll enable you to do anything. What is keeping you up late at night in fear? What is tempting you to maybe kind of go the wrong direction or disown your faith or maybe even quit life? Today I believe as we look at the themes through these seven letters that carry on through the rest of the book of Revelation I truly believe in my heart that this is going to be a changing point for some of you that is going to just rock your life for the rest of your life on earth I really believe that.

And if you're here today and maybe you're not even sure you are a Christian you know maybe you're like I don't know what I really believe about all this you were dragged by a friend or you're coming out of curiosity and you're going I kind of love the vibe but I'm not sure if I can believe in invisible things like God I get that you're welcome here but think of this what I'm talking about is not invisible this is history there were Christians who the Romans tried to completely wipe out and they not only survived but they thrived and by the way without once ever resorting to violence against Rome not one time not one time is there a record of religious Christian extremists during that persecution time going we're gonna let Rome get you know bow no never never never resorted to violence.

How did they do it? I think that is worth checking out and I think the purpose of revelation can be summed up in this verse Revelation 2:10 this is from a modern paraphrase I want you to read this out loud with me can you say this out loud let me hear you say it with say it with gusto all right don't quit even if it costs you your life stay there believing I have a life crown sized and ready for you don't you love that you know what somebody needs to hear those first two words right now desperately so just in case you're sitting next to them would you turn to the people next to you look them in the eye and say don't quit just say don't quit don't quit.

Okay so how do I not quit how do I do that? Well if you look back at the seven letters we've been studying there's four themes in them that carry on through the rest of the book of Revelation and these four themes are really Jesus words to Christians facing a frightening future and you need to jot these down so get a pen or a pencil get your notes out first like a coach giving a pep talk Jesus says keep your feet firmly planted keep your feet firmly planted don't give up check this out you remember how in week one we saw that way back in verse 9 of chapter 1 here's how John identifies himself he says I John your brother and companion in the suffering and the kingdom and the patient what endurance that our ours in Jesus now hold that thought for just a second I want you to like put your student hat on here because that word for endurance which is used three more times in the book of Revelation to describe followers of Jesus is the Greek word Kupo meno and this is a fascinating word meno means to stay or stand or endure but Kupo is is used to describe that verb it's like an intensifier a modifier Kupo is the word we get our word under or below from so Kupo meno means to stand under to stay standing under pressure or in English a rough equivalent might be to dig in kind of like a football defensive line on a successful goal line stand you dig in and pressure comes and you stay standing.

It's kind of like show has how many of you seen the movie bridge of spies yet anybody seen bridge of spies it's a facet gets good movie but it's the new Steven Spielberg movie and in it's a true story one of the characters refers to another character a man he knew who never buckled under literal torture from the Russian secret police he gives him a new Russian name and the translation of that name is the standing man he's the standing man and John's saying you know what I am along with you because of what Jesus did for us I'm the standing man because I follow the ultimate standing man that's what this means and let me show you what this looks like in 320 another huge persecution breaks out against the Christians the Emperor Lucinius commands everybody to worship Caesar as Lord but 40 soldiers in the famous 12th Legion refuse because they're Christians and this is a real PR problem for Rome because the 12th Legion was famous for establishing Roman might and now not just one or two but 40 of these Roman soldiers are going we won't worship Caesar because we're Christians so now what are they gonna do?

Well the commander turns it over to a judge judge named Agricola and Agricola says here's what we're gonna do it was the middle of winter this was right in Asia Minor where these seven churches were and he says I am going to have all these 40 soldiers stripped down to their underwear and then they are going to march out already humiliated march out in the middle of the night to the surface of a frozen pond and he has them do this and then he says you stay there until you say three little words that will make me so happy Caesar is Lord and then you can go right into your I want I won't even put you on trial anymore he says you can just run right into these bath houses I've had constructed on the shore of this frozen pond and I put hot water piped in from the mineral springs here and you will be able to just have you know warmth to your heart's content it's all you got to do and he figures these guys are gonna crack one by one.

Well all 40 of these Roman soldiers go out to the surface on the pond this is an ancient depiction of this and they're all out there on the surface of the pond 40 of them standing there standing there standing there for hours until just as the governor predicted one of them cracks and he screams Caesar is Lord and he runs into the bathhouse to get warm unfortunately hypothermia had already set in and so he ends up perishing but the governor cackles rubs his hand together and says so now there are 39 and at that something completely unexpected happens one of the soldiers who was assigned to guard the bathhouses suddenly strips off his armor and runs out onto the frozen pond and as he joins the other soldiers he yells back to the governor there are still 40 soldiers what a story and here's the thing listen listen listen you're going what a great legend that's not a legend I mean I researched it this week and all the historians say this is as historically verifiable as an ancient event can be there's three eyewitness accounts of this that survive and they all agree about what happened how do you do that how do you have the kind of guts to be the standing man when somebody's looking at you saying you deny Christ or you die?

Well look at this verse it says the endurance that is ours in Christ Jesus this verse is saying it's not about your own strength this means that Jesus was the original standing man in spite of torture and death and his followers when they need it receive the strength to be the standing man or the standing woman in their situation and I don't know what you're going through but you can be the standing man you can be the standing woman in your situation - but one of my favorite modern examples of this China in 1958 all the churches in China were closed and then in the 1960s the Cultural Revolution began and we forget this but one of the aims of the Cultural Revolution was to completely remove Western influence and that included imprisoning all pastors bulldozing churches burning Bibles expelling all foreign missionaries private worship gatherings outside of the official three-celled church became completely illegal in other words like in Rome centuries before the machinery of the government was designed to eradicate Christianity from China so how did they do?

Well if I told you that at the beginning of the Cultural Revolution there were 1 million Christians that's what the census showed 1 million and then at the end of the Cultural Revolution there were still a million Christians you'd go praise God that's a miracle that's the standing man if I told you there were 2 million you'd know it was something that God affected but at the end of the cultural and I'm not talking about some imaginary figures these are the most conservative figures available from governments at the end of the Cultural Revolution once things opened up and censuses could start to be taken again there were not 1 million Christians left not 2 million not 3 million not 4 million not 5 million not 10 not 20 not 30 not 40 there were 50 million Christians after a government campaign to eradicate Christianity because Jesus said I will build my church and the gates of hell will not prevail against it and he gives you the strength and he gave them the strength to be the standing men and the standing women in the face of all of this government opposition.

And I want you to look at a picture of Christians worshiping there now in a mega church these men and women are your brothers and sisters some of these people probably survived that very thing and their blood runs in you and wouldn't you know wouldn't you love to know I can I will I would be like that would you love to know that but I don't know about you but I don't feel like I'm there yet I mean it's hard for me to be the standing man through a 30-day diet let alone that kind of persecution right but I want to be that durable don't you want to have that kind of durability how do you get it well these next three themes are key number two eyes on Jesus eyes on Jesus feet firmly planted and then eyes on this is a theme you know why because every single one of these seven letters starts and ends with an awe-inspiring picture of Jesus Christ of who he really is in heaven and these amazing pictures are so important and let me just show you show you why look at the screen anybody remember these bumper stickers Jesus is my co-pilot anybody remember these don't raise your hand if you have one because I'm going to make fun of them but so I mean I think I know what people mean by reli but reli getting Jesus to a co-pilot I mean I personally I feel a little bit uncomfortable with that and kind of in the same vein there were these t-shirts maybe 20 years ago Jesus is my homeboy anybody ever wear one of these right some of you if you're honest think of Jesus is kind of a Santa Claus it's just up there to kind of be kind to you and give you stuff right what's the problem with these popular images of Jesus Christ besides the fact that they're not true the problem is that these images of Jesus Christ aren't enough to drown out the scary stuff none of these are gonna rock your world but the images of Jesus that come out in the book of Revelation they're world-shaking astounding they all start with a description of Christ each of the seven letters they end with a description of Christ descriptions of Christ are all through the book of Revelation they kind of culminate in this one in chapter 19 and as I read it I just want you to let this wash over you just picture the imagery here I saw heaven standing open and there before me was a white horse whose rider is called faithful and true with justice he judges and wages war can you imagine how much these people going through this persecution must have longed for that we won't lash out but God the God bring justice his eyes are like blazing fire and on his head are many crowns he has a name written on him that no one knows but he himself in other words he's under nobody's influence he is dressed in a robe dipped in blood and his name is the word of God the armies of heaven were following him riding on white horses and dressed in fine linen white and clean and coming out of his mouth as a sharp sword with which to strike down the nation's he will rule them with an iron scepter he treads the winepress of the fury of the wrath of God Almighty and on his robe and on his thigh he has this name written King of Kings and Lord of Lords that is not the Jesus we normally picture is it this is an astounding picture can I get an amen from this church?

I gotta tell you something we talk about following Jesus because of the benefits right and I do talk about it because there are tons of benefits from following Jesus absolutely but you know the main reason to make Jesus Lord he is Lord that's the main reason and nothing else deserves to be followed like that no one else deserves to be the God of your life and let me just say what this picture does for you and helps you to be the standing man or the standing woman there's actually a surviving Roman court document that is six Christian men called before a Roman court and they're accused of being Christians and they're gonna be executed here's how it happens Saturnius who is the Roman proconsul says swear now by the Lord our Emperor and the spokesman for these accused men says but we have committed no wrong we have committed no theft when we buy something we pay the tax and we do all this because we know that our Lord our Lord whom no one sees with these eyes is the King of Kings and the Emperor of all Emperor's these are real men this is not a story these are real people that said this Saturnius says have a delay of 30 days and rethink this and the spokesman for the men says no we are Christians and Saturnius says since you have obstinately persisted it is determined that you will be put to the sword and they all answer thanks be to God standing men.

But when they were called on the carpet and they stood firm did you notice they quoted revelation what did they say we serve the King of Kings and the Emperor of Emperor's and that is the description of Jesus that we have in the book of Revelation King of Kings and Lord of Lords let me just tell you about another pet peeve of a mom I'm kind of like this is love last chance I have to talk about seven churches so I'll just tell you a pet peeve about how people teach the book of Revelation you have a lot of people who love to teach this book and that's great because I've really developed a love for it too and they love to talk about it with flip charts and graphs and they love to point to current day events as proof of their interpretation of the the prophecies like there's unrest in the Mideast proof of my like there's never unrest in the Mideast but here's the thing unintentionally and I believe it's unintentional they have it so figured out that they make it sound like our hope is in their charts being true like our hope is in the pre-trib rapture or our hope is in their interpretation of the thousand year millennial reign our hope is in their eschatology and if you don't know any of those words don't worry about it but they make it sound like our hope is in how we've got it all figured out but the listen the point of Revelation is that my hope isn't in something it's in someone my hope isn't in something my hope isn't in your interpretation my hope isn't in my idea the future it is in someone who holds the future.

I have personally heard people talk about the whole book of Revelation and never once mentioned Jesus that's I'm not joking they get so obsessed with the beasts and all the horns and debates and so mired in the controversial issues in Revelation they missed the point of Revelation the point of the whole book is who Jesus in fact look at how John reacts when he sees this Jesus we've been describing here in chapter 1 look at this he says when I saw him I said hey homeboy slap it hi no that's not what he says you riding shotgun co-pilot no I fell at his feet as though dead but then this same amazing Jesus he says he put his right hand on me his hand on on John's shoulder and he puts his hand on your shoulder because he's alive and he says to John and to you don't be afraid don't be afraid I am and look at all the what times he says I am don't be afraid why because nothing bad is ever gonna happen because terrorists will never attack because they'll never be persecution no don't be afraid because I am all of these things to Christians overwhelmed by the amazing grandeur of the Roman imperial machine Jesus as I am the first and the last far greater than that and to you overwhelmed by Isis overwhelmed by security problems he says don't be afraid the point is courage is not about what I am it's about who he is your courage is never about who you are it's about who Jesus is.

People talk about facing your fears conquering fear is not about facing your fear that's what keeps me up at night conquering your fear is about turning and facing Jesus eyes on Jesus feet firmly planted that's number one number two eyes on Jesus you know we talk about in ball games they always say the secret secret is eye on the ball let me just tell you the secret to living the Christian life eyes on Jesus say that with me would you say that eyes on Jesus eyes on Jesus eyes on Jesus eyes on Jesus eyes on him eyes on him because the Bible says when we when we observe Jesus then in increasing measure we are going to be reflective of who he is of his character so eyes on Jesus and then third this is repeated a lot in these seven letters keep your ears wide open keep your ears wide open to his correction of guidance you know if God says something one time you better listen but look what he repeats three times or rather seven times whoever has ears let them hear what the Spirit says to the churches so here's my question to you what's God saying to you and don't say nothing because that's not true what's he saying I want you to look at see this green insert in your bulletin pull that out for just a second after saying what I said about charts here's my chart about the book of Revelation but it's a chart of the seven churches right well I want you to look at what it says under desired response what he says to all these churches there it's the second from the right what's he saying to you it's probably one of these things he says to these churches return to your first love don't be afraid don't quit stay faithful repent and you probably know what he's calling you to repent of if that strikes a chord or what about the last one you're lukewarm open the door of your heart have a relationship with me again if you have ears hear what the Spirit says to the churches.

Now he also repeats to many of these churches another phrase if you do not repent I will remove your lampstand that doesn't mean they're gonna lose their salvation remember the lampstand is the church shining its light to the community in context it means he's going to remove that church if it doesn't repent from its place of influence in the community and we've all seen that happen with churches sadly the point is there's warnings then there's consequences there's warnings and warnings and warnings then there's consequences and God is a good parent and this is what good parents do you know I've known some bad parents who just dole out consequences the kids act up act up act up there's never a warning and suddenly the parent wheels around and BAM and you you can just feel the hope just being sucked out of those homes. And if you were raised in a home like that, that is not God.

On the other hand, I've also been in homes where there's just warnings. You know, "Stop that, honey. Stop that. Stop that. Stop that. Stop that. Stop that. Stop that. Stop that. Stop that." If you don't stop that, I'm going to start saying, "Stop that. Stop that. Stop that." That's not healthy either. But God's a good parent. And so He gives patient warnings, including warnings about the consequences. And here's why this is so serious. I asked you, "What is God saying to you?" And some of you knew exactly what it was. And what God is also saying is, "I won't keep warning you forever. You got to do something with it before you hit a wall." And maybe you're thinking, "Wow, Rene, that's a weird play for you, you know, trying to scare us into some kind of a decision." I'm not trying to scare you. I'm just trying to tell you the truth. Warnings are never endless if you don't heed them.

You know, I love the Titanic. I'm sort of a Titanic fan. Did you know that it got warning after warning about the icebergs? At noon, it gets this warning from a ship a few hours ahead. Passing icebergs, large quantity of field ice, 5.30 p.m. the day it shipwrecked another ship. Three large bergs, five miles to the south of us. Minutes later, past two large icebergs, and it gave the location. 9.05 p.m., about an hour before the accident, another ship. We are stopped and surrounded by ice. And then this from another ship. Two Titanic, ice report, much heavy pack ice, and great number of large icebergs, also field ice. And the radio operator finally replied, "Shut up, shut up, I am busy." And they hit the berg and they sank. True story.

So has God been warning you, warning you, warning you, and you're like, "Shut up, I'm busy." Full steam ahead. You got to listen. And don't get me wrong, it's never anything legalistic. If you look at the chart, he always says things like, "Come back, hang on, wake up, open up, move closer." His advice is never legalistic. It's always about renewing your relationship with him. Letting him capture your imagination again. And that leads right into the final point. Keep your heart set on his plan. Heart set on the plan. God has a plan. Keep your heart set on it. He tells the churches about his plan at the end of each one of the seven letters.

Here's what I want to promise to you. And then his plan culminates at the end of Revelation with this. In Revelation 21. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, "Look. God's dwelling place is now among the people. And he will dwell with them. They will be his people. God himself will be with them as their God. He will wipe away every tear from their eyes. And there will be no more death, no more mourning, no more crying, no more pain. For the old order of things has passed away. He who was seated on the throne said, 'Behold, I am making everything new.'" These are probably my favorite verses in the whole Bible. No more death, no more mourning, no more crying.

You know what I... To me, that means no more Alzheimer's, no more cancer, no more brokenness, no more despair, no more temptation sucking joy out of people. This means this day will come. And when this day comes, it will make every fear you've ever had, every bad time you've ever had, every temptation you've ever had, pale in comparison. Do you long for this day? Do you hunger for this day? This is what kept those people going. And this is what still keeps people going.

I'll close with this. This week I had a surprise visitor. Jonathan Fently, our missionary to France, and French-speaking West Africa, brought with him a man named Kao. Kao oversees 500 churches in the Ivory Coast. And I asked him, "Are you guys going through persecution right now?" And he told me about something that just happened and then sent me some pictures. Listen to him talk about it. Yeah, we have a church in Fekke area in a village called Kisan-Kar. In that village, Christians are facing great persecution now. The church has been burned. The pastor's house has been also burned by the sacred forest people. In northern Cote d'Ivoire, the sacred forest people is a kind of mystical society, and they don't want to have Christians in this area. So they try to stop the progression of the gospel in this area, and they try everything, and they couldn't do something against Christians. So they decided to burn the church and to burn the pastor's house.

We went to the government officials, the police, we talked to them, and we asked them to come and help the Christians. And nobody came because they are afraid. So for us as Christians, our security is not in those institutions. Our security is in God. The church has been burned. It is a house. The church is not a building. For us now, the Christians are meeting under mango trees in that village. That's the church for us. The building is burned and destroyed. Okay, we are here. We are the church. But now we can see many people asking themselves and asking Christians what's happening with you? Because they are asking the question, why sacred forest people are attacking you? So they are coming to us as Christians and asking questions about Jesus, about the church. So we hope that really it can be a good way for us to spread the gospel in this area. So that happens. And for us as Christians, it's a victory, it's a good testimony for us.

Amazing. Let me just close with this. Where does the strength to do all this come from? You want to be the standing man, the standing woman in something you're facing? Well, it doesn't come from trying harder to be stronger. It starts, it all starts with responding to this invitation, to have a relationship with Jesus. It's all through revelation and it's even at the very end. The spirit and the bride say, "Come." And let the one who hears say, "Come." Let the one who is thirsty, "Come." And let the one who wishes, look at that phrase, let the one who wishes take the free gift of the water of life. All you need to do is walk into the free gift, a vital, vibrant relationship with Christ. And in an amazing way, he begins to build in you feet that stand firmly, eyes that are fixed on Jesus, ears that are increasingly open to what he teaches, and a heart that is set on his plan because it's captured by his plan.

And if that sounds good to you, I just want to give you a chance to respond to him. Would you bow in prayer with me and close your eyes? I'm going to ask Josh to come back and sing a response song that he wrote that ties in beautifully to this. But as we pray, if this is your heart, you can pray with me, "Lord Jesus, you reign over all. Now reign and rule in my heart. You are the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords. Let me make nothing else God in my life. Help me to keep my eyes on you." And God, some of us have heard you speaking to us saying, "Don't quit," or saying, "Come back," or saying, "Repent of that." So we do. Lord, give us the strength to do that and give ourselves to you as our king. In Jesus' name we pray, amen.