Sermon - Your Strength in Christ - The Overcomers

Please hear me.

You can't fix yourself.

You can't save yourself.

You can't.

But there is one who can save you.

There is one who is worthy.

It is the land that was slain.

Jesus again carried your sin to the cross.

He shed his blood for you.

He rose from the grave for you.

And today, if it is you, you can stop trying to be your own savior and surrender your life to him.

If that's you, come.

Come to the altar and simply say, Jesus, I need you.

Forgive me.

Save me.

My life is now in your hands.

Welcome to the Church of the Lakes Weekly Sermon Podcast.

We're so glad you joined us, and we're honored to be part of your spiritual journey.

This year, Church of the Lakes is focused on having a kingdom mindset and all we do by living counterculturally to the world to become more like Jesus.

Today, Pastor Jared Priestett continues our sermon series called The Overcomers, which comes from the Book of Revelation.

The title of today's message is Your Strength in Christ.

Our strength and courage are not found in becoming stronger ourselves, but in belonging to Jesus, the Lion who has conquered and the Lamb who was slain.

And now, here's Pastor Jared.

Be blessed.

For those of you who are tuning in for the first time, we are in the midst of a series out of the book of Revelation.

Revelation, I know, makes some people nervous.

It is probably the most misunderstood book in the entire Bible.

But it is not a book that is supposed to cause those of us who are in Christ to have fear in life.

In fact, it's just the opposite.

It's a book that is supposed to evoke within us a sense of courage in the face of whatever we are confronted with in this day and age and even beyond.

And with all that said, let me ask you a question.

Have you ever been in a situation where you've realized I'm not strong enough for this?

Maybe it was a phone call you got one night that you never expected, or a diagnosis, or the loss of a loved one, or your marriage was in a season and it was really tenuous and conflicting, and you could didn't know how to fix it.

Or your child was in a season where they were struggling, and everything in you wanted to jump in and rescue them, but you knew you couldn't.

Maybe you found yourself staring at circumstances that were completely beyond your control, and eventually you had to admit to yourself, I cannot do this.

We don't like that feeling, do we?

No.

Particularly as people who've grown up in the culture we've grown up in, friends, our culture has tried to condition us, it has taught us that strength means independence, has it not?

Be strong, push through, dig deeper, believe in yourself, you've got this.

But what happens when you don't got this?

What happens when you come to the end of yourself?

For those of you who've worked out in uh fitness centers, gyms, uh you know the guys that go to bench press the big weights.

Right?

You you're looking at them, they're they're they're the guys that have gotten too big, you're afraid to tell them they've gotten too big, right?

Uh and they just put plate on plate on plate on that bench press, and you're wondering to yourself, can they really lift that weight?

And you're not looking at them directly because that would be kind of creepy.

So you're looking at them out of the corner of your eye to see if they can actually push that rep up, and they get under that bench, under that bar, and they they press down, and then you see they've lost all confidence.

Because they know they put just a little too much weight on that bar and they can't get it up.

Terrible decision they made, right?

What do they start looking for?

The spotter.

The guy who's stronger than them, who can pick up that weight and rack it on the bench.

Why?

Because there are weights in life you and I were never meant to carry.

Here's the connection.

Some of us today are exhausted because we're laying underneath a bar on a bench press trying to push up weight.

We were never meant to lift.

Weight that only Jesus Christ Himself was meant to lift.

Uh, last week we were in Revelation chapter 4.

Revelation 4 · chapter mention

I know we had the all-church service.

Thank you for being there.

It was an awesome service.

Uh loved every bit of it.

Uh, I put a sermon on our podcast for Revelation 4.

If you haven't uh listened, check it out.

Last week in Revelation chapter 4, what we found was that the door of heaven was opened to the apostle John.

Revelation 4 · chapter mention

And uh what he was shown when that door was opened was ultimate reality.

It's this reality that is behind the reality you and I see today.

And what he sees in ultimate reality was that there was someone who was sitting on a throne, and that somebody was the risen Savior.

And it was this reality that proved that guess what?

God is still God, regardless of what we're facing in the here and now.

God is still sovereign, God is still ruling and reigning over all of creation, over all of heaven.

And now, John in Revelation chapter 5, where we're going today, looks at the one who is sitting on the throne in ultimate reality and sees that that one is holding a scroll in his right hand.

Revelation 5 · chapter mention

Listen to God's word this morning.

This is Revelation chapter 5.

Revelation 5 · chapter mention

And by the way, um, as we're going through Revelation over these next eight weeks, for your devotional time, open up the book of Revelation and just start reading through it.

If you want to stay up with where we are with sermons, be through Revelation 6 this upcoming week.

But listen to God's word.

This is John writing under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit what he saw as the door of heaven was opened to him.

The one sitting on the throne.

Then he saw on the right hand of the one seated on the throne a scroll written on the inside and on the back, sealed with seven seals.

And I, John, saw a mighty angel proclaiming with a loud voice, Who is worthy to open the scroll and break its seals?

And no one in heaven or on earth or under the earth was able to open the scroll or to look into it.

And I, John, began to weep bitterly because no one was found worthy to open the scroll or to look into it.

Then one of the elders said to me, Do not weep.

See, the lion of the tribe of Judah, the root of David, has conquered, so that he can open the scroll in its seven seals.

Friends, this is the word of God for the people of God.

Thanks be to God.

Will you pray with me?

Gracious and holy God, I thank you so much that we are gathering in this space as a collective church to turn our focus upward, to worship you, to offer you the praise and thanksgiving you so rightfully deserve.

God, I thank you for your written word.

The chance I have to proclaim it in this space, and I ask now, God, as I offer up reflection on this life-giving word, that you just soak it in the blood of Jesus, that you use it to edify and encourage and remind us of the courage we can have because Jesus has risen from the dead and has conquered all.

It's in Jesus' name we pray.

Amen.

Church, here's what I want you to hear today.

Really, just one statement, and we're gonna unpack it over the next few minutes.

It's about strength.

Your strength is not found in becoming stronger.

Your strength is found in belonging to the one who has overcome.

Let me say that again.

Your strength is not found in becoming stronger.

No.

Your strength is found in belonging to the one who has overcome.

Okay, if that is reality, then how do we really own that reality for us today?

So when the problems of life face us, we not need to shirk back or be upset or scared.

We can be confident and courageous in the midst of them.

The first thing we have to do to really own that reality, that our strength is not found in becoming strong ourselves, but simply belonging to the one who is overcome, is this reality that we have to admit that we're not strong enough.

We're not.

So John sees a scroll in God's right hand.

And this isn't just a random piece of paper.

It is a scroll that has writing on both the outside and the inside of it.

And it's sealed with seven seals.

Now, in the ancient world, a seal was a representation of authority.

It was a representation of ownership.

And the number seven, not only through revelation, but all of Scripture had with it this um this understanding of completeness or of fullness.

And so the scroll, just so you know what that is, that was written on both the front and the back, were God's purposes that would come eventually to completion at a specific appointed time.

Uh what is the appointed time or the appointed end that is written on this scroll?

Very simply, and this is one reason why you and I should have courage in the midst of today, creation will one day be restored.

Evil will be judged, God's kingdom will be fully realized, everything God has promised to the epitome of his creation, that's humanity, every promise he's made to us will come to completion.

That's the scroll, that's what's written on this scroll that is bound with seven seals.

It's it's God's purposes coming to an appointed end.

Again, creation restored, God's kingdom fully realized, evil judged, the promises God has made to his people come to their completion.

So we see this mighty uh angel in heaven ask the question pertaining to this scroll that's in the hand of the one who sits on the throne, who is worthy to open it?

You notice how he didn't ask who was most influential?

Who is the richest?

Who is the most powerful?

Who is smart enough?

He asked who is worthy.

Who is worthy to open up the scroll?

All of heaven then goes silent, and John is given access and he sees all of the universe is ever created, and he comes to this conclusion.

No one.

Not in heaven, on earth, or under the earth.

Nobody is worthy to open the scroll.

Not Abraham, not Moses, not Elijah, not David, not Paul, not Peter, no emperor, no president, no billionaire, no pastor.

Nobody was worthy to open up the scroll.

Nobody was worthy to bring God's purposes to their appointed end.

And when John gets uh thrown, blasted with that reality, he the scripture says he begins to weep.

Now, this isn't a little tear streaming down his face.

This isn't some big buff guy eyes that are just sweating because big buff guys don't cry, right?

Their eyes just sweat.

No, no.

This is a deep weeping from the bowels, like an ugly crying type of situation.

Okay, what why does John experience such uncontrollable grief?

Well, because if nobody can open up the scroll, then what that means is no one can bring God's purposes to their appointed end.

Like, who can finally defeat evil?

Who can finally make right all that sin has broken?

Who can bring history to where God intends history to go?

The answer is nobody.

And church, before revelation pivots and shows us the strength of the one who has the strength to open the scroll, he wants you and me to confront the weakness of our humanity.

We don't like to do that, do we?

That makes us uncomfortable to be called weak.

Again, we we believe that as human beings, if we can just become educated enough, advanced enough, wealthy enough, technologically sophisticated enough, then we can fix ourselves.

But friends, look around.

We're all those things.

We have more information at our fingertips in modern society than any other generation in all of history, and yet we are still angry, still lonely, still violent, still divided, and still dying.

Like technology can put the the knowledge of the world on a device in your pocket, but it cannot remove sin from your heart.

Medicine can sometimes extend your earthly existence, but it cannot defeat death.

Money can make your life comfortable, but it cannot make you whole.

Politicians can pass laws to try to progress our morality and ethics, but it they cannot resurrect the dead.

And eventually, friends, each one of us has to acknowledge, we discover personally, what John in this moment in Revelation 5 is discovering cosmically.

I am not enough.

I don't care what your mom has told you or what our culture has told you, you are not enough in and of yourself.

And listen, that's not where the gospel ends.

That's actually where the gospel begins.

The reality that you and I are not enough.

Because we aren't enough, but if we yoke ourselves to Christ, guess what?

We become more than enough.

Listen, Christianity does not say dig deeper, find the strength inside yourself.

No.

Christianity says stop looking inside yourself for what can only be found in relationship with Jesus Christ.

You know, maybe the most courageous prayer you and I can pray this week, church, is simply, Jesus, I can't do this without you.

Jesus, I'm acknowledging I'm not enough, but I know if I'm yoked to you, I will become more than enough.

Friends, to own the reality that there is one who has overcome, and if we yoke ourselves to that one, we too become overcomers, is to first admit we are not enough.

Here's the second thing.

We gotta look to the lion who has conquered.

So John is weeping.

Again, not not a eye-sweating type of weeping, a a profound weeping from the gut.

Why?

Has his problem or I'm sorry, he's weeping.

And so the elder up in heaven taps him on the shoulder and says, John, do not weep.

Why not?

Has the problem that John has been confronted with disappeared?

No.

Has it been found that John is actually strong enough to open up the seals?

No.

What does the elder say?

He says, look.

There's that word again.

If you read through Revelation, you hear that phrase a lot, that imperative for us to look, to look up, or to look.

What does that mean for you and me today?

Think about a problem you might be facing in this moment.

What that means today is simply this friend, stop staring at your problems.

Look beyond your problem to the person who can actually deal and resolve the problem you are facing.

So the elder says to John, look, look to the lion of the tribe of Judah, look to the root of David, for he has conquered.

Man, those titles have so much biblical history attached to them.

Lion from the tribe of Judah.

That takes you all the way back to Genesis 49.

There was a man named Jacob, he was a third of three patriarchs over the nation Israel.

Jacob ended up having his name changed by God to Israel after he wrestled a night with the Lord on the banks of the Japak River.

But Jacob with Israel would be the father of 12 people, 12 sons, who would be the representatives of the 12 tribes of Israel.

And at the end of Jacob's life in Genesis 49, what he does is he lays a blessing on each and every one of those 12 children.

He comes to Judah, his son Judah.

And after making a promise to Judah that the scepter of royalty, of leadership would never lead his house, he calls Judah a lion.

In other words, he's saying, a king will come from this tribe of lions, of victors.

And then John calls Jesus the root of David.

That takes us all the way back to Isaiah 11.

Isaiah in his prophetic literature said Israel was like a tree that was trapped down.

You know, when a tree is trapped down, it becomes a living tree, it becomes a dead tree.

And so when that tree was chopped down, when the nation was driven into exile by the Assyrians and the Babylonians, it appeared as if the nation had disappeared from the face of the earth.

But Isaiah says, no, no, a green shoot has come up from Jesse's stump.

Like a king from David's line will prevail.

And here in Revelation, he brings it all together.

Like Jesus is the promised king, the lion, the Messiah, the shoot that would come up from the stump of Jesse.

And notice what he says in Revelation 5, he has conquered.

Not he might conquer, not he's trying to conquer.

Let's not see how this thing shakes out.

No, no.

He has conquered.

Church, that's where, as Christians, our courage comes from.

Remember, one of the primary purposes of revelation in our Bibles is really to instill within us a courage to confront whatever we are confronting in this reality.

To confront whatever we're confronting in an age of anxiety and outrage.

Jesus has overcome.

Like sin threw everything it could at him.

Jesus overcame.

Satan tempted him in every way Satan could tempt him at the beginning, end, and probably somewhere in the middle of his earthly ministry.

Jesus overcame.

Religious powers rejected him.

Rome crucified him.

Death tried to swallow him up.

They dragged his lifeless body into a tomb and put a rock to seal the entrance.

But three days later, what happens?

The seal is removed, the tomb is empty, Jesus walks out, the lion has conquered.

So Christian courage is not standing in front of your problem and saying, I'm strong enough, I will prevail.

No, no.

Christian courage is standing in front of your problem saying, Jesus is stronger.

And because I'm yoked to Jesus, I know I will prevail.

Do you see the difference?

Cancer might be stronger than you, but it is not stronger than Jesus.

Parkinson's may be stronger than you, but it isn't stronger than Jesus.

Addiction may be stronger than you, but it isn't stronger than Jesus.

Fear may be stronger, grief may overwhelm.

Death, hear me, will eventually be stronger than each and every one of our mortal bodies, but none of them are stronger than Jesus.

The Lion has conquered, church.

We look to the lion.

We become overcomers when we acknowledge and admit we are not strong in ourselves.

Instead, we look to the lion who has conquered.

And finally, number three, we find our strength in the lion who has become the lamb.

Now, technically, our reading stopped at verse 5, but you can't understand verse 5 without dipping into verse 6 to see what happens next.

So the elder tells, or the elder in heaven tells John to look at the lion.

So John turns, and what does he see?

Verse 6 tells us not a lion, he sees a lamb.

And not just any lamb, a lamb standing who had been slaughtered.

Do you see the paradox?

John hears a lion, but he sees a lamb.

We expect Jesus, the reigning and ruling king, to conquer through overwhelming force.

Instead, he conquers through a demonstration of sacrificial love.

Like the lion becomes the lamb.

Prince, that is the heart of revelation.

That is the heart of the gospel.

Like Jesus doesn't overcome by avoiding suffering.

Jesus overcomes through suffering.

Jesus doesn't defeat death by staying away from it.

He defeats death by going right into the belly of it and breaking it apart from the inside out.

He doesn't conquer sin but by By shouting at us from heaven to do better.

No, no.

He carries our sin in his own body to the cross.

Like Isaiah said, he would be led like a lamb to the slaughter.

At Passover, go all the way back to Exodus.

God raises up Moses to be his instrument to lead his people out of Egyptian slavery and into the promised land.

And he did so by ten demonstrations of power before the mighty Pharaoh.

And the last of those ten demonstrations was God was going to send the angel of death to pass through all of Egypt and kill the firstborn of every family in Egypt.

And God said to Moses, instruct your people to take an unblemished land and kill it and take the blood and spread it on your doorposts.

And when the angel of death passes over all of Egypt, he will bypass your homes because of the blood and just take the firstborn sons of the Egyptian families.

Like the lamb, the blood of the lamb, caused the judgment of God to pass over God's people.

John the Baptist, go ahead 1,200 years in the middle of his ministry, sees Jesus walking down the mountain to the Jordan River to be baptized by him.

And what does he say?

Behold, or look, the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world.

And now we're in Revelation where all of it is brought together.

The Lion of Judah has become the Lamb who was slain.

Power and sacrifice, majesty and mercy, strength and surrender, all wrapped up in Jesus.

And friends, that changes our understanding of true strength.

Because again, we tend to think that strength means we're never weak, that we're never crying, that we're never struggling, that we're never needing help, always winning.

But look at Jesus.

Sometimes strength looks like surrender.

Sometimes courage looks like obedience when obedience costs you something.

Sometimes overcoming friends, it means loving somebody else who has hurt you deeply.

Sometimes it means extending forgiveness to someone who doesn't deserve your forgiveness.

Sometimes it means serving another person when nobody else is watching.

Sometimes it looks like remaining faithful when compromise would be so much easier.

Or trusting God when you cannot see what God is doing.

Friends, Jesus shows us that sometimes kingdom strength doesn't roar.

Kingdom strength bleeds.

Which the beauty of that statement, it means that our weakness does not disqualify us from becoming overcomers.

Take the Apostle Paul, 2 Corinthians 12.

He offers his autobiographical prayer to in the letter saying that he's been praying to God to remove this thorn from his flesh, this hindrance to his ministry and his life.

Three times he asked God to take it away.

What does God say each time?

No, not gonna do that.

Why?

Because I need you to learn that my grace is sufficient for you.

That my power, the power from heaven, is made perfect in your weakness.

And so Paul finally understood that I will boast all the more gladly about my weakness.

Why?

Because when I am weak, he who lives in me is strong.

Again, why?

Because I think weakness creates room for dependence.

And when we depend on the risen Savior, the Christ, for our help, guess what?

That is not weakness.

In fact, I would go so far to say that dependence on Christ is where real strength begins.

So let me ask you the question.

Let's bring this home.

What are you trying to carry right now in your life in your own strength?

What are you trying to fix or manage in your own strength?

In your own power?

Is it a flailing marriage?

Is it a prodigal child?

Is it a job?

Is it a diagnosis?

Is it grief over loss?

What are you trying to manage or fix in your own strength?

Is it a decision about the future?

Is it some temptation that keeps getting the upper hand on you?

Friends, maybe your prayer in the midst of whatever it is you're thinking about isn't Jesus make me stronger to endure.

Maybe your prayer is simply this.

Jesus, teach me to depend on your strength instead of my own.

Because again, friends, the gospel is this.

You isn't, is not this.

You can over the gospel isn't you can overcome if you try hard enough.

That's not the gospel.

The gospel is Jesus has overcome, so stay close to Jesus, and you too will overcome.

John is weeping because he sees a problem that nobody can solve.

Not even vanilla ice could solve it.

If you're from the 80s, you got the reference.

If not, it's lost on you.

John is weeping because he sees a problem no one can solve, and heaven says, no, do not weep.

Instead, look.

Church, that's our invitation today is to look.

Look beyond the problem that's in front of you to the person who can do something about it.

When fear tells you that everything is falling apart in your life, look at the lamb.

When shame tries to tell you that your sin defines you, look to the lamb.

When you don't know how the story is gonna end, look to the risen Jesus.

When you aren't strong enough, look to the Christ who has conquered.

Listen, you don't have to be the lion because Jesus already is.

You don't have to conquer sin in your own strength because the Lamb has been slain.

You don't have to defeat death because Jesus already has.

You don't have to hold all of history together.

Or your own life for that matter.

Because the scroll is in his hands.

And maybe the word somebody needs today is simply this.

I'm gonna pull on my inner Brian.

Stop being your own savior.

There is a savior and you are not.

Friend, you cannot save yourself.

You cannot carry your sin.

You cannot manufacture enough righteousness in yourself to make yourself worthy before a holy God.

But there is one who is worthy.

Jesus Christ, the lion from the tribe of Judah, the lamb who was slain, the root of Jesse.

He went to the cross for your sin.

He shed his blood for you.

He rose from the grave for you.

And today he offers you forgiveness and victory and life.

But he only offers that to those who trust in him and not in their own strength.

Who trust in what he did for them at the cross, for you at the cross.

Look, you are not enough in and of yourself.

You are not worthy of heaven, but because of Christ's blood, guess what?

He has made you worthy.

So when you feel weak, remember the lion.

When you feel unworthy, remember the lamb.

When you feel afraid, remember it is he Christ that has conquered.

And because he has overcome, church, we can be overcomers.

Again, not through our own strength, not through our own power, not through our own goodness, no, through Christ, the lion who reigns, the lamb who was slain, the Savior who has conquered your strength, my strength is in him.

And listen, church, today I don't want us just simply to hear my words.

I want us to respond to it.

Because listen, some of you have walked into this room, I know this as a fact.

Some of you have walked into this room today with a load on your shoulders that is too heavy for you to carry.

And you've been trying to control it, you've been trying to fix it, you've been trying to manage it, you've been trying to muster up enough strength to endure it.

You've been trying to be strong.

But maybe today Jesus is saying to you, you don't have to be strong enough because I am.

So in a moment, we're going to continue on our worship by singing our closing song.

And as we do, as we've done every week, I want to invite you to come to the altar and simply kneel.

Kneel before your Lord as an act of surrender.

Bring whatever it is you're trying to manage in your own power and lay it before the altar and let Jesus pick it up for you.

Friends, whatever it is you're trying to carry in your own strength, bring it to Jesus.

Maybe it's a diagnosis.

Maybe it's your marriage.

Maybe it's a prodigal child.

Maybe it's an addiction.

Maybe it's a fear.

I don't know.

Maybe there's someone out there that needs to go a little deeper than that.

You've been trying to manage your sin in your own strength and carry it on your own, thinking that if you can just make yourself good enough or worthy enough or righteousness, righteous enough, you can have heaven.

Please hear me.

You can't fix yourself.

You can't save yourself.

You can't.

But there is one who can save you.

There is one who is worthy.

It is the Lamb that was slain.

Jesus again carried your sin to the cross.

He shed his blood for you.

He rose from the grave for you.

And today, if it is you, you can stop trying to be your own savior and surrender your life to him.

If that's you, come.

Come to the altar and simply say, Jesus, I need you.

Forgive me.

Save me.

My life is now in your hands.

Friends, if you're carrying something, stop.

Don't let pride keep you from laying it down at the altar.

Don't let fear of what the person sitting next to you thinks if you move.

John was weeping in heaven until heaven said, stop, don't weep.

Instead, look.

So today, look.

Look to the lion, look to the lamb.

Look to the one who has already overcome what you and I could never overcome on our own.

And whatever you're carrying today, bring it to Jesus.

So as we worship, if you need forgiveness, please come.

If you need his strength, please come.

If you need to surrender what you've been trying to carry yourself, come.

If you simply need to kneel and say to Jesus, I commit my whole life to you, come.

Friend, the lion is conquered.

The lamb was slain, the tomb is empty.

Jesus Christ has overcome, and your strength is in him.

Praise be to God.

Will you pray with me?

Lord God, I want to do prayer a little different today.

For 25 minutes, this room full of people have been listening to my voice.

I want to give them a moment to listen to the voice of the Holy Spirit.

Holy Spirit, through your voice, reveal to them the spaces in their life that they're trying to control and manage and fix in their own strength.

Gotta convict the heart.

And when we do that, Lord, it's as if we've surrendered none of us.

So we come before you again and ask, oh God, you have your way with us.

Humble us, convict us, lead us to a place of repentance.

Lead us to a place of falling on bended knee.

In worship, in gratitude.

For you are a worthy God.

Lord Jesus, every life is now open before you, every heart.

I pray the decisions we make in these next moments are exactly what you want.

It's in Christ's name we pray.

And all God's people said, Amen.

Thank you for listening to the Church of the Lakes podcast with Pastor Jared Preset.

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