The Church Prophetic

Well, if you'd open up your Bibles to Revelation chapter 10, as you're turning there, I just

Revelation 10 · chapter mention

want to let you know we've got a special guest with us this morning.

Isaiah the prophet has come and joined us from heaven for a little bit.

So Isaiah, welcome, welcome.

Thank you, Mike.

Isaiah, I've got two questions for you.

The first one is this.

If you could sum up your prophetic ministry in one word, what would it be?

Well, Mike, I don't need to think about it that much.

It's the word bittersweet.

And here's why.

The sweetness of being a prophet is being given God's word, hope-giving word.

You know it's true.

You know it's God speaking.

It is so sweet.

And there is sweetness when you proclaim God's saving message to people under his judgment

and you see people respond and get saved.

That is sweet.

But here's the bitterness.

It's when you proclaim this message of salvation to people who don't have ears to hear.

And they reject the message.

It's heartbreaking.

It's so bitter.

But that's only half of it.

Because when you proclaim God's saving message to people under his judgment and they reject it,

they're going to reject you.

And sometimes they will hurt you.

This prophetic ministry is bittersweet, Mike.

Did you have another question?

Oh, in fact, I do.

Isaiah.

Isaiah, if you could say one thing to Christ the King Church, what would you say?

Christ the King Church.

For you to be a faithful church, you must be a prophetic church.

Take the scroll.

Eat the scroll.

Preach the scroll.

Thank you, Isaiah.

Here we are in Revelation chapter 10.

Revelation 10 · chapter mention

Let me try to orient you as to where we as a church in 2019 are on Revelation's time frame.

Okay?

Here we are.

Here we are.

We are somewhere in between the hoof beats of seal six.

And we are the seal judgments.

And we are between the seal judgments and the final trumpet of the trumpet judgments.

Of Revelation 11, 15.

We're somewhere in there.

God's turning up the heat.

We're somewhere before the coming of Jesus.

And when Jesus comes, the kingdom of the world becomes the kingdom of our Lord and of his Christ.

So here's the question that I want to ask and answer this morning.

What are we to be doing as a church in between?

What are we to be doing?

And what we're going to see this morning, the answer from God in his word is,

Christ the King Church, you must be prophetic.

You must be prophetically present in the city of Kenosha.

As God turns up the heat of judgment.

Just like the prophets of old.

Isaiah, Jeremiah, and Ezekiel.

These men who were given God's very words to proclaim to people under his judgment so that they would be saved.

Christ the King Church.

You must be prophetic.

I want to be up front with you this morning.

To be prophetic is to experience bittersweet.

We'll see that in a little bit.

Let me give you your bearings again on terms of Revelation 10.

Revelation 10 and the first half of Revelation 11,

it's kind of a break in the action in the trumpet cycles of judgment.

So there's seven trumpets.

And in between the sixth trumpet and the seventh trumpet,

we have this, what scholars call an interlude.

It's chapter 10 and the first half of chapter 11.

And this isn't the first time we've experienced this.

Because back in the seal judgments,

between the sixth seal and the seventh seal,

there was another interlude in which God addresses the church.

And so both these interludes between the sixth and seventh judgments, seals and trumpets,

God is addressing the church.

What are we supposed to be doing in the midst of God turning up the heat of judgment?

Well, what's interesting about chapter 10 in the first half of 11 in chapter Revelation

is that we're given these very interesting pictures of John being recommissioned as a prophet.

And then in chapter 11, 1 through 13, we're going to see a story of two witnesses that get thumped.

So here's what these messages are to us as God turns up the heat of judgment.

The first one, chapter 10, which we're going to look at today is,

the faithful church is a prophetic church.

And then the second, which we'll see next week,

is that the faithful church is a suffering church.

And here's why.

Prophetic ministry and suffering, more often than not, goes hand in hand.

Maybe we'll bring in Jeremiah next week to ask him about it.

Chapter 10 answers the question of what the church must be doing

while God is turning up the heat of the judgments.

And what we're going to see in chapter 10 is this picture, vision unfolding

with the initial focus on an angel with a scroll,

and he is called a mighty angel for a reason.

And then the vision unfolds from this mighty angel with a scroll

to John, the writer of Revelation, being given that scroll to eat.

So there are two scenes of this vision,

and they're designed to help us as a church to be faithful to Jesus today.

A faithful church is a prophetic church.

So let's walk through these scenes,

and I'm going to bring these things to bear as we go through.

So scene one, this angel with the scroll.

And there's several things I want you to notice about this angel.

Then all of a sudden there's this twist,

and then we have this angelic announcement

that we see at the end of this section.

So first, some descriptions of this mighty angel.

Well, take a look at this,

because this mighty angel coming down from heaven,

he's wrapped in a cloud.

He's got a rainbow over his head.

And he's got a rainbow over his head.

His face is like the sun.

And his legs are like pillars of fire.

And when you look at your Bibles,

you realize those are all descriptions of God at some point.

This is a God-like angel.

So much so,

some scholars think that this is actually Jesus.

But I find myself not persuaded because John is very clear that this is another angel.

This mighty angel does have kind of God-like aura about him.

But it's because he's coming from the very presence of God.

He's radiating God's glory from being in the presence of God's glory.

This is an impressive angel.

The second thing I want you to notice is the movement.

Then I saw another mighty angel coming down from heaven.

He's coming from heaven.

From the very throne room of God.

From God's very presence.

Now this is in stark contrast to last week about all those demonic locust plague coming from the hell hole.

This angel, mighty angel, is coming down from heaven.

And implied in that is that he's been sent.

He's coming down to earth with a purpose.

From God.

The third thing I want you to notice is his stance.

Now I spent a lot of time as a former athlete being trained by coaches

that when I am out in the field I need to have an athletic stance.

Feet shoulder width apart.

Slight bend in my legs.

Do I have an amen from any further athletes?

Amen.

Head on a swivel.

You got it.

This angel does not have an athletic stance.

He's got an authoritative stance.

Did you notice that?

He's got one foot on the sea.

End of verse 2.

And his other foot is on the land.

This angel is straddling sea and land.

He's got all authority over sea and land.

And not to mention, he's bigger than any Paul Bunyan statue you've ever seen.

He's massive.

Colossal.

This angel has come down on a mission and he is massive and brilliant.

The scene is meant to impress you.

The fourth thing I want you to notice is back in verse 1.

It's this is another mighty angel.

And whenever you read something like that, you're like, wait, wait.

There was one before?

And the answer to that is yes.

If you flip back to chapter 5, verse 1.

We're back in the throne room.

Then I saw on the right hand of him who was seated on the throne a scroll written and on the back, within and on the back, sealed with seven seals.

You remember that scroll?

Verse 2.

And I saw a mighty angel.

That's the reference.

And what was he doing?

He said, you know, proclaiming with a loud voice, who is worthy to open the scroll and break its seals?

Remember what John did?

John freaked out.

He started crying after that.

Good things happened.

Here we have a reference to another angel.

Another mighty angel.

The angel that we see in Revelation 5, 2 is a mighty angel that is in the very throne room of God.

He's very in the presence of God.

And he is talking about a scroll.

A closed, sealed scroll.

Here in chapter 10, verses 1 and 2, we have this other mighty angel coming from heaven.

Reflecting the glory of God's presence.

And in his hand, he is carrying a scroll.

Opened.

Which brings me to the fifth thing I want you to notice.

This scroll in his hand.

What scroll is this?

Well, first, let me just remind you where he's coming from.

He's coming from heaven.

This is a scroll from heaven.

And did you notice?

It's a little scroll.

Now, I'm going to save you a lot right now.

There is so much out there on the little scroll.

What is this little scroll?

So, what I'm about to tell you is my best shot at it.

It's my opinion on it.

You may disagree.

That's okay.

Why is this a little scroll?

Well, I think the simplest and best explanation to the little scroll is it's because of the size of the angel.

The angel's huge.

He's straddling sea and land.

Of course, it's going to look little.

But what's more important to its apparent size is that it's opened.

It's an opened scroll.

It means it has been opened in heaven, brought to earth.

It's because it's been unsealed by the lamb.

I believe this little scroll is the same scroll that began in the right hand of the one seated on the throne, Revelation 5.1.

To be taken by the lamb and unsealed.

Now to be given to his angel.

We'll come back to that, Revelation 1.1.

Who then is now bringing it to earth to give to John and commission him as a prophet.

Who then, John, is giving to us through the book of Revelation.

This is God's plan for the fullness of time realized in Jesus.

You can shorthand it by saying it's the revelation of Jesus Christ.

Revelation 1.1.

It's about what God is doing to save sinners in the person of Jesus.

This mighty angel is coming down from God's presence.

With God's opened plan for the fullness of time.

It's revealed, made known, and to be made known.

And this angel is coming down to earth to give it to John to proclaim.

And to pass on.

And now you guys ready for the twist?

Verses 3 and 4.

This angel calls out with a loud voice like a roaring lion.

It would have reverberated in John.

And when he called out, the seven thunders sounded.

Whoa, that's really interesting.

Verse 4.

And when the seven thunders had sounded, I was about to write.

But I heard a voice from heaven saying, seal up what the seven thunders have said.

And do not write it down.

This is really interesting.

What is this?

What is this all about?

This mighty angel straddling sea and land.

Holding the open scroll.

He's calling out in a loud voice.

John's ready to write it down.

John, Revelation 1.19, because he was to write down everything he saw for us.

John's about to write it down.

And then there's this voice from heaven that says, no, we're not going to do that.

We're not doing the seven thunders.

Seal it.

Close it.

Don't write it.

This is not to be passed on.

Pretty interesting, isn't it?

What's this all about?

Well, here's how we're going to figure it out.

Has anything like this happened before?

Has there been an angel that has pronounced something and then something big happens?

Well, we've seen it.

So in Revelation 6.1, 6.3, 6.5, 6.7, these living creatures, these angelic beings around the throne,

they call out, come, and one of the horsemen comes.

Judgment.

Judgment.

And then when we go to the seven trumpets, do you remember what happens?

An angel raises a trumpet, blows his trumpet, judgment comes.

So what we see here is angels.

What I'm trying to make a case is angels calling forth judgment.

It's interesting that these are seven thunders.

Because there's been seven letters to the churches.

Seven seals of judgment.

Seven trumpets of judgment.

And what we're going to see in a little while, weeks out, seven bowls of God's judgment.

This angel appears to be calling for seven thunder judgments.

Another cycle of judgments.

That's to take place.

That's to take place after the trumpets and before the bowls.

And this voice is saying, no.

Seal it.

Don't write it down.

That's a twist.

That should catch your attention.

What is going on here?

This voice is saying that these seven judgments of thunder aren't going to happen.

And what these judgments would consist of, we don't know.

But what we do know is that they would have extended the time before God's full and final judgment would fall.

And so what these seven thunders must represent are another cycle of wrath that would have been partially poured out on all creation.

So why is this voice, who has authority to execute God's plan for the fullness of time from heaven,

nixing the thunder, seven thunder judgments?

You know this voice.

Flip back to Matthew 24.

Matthew 24 is a section in the Gospel of Matthew where Jesus himself is teaching about the end times.

So I'm going to help you see what's going on here through Jesus' own words.

Chapter 24, verses 21 and 22.

For then there will be great tribulation, such, this is Jesus speaking,

such as has not been from the beginning of the world until now.

No, it never will be.

And if those days had not been cut short,

no human being would be saved,

but for the sake of the elect,

those days will be cut short.

What's going on here?

The cutting short of those days.

This mighty angel was about to call down another cycle of judgments,

but the lamb cuts it short for the sake of his blood-bought own.

This, my friends, is mercy.

He limits, he knows the suffering of his people,

and he's limiting the suffering of his people.

He sees the hard-heartedness of those who don't repent of the fifth and sixth trumpet,

and he also hears his saints,

How long, O Lord?

He cuts it short out of mercy for his blood-bought.

And then what we see in verses 5 through 7 is this kind of adjustment.

The mighty angel is about to call down the seven thunder judgments.

He raises his right hand.

It was a way to indicate you're going to take an oath.

And he swears by the one who lives forever and ever,

the creator of all,

of heaven and everything in it,

of earth and everything in it,

and of the sea and everything in it.

And remind you, he's standing over the sea and the land.

And he says, as an oath,

there will be no more delay.

No more delay.

No more partial judgments.

We're going to go straight from the seventh trumpet to the seven bowls.

God's full and final outpouring of his wrath on all creation.

And in so doing, God's plan is fulfilled.

If you flip in your Bibles to Revelation chapter 15, 1,

Revelation 15 · chapter mention

what you see happening is this.

Then I saw another sign in the heaven,

great and amazing seven angels with seven plagues.

If you look quickly over to 15, 7,

those seven plagues then take the form of bowls,

bowls of God's wrath.

And these, back to 15, 1,

these seven plagues, which are the last.

For with them the wrath of God is finished,

fulfilled, finalized.

Turn to 16, 7.

The seventh angel poured out his bowl into the air

and a loud voice came out of the temple from the throne saying,

It is done.

Fulfilled.

Finished.

Finished.

So when this angel swears that there would be no more delay,

but that in the days of the trumpet call,

that seventh trumpet to be sounded by the seventh angel,

the mystery of God would be fulfilled.

He's talking about the fulfillment of God's just wrath on earth,

poured out by the seven bowl judgments,

just as he announced to his servants,

the prophets of the great and final day of the Lord.

Shocking.

So what happens here in verses 1 through 7

is that there's this angel who brings an open scroll,

and he's a brilliant angel,

and he's announcing another cycle judgment,

but he's interrupted by this heavenly voice

in order to cut short the days of suffering for God's elect,

and therefore the seventh trumpet is going to usher

into God's full and final wrath.

But this nixing of the thunder judgments

doesn't change what this angel had come down to give John,

because in this angel's hand remains an open scroll

in which we all will be called to prophesy.

A faithful church is a prophetic church.

So would you turn with me now to verses 8 through 11,

the second scene where John is recommissioned as a prophet,

and we are commissioned as prophets.

John's faithfulness,

for John to be faithful,

he must be prophetic.

And for us to be faithful,

we must be prophetic.

And so there are three words I want to help you see.

We're just going to get us through this last section.

I want you to see the word take,

I want you to see the word eat,

and I want you to see the word prophesy.

Let's look at that word take in verse 9.

This voice that I heard from heaven,

excuse me, verse 8,

this voice that I heard from heaven spoke to me again.

The same voice that has just nixed the thunder judgments.

That voice says to John,

go, take the scroll that is open in the hand of the angel

who's standing on the sea and on the land.

Go.

Here's the significance of what's going on here.

This is a chain link of transmission

of the revelation of Jesus Christ.

Here's what's going on.

This scroll started in the hand of the one seated on the throne.

And then it goes from his hand into the hands of the lamb

who breaks open its seal.

And then the scroll opened is given to this angel

who then brings it down to earth

and now is going to give it to John

who's going to take it, eat it, and prophesy it

and write it down to give to us

to take and to eat and to prophesy.

If you flip back to Revelation chapter 1, 1,

Revelation 1 · chapter mention

I'm not making this stuff up.

The revelation of Jesus Christ,

shorthand for the contents of the scroll.

The revelation of Jesus Christ,

which God gave to him, Jesus Christ,

to show his servants, us,

the things that must soon take place.

But you're saying there's only three links

in that chain, Salvati.

Well, look next.

He made it known, Jesus made it known

by sending his angel, mighty angel,

just come down, straddling sea and land.

He made it known by sending his angel

to his servant John, who then gives it to us.

Five links.

God, Jesus, angel, John, us.

And John's got to take it.

John's got to take it.

Go and take it.

Go take the scroll, John.

This has so many similarities

to the callings of the prophets

in the Old Testament, Ezekiel in particular.

A scroll, God's saving message

for those under judgment to save them,

given to a prophet for him to proclaim

so that God's people would be rescued back to him.

And what John is being told here is,

John, you've got to take the scroll.

You've got to lay your hand on it.

But the scroll was for him to take.

He's addressing John.

And here's how I want to apply this for us.

John's prophetic commissioning

is like our prophetic commissioning.

We are to grab hold

of this revelation of Jesus Christ.

That's where it starts.

We got to realize

this is being given to us.

We take the revelation to ourselves.

This scroll,

this making known of God's plan

for the fullness of time

in the person of Jesus.

This is calling.

This is entrustment.

This is being given God's message

for us to do something with.

And we have got to take it.

Another way to think about it is,

brother, sister in Christ,

God intends for you

to grab hold of this revelation.

And for us to do it as a church,

we move from taking this

to eating it.

We read,

I went to the angel

and told him to give me the little scroll

and he said to me,

take and eat it.

Eat it,

the scroll,

will make your stomach bitter,

but in your mouth

it will be sweet as honey.

And I took the little scroll,

verse 10,

from the hand of the angel

and I ate it.

And it was sweet as honey in my mouth,

but when I had eaten it,

my stomach was made bitter.

Eat it.

He took it,

now he's got to eat it.

Again,

the calling of Ezekiel

in Ezekiel chapter 3,

Ezekiel 3 · chapter mention

God gives him a scroll,

his message

for the people of that time

who were under judgment,

for him to eat it

and to call them to rescue,

call them out of judgment.

Eating it,

this is a really interesting way

to talk about it.

It's a picture of internalizing

God's revelation.

of internalizing God's message.

Have you ever been to,

you know,

you're talking to somebody

and you're like talking

really fast to them

and you're giving them

a lot of information

and they say,

whoa, whoa,

you know what,

give me a second,

I just need a minute

to digest what you're saying.

To take it to heart.

To fully grasp it.

To take it personally.

John is not just simply

to take this.

We're simply not to take it.

We're to eat it.

Internalize it.

Claim it as our own.

This angel says,

hey,

when you eat it,

it's going to make

your stomach bitter

and your mouth

it's going to be sweet.

Internalizing

this revelation

of Jesus Christ

will have

a bittersweet effect.

The sweetness

is recognizing

the truth

of what we are

ingesting.

The truth

of how things

really are.

The truth

of who God is.

Of who we are.

Of what he's done

in Jesus

and our need to respond.

And the sweetness

is knowing that

having responded

to this message

ourselves

in repentance

and faith.

We have peace

with God.

Healing.

But the bitterness

what we will see

is that the heartache

of this

of this

scroll

and its contents

the revelation

of Jesus Christ

it's

when we

when we take it in

and then when we

proclaim it

when this message

falls on

deaf ears

because

those deaf ears

belong to a dead heart

and

when those

this message

falls on deaf ears

you realize

that this good news

is now

a warning message

of judgment.

It's hard.

It's a heartache

especially when

the people

that you want

most to tell this to

are the people

you love the most.

And then

the bitterness

is of course

the hurt

that can come

when we

proclaim

this message

of God

in Christ

for those

under his judgment

and they're like

nope

don't buy it

and by the way

how dare you

suggest

that my

lifestyle

is offensive

to your God.

I won't

forget that

and you'll

suffer for it.

What can happen

is the bitterness

of this message

is not only

seeing the heartache

of people who don't

take it in

themselves

but it's the

the reaction

towards us

the messengers

for faithfully

proclaiming the

message to them.

in verse 10

John eats

the scroll

and he

experiences both

the sweetness

and the bitterness

and so will we

but brothers

and sisters

you must

eat

the scroll

you've got

to internalize

it yourself

you've got

to internalize

the revelation

of Jesus Christ

God's plan

for the fullness

of time

realized

in Jesus

you've got

to own it

not because

your parents

own it

not because

your spouse

owns it

not because

your church

owns it

you need

to own it

yourself

because you

become

personally

convinced

of its

truthfulness

and its

necessity

it's personal

when I was

a college

student

I spent

a couple

summers

out in

New Jersey

on the shore

and I

would watch

construction

workers

build

boardwalks

and these

huge

pile

driving

machines

there would

be this

pile unloaded

and it was

like this

big telephone

pole

and this

pile driver

would use

steam

and just

hammer

this

pile

on down

through layers

and layers

of sand

until it

hit bedrock

wasn't

moving

now you

can build

your board

walk

internalizing

the gospel

of Jesus

Christ

is very

similar

it's a

process

of God

driving

the truth

of who

Jesus

is

all the

way

down

into

the bedrock

of your

heart

where it

will find

uncompromising

conviction

you build

on it

how do you

become

convinced

of this

how do you

how does this

process

of conviction

happen

well you

prayerfully

study your

Bible

you get into

a life

group

among other

people who

are saying

I want

to be

convinced

of this

too

I know

it's

true

Jenny and I

have the

privilege of

leaving a

life group

ourselves

and we're

going through

the gospel

of Mark

and the

gospel of

Mark

is this

gospel

pile driver

that is

driving

Jesus

down

onto the

bedrock

of our

hearts

uncompromising

conviction

internalized

and when

you've

internalized

the message

now you're

ready to

preach it

now you're

ready to

speak it

now you're

ready to

prophesy

in verse

11

we read

this

and I

was told

you must

again

prophesy

about many

peoples

and nations

and languages

and kings

after

John

takes

the

scroll

after

John

eats

the

scroll

John

is now

to

prophesy

the scroll

do you see

the word

must

you must

again

prophesy

it's the

nature

of calling

it's

burden

it's

I've

got to

I've

internalized

this

I know

it's

true

I know

it's

necessary

I've

got to

speak

this

it's

not an

optional

calling

but a

mandatory

calling

you

must

again

prophesy

it's not

enough for

John to

take

it's not

enough for

John to

eat

John

must

prophesy

he must

speak

God's

message

his

revelation

of

Jesus

Christ

to

the

peoples

and

nations

and

languages

and

kings

from

whom

God

will

draw

out

a

company

a

multitude

who

will

worship

him

you

must

again

prophesy

remember

John was

exiled to

that rock

pile

called

Patmos

for the

testimony

of

Jesus

and so

here

he's being

told

John

your prophetic

days aren't

over buddy

you got to

get back out

in it

and preach

again

this revelation

of Jesus

Christ on

this scroll

given to

you

and hey

if you're

kind of

wondering

whoa

what is

this

revelation

of Jesus

Christ

business

what is

this

prophesying

business

it's

making me

a little

uncomfortable

turn back

to

Revelation

Revelation 19:10

19

verse

10

it's

not

complicated

we're

told

what is

at the

heart

of this

prophesying

in

19

10

second

last

sentence

of

the

verse

for

the

testimony

of

Jesus

is

the

spirit

of

prophecy

do you

know what

the

heart

of

prophecy

is

do you

want to

know what

the

essence

of

prophecy

is

do you

want to

know what

the

breath

of

prophecy

is

the

testimony

of

Jesus

it's

all

about

Jesus

this

open

scroll

is

God's

plan

for

the

fullness

of

time

in

Christ

by

Christ

for

Christ

and

John

must

proclaim

it

and

we

must

proclaim

it

too

you may

be

thinking

wait

wait

wait

I

thought

this

sounds

like

more

of

a

calling

of

John

the

prophet

but

hey

I

thought

you

said

this

was

about

the

church

just

let me

remind

you

of

the

five

link

chain

of

transmission

starts

with

God

on the

throne

goes

to

the

lamb

angel

comes

down

gives

it

to

John

and

John

is

writing

it

for

us

to

take

eat

and

for

us

to

proclaim

we

must

speak

of

the

of

Jesus

and

of

all

that

he

is

into

the

lives

of

others

around

us

we

do

that

prayerfully

and

we

do

that

boldly

spirit

empowered

courageous

if

you're

afraid

to

speak

of

Jesus

if

you're

too

busy

to

speak

of

Jesus

you

need

to

eat

the

message

more

it's

got

to

be

driven

down

more

and

then

you'll

be

able

to

preach

it

to

you

might

be

wondering

what

do

I

say

to

someone

who

I

love

and

I

know

the

wrath

of

God

is

coming

I'm

afraid

for

them

I

want

good

for

them

I

want

to

tell

them

about

Jesus

what

do

I

tell

them

so

that

they

can

be

saved

I'm

going

to

refer

you

to

a

book

it's

called

what

is

the

gospel

by

Greg

Gilbert

he

points

to

four

words

that

you

need

to

say

that

they

represent

you

need

to

tell

them

about

God

that

God

is

the

creator

he's

holy

and

just

he's

got a

plan

for

the

fullness

of

time

and

every

person

on

the

planet

has

a

place

in

his

plan

and

this

God

is

warning

us

which

brings

us

to

the

second

point

man

God

man

God

created

men

and

women

in

his

image

to

be

in

relationship

with

him

but

we

rebelled

against

our

creator

in

the

worst

way

possible

we

swapped

him

out

for

far

lesser

things

to

worship

the

things

he

made

it's

called

idolatry

and it's

a capital

offense

it provokes

God's

wrath

that

is what

got us

to this

problem

to begin

with

God

man

Jesus

God

sent

Jesus

to

bring

us

back

to

God

by

addressing

God's

wrath

for

our

sin

Jesus

hung

on

the

cross

bearing

God's

wrath

for

our

rebellious

idolatry

and this

Jesus

didn't

stay

dead

he was

raised

from the

dead

he's

reigning

right

now

and he's

going

to

return

and when

he returns

he's

going to

vindicate

his

saints

and he's

going to

pour out

the wrath

of the

lamb

God

man

Jesus

and the

last word

is

respond

you've

got to

respond

to this

and

you either

respond by

rejecting it

or respond

by repentance

and faith

and saying

oh man

I did not

know that

so thankful

for telling

me

I'm

turning

from my

idolatry

and trusting

myself

and my

unbelief

in God

and I'm

turning

to Jesus

trusting

in him

trusting

in this

revelation

you're

telling me

about

that's

from God

to save

me

and by

the way

no

response

is a

response

it's

called

waffling

and it's

a rejection

of Christ

you know

who are we

to tell

this to

anybody

who

listen

can I

give you

another

resource

it's

called

the art

of

neighboring

you can

look it

up

online

Jenny and I

have extremely

helped by it

I think we

are put on

by it

by Rick and

Jasmine

Aldrich who

are like

PhDs in

the art

of neighboring

but I

would commend

it to you

life groups

I would

commend the

material to

you to

position your

life groups

to think

about the

summer of

2019 in a

different way

of taking

eating and

prophesying

you've got to

take the

revelation

the scroll

you've got to

take it

yourself

lay your

hand on it

and then you've

got to take it

down deep

internalize it

eat it

and then when

it hits

bedrock

you proclaim

it

you speak

it

and just a

word of

reality

when we

become prophetic

in our city

for Christ

it's going to

be bittersweet

there's going to

be blessing

sweet blessing

of people coming

to faith in

Jesus

it's happening

but then there's

going to be

heartache

this message

of God

falling on

deaf ears

people reject

it

and then

rejecting it

they want to

hurt us

they want to

go after

the messenger

of the message

that's part of

the bitterness

to be a

faithful

church

is to be

a prophetic

church

is there

really any

other

worthy

option

worthy

is the

lamb

let's pray

God

would you

by your

spirit

make us

a prophetic

church

not obnoxious

not stupid

wise

brave

compelling

empowered

and God

we would

ask that

through us

your message

coming from

our lips

that you

would

you would

save

many

rescue

many

that we

would be

worshipping

around the

throne

with many

who in

2019

repent

and believe

in Jesus

we ask

this in

your name

amen

or

to