And we have entitled this series, The Revelation
of Jesus Christ. Those are the first five words
of this book, The Revelation of Jesus Christ.
The book of Revelation is not primarily a book
about beasts or judgments or timelines. First
and foremost, this book is the revelation of
Jesus Christ. It is all about Jesus Christ. It
reveals Jesus Christ to us. It reveals who he
is, but not only that, it reveals what he has
done. It reveals to us how we must remain faithful
to him in the days to come. Verse 1 continues,
it tells us that it is to show unto his servants
things which must shortly... come to pass. This
book of Revelation is not intended to scare us.
This book is intended to strengthen us. It's
intended to give us hope. It's intended to give
us peace and comfort. Even when the world around
us might be shaking, God's word stands forever
firm. And that is the point of the book of Revelation,
to strengthen us, to fortify us, to give us faith
and hope. And so we are splitting up the book
of Revelation into three parts that we are calling
prepare, persevere and prevail. And so last week...
We study chapters 1 through 5 to know how to
prepare and how to be ready for the last days.
Revelation 1 and 3 tells us, Blessed is he that
readeth and they that hear the words of this
prophecy and keep those things which are written
therein. Why? It says, For the time is at hand.
The time is near. You will be blessed if you
will read, hear, and keep the words of Jesus
Christ. So that's how we prepare. First, we must
see Jesus for who he truly is. We must hear what
he is saying to his church. And lastly, we must
obey his word and commandments. To see means
that we would gain revelation. To hear means
that we would receive instruction. And then to
obey means that we would surrender completely
to God. And this verse promises us that we will
be blessed if we would do all three of those
things, if we will see, if we will hear, and
if we will obey. Revelation 3 and 20, Jesus says,
Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If any
man hear my voice and open the door, I will come
into him and I will sup with him and he with
me. It is not enough to see Jesus for who he
is and to know that he's the one knocking on
the door. And it's not enough to hear that he's
the one knocking and to hear his voice asking
to come in. But no, we have to obey. We have
to open that door. That's how we're blessed.
That's how we prepare. So tonight, we'll be studying
Revelation chapter 6 through 18, and we will
learn how we must persevere and endure through
tribulation and judgment. And then next week,
we'll wrap it up in Revelation chapters 19 through
22, and we will celebrate that we are on the
winning side. Because of Jesus and his love for
us, we are promised that we will prevail. Prepare,
persevere, prevail. But these are not separate
ideas. These all are connected one to another.
The book of Revelation tells us a story in order.
It's intentional. It's on purpose. And this is
the main point. If you do not prepare, you will
not persevere. And likewise, if you do not persevere,
you will not prevail. Prepare, persevere, prevail.
Back to that main point. If you do not prepare,
you will not persevere. That's why Ephesians
chapter 6 verse 13 tells us that we need to put
on the whole armor of God that we may be able
to withstand in the evil day. We have to prepare
if we are going to persevere. We need what the
Bible calls the belt of truth, the breastplate
of righteousness. We need our feet shod with
the preparation of the gospel of peace. We need
the shield of faith. We need the helmet of salvation
and the sword of the spirit, which is the word
of God, if we're going to make it. it. It's a
battle. It's a struggle that we're living in,
but preparation through the armor of God is what
makes perseverance possible. But that's not it.
There's one more step. If you do not persevere,
you will not prevail. Let's look at James 1 and
12. It tells us so plainly, blessed is the man
that endureth temptation, for when he is tried,
he shall receive the crown of life. Perseverance
leads to prevailing. The crown follows the trial.
No perseverance, no victory. And so tonight we're
going to discuss that second step. We are prepared,
but now we must persevere. We're going to anchor
our lesson tonight on a familiar passage of Scripture.
This is Revelation 12, verse 11. It tells us
they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb and
by the word of their testimony. and they love
not their lives unto the death. And so tonight,
that is how we persevere. We must be cleansed
by his blood. We must confess that he is Lord,
and we must be committed in our sacrifice to
please him and him alone. That's what it takes
to persevere. The blood of the lamb is that first
step. Jesus Christ was slain for us, and Jesus
Christ, his sacrifice is what empowers us to
endure. And this is how every believer in every
age overcomes. We do not endure by strength.
We do not persevere by willpower. We do not survive
because of our human ability. No, we persevere
because we have been redeemed by the precious
blood of Jesus Christ. It also says that we overcome
by the word of our testimony. That means that
we boldly declare who Jesus is, but not only
that, also what he has done for us in our lives.
I want you to know today that what you say, what
you do, who you are, that is a witness to this
world of the power of the Holy Ghost. And that
last point is, if we're going to persevere, we
must love God more than we love ourselves. That
means that we need to choose faithfulness over
self -preservation, even to death. If that's
what is required of us, even to death, we must
exalt the name of Jesus and not bow the knee
to any God of this world. We must refuse to turn
back even if it costs us our life. We have to
be completely devoted to the cause of Jesus Christ.
And so let's take some time tonight to walk through
chapter by chapter, Revelation chapter 6 through
18, and we're going to see how every scene, every
judgment, every chapter points us back to Jesus
Christ and tells us how we can persevere. The
judgments of Revelation do not begin with chaos.
That's a very important point here. That's not
even the intention of the judgments. It's not
for chaos. It's not out of cruelty. It does not
begin with Satan. It does not begin with evil
being on the throne of this world. The judgments
of Revelation begin with the Lamb, Jesus Christ.
This is Revelation 6 and 1. John says, and I
saw when the Lamb opened one of the seals. I
think that's an important thing to note. The
same Jesus who died to redeem us is the same
Jesus who controls history. There is not one
God that's redeeming and another God that's judging.
There is one throne, and there is one Lamb, and
that is Jesus Christ. Revelation is not presenting
competing persons at all. It is presenting the
same Jesus as Savior and Judge. And so we read
here that when judgment begins, it is Jesus who
initiates it. History, we read, does not spiral
out of control. It unfolds under the authority
of judgment. Jesus Christ. This book is the revelation
of Jesus Christ. And so in Revelation chapter
6, this is where we read about what are called
the seven seals. The seven seals are one of a
series of end time judgments from God. They are
from God. A scroll in heaven, John reports, is
held closed by seven seals and a new judgment
is unleashed on the earth every time one of those
seals are open or broken. We read about the first
seal in Revelation 6, verse 2. Here, John reports
he saw a white horse with a rider. This rider
is holding a bow and wearing a crown. That symbolizes,
as this scripture explains, conquest and conquering.
This seal here represents the rise of earthly
power. But no matter what rises in the earth,
we recognize that Jesus Christ is king. The second
seal, we find that in verse 4. Here, John sees
a fiery red horse and rider. This represents
war and the taking of peace from the earth. Violence
spreads, but note, Jesus is still the one on
the throne. And Jesus is still the one, by the
way, breaking these seals that unleash these
judgments. Verse 5 tells us about the third seal.
Here John sees a black horse and a rider with
a pair of scales. And this symbolizes famine
and it also symbolizes economic hardship throughout
the earth. The fourth seal, this is verse 8.
John sees here a pale horse and a rider named
Death. He also reports that Hades is following
him, and this represents widespread death all
over the world. There's famine and there's death,
but don't be confused. Jesus is still in control,
and Jesus is the one opening these seals that
bring judgment but redemption to the world. So
the first four seals are called the four horsemen
of the apocalypse, but the fifth seal is different.
We find this in verse 9. This seal is the souls
of martyrs who have been killed for their faith.
And here John sees that they are crying out from
under the altar, and they are crying out for
God's judgment and God's vengeance. Verse 10,
those that were killed because they confessed
Jesus, they are asking, how long, O Lord? These
are the people that persevered, but how did they
persevere? They too, they persevered by the blood
of Jesus. They persevered by the word of their
testimony, and they persevered by their devotion
to Jesus Christ above all else. Down to verse
12, this is where we read about the sixth seal.
The sixth seal is a great earthquake. John also
tells us that the sun turns black. He says that
the moon turns into red, the color of blood.
He says that stars fall from the sky. In this
period here, there's more devastation. There
is more destruction. But what is it here that
humanity is finally recognizing? We read this
in verse 12. Excuse me, verse 17. For the great
day of his wrath is come, and who shall be able
to stand, they ask. Well, who shall stand? The
answer is chapter 7, verse 14. It says, these
are they which came out of great tribulation
and have washed their robes and made them white
in the blood of the Lamb. So how do we persevere?
It's not by perfection. It's not by never making
a mistake. It's not by our own human strength.
No, it's by the blood of the Lamb. It's by our
testimony. It's by our witness. It's by our complete
surrender to Jesus Christ and his will on this
earth. And so next we go to chapter 8. It begins
with that seventh seal. And once that seventh
seal is broken, there is silence in heaven for
about half an hour, about 30 minutes. And this,
we're soon to find out, it preludes the seven
trumpet judgments. So those were the seven seal
judgments. And immediately following that are
the seven trumpet judgments. But I want you to
know that the seven trumpet judgments were, just
like the seal judgments, not random acts of destruction.
Everything is in order. Everything is on purpose.
And everything has a purpose. They are warnings.
They are God calling the world to repentance
before final wrath is poured out. And so every
trumpet, just like we would recognize here in
our world, every... trumpet in this day as well.
It's calling out. It's a warning, if you will.
It's an alarm, if you will, telling people, turn
to Jesus while there is still time. There is
a method to the badness, if you will. The wrath
of God in these judgments, it's not because he
doesn't love his creation. It's not because he's
an evil God. Not at all. This is God giving people
another chance by his mercy to come to know him
and to have relationship. Relationship and communion
to him. He says turn to Jesus while there is
still time. Because Jesus is the way. Jesus is
God. This is the revelation of Jesus Christ.
And so beginning in verse 7 of this chapter we
read about the seven trumpets. The first trumpet.
John tells us is hell and it's fire mixed with
blood. And because of that, vegetation is burned,
the grass, the trees. Verse 8 tells us about
the second trumpet. This is a burning mountain
that falls into the sea. Verse 11, the third
trumpet is wormwood. And because of that, all
the water is poisoned and the people that drink
it die. When the fourth trumpet sounds, this
is in verse 12, the sun, the moon, and the stars
are dimmed. A third of the light is gone immediately.
And so you may recognize that these judgments
actually mirror some of the plagues that happened
in Egypt. And we can read that to understand
that God is forming a new exodus. He is calling
the world to repent, and he is calling his people
to persevere. This world is not our home. We
are just passing through. God's got a great future
for us. He's got a great promise for us. This
is just a season and we have to persevere. But
notice, in the middle of all this chaos, the
church is told explicitly not to panic. We are
told to endure. We are told to witness. We are
told to stand. We are told to hold fast. Well,
how do you persevere? You do it through the blood
of the Lamb. You do it through the word of your
testimony. You do it because you love Jesus and
the things of God more than what your flesh wants.
You love not your lives, even unto death. And
so the next two trumpets reveal spiritual warfare
more clearly. Chapter 9, verse 3, when the fifth
trumpet sounds, this is when demonic torment
is released, but it's very limited for now. There's
a whole lot more demonic torment in the future,
but this is a very... by comparison, muted unleashing
of demonic torment. Verse 15, this is the sixth
trumpet, and that unleashes a vast cavalry of
destruction. Innumerable people are killed. A
third of the world is killed just in that one
judgment. That's the sixth trumpet judgment.
Yet somehow, after all of this, and this is sad,
but this is verse 20, it tells us that the rest
of the men, a third of them were killed just
like that. Yet... The rest of the men that are
on earth, they still refuse to repent. And they
still refuse to turn to Jesus. Even in judgment,
even in devastation and chaos and destruction,
many harden their hearts instead of opening their
hearts to Jesus Christ. Going to Revelation chapter
10, this is verse 1. John reports to us that
he sees a mighty angel. This angel is clothed
with a cloud. He has a rainbow on his head. He
says that his face shines. His feet are pillars
of fire. This angel has one foot on the sea or
the water. He has one foot on the ground or the
land. And he declares in verse 6, there should
be time no longer, meaning that time is running
out. And John is told this. I find this interesting.
This is verse 9. John is actually told in this
vision to eat the scroll, to literally eat the
scroll. And he reports, as we can read in this
verse here, that it is sweet in his mouth. And
that's because truth is glorious. Truth is a
beautiful thing, but it's bitter in his belly
because judgment, judgment is heavy. And I would
say that this represents the burden that the
church has even today in the year 2025 and all
throughout the last days. We carry a message
that is beautiful. Salvation is real. But at
the same time, that message we have to share
with the world around us is very sobering because
judgment as well is just as real. Yet, in joy
and in heaviness, we are called to persevere.
And how do we do that? It's because of the blood
of the Lamb. It's because the word of our testimony.
And it's because we love Jesus more than anything
else. We are completely devoted to him. Now we
go to Revelation 11. And Revelation 11 introduces
to us two witnesses. And these witnesses are
a prophetic picture of the church. We read in
verse 3 here that they prophesy with power, it
says. They stand in boldness. They cannot be
stopped until... Their testimony is complete,
and that's what takes us to verse 11. They only
had four verses here. They are killed, but it's
only when their assignment is finished. We go
to verse 11 and it tells us that the spirit of
life from God entered into them and they stood
upon their feet. Biblical scholars tell us that
this is a picture of the resurrection power of
Jesus Christ in his church. The world may strike
at us. We know what that's like. Panic all around
the world might increase. Pressure might increase.
Opposition is heavier against us now than ever.
Faith, having a belief in Jesus Christ, standing
up for the world. the truth. There's a higher
cost to that now than there has been before.
But the church, Jesus is encouraging us, cannot
die until her testimony is complete because the
church is the body of Christ and Jesus will never
die. be defeated. We are here today for a purpose.
We have a mission. We have an assignment from
God and the gates of hell will never prevail
against the church. That's not God's plan. God's
plan is that we will be here until our assignment
is complete. Jesus said he's not coming back
until the whole world hears. So why don't you
and I listen to the call of God and not only
overcome because of the blood of the lamb, but
also the word of our testimony, also a life of
surrender and devotion to Jesus. So how do the
witnesses persevere through tribulation? It's
the same way we persevere. The blood, testimony,
loving not their own lives, even unto death,
whatever the cost, whatever the price, whatever
the sacrifice, it's worth it to follow the call
of God. That's not just how you survive. No,
it says that's how you overcome. That's how you
overcome. And so we had a little bit of a gap
between verses there before we get to that seventh
trumpet. This is all the way in verse 15. And
here we read that all of heaven proclaims a tune
that is familiar to us thanks to our Christmas
concerts. This is verbatim, by the way. The kingdoms
of this world are become the kingdoms of our
Lord and of his Christ. And he shall reign forever
and ever. Jesus Christ reigns forevermore. Jesus
Christ is the king. Jesus Christ is victorious.
And so the seventh trumpet signals to us the
end of judgment. And it signals the establishment
of God's eternal kingdom. And so now we are at
the center point of the book of Revelation. Not
just this series now, but the center point of
the entire book of Revelation. This is chapter
12. This chapter takes it a little further. It
starts to explain something to us. Not just why
tribulation is happening, but chapter 12 begins
to tell us how the church can overcome it. So
far we've read about seals. They show that Jesus
is in control. And the trumpet judgments, they
were Jesus calling his church to repent. The
witnesses show that Jesus is still speaking through
his church. This is the revelation of Jesus Christ.
And now here in Revelation 12, it shows the true
conflict, not just the things you can see with
your earthly eyes or hear with your earthly ears
or understand with your earthly brain, but there's
a true conflict that's underlying all of this,
and that is spiritual warfare. We start to read
about this in Revelation 12. Revelation 12, it
begins to pull back the curtain on the spiritual
conflict behind all persecution, tribulation,
and pressure. This is where John sees a woman
and he sees a child and he sees a dragon. In
this vision, the woman represents the people
of God or Israel or the church across history.
Not just now, but across history, the church
of the living God. The child we recognize is
Jesus Christ. And then, of course, that would
leave the dragon to be Satan. He is the adversary.
He is the accuser, the Bible says. This is chapter
12, verse 5. It says that the child was caught
up unto God and to his throne. So, of course,
this not only represents the resurrection of
Jesus Christ, but it represents his ascension
back into heaven. Going down to verse 7, it tells
us that there was a war in heaven. And I'm happy
to report to you that Michael and his angels,
the Bible says, cast the dragon down. Satan,
who the Bible calls the accuser of the brethren,
he is defeated. And that takes us to our key
verse, verse 11. They overcame him, not by their
own might and not by their own strength and not
because they had a good plan, not because they
figured it out. It's not like that. They overcame
him because of the blood of the lamb. Because
of the sacrifice of Jesus Christ. They overcame
him because of the word of their testimony. A
true confession about who Jesus is. A true surrender
to God. Loving not their own lives, but loving
God more than anything. Being willing to pay
any price there is to pay to follow the call
of God. That's how they overcome. And that's
how we overcome. That's how we persevere in the
last days. That's how we persevere through tribulation
and judgment. The blood of the Lamb. the word
of our testimony, and loving not our lives, even
unto death. That is the pattern of perseverance.
The blood is our identity and our righteousness.
That comes from Jesus Christ alone. Our testimony
is when we speak about who God is, but not just
that, also what he has done, and in our surrender
as well. That means that we value eternal life
more than our earthly temporal gains and comfort.
Today, that's how we persevere. That's how we
overcome. That's not a suggestion. That is the
command of perseverance. Thankfully, here in
verse 17, we read that Satan knows that he is
defeated. And so at this point, he redirects
his anger, if you will, and he focuses his ire
on the church, on the saints. And the message
is simple and direct. I believe that tells us
that this battle is not political and it's not
cultural. This battle is spiritual. And the church
is the target. But it's not because Satan thinks
he can defeat the church. He knows better than
that. It's because Satan hates who we serve.
This verse says we keep the commandments of God.
We have the testimony of Jesus. He is the one
true and living God. We know that. This is the
revelation of Jesus Christ. And so in chapter
13, we're going here. We see this is verse 1,
a beast from the sea. When you study this, this
is very clearly representing worldly power systems
or political domination in our world today. But
then verse 11 tells us about another beast coming
up out of the earth. And this beast represents
false religion or deception or propaganda. This
beast references religious manipulation. And
it's these two beasts, these two forces together
that create the spirit of Antichrist. And so
we recognize this because we've already experienced
it, that the world will say there are other ways
to salvation. That's the spirit of the Antichrist.
But the church replies, no, Jesus Christ is Lord.
We cannot do this by ourselves. We overcome by
the blood of the Lamb. But then also the world
tells us, be silent, fit in, go along to get
along. But no, we stand and we confess that Jesus
Christ is Lord because we overcome by the word
of our testimony. The world tells us, take it
easy. You can feed your flesh. The world tells
us it doesn't take all that. But no, we give
ourselves completely to God because we overcome
by complete devotion to Jesus. Not loving our
lives, even unto the death, making any sacrifice
necessary to be pleasing and acceptable in the
sight of God. That's how we endure. That is how
we persevere. Continuing on now, we're in chapter
14, Revelation chapter 14. Let's look at verse
1. John tells us that when the beast rises, something
else is happening. It's not just evil, but no,
look at what he sees. He looks, and lo, a lamb
stood on Mount Zion. The lamb stands. Jesus remains
sovereign. Satan rages, but that doesn't change
the fact that Jesus... And the church, this is
verse 6, still preaches what this verse calls
the everlasting gospel to everyone who dwells
on the earth. Every nation, every kindred, every
tongue, every people. That is the mission of
the church. And no matter what the devil does,
he cannot get in the way of the everlasting gospel
being shared to those that are hungry for more
of God. Even in tribulation, the gospel does
not stop. Why? It's because the testimony must
be proclaimed. That's how we overcome. Through
the blood of the Lamb, the word of the testimony,
and complete devotion to Jesus Christ. We persevere
because we are willing to sacrifice anything
for Jesus. And so when we come to Revelation,
this is chapter 15, verse 3. It tells us that
heaven burst into worship. And John hears a song
echoing throughout eternity. They are singing,
Great and marvelous are thy works, Lord God Almighty.
Thou alone art holy. Notice that title. He's
called Lord God Almighty. That's singular. Not
persons, not parts of God. There is one almighty
and his name is Jesus. And so when heaven worships,
it does not divide him up. It magnifies him as
one. He alone is holy. He alone is worthy. His
name is Jesus. This is the revelation of Jesus
Christ. Going to Revelation 16, this describes
another series of judgments. These are called
the vile judgments. It describes the seven vials
of God's wrath being poured out. And these are
the final judgments upon a rebellious world system.
In verse 2, we read of that first vial. Here
it says that loathsome, uncomfortable sores on
those who have the mark of the beast. The second
vow, this is in verse 3, it tells us that the
sea turns to blood and everything in it dies.
The third vow is the very next verse, verse 4.
It tells us that all rivers and all springs as
well turn to blood. Verse 8 is where we find
that fourth vow. When that is poured out, the
sun scorches people with fire. Verse 10 is the
fifth vow. Here we read that darkness covers
the throne of the beast. All the way down to
verse 12 is where we read that sixth vial. And
that tells us that the Euphrates River dries
up and armies gather for battle. And that takes
us to verse 17. This is the seventh and final
vial. And here a final voice declares, it is
done. And so in verse 18 we read that the world
is shaken by a massive earthquake. Every vow
I want you to know reveals both the justice but
also the holiness of our God. God is very patient,
but he's also righteous. God is merciful, absolutely,
but God cannot deny his own nature. God is holy.
This is the revelation of Jesus Christ. And yet,
even as the wrath of God is poured out, the church,
again, is told not to panic. We are not told
to hide somewhere in fear. We are told to endure.
Because our endurance is not rooted in our strength.
It's rooted in the blood of the Lamb and the
word of our testimony. It's rooted in a complete
surrender and devotion to Jesus Christ. That
is how we persevere. Even when the world is trembling.
We trust in God. When everything shakes, we stand
firm on the promises of God. When others curse
God and deny Him and take the easy way out, no,
we keep on worshiping Him because He is holy.
That's what we're called to do. That is how we
persevere. We're going now to chapter 17. This
is verse 5. And this is where John sees Babylon.
Babylon here in this verse, but also really throughout
the Bible, it is a symbol. It represents human
pride. It represents rebellion. It represents
everything that man can do apart from God. So
not with God, not according to his will, but
everything man does their own way, their own
ability, following their own lust and desires.
Babylon stands for human pride and human rebellion.
It stands for human self -exaltation. Verse 6,
this is the spirit that says we don't need God.
This is the spirit that literally rejoices in
evil. This is the spirit that not only mocks
but also persecutes the church. But then we're
still in chapter 17. Let's go down to verse 14.
It tells us the final outcome of all of this.
It says, These shall make war with the Lamb,
and the Lamb shall overcome them. For He is Lord
of lords and King of kings. And they that are
with Him are called and chosen and faithful.
To that I say hallelujah. To that I say all glory
to God. Jesus overcomes. Jesus is on the throne.
Jesus is victorious. This is the revelation of
Jesus Christ. But I love this part because when
you read this verse, it does not say that Jesus
alone overcame. It says when he overcome also
those that are with him, they are called and
chosen and faithful. They are victorious. That
is what perseverance looks like. It's not just
believing for a moment. It's not just starting
the race. No, it's finishing the race. It is
enduring until the end. That's how we overcome
the blood of the lamb. The word of our testimony
and not loving our lives even unto the death.
And so the last chapter of Revelation that we
will look at tonight is Revelation chapter 18.
Verse 2 tells us that Babylon falls completely.
And finally Babylon falls. The system of man
collapses under the weight of its own sin. Effectively
is what happens. Everything that the world trusts
in, it collapses in that moment. Everything that
the world glorifies, it burns. It turns to dust
and ash immediately. Everything built apart from
Christ falls because he's the only firm foundation.
He's the only thing you can depend on. He's the
only thing you can build your life on. Everything
else falls when Babylon the great is fallen.
Verse 20 tells us that the sinner mourns, but
the church rejoices. The world system crumbles,
but the saints, they endure. Why do they endure?
It's because our hope was never in Babylon. Our
trust was never in the things of this world.
Our treasure is not here in this world. The Bible
says to not set up for yourself treasures here
on earth where moth and rust do corrupt. But
no, set your affections on heaven. Set your sights
on things above. Store up for yourself treasures
in heaven. We're not trusting in Babylon. We're
trusting in Jesus Christ. And so when the systems
of this world fall, we're going to be victorious.
We're going to be all right. We're going to prevail
because Jesus is our king. Jesus is our Lord.
He is our savior. This is the revelation of Jesus
Christ. We persevere because this is Hebrews
12 and 28. It tells us that we belong to a kingdom
that cannot be shaken. We endure. We persevere.
We overcome. How do we do that? It's the blood
of the Lamb. It's the word of our testimony.
It's because we love not our lives even unto
the death. I ask you to stand all across this
room with me. Coming to a close this evening.
I want to go back to Revelation 14. I skipped
over this verse earlier because I wanted to use
it to lead us in prayer this evening. Revelation
14, this is verse 12. It says, here is the patience,
the endurance. The perseverance of the saints.
Here are they that keep the commandments of God
and the faith of Jesus. The obedience of the
saints is seen in our obedience, our patience,
our faith, our endurance. And the next verse,
verse 13, tells us, Blessed are the dead which
die in the Lord from henceforth. From now on.
Yea, saith the Spirit, they that may rest from
their labors and their works do follow them.
I want you to know tonight that nothing that
you do for Jesus is wasted. Nothing you do for
the kingdom of God is in vain. Every tear you
cry will be remembered. Every sacrifice you make,
God keeps good books. Every moment of faithfulness
counts. That is perseverance with eternity in
view, not just the world we're living in now,
not just the things that affect us day to day,
but that's how we persevere with heaven on our
mind, with the kingdom of heaven and God's eternal
reign in mind. That's how we respond to his everlasting
goodness. And so here we are. I would say that
here in America, the year 2025. and many other
places in the world, and it will only get worse
and worse. We are standing, I would say, in a
world that looks a lot like Revelation. We really
are. These things that we're reading about, I've
gone out of my way not to speculate. I don't
know enough about current events in the world
to even try to draw a line, so I didn't even
go there. I've only said what the Bible says,
and I've only told you what things represent.
I'm not trying to speculate. But you don't have
to do a whole doctoral dissertation to know.
That the world that we're in is waxing worse
and worse. Evil men and seducers are not only
deceiving their self, they're deceiving other
people. And as bad as you think it is now, it's
just very obvious. It's only going to get worse.
But we're called to persevere. We have a hope
today. We can persevere. In our world today,
systems are shaking, nations are crumbling and
trembling, and truth is under attack. In our
world today, I would say quite literally that
Babylon's influence is everywhere. But in this
moment, I believe with all of my heart that God
is raising up a people who will not bow to King
Nebuchadnezzar. I believe that in this place,
even right now, God is building up, raising up
a people who will not blend in. God is raising
up a people who will overcome by the blood of
the lamb and by the word of their testimony and
by not loving their lives even unto the death.
That is how we persevere. It's not our strength.
No, it's the blood of the lamb. It's not our
fame and fortune. No, it's the testimony of Jesus
Christ. It's not through our comfort. No, it's
through our surrender. And so tonight I'm inviting
you to come and to pray and to surrender to God
completely and wholly today. Would you come up
to the front today and spend some time in prayer?
And from the bottom of your heart, would you
do everything you can do to completely surrender
and devote yourself to God and His plans and
His will and His desire? Jesus, I thank you today
for your blood. I thank you for your...