The Church's Victory Comes through Suffering

We're going to spend a few minutes in prayer, and so will you join me as we pray together?

We're going to pray for ourselves and for our city.

Let's come before our Father.

Heavenly Father, loving Lord, sovereign God, merciful Christ, we come before you this morning,

God, because we are so in need of you.

Lord, we sang that song earlier, but how long, God?

And there's a part of our hearts that longs for that day, Christ, when sin and evil will be removed from our world.

We will be fully reconciled with you, God.

God, our hearts cry out, come soon, Lord Jesus.

Lord, this world is not a home, and we long for our home to be with you, Christ, again.

God, but thank you that while you've called us for the season, for this to be a home,

for while we live in this world, God, you're so gracious.

You're so merciful.

God, thank you that while we go through trials and struggles, you, God, do not abandon us.

You're with us in the midst of it.

You're such a faithful God.

God, when we consider your many attributes, your holiness and your sovereignty,

but also your mercy and your tenderness, your righteousness, Lord, but also your grace, God,

your faithfulness to us, God.

We are brought to our knees, and we cannot help but worship your great and glorious name.

God, we come to lift our sights off of our circumstances around us and to worship you

and to declare that you are God and there is no other.

And so we've come to do that this morning.

God, we worship you not only for who you are, but also for what you've done in the gospel.

Thank you, Christ, that we are saved by the blood of Jesus, not by silver or gold.

We're not saved by our own efforts, but simply through grace alone, God.

We revel in your death on the cross, and we take great confidence in it.

Thank you, Jesus, so much for your grace.

Thank you, Jesus, for going to the cross for us.

We so love you, Lord.

Christ, this morning we want to pray for the preaching of your word as we come to Revelation 11.

We pray, God, that you'll speak to us, God.

We pray your word will come alive, God.

As a church, we don't need to hear my opinions.

We need to hear you speaking to us from your word.

And so, God, as we come to your word, I pray it'll open up in our hearts,

and you'll speak truth and confidence, God.

You'll reassure us of the gospel, but also of your sovereignty.

God, I pray let your word speak to us this morning, God.

Comfort us and challenge us with your word.

Father, this morning we want to pray for Amelia again.

And just hearing from her is so wonderful.

Lord, we bring her work to the Hakka community in Taiwan before you.

And, Father, this morning we want to ask that you will continue to pour out your amazing grace on her.

God, won't you strengthen her and encourage her, Father God,

when at times it is lonely, at times she may feel isolated.

I pray your spirit will draw near to her and she will know your presence and your love, God.

I pray, God, for increased friends and friendships, God, and deeper friendships.

I pray for real sisters there that she can pour her heart to and share her life with, God.

And, Father, as she goes into this internship in this local church in Taichung,

God, we pray that you'll bless her work.

I pray she'll feel your smile upon her, God.

We pray for Amelia and we ask for your blessing to rest upon her.

God, we pray for Joanne in Japan who's just gone back this week.

We pray that you strengthen her and her work in Japan amongst the Japanese people.

God, thank you for these faithful women of God that have answered your call to the mission field.

And we pray that you strengthen them, Lord.

Father, finally, we want to pray for our city.

We want to pray for particularly the march that's planned for this afternoon.

We thank you, God, for a relatively peaceful weekend.

And, Father, we pray for peace to reign this afternoon, God.

God, we pray that there won't be violence.

Pray that people will stay safe.

Pray there won't be bloodshed, God.

We pray for peace this afternoon, God, in our city, Lord.

Father, we pray for healing and wholeness to come to our city, God.

We pray that we will hear your voice and see what you are doing and what you want to say to us.

Thank you, God, that how Hebrews says you are shaking the kingdoms of this world

to show that your kingdom is unshakable.

But, God, we do pray for our city.

We pray for the police.

We pray for our political leaders.

We pray for protesters.

And we pray for peace to be restored to our city, God.

We pray these things in your wonderful and your powerful name.

Amen.

Amen.

Great.

We're going to listen to Revelation chapter 11 being read to us by Betty and Jonas.

Revelation 11 · chapter mention

So, come on up.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

The scripture reading comes from Revelation chapter 10 to 11.

Revelation 10 · chapter mention

Please follow along in your bulletin or on the screen.

Then the voice that I heard from heaven spoke to me again, saying,

Go, take the scroll that is open in the hand of the angel who is standing on the sea and on the land.

So I went to the angel, and I told him to give me the little scroll.

And he said to me, Take and eat it. It will make your stomach bitter.

But in your mouth it will be sweet as honey.

And I took the little scroll from the hand of the angel, and I ate it.

It was sweet as honey in my mouth.

But when I had eaten it, my stomach was made better.

And I was told, You must again prophesy about many peoples and nations and languages and kings.

Then I was given a measuring rod like a staff.

And I was told, Rise and measure the temple of God and the altar and those who worship there.

But do not measure the court outside the temple.

Leave that out.

For it is given over to the nations.

And they will trample the holy city for 42 months.

And I will grant authority to my two witnesses.

And they will prophesy for 1,260 days cloth and sackcloth.

These are the two olive trees and the two lampstands that stand before the Lord of the earth.

And if anyone would harm them, fire pours from their mouth and consumes their foes.

If anyone would harm them, this is how he is doomed to be killed.

They have the power to shut the sky, that no rain may fall during the days of their prophesying.

And they have power over the waters to turn them into blood and to strike the earth with every kind of plague as often as they desire.

And when they have finished their testimony, the beast that rises from the bottomless pit will make war on them and conquer them and kill them.

And their dead bodies will lie in the street of the great city that symbolically is called Sodom in Egypt, where their Lord was crucified.

For three and a half days, some from the peoples and tribes and languages and nations will gaze at their dead bodies and refuse to let them be placed in a tomb.

And those who dwell on the earth will rejoice over them and make merry and exchange presents.

Because these two prophets had been a torment to those who dwell on the earth.

But after the three and a half days, a breath of life from God entered them, and they stood up on their feet, and great fear fell on those who saw them.

Then they heard a loud voice from heaven saying to them, Come up here.

And they went up to heaven in a cloud, and their enemies watched them.

And at that hour there was a great earthquake, and a tenth of the city fell.

Seven thousand people were killed in the earthquake, and the rest were terrified and gave glory to God of heaven.

The second woe has passed.

Behold, the third woe is soon to come.

Then the seventh angel blew his trumpet, and there were loud voices in heaven saying,

The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of his Christ, and he shall reign forever and ever.

And the twenty-four elders who sat on their thrones before God fell on their faces and worshipped God, saying,

We give thanks to you, Lord God Almighty, who is and who was, for you have taken your great power and begun to reign.

The nations raged, but your wrath came, and the time for the dead to be judged, and for rewarding your servants.

The prophets and saints and those who fear your name, both small and great, and for destroying the destroyers of the earth.

Then God's temple in heaven was opened, and the ark of his covenant was seen within his temple.

There were flashes of lightning, rumblings, peals of thunder, an earthquake, and heavy hail.

This is the word of God.

Amen.

Okay.

Great.

Thank you so much, Betty and Jonas.

If you are new to Watermark, we are working our way through the book of Revelation, and we are about halfway through.

We are in chapter 11 today of 21, 22 chapters.

And you'll see, if you've got your Bible in front of you, the next chapter is called The Woman and the Dragon, which sounds very ominous.

We'll look at that in two weeks' time.

Next Sunday, we have a visiting preacher, Ryuta, from Japan, from Tokyo.

We'll be preaching, and we're looking forward to that.

But we are working our way through Revelation, and the last two weeks have been quite challenging.

I have found it quite hard work as we've gone through chapters 6 to 10.

And last week, we ended off at the end of chapter 10.

And the way it ends off, Betty read it to us this morning, is that John, in his vision, in his revelation, God says to him,

Go to the angel that you saw, and ask the angel for the scroll that's in his hand.

And so John goes, and the angel gives him the scroll.

The scroll contains God's words.

And the angel says, I want you to eat the scroll.

And as you eat it, it's going to be sweet at first, but then it's going to become bitter.

And so John goes, and exactly as the angel says, this is what happens.

He, in his vision, eats the scroll.

And it's sweet at first, and it soon becomes bitter in his mouth.

And the angel tells him, this is because though God's gospel is sweet, as you speak out his words, you're going to get a bitter reaction.

And this is a reference to the Old Testament book of Ezekiel, chapter 3, where the same thing happens.

Ezekiel 3 · chapter mention

Ezekiel has a vision to eat the scroll.

And in his vision, God tells him, Ezekiel, you are to speak my words out.

And some people will receive the message that you are bringing, and the reaction will be sweet.

But some people will reject it, and the reaction will be bitter.

But don't mind about people's reaction.

That's not your responsibility.

Your job is to speak God's word out, whether they receive it or not.

And so the point that God gives to Ezekiel, and that God gives to John, and to the seven churches of Revelation,

and the point that he gives to us, is that even though at times there's a bitter reaction to the proclaiming of the gospel,

our job is to witness and evangelize, and we must do it nevertheless.

Okay, so that's how chapter 10 ended.

Now chapter 11, which we're going to look at today, picks up on this idea.

And in it, Jesus is going to show John that despite opposition to the message of the gospel,

Jesus is showing John how it is that the gospel is going to go forward in the earth,

how it is that God's kingdom is going to come to the world,

and how it is that God accomplishes his purposes in the earth.

Okay, so that's where we're going today in chapter 11.

And so let's look at how it starts off.

And the first thing is, God says this,

His kingdom comes in the midst of great suffering and opposition to his kingdom.

Look at verse 1 to 3 with me.

It says this,

Then I was given a measuring rod, like a staff,

and I was told, rise and measure the temple of God and those who worship there.

But do not measure the outside, the court outside the temple.

Leave that out, for that is given over to the nations.

They will trample the holy city for 42 months.

Okay?

Now, there is so much in chapter 11 which is referencing two books in the Old Testament,

the book of Ezekiel and the book of Zechariah.

It's going to keep on coming up.

In the book of Ezekiel, Ezekiel also has this vision.

And in his vision, he has a temple, and he sees a man measuring out this temple.

And what happened is that just before Ezekiel's day,

the Babylonians come, 605 BC, they overthrow Jerusalem, and they destroy the temple.

And Ezekiel has this vision of this new, grand, and glorious temple.

This majestic temple in which God's presence is filled, and it fills the whole earth.

Except Ezekiel's temple was never, ever built.

It was never accomplished.

And the reason is because Ezekiel's vision was a prophetic picture that God was saying

of this is one day what the church is going to look like.

This is the temple that my Christ is going to build.

Not a temple made with bricks and concrete and stones.

It's a temple made with people.

The church is the new temple.

But just outside the temple, there is this court.

And John describes this outer court.

And in it, he says there is chaos.

The nations, that's those that oppose Christ, they are trampling this temple.

They are destroying it.

They're trying to overthrow it.

There's absolute chaos happening outside as they try and destroy the church, God's people.

And John says that this is allowed to happen for 42 months.

Now, what on earth is 42 months?

42 months makes up three and a half years.

Now, remember in the book of Revelation, there's this number that keeps on appearing.

The number?

Seven, right?

And the number seven in the book of, or in the Bible, but especially in the book of Revelation,

is the number of completeness, of fullness.

In other words, when something happens seven times, God is telling us that this action is completed.

Three and a half years is half of seven, which means that it's a limited period of time.

God is saying for a shortened period of time, not for the whole of history, for a limited period of time,

that I'm allowing, I will allow the nations, those that oppose me and my kingdom,

to trample on my kingdom and to oppose my church and my purposes and the gospel going out in the nations.

For a period of time, those that oppose me will be allowed to inflict difficulty on the kingdom of God on earth.

And so, that's what God's saying.

Now, the key question for those of us that are believers, and if you're here this morning and you're not yet a Christian,

we're so glad you're here.

You're so welcome.

It's great to have you with us.

But the question this passage asks for those of us that are Christians is this.

When opposition and persecution comes our way, when following Jesus costs you dearly and you're reviled or rejected for it,

what should you do?

How should we respond?

You see, for the Christians in the first century, being a follower of Jesus meant, at the very least,

that they would be ostracized and kicked out from community.

You'd go to the marketplace and you wouldn't worship the emperor, and so you'd be cut off from business deals.

You'd be on the outskirts of society.

You wouldn't be in the in crowd.

As people are making business deals and arrangements and inviting people to social gatherings,

you would kind of be at the bottom of the list, at the very least.

But at worst case scenario, being a Christian in the first century meant being thrown to the lions

or maybe being left to rot in some jail cell at the bottom of some building.

And so how should these Christians in first century Roman Empire respond?

Friends, how should you and I respond?

Well, look at verse 3 with me.

Look at what happens here.

God says that during this time, for 1,260 days, which is the equivalent to 42 months,

which is the equivalent to three and a half years,

for this same time period, this limited period that God is allowing this to happen,

rather than retreating into self-preservation,

rather than thinking how to avoid suffering,

Jesus sends his witnesses out to bear witness to the fact that Jesus is Lord.

Look at what verse 3 says.

I will grant authority to my two witnesses, says Christ,

and they will prophesy, that means they will speak my word,

for 1,260 days clothed in sackcloth.

And so the first thing is, how does God accomplish his purposes?

How does the gospel go forward in the world?

It goes forward in the midst of suffering and opposition and persecution.

But that leads us to the second thing, which is this.

God's kingdom comes through Christian witness.

You see, these two witnesses, why are they clothed in sackcloth?

The answer is not because they're poor and they couldn't afford any other clothes.

The reason is because in the Old Testament, when someone wore sackcloth,

it was a symbol of calling people to repentance.

It was a way of saying, Christ is Lord, and come back from rejecting him.

And so while the church is being opposed because of their faithfulness to Jesus,

God, at that very same time, he says,

this is the time for his witnesses to speak out and to let the world know that Caesar is not Lord,

Rome is not Lord, the systems of this world are not Lord, Christ is Lord.

Jesus is Lord.

Let the hope and the peace and the freedom that people are looking for and longing for

is not found in the systems of this world.

It's found in the person of Jesus.

That was their message.

And friends, that's still the message of the church today.

See, again, if you're new to church here this morning,

you may be surprised to hear that the message of the church is not primarily

how to make your life more comfortable or convenient or better.

That's not why Jesus came to earth.

Now, following Jesus will sometimes make your life better.

Sometimes it'll make it more inconvenient.

But that's not the primary message of the gospel.

The message of the church is not simply how to be a good citizen in society,

although Christians should be good citizens in society.

We should pursue peace and well-being.

Friends, if you're new to church, you may be surprised to hear

the goal of the church is not to make people feel better about themselves

or improve themselves.

Though if you believe the gospel, it does help you in the way that you think about yourself.

Though, friends, the message of the church and the message of the gospel

is that all people, Asians, Westerners, black, white, rich, poor,

all people everywhere are under the consequences of our sin

and that salvation and peace are found in no other source,

no other solution other than coming to Christ and surrendering our lives to Him.

This is the message of the church.

And this is the message that the witnesses in verse 3 are given.

Now, here's the question.

Who are these two witnesses in Revelation chapter 11?

Revelation 11 · chapter mention

Well, on the one hand, they are a picture John has at the back of his mind.

He has these two great witnesses in the Old Testament

that spoke up for the glory of God and the cause of Christ.

He's thinking of Moses and he's thinking of Elijah.

Remember, both Elijah and Moses stood firm in their testimony that God is God

rather than the powers of their day, even in the face of great opposition.

Remember, Moses stood up to Pharaoh, that pagan king of Egypt,

and he demonstrated God's power through various plagues.

Elijah stood up to Ahab, that wicked king of Israel,

and he demonstrated God's power through amazing prayer.

But at the same time, both Elijah and Moses face incredible opposition and persecution for their stand.

Both of them at one point decide to run away and save themselves

because the opposition is so fierce that they are convinced

they're going to be killed by those that they are witnessing to.

And yet both of them find that in the face of opposition,

God is with them and empowering them for the task that he's called them to.

And in this way, they are models for what all Christians should be.

But then on the other hand, John here is writing,

and he's thinking not just of these two,

he's actually picturing all Christians everywhere throughout the ages.

You see, we may think these two witnesses refer to Tim Keller and Billy Graham, right?

The two great heroes of our age.

Or John Piper, Ravi Zacharias.

They're going to come and save the church.

Or maybe we think they refer to the two missionaries,

Joanne and Amelia.

They're going to go out and take the gospel to Asia.

Or maybe you think they refer to the pastors and the preachers.

But look at verse 4.

Look at what he says here.

He calls them to lampstands.

Now in the book of Revelation, what do lampstands always refer to?

They refer to churches.

That's right.

They're like the church in Smyrna, or the church in Ephesus,

or the church in Laodicea, or Philadelphia,

or that church in Ebenezer.

You see, the lampstands, which are the witnesses,

are local congregations of God's people gathered that declare the wonder of God.

In other words, friends,

the kingdom of God advances or goes forward through the witnesses,

not of celebrity preachers and pastors,

but through everyday witness of ordinary Christians like you and I in our places of work,

in our schools, in our universities, in our neighborhoods,

as we seek to follow Jesus and advance His cause.

J.D. Greer, who leads the church in the U.S.,

he asks a challenging question.

He says this,

what if we made our primary consideration when pursuing a career,

where we can most effectively be used in the mission of God?

Lots of factors go into where we choose to pursue our career,

where the money's good,

where our families live,

where we want to live.

These are all valid.

They're not bad things.

But why wouldn't the advance of God's kingdom be the largest factor?

You see what he's saying?

The gospel goes forward,

not just through celebrity leaders and pastors and mega Christians,

it's actually through the faithful witness of ordinary Christians

in their ordinary places in the cities in which God calls them.

But then we see a twist.

We see a surprising twist.

And that's not that not only the kingdom of God comes out through our witness,

not only does the kingdom of God go in the midst of suffering and opposition,

but actually the kingdom of God advances,

God establishes his kingdom,

and the gospel goes forward,

not just despite our suffering,

but because of our suffering.

In other words,

the gospel advances not just in spite of opposition,

but through opposition that the church encounters.

Look at verse 7 with me.

Look at what he says here.

When they,

that's these two witnesses,

when the churches,

God's people,

had finished their testimony,

the beast that rises from the bottomless pit,

okay,

that means satanic forces.

We're going to talk about that in the next few weeks.

The beast will make war on them,

and will conquer them,

and will kill them.

And their dead bodies will lie in the streets of that great city.

For three and a half days,

that's that limited time period again,

some of the peoples and the tribes and the languages and the nations

will gaze at their dead bodies

and refuse to let them be placed in a tomb.

And those who dwell on the earth will rejoice over them.

They will clink glasses and say cheers and raise a toast to one another,

exchange presents,

because these two prophets had been a torment to those who dwell on the earth.

I don't know if you remember,

in Luke's gospel,

Jesus is betrayed by Judas.

He's arrested in the garden of Gethsemane,

and he's put on trial,

this mock trial throughout the night.

And in the morning,

the religious leaders want Jesus to be crucified,

but they don't have the authority to put anyone to death in the Roman Empire.

And so they take Jesus to Pilate,

and they say,

Pilate,

this man is causing an uproar,

we better get rid of him before he causes you any more problems.

And so Pilate questions Jesus,

and Pilate knows that Jesus is innocent.

But he doesn't want to let Jesus go,

because that's going to ruin his political career.

And so Pilate's kind of like,

not sure what to do.

Pilate hears that Herod is in town.

And so he sends Jesus to Herod,

and says,

Herod,

here's this man,

I don't know what to do,

what do you think we should do?

So Herod interviews him,

and Herod comes back and says,

no,

I think we should kill him.

And so Pilate says,

okay,

fine,

sentence him to death,

and Jesus is sent off to be crucified.

And at the end of Luke 23,

there's this amazing line,

and it says,

that day,

Herod and Pilate became friends,

because up until this point,

they were enemies.

See what's happened there?

Here are two people

that previously had nothing in common.

They actually didn't get on at all.

But they find some kind of commonality.

They find that they are unified.

What brings them together

is their mutual dislike

for their opposition,

and for Jesus,

who's causing an uproar.

That's exactly what John is saying

is happening here.

Here in the streets,

those that oppose the gospel

and the cause of Christ,

they persecute Christians,

and they're celebrating,

and they're exchanging presents,

and they're toasting,

and high-fiving one another.

Yeah,

we got rid of those

that have tormented us

and caused us such problems.

And the reason for this,

because the church,

those who hold that life and salvation

are found in nothing

except Jesus and His sacrifice,

not Caesar,

not Rome,

not politics or wealth,

those that hold that Christ alone

is worthy of worship

are considered a threat.

They're viewed as some kind of plague

that must be exterminated

for the well-being of society.

And yet,

this is all part of God's sovereign plan

to bring His kingdom to earth,

to establish His kingdom

and His glory.

And we see this

because throughout the book of Revelation,

the word witness

and the word martyr

are almost used interchangeably.

Wherever there's a witness for Jesus,

they end up being martyred,

and whenever there's a martyr,

it's because they were witnesses for Jesus.

Tim Chester says it like this,

the church is persecuted,

Christians are martyred,

and at times the cause of Christ

seems defeated,

but the church survives

and comes back with renewed strength,

and the cause of Christ

continues in history.

Again and again,

throughout history,

regimes have risen,

and it's looked as if

they would wipe out the church,

but those regimes have gone,

and the church has come

through persecution strong.

It has been victorious

through suffering.

And so the point that John is making

is that the God-given,

God-protected calling

of the people of God

is to bear witness to Jesus,

but that does not mean

we'll be spared from suffering

or death,

but rather that the suffering itself,

just like the Jesus that we follow,

will be the ultimate prophetic sign

to the world

that God's kingdom has come,

that He's establishing His kingdom,

and ultimately,

the nations will glorify Him.

150 years after

the book of Revelation is written,

this early church father

called Tertullian

famously said this.

He said,

the blood of the martyrs

is the seedbed

for the gospel to go forward.

It's the blood of the martyrs

that's the seedbed

for the gospel to go forward.

In other words,

he's saying it's as Christians

suffer opposition

that the gospel flourishes,

doesn't retreat.

I shared the story

a few weeks ago prematurely,

so I'll share it again properly.

1555,

okay,

so almost 500 years ago,

in the city of Oxford

in London,

these two bishops

are being arrested

and killed,

Hugh Latimer

and Nicholas Ridley.

And the reason is

because they are telling

the Queen of England,

Queen Mary,

that she needs to repent

and come to faith in Jesus.

And she doesn't like

being told that.

So she has them arrested

and thrown in jail

and eventually she decides

that they're going to be

burnt at the stake.

And so,

one October day

in Oxford,

these two bishops

are taken to Town Square

and they are tied

to the stake

and there is hay

put around their feet.

There's a bag of gunpowder

put around their necks

and hanging there

so that as the flames

come up,

it's going to catch

the gunpowder

and explode in their faces.

And while this is happening,

the younger of these two

called Nicholas Ridley

is a little bit nervous.

You can see

he's a bit fearful.

And so Hugh Latimer,

who's this older,

wiser saint,

he turns to Nicholas Ridley

and he says this,

Be of good cheer,

Master Ridley,

for we shall this day

light such a candle

in England

as I pray by God's grace

will never be put out.

You see what he's saying there?

He's saying,

they think that they've got us

because they're killing us

but they don't know

that we've got them.

They don't know

that actually by killing us

they think they're going

to quieten the gospel.

This is going to propagate

the gospel.

They think they're going

to quieten the church.

This is going to send

the message of the gospel

out even further.

Be of good cheer,

Master Ridley.

This day we shall light

a candle by God's grace

that shall never be put out.

And so this week

I heard the story

on Friday night

of the Korean revival.

I'm sure some of you

will know this.

May you know it better than me.

1865,

this young Welsh man,

Robert Thomas,

is that right?

He's a missionary to China

but he's got a heart

for Korea.

He goes down to Korea

and he walks amongst

North Korea,

Pongyang,

for two months

learning everything he can.

He then goes back to China

but he's desperate

to go to Korea.

And so he joins

this French naval trading ship

that's going to go to Korea.

But halfway along the trip

the French vessel

decides not to go to Korea

to go to Vietnam.

So he abandons that ship

and joins another

American trading ship

that's on its way to Korea.

But this trading ship

is causing a few problems

as it gets to Korea.

This Robert Thomas

decides to join

as he wants to get to Korea

to be a missionary

but he goes as a translator

on the ship.

And as the ship

comes towards Pongyang

it's sailing up the river

there's a whole lot

of opposition

and they are eventually

attacked.

But Robert Thomas

takes his Bibles

and he throws them

onto the banks

of the river

to try and at least

get these Bibles

out there.

But before he can even

get onto the banks

there's this fight

and this war

and they are all killed

on the ship.

And so Robert Thomas

never goes back to Korea.

He went previously

the year before

for two months

but on this trip

he never even

sets foot

on the banks of Korea.

All he does

is he throws his Bibles

ashore.

But there's a general

that takes these Bibles

because he wants

to put wallpaper

on the house

where he lives.

And so he takes

these Bibles

and he tears the pages out

and he casts them

as wallpaper

on his house.

And the people

start to read

the words

in the Bible

and they start

to realize

that Jesus

is Christ.

And this revival

breaks out

and within 15 years

there are 100 churches

planted in Pongyang.

It's this Christian

center in North Korea.

But Robert Thomas

paid with his life.

Friends,

it's the blood

of the martyrs

that is the seed

bed for the gospel

to go forward.

And that brings us

to the fourth

and the final point

that is God's kingdom

comes with spiritual life.

Because the kingdom

of God

doesn't only come

despite suffering.

It doesn't only come

through suffering.

It comes when God

by his sovereign will

implants spiritual life

into his people

and into a society.

Look at verse 11

with me here.

It says this

in verse 11.

These witnesses,

God's people,

they've been fought against,

they've been killed

because of their testimony,

they've been left for dead

like trash on the street.

Those that have killed them

have celebrated

their great victory

because they killed them

and they've destroyed the church.

But then verse 11

says this,

after three and a half days,

that's that limited time period again,

a breath of life

from God

entered them

and they stood up

on their feet

and great fear

fell on all

those who saw them.

Though they are killed

for their witness,

they do not stay dead

but rather

their death

leads to life.

And the point

that Jesus is making here

is not simply that

you may suffer

but don't worry

it all ends

alright in the end.

The point

that Jesus is making

is though things

may be difficult,

it's okay,

there's a happy ending

at the end of the day.

The point

is that the life

of the Christian

follows the life

of Jesus

which is that

the road to glory,

the road to life

passes through

Mount Calvary.

You see that?

Remember Jesus

went through Calvary

to get to

resurrection life.

Friends,

the pattern

of the Christian

is the pattern

of Jesus

that it's death

that leads to life.

You see a Christian

is not just someone

who believes

that Jesus is God

that's good

you do need to believe that

but even the devil

knows that Jesus

is God

and the devil

is not a Christian

in case you

thought he might be.

No, a Christian

is someone

who follows Jesus

who has come

to trust in him

and obey him

and love him

and follow him

and imitate him

and that means

the pattern

of Jesus' life

is the pattern

of our life as well.

Remember Jesus said

if anyone wants

to follow me

let him pick up

his cross daily.

Friends,

a Christian is someone

who is daily learning

what it means

to follow Jesus

by forfeiting

our own life

for the sake

of his glory

but the irony

is in that place

as we lay down

our lives

actually we find life

and that's the great

promise of the gospel

and we see it here

in Revelation

that ultimately

both spiritually speaking

and from the perspective

of heaven

in God's economy

it's through dying

that actually we find life.

It's through dying

that the church

comes alive.

It's through suffering

persecution

opposition

that the church flourishes.

Again,

Tim Chester says it like this

Jesus is showing his church

that God's people die

and yet live.

In fact,

life comes through death

because we are united

to Christ

our lives are shaped

by his death

and resurrection.

His death

and resurrection

are not just the means

of our salvation

they are also the pattern

of the Christian life.

Whenever you see people

receiving spiritual life

whenever you see a living

healthy

vibrant church

you can be sure

that behind the scenes

someone is dying

dying to self

or suffering

some kind of hardship.

And friends,

that's the great paradox

of the Christian life

that the more you try

and hold on to your life

and preserve your life

the more you try

and maintain your status

and your honor

and your comfort

and your name

the more you end up

losing it.

But paradoxically

the more you're willing

to give up those things

for the sake of Christ

actually you find

that you gain life

and you find

you gain Christ as well.

And that's true

for the individual

and it's true

for the church as well.

Be of good cheer

Master Ridley

we shall this day

light a candle

that I pray

by God's grace

will never

ever be put out.

And you see friends

this is because

this life

this vitality

that's given

to the churches

is not a result

of human ingenuity

or human leadership.

Look at what it says

in verse 11.

After this limited

time period

it says

a breath of life

from God

entered them.

Well I mentioned

this earlier

how chapter 11

is full of these

references to

Ezekiel and Zechariah.

The first century church

as they read

that line

they immediately

would have remembered

a very similar line.

You see in Ezekiel 36

Ezekiel has this vision

and in this vision

he sees this valley

full of dead

dry bones.

This valley that's just

full of these dry bones

there's no life in there.

And in this vision

God comes to him

and says

Ezekiel

can these bones live?

And Ezekiel says

I don't know God

you alone know.

Humanly speaking

no but with you

who knows right?

And so God says

Ezekiel

speak my words

to these dry bones.

And so Ezekiel does

he speaks God's word

and as he does

the bones start to rattle

flesh and muscle

and sinew start to form

and these bones

start to become

human bodies.

And then God says

Ezekiel

speak again.

And he speaks God's word

and it says

the breath of God

entered these bones

these bodies

and they stood up

on their feet

like a great army.

Well that's exactly

what Revelation said.

As the breath of life

came into them

they stood up

on their feet

like a great army.

Except

in the Hebrew Bible

the word for breath

pneuma

from where we get

the word

I've forgotten

where we get that word.

Pneumatic

what's that sickness

when you

pneumonia

there we go

thank you

doctor

all the doctors

in the back left

corner there

where we get

the word pneumonia

the word for breath

in Hebrew

pneuma

is the same

as the word

for God's spirit.

And so as the breath

of God

comes into these bones

God's spirit

comes into these bones

and they come alive.

In other words

what God is saying

is that revival

happens

by a sovereign

move

of his Holy Spirit.

it's not the work

of human ingenuity.

You can't

you can't grow church

or establish

God's kingdom

on earth

just by doing

things well

and putting on

a good show.

It's the spirit

of God

that breathes

into dead

souls

and gives them

life again.

But that's also

a reference

to Zechariah chapter 4

Zechariah 4 · chapter mention

because in Zechariah

Zechariah 4 · chapter mention

chapter 4

Zechariah has a vision

and in this vision

he sees two olive trees

that are like

two lampstands

and they are

guarding the temple.

And Zechariah

says God

how are they going

to do it?

How are they going

to guard your temple?

And God says

this is how

they are going

to do it.

Not by might

not by power

but by my spirit

says the Lord

by my breath

by my pneuma.

And so friends

the point that Jesus

is making

is that the church

is victorious.

The kingdom of God

will advance.

The gospel

will go out.

It doesn't merely

survive.

It doesn't merely

just make it through.

The kingdom of God

will survive

and will advance

and will thrive

because though

it once was dead

God breathes

his spirit

and life into it

because the church

is fundamentally

a spiritual organism.

It's not just

a group of people

that are trying

to do life together.

And that's why

the church

is so precious

because it's

his temple

and it's his presence

that's in here.

But it's also

why the church

will stand.

Friends

the future

of the church

doesn't depend

on me.

That's good news.

It doesn't depend

on you.

It depends

on Christ

who is the head

of his church

and he will stand.

Friends

the church

will stand

and will never

become overcome.

Individual Christians

will mess up

and make mistakes.

Churches will make mistakes.

Pastors and preachers

do dumb things.

We lose our way

for sure.

But the church

God's witness

on earth

will stand

throughout the ages

no matter what

the opposition

if

if we maintain

our witness.

If we speak

his word.

Friends

the great irony

of the church

is that the more

we try and save

ourselves from

persecution

the more we end

up dying away.

And yet the more

we embrace

opposition and

suffering for the

cause of Christ

the more the church

flourishes.

And so look

finally as we come

to a close

and what is the

consequence of this?

How does this all end?

Well look at verse 13

with me.

It says there are

these dramatic

events

at the end

of that hour

a bunch of people

some people

reject God

7,000 are killed

in this earthquake.

It's a small number

but then it says

the rest

were terrified

that means

they were humbled

and they gave glory

to the God of heaven.

See at the end

of chapter 9

there's all these

dramatic events.

Remember in chapter 9

there's earthquakes

and there's calamity

and there's disaster

and there's chaos

and there's all these

strange things

that are happening

and it says

but the people

did not repent.

They don't turn

from their idols.

But yeah

they do repent.

So what's the difference

between chapter 9

and chapter 11?

The difference is that

God's church

is a faithful witness.

Friends

how is revival

going to come to Hong Kong?

It's not just

through doom

and disaster

and calamity.

It's through the witness

of his people

through his church.

It's through faithful

followers of Jesus

witnessing to the point

of death

that will bring the nations

to repentance.

And so what does that mean?

It means three things for us.

Firstly

it means this

that Hong Kong

needs hundreds

and hundreds

of more churches

faithfully proclaiming

the gospel

of the kingdom of God.

Friends

it means we need

more leaders.

We need more elders

and pastors.

We need more worship leaders.

We need more CG leaders.

We need more university

ministry leaders.

We need kids ministry leaders.

We need men and women

that will take someone

under their wing

and read the Bible

with them

and disciple them.

Friends

our city is desperate

for hope

and the hope of the city

is in the witnesses

of God

God's church standing

and proclaiming

that Christ is Lord.

Secondly

it means this

it means that

if you're not a Christian

Jesus is calling you

to follow him today.

Friends

if you're here this morning

and you're not yet

a follower of Jesus

today is the day

that he's calling you

to come and follow him.

Friends

Jesus is not inviting you

to himself

so that he can simply

improve your life

or make your life

more comfortable

and convenient.

Jesus says that

if you follow him

it will be inconvenient.

He may even ask you

to die for your faith.

Jesus may even send you

as a missionary

to some foreign land

where it will cost you

your life.

Friends

following Jesus

will cost you daily

and dearly.

Jesus is not asking you

to add a little bit

of Jesus to your life

to your already busy life.

Jesus is calling you

to lay down your life

to follow him

to the cross

to make him

your first priority

in your life.

Jesus is calling you

today to pick up

your cross

and to follow him.

Friends

if you don't know him

today is the day

to change that.

Come to Jesus.

And then thirdly

it means this

it means if you are

a follower of Jesus

he's calling you

to be a faithful witness

in the city

at this time.

Friends chances are

that will mean

opposition and persecution.

Chances are

you'll be misunderstood.

Chances are

you'll be accused

of being bigoted

and hypocritical.

Chances are

it will cost you

dearly

if not financially

then probably

your reputation

certainly your pride

and your ego.

But he's also

promising you this

that in that place

while it feels

like you're dying

a thousand deaths

that death

will lead

to life.

He promises you

that though you die

you will be raised

he will give you life

both in this lifetime

and in the life

to come.

Friends Jesus

calling us to follow him

with everything we have.

Will we do it?

Let's come to him

in prayer now.

Let's do that together.

Lord Jesus

we come before you

and we thank you God

that you are such a

magnificent

and faithful God.

Christ

in our day and age

we don't like

the idea

or

let me put it this way

Father

in our day and age

we feel entitled

to a comfortable

and a convenient life.

And God

when things don't

go our way

we

so easily

feel sorry

for ourselves

we feel victims

of some

agenda

against us.

God

you cut against

the grain

and you promise us

that in this life

we will have trouble

that following Jesus

following you God

means that we are

inviting difficulty

into our lives.

But God

you promise that

that death

will lead to life.

Father

pray for those of us

God

that maybe feel

spiritually stagnant

we feel

spiritually dry.

Father

won't you

in your grace

and your mercy

won't you bring us

to the end of ourselves

that we may find

true life again.

God

God

I pray

Father

where we've

tried to hold

on to our lives

and

I pray

God

that you will

intervene

and intercede

that God

you will

cause us

to die

to ourselves

that we may

find true

life in you

Lord.

And God

I pray

for Watermark

and I pray

for every church

in Hong Kong

I pray

for the English

churches

and the Chinese

churches

I pray

God

that we

will be

faithful

witnesses

to our city

I pray

God

that the

kingdom

of God

will come

to Hong Kong

I pray

that the

gospel

will advance

God

I pray

Lord

that

your

kingdom

will come

God

because

your

church

does not

shrink

back

in the

face

of

opposition

but

that

will

stand

Lord

make

us

a

faithful

witness

we

pray

we

pray

these

things

in your

wonderful

and your

powerful

name

Amen