A Call To The Church

Chase: Welcome to the Point Church Podcast, where our mission is simple, to point people to Jesus. Each week you will hear biblical teaching from our Sunday gatherings designed to help you belong, believe, become who God created you to be, and build his kingdom in your everyday life. We pray this time encourages you and helps you to take the next step in following Jesus. Now let's jump into today's message. Friends, you may have a seat. ⁓ last week we kicked off our summer series through the book of Revelation and as I decided sorry, I'm fiddling with this thing too much. Sorry, online crew. There we go. ⁓ as we decided to like go through this sermon series, we're like, let's talk about the most controversial book, the most confusing book, the one that gets the people the most riled up. Why don't we make this our summer vacation as a church? So let's do it. So the reason though, I just want to recap for why we are going through the Book of Revelation is this is that the Book of Revelation is the most controversial, arguably confusing, but definitely most thought about book. I'm gonna mess this one more time. Sorry. Talk amongst yourselves. ⁓ there we go. The most thought about book, not only in the Bible, but honestly in the world. Because the book of Revelation has been so misunderstood, at times so twisted, accidentally, at worst intentionally, that if we decide to just throw the whole thing out, then we are throwing out the last book of the Bible and we're throwing out the last chapter of the story of God. And we are robbing ourselves of what the book is supposed to be doing in us. And what the book is supposed to do in the hearts and minds and lives of believers is this: the book of Revelation is meant to put steel in your spine and hope in your heart that you can endure whatever it is you're going through. Who doesn't need more of that in our world today? So let's take our hearts. Our minds, our lives, and lay it at the teachings of Jesus and say, okay, you shape how I'm supposed to live, and you give me the reason that I'm supposed to have hope, even though life is far from perfect right now. So my favorite word when teaching the Bible starts with the C. Everyone? Context. Context. So the new people are like, wow, everyone knew that. What did I just step into? Context. So the context for the book of Revelation is this. So we have, I think we have a slide that says that. So the genre is a letter. That means it was written by a specific person to specific people. Just right off the bat, the book of Revelation was not written to 21st century Americans. You can benefit from it, but it wasn't written to you. Okay? You can benefit, but it wasn't written to you. Very important to keep it in mind. Second, it's not only a letter, it's what's called apocalyptic. Literature. And the people who came in skeptical were like, all right, we're already talking about the apocalypse. Apocalyptic in the Greek means reveal. Reveal. That's why the book's called Revelation. Revealing. Think of it like this you are reading this book, and it is revealing, pulling back the curtain of what's going on in the world. A helpful image is at the end of the movie Wizard of Oz. Pulling back the curtain, what's actually going on? Who is actually the one in charge? What is happening revealing? It's revealing what's going on in our world, and it's revealing who our God is. And taking all of that, how are we supposed to live in the world today? Knowing this, it should change our lives. Okay? Revealing to us. The author, John is holding the pen, but Jesus is the one who's really writing it. Are you with me? Like Jesus is the one who's like, okay, write this down, buddy. So John picks up the pen and he's the one writing. Jesus is telling him what to write. The audience, who they would have put a stamp on and the envelope in the mailbox to this letter, is the seven churches of Asia Minor. We're gonna get into those seven churches next week. But that's who would have received this letter in the mail, the seven churches of Asia Minor. This is a helpful one I added, the year it was written, ninety five A D. Okay? Ninety five AD. So you're looking at about thirty to thirty or sixty to sixty two years after the death, the burial, and the resurrection of Jesus. Why is that important? Because in antiquity, to be sixty years apart is like this on the global scale. Most events of world history that we trust to be true that are documented have gaps like this. This is so close. Why does it matter? Because people who would have received these letters, who would have read these letters, were also the ones who could have still been alive and talked to Jesus. They'd have like, no, this isn't true. I met him, I walked with him, I saw the miracles. You can't sell me something that's not true. So when you read your Bible, all these letters and all these books in the New Testament were all written within the lifetime of Eyewitnesses who saw Jesus, which kind of makes me infuriated when channels like the History Channel say the banned books of the Bible, and you're like, it's not a conspiracy. They were written after, or they were lies. That mystery solved. Like that's why it happened. Because if I were to come up and say, Hey, I met Jesus and he was green, people who were alive were like, No, he wasn't, you're a liar. Don't put that letter in. That's a lie. They were trying to attach their name to the fame of Jesus. Not that anyone doesn't do that today. But it was easier to spot back then because they were living eyewitnesses. So this is a book that went through the test. People were like, yeah, no, this stands. This is good. This is trustworthy. This is true based on scriptures. What we know to be true, this is true. 95 AD. Very important. Now, this could be its own sermon series. What the book of Revelation is not. And I have to contain myself a little bit. The book of Revelation is not a secret code. Okay. Context, not codes. Are you with me? Context, not codes. It's not a code. It's not a code. Jesus himself, at the end of his life, before his execution, says, all these things are gonna happen. And the disciple's first question is our first question. ⁓ when? I don't know. Jesus says, I don't know. The one who breathed out the world and planets and stars says, I don't know. That I don't know. The Father knows, but not me. So I'm sorry, the Fox News contributor or the CNN contributor or the YouTube influencer does not know if Jesus doesn't know. It's not a code to figure out the timeline. What it is saying, though, is these things will happen. We don't know the time, but we need to be ready. Okay? That's what it is saying. Now, this is another part. The book of Revelation is not a book that should be used to create un. Holy fear. Okay? There's a difference between holy fear and unholy fear. Holy fear, according to the Bible, is what leads to wisdom, reverence for God, worship for Him, saying, I want to get my life right to be in line with you. That's a holy fear. Unholy fear is taking the Word of God, twisting it to benefit yourself or benefit your ministry. The amount of churches in my research on YouTube that's an important asterisk that were going through this book and saying, write us a check, and not only you'll be spared, but your family too. Join a member of our church because we are the only ones with the truth. Do you really think Jesus Christ is that exclusive? That he's like this random church in the middle of a makeup of state, Nebraska, has the only ones with the truth. No, this is a book written to the churches of Asia Minor, but believers from all time can benefit from. Let's not twist the scriptures, let them speak for themselves, create a holy fear to get right with God, not an unholy fear to give our money or attention to grifters. So that's what the book of Revelation is not. On the same page? Great. Awesome. What it is it is a book. A letter that strengthens Christians who are enduring hard times. That's what it's for. To help us be strong, stay focused during difficult times, showing us what our future destination is. This is where you're going. This is where you'll be. If we know that, it helps you endure today. Going through a cancer diagnosis, going through a divorce. Going through bankruptcy, going through a job loss, going through a wayward child doesn't make it easy. But you can stay strong and endure because you know on the other side where you're going, and that Jesus Christ is the one who's holding it all together, and He is going to take you there with Him. And at some point, when we are in eternity, we will look back on the worst days of our lives and say, it kind of feels like a bad dream. I don't really re I kind of remember it, but not really. That's what the book is for. It has helped Christians endure persecution beyond our wildest imagination because they knew if they stayed faithful to Jesus, they could endure anything because they knew who they were going to and where they were going. That's what the book is for. Okay? The message, if you could say it in a sentence, is a plea. It's a plea. To Christians to be faithful to Jesus above all else. Remain faithful to Jesus. No matter what you're enduring, remain faithful to Jesus. Fix your eyes on Jesus, okay? Now, why this book gets so misunderstood? It's the last book of the Bible for a reason. It's the last chapter of the story. And it gets so twisted, so confused for a very human reason. It's got all the exciting parts. So people who aren't really familiar with the Bible are like, I'm just I'm just gonna skip to the bat like the battle scenes and the action. And they miss the context of the first 65 books. And they're like, Well, I don't get what that means. I don't know what that means either. But I I think it's this. I'm guessing it's that. No, that's you guessing. That's you. Like, no one reads War and Peace and starts with the last chapter and is like, ⁓ yeah, this makes perfect sense to me. No one reads East of Eden and is like, ⁓ what a good book. I just read the last chapter, it was great. You have no idea what you're talking about. You didn't read it. You have no idea how there's callbacks. You have no idea what the references are. You haven't seen the story develop. We have to know the whole Story to understand the beauty of what's happening in the last chapter. Okay? Now, of all the New Testament books, this is by far the most rooted in the Old Testament. So if you're only familiar with the New Testament and then you get to Revelation, it's not gonna make a ton of sense. But again, think back to the best stories, the best books you've ever read. They all have callbacks to the beginning. All of them. So you have to have read the beginning to understand the end. So it's all rooted in the Old Testament. So you have to understand not only Jesus' message, but what led to it in the first place. Okay? So Revelation chapter one is what we read. Now let us focus on a key passage from this. Jesus shows up, and John is there. And he sees Jesus and he recognizes Jesus. Like he's like, that's Jesus, but not like how I've ever seen Jesus. Like when Jesus was walking around, it's not like Jesus' face shined like lightning when he was going fishing. Are you with me? But he sees it's Jesus, he knows it's Jesus, but he's never seen Jesus like this before. This is Jesus revealed in his full beauty, his full glory, his power, his might, his wonder, his splendor. Everything and John is like, ⁓ my goodness, who could stand in the presence of this God? And again, over and over and over in the old testament, who could stand, who could stand, who can be in the presence of this God? Human beings are not designed. We cannot in our flesh be in the presence of Jesus like this, which really one goes to show how much Jesus emptied himself, Philippians two, in order to dwell among us. He emptied himself so much that people were like, Who's this dude? Who's this? He's the carpenter son. He's nobody. If Jesus had even 1% of his glory on earth, they'd have been like, this guy's different. This guy is different. He's shining for one. He's different. He empties himself in order for human beings to come and dwell and listen and be with him, but now he's being revealed for who he truly is. He comes to John. John falls down as if one who is dead, because how could you be in the how could you walk on the surface of the sun and expect to live? You couldn't. But Jesus says, do not be afraid. Take up the pen, write this down. This is for the seven churches of Asia Minor. This is who the audience is, and here's what I'm telling them. I see them, I know them, I'm with them. Okay? I see them, I know them, I'm with them. This is a truth that you can apply to your life. He sees you, he knows you, he's with you. This is very comforting. This is very, very comforting. The lampstands, when it refers to the lampstands, in my mind, I'm walking around like a home goods store, okay, and I'm like, ⁓ that's a cool lampstand. Like that's I I'm thinking like gold or brass of some sort, and you put a candle for some reason up top, and you're like, It seems like a fire hazard with kids, so I probably won't buy that. I'm thinking that's a lampstand, and you have seven of them. But in the context of the reader, it's a menorah. Seven, one lampstand. So seven candles lit, and Jesus is walking between the flames. He is going in between them. Historians have said this over and over and over. The context would have been this is a menorah, which would have been a holy symbol in that context. Okay? This is what it says. Listen carefully. Verse twelve. I turned around to see the voice that was speaking to me, and when I turned I saw the seven gold lampstands. Again, the English doesn't quite translate, but it's menorah. And among the lampstands was someone like a son of man, dressed in a robe, reaching down to his feet with a golden sash around his chest. This is a key detail. Someone is walking among the flames, and it looks like a deity. If you've read the book, you're like, wait a second, I've read this before. And you have. There's a book called Daniel. Very popular book. There's some lions in it. BBS. Always, it always cracks me up that we're like, let's do Daniel and the Lions then, but we won't think too closely about what those lions would have actually done. But, anyways, it's cute and cuddly. Daniel chapter 3, Old Testament again. Daniel and his friends. Are enslaved from Jerusalem, taken to Babylon. This king is a total narcissist. His name is Nebuchadnezzar. Don't try and spell it. You can't. Nebuchadnezzar decides: I'm not getting enough praise as the king. You know what would be a good idea? A golden statue for me. And everyone's gonna bow down and worship it. That's how we're gonna assimilate everyone, worship me and me only. So everyone does that. They're like, well, we don't want to like, you know, die, so we'll worship this golden statue and go about our grocery shopping or whatever. So Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, three of the friends of Daniel are like, No, we're not doing it. We're not bowing down. We're not we're not gonna do it. And the king knows this because they work in his court. Like he knows these people who are rebelling against him. They're like, we're we're gonna worship our God. We're not gonna worship you. And he says, if you don't bow down, I'm gonna throw you into the fiery furnace. And they're like, do it. Like, bet, go. And they're like, I'm gonna make it twice as hot. And they're like, it doesn't matter how hot you make it. I'm not gonna bow down to any God, any idol other than the God of Yahweh. So their King Nebuchadnezzar throws them in the fire. And they say it's so hot that even the guards. As they go up to the furnace to throw them in, they get burned alive as they throw people into the heart of the fire. Okay? But then verse 24 happens. King Nebuchadnezzar leaped to his feet in amazement and asked his advisors, weren't there three men that we tied up and threw into the fire? They replied, Certainly, your majesty. Don't cut my head off. There's definitely three, only three. He said, Look, I see four men walking around in the fire, unbound, unharmed, and the fourth looks like the son of the gods. Nebuchadnezzar then approached the opening of the blazing furnace and shouted, Shadrach, Meshach, Abendigo, servants of the most high God, come out, come here. Shadrach, Meshach, and Abendigo come out of the fire. Crazy sentence. Why is there non exclamation point there? ⁓ okay, we'll come out now. And the satraps, the prefects, the governors, and the royal advisors crowded around them. They saw that the fire had not harmed their bodies, nor was a hair of their head singed. Their robes were not scorched, and there was no smell of fire on them. Then Nebuchadnezzar said, Praise be to the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, who has sent his angel and rescued his servants. They trusted in him and defied the king's command and were willing to give up their lives rather than serve or worship any god other than their own. This is considered one of the first introductions to Jesus Christ in the Old Testament. That Jesus Himself was in the fire, walking. If you've read the book, reading Revelation 1 makes a lot more sense. This is Jesus. This is a scene that really is forecasting what the book of Revelation is all about. Because in this scene. You have the powers of this world erecting an idol and saying, Everyone bow down and worship it. And the people of God saying, No, we'll kill you. Don't care. The rest of the book goes through that lens. The rest of the book. Are you going to be faithful to Jesus or are you going to bow your knee to something else, to someone else, to another idol, to another God? This foreshadows the choice that every single one of us has been given. It doesn't matter what century you live in, it doesn't matter what country you live in, it doesn't matter your socioeconomic class, every single person will have to decide: will we bow down to the idols of the world or will we stand up and not bow to anyone but Jesus? That's what the seven letters that we're gonna do next week are asking. Every single one. Jesus is gonna be like you've been faithful, you have not. You've been faithful, you have not. This is the this is the test. Are you bowing down to anything other than Jesus? Maybe you're not doing it to be like, ⁓ I can bow down to Jesus and the idol. Like it doesn't really matter if I do both. Doesn't seem to say that, does it? Do you bow to anything other than Jesus? Have you been faithful or have you bowed down? This is the question. I get sometimes like aga it just sounds I get frustrated all the time, I really don't, but like the culture wars right now just kill me, like all of us. Cause it's just people sniping at each other, well you bowed to this and you bowed to that. I'm like, you both bowed to something other than Jesus. So what are we talking about? Why does it matter if you bow to the idol of the right or the left? You bowed to something other than Jesus. That's the test. Doesn't matter which one, and then you're like, Well, I'm better because I bowed to the one that was gold instead of silver. Jesus Christ, period, end of story. Bow to anything else, ugh doesn't matter how good your idol is, it's not gonna last. This is the test. Faithful to Jesus Christ. Nothing else. Nothing else. Not your health, not your wealth, not your family, not your friends, not your job, not your stuff. Nothing other than Jesus deserves your knees to bow at his feet. That's the test. That's what the book is saying. That's what we should look inward and say, Have I bowed anywhere? And if I have, God help me, God forgive me. There is grace for you. There is grace for all of us. But we have to look inward and say, Have I bowed to another? And if I have, Lord, I repent and I turn around. This this is this is our God. This is why we read this, so that we can navigate today. Now Jesus is walking among the lampstands. He's walking among the fire. This is very critical. Because he says these seven lampstands are the seven churches. The church is meant to be the light of the world. We talked about this at Pentecost just two weeks ago. Like we talked about, the Spirit comes like a tongue of fire and it dwells in you. It burns up everything that's not of God, and it's light that shines out of you. Why? Because the world is dark. And we are the light of the world. It's not us, it's Christ in us. It's those who are in a dark, cold world who need to come to the light and the warmth of Christ. This is why it is no small thing to be the container for the Spirit of God. And yet we are. As ordinary people, as messed up as our past might be, God has chosen ordinary, broken people to say, You will be my advocate. You will be my witness. You will be the one that goes out with all of your perfections, all your brokenness. I will shine in you and through you. Why? So when the world gets dark, you cover it up? No. No, no, no. Light of the world, shine brighter. When the world gets dark, the people of God point to the light of God. This is no small matter. Now, when we teach that we are the light of the world, We rightfully teach this to little children. It's a very important phrase. Like it's something that like our daughter who's three is like, Light of the world, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Like color the candle. You know what I mean? Like it's a good thing to teach kids, but sometimes I wonder if we aren't wrestling with it as adults as we should. Like it's one thing to leave it in Sunday school, but it's another when the world gets dark to actually do it. Because to be the light of the world is not easy. To be the light of the world will cost you something. To be the light of the world may cost you a reputation. It may cost you a relationship. It may cost you something. In fact, to be the light of the world in the first century was rather a slur used against the Christians. It wasn't like, yeah, light of the world. They're like, no, you think you're the light of the world? We'll we'll fix that right now. You see, friends, it is so critical to know the context of this audience because Jesus is writing these letters. These are people in the midst of persecution from the Roman Empire. And they refused to bow to Caesar as a god. That was the big persecution against Christians. And there was a specific Caesar who's a psychopath named Nero. Not a good name to name your kid, but a good name to name your dog. Nero is a psychopath. He just sat around all day thinking of ways to torture people. And Romans were already good at it, so he had to get real creative. So when Rome burned down, he was like, Yeah, we should stop it. But you know who we should really stop? Are the ones responsible? The Christians, which isn't true, but he used it as an opportunity to persecute the Christians. He said, Well, they're the ones who would lie to the world. So what he would do is he would throw them into the lion's den. The gladiator pits with their hands tied behind their back, all of it saying, But if you say Jesus is not Lord and you bow down and worship Caesar, you can live. And they were like, No, cut my head off. Throw me to the lion. Jesus is Lord. I can't deny it. But his favorite was saying, ⁓ you think you're the light of the world? Let's see how bright you shine. So what he would do is, I think we have a painting up it. He would gather all of his friends at his garden parties outside his palace, and if you look in the top right corner where it's a little shadowy, you will see that there are stakes where he would tie Christians bound up, and before they would go up on the ladder, say, Are you sure you don't want to recant that Jesus is Lord? They're like, No. He would go up, bind them, and then light it on fire as it became dark, so that his dinner casts could have a late night feast. Says I'll show you who's the lie of the world. Those are our forefathers. Those are our foremothers. That's what it looked like to be fidelity to Jesus. Light me on fire. Throw me to the lions. I will not recant. Because I know what's waiting on the other side. I can endure anything because I know who my reward is. Now, friends, you cannot tell me that when those dinner parties were lit, That Jesus wasn't walking among the flames. Cannot tell me that when we go through the worst suffering of this world, that Jesus isn't walking among the flames. How many of us have grown closer to God because of our suffering, not further away? It is the fire that refines us. It is the fire that reveals who Jesus is, that he's been there all along, but we finally see him because we're looking for him in our suffering, and he's on full display. Now, the amazing thing is the Roman Empire thought this is how we'll keep control. Well, guess what? The Roman Empire is no more. But Christians are in every single country around the world, so who really has the power in the end? Those who were willing to die rather than give up their faith. Those who were willing to lose everything to follow Jesus instead of bowing down to anything else. Friends, this is John's audience. This is who's reading the letter. People who are like, I lost a family member. I lost a friend to the fires or the lion's den. Jesus walking among the flames. He sees you. He's with you. And he says, Are you gonna be faithful? Are you gonna stay with me? The Son of Man is with you. Now we're asking ourselves, how how do we endure a dark world? How do we endure pain and suffering? Like I'm not like that. Like that's hard. Like that's really, really hard. Is there something that the Bible gives us as a way to understand what we are supposed to do when suffering hits? I'm so glad you asked. Hebrews chapter 12, verse two. You've probably seen some of these shirts floating around in our lobby. Here's part of why I picked that verse. Fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith, for the joy set before him, he endured the cross. Compared to the cross, the joy outweighed it. How great is the joy if he said this cross, I'll endure it to get that. Scorning its shame, he sat down at the right hand of the throne of God, considering him who endured such opposition from sinners, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart. How do we endure darkness? How do we endure evil? How do we endure suffering? We do what Jesus did, fixing our eyes on the On the reward, and our reward is Jesus Himself. Our reward is the one who is holding us together, walking with us through the suffering. This is our reward. Our eternal reward is Jesus. You fix your eyes on Jesus, you can endure anything. Anything. You fix your eyes on Jesus, it doesn't make life easy, but it makes life easier. You can endure the divorce, fix your eyes on Jesus. I I'm praying for my child. Fix your eyes on Jesus. The job is fix your eyes on Jesus. But the politics, fix your eyes on Jesus. But what about the war? Fix your eyes on Jesus. What about the economy? Fix your eyes on Jesus. The only one who will last everything that's going on right now. Everything else will be burned up. But those who fix their eyes on Jesus. When you know that, you can endure anything. Do you see what I'm saying? Steal in your spine, hope in your heart, by fixing your eyes on Jesus Christ, your true reward. And no matter what fire you go through, hold to the word of God. Isaiah 43, verse 1 starts this but now this is what the Lord says. He who created you, Jacob, he who formed you, Israel, do not fear. There is that phrase again. There's that phrase again. Whatever you're enduring, do not don't be afraid. Do not fear. Redeemed you I have summoned you by name, he knows you, he sees you, he's with you, you are mine. When you pass through the waters I will be with you, and when you pass through the rivers you will not they will not sweep over you, and when you walk through the You will not be burned. Flames will not set you ablaze. The world can and will try to take anything it can from you and burn it up. The world can try and take your reputation, your money, divide your family, destroy your mind, cripple your body, taste starvation, experience homelessness, thirst for water. But what the early church knew and understood was this: that nothing the world throws at you will ever outweigh. The reward set before you. Nothing will ever tip the scales 1% saying, I might bow the knee because Jesus isn't worth it. Never, ever, ever, ever, ever. Nothing will ever compare to the reward of Jesus. Endure anything by fixing your eyes on him. Rely on him for his strength, knowing that he is with you. That as you go through this life, yes, there are things that will be taken from you. Yes, things will get burned up, but the one thing that'll never be consumed is him and you. That's what a watching world needs to see. People who go through the worst of the world and worship their Lord. That's what the world is missing. When everyone else is freaking out, we're calm. Why? Because our Lord hasn't left us. Nothing's been taken from us. Our treasure is intact. Our treasure is eternal. Our treasure does not go up and down with the stock market. Our treasure does not rise and fall on politics. Our treasure does not get swayed by family dynamics. Our treasure is Jesus Christ. That is our strong foundation among anything. And when you see Jesus, fix your eyes on Jesus. When you see him fully revealed, when you see his majesty, his beauty before you, allow it to burn in your heart. It feels like it's about to kill you because it is. It's killing your flesh. It's killing your desires. It's killing you in all the ways that you're not living for him, so that you might fall at his feet and only his, to worship him and him alone. This is how you endure. Fix your eyes on Jesus and rejoice for the prize set before you. It is a prize you will never lose, never be taken away, that you can endure anything in this world because. Jesus is with you until you reach eternity shores. Let us pray. Jesus Son of God Jesus Son of Man Emmanuel, God with us in our pain, God with us in cancer. God with us in divorce. God with us in homelessness. God with us in addiction. God with us at funerals. God with us in bankruptcy. God with us as the torches come to light us on fire. God with us in the lion's den. God with us in job loss. For the joy set before us we endure. For you and you alone we bow our knees. For you and you alone we raise our hands. For you and you alone we lift our hearts. Every other idol will fail. Every other name, God, anything that tries to compete with you loses. The devil and his army gets thrown into the pit for all time. And no matter the worst days of our life here on earth, we will only look back on them 10,000, 20,000, a million years later, and say, I kind of remember that. But I'm so glad I endured. Jesus, be our reward today. Whatever we're enduring, walk among the flames. Amen. Friends, it's at this time that we enter into a moment of communion. Communion is a time where we come as we are, not as we should be. Thank you for listening to the Point Church podcast. We hope this message helps you take your next step in following Jesus. Grace, peace, we will see you next week.

Daniel 3 · chapter mention Hebrews 12 · chapter mention Isaiah 43:1