Father, we worship you this morning. We've come to adore you and to set our hearts and the affections of our hearts on you.
God, as we're going to read in your word this morning, you are faithful and true and righteous in all your ways.
God, you have perfect perspective on the world.
And so, Father, this morning, as we come to set our hearts on you and to remind ourselves that we don't have perfect perspective.
We see the world from a very limited perspective, but you do, God.
And so, Father, we've come to trust you this morning.
We've come to set our hope on yourself and not ourselves.
We've come to set our hope on who you are more than ourself and the things of this world.
Father, thank you for the fact that you promised that, yes, in this world we will face trouble.
There is difficulty, that is true, but you promised that you will be with us.
Thank you for your leading and guiding.
God, every day we could look back upon the previous weeks and months and years and just say you are such a faithful God.
You really are faithful and true, and we honor you for that this morning, God.
Jesus, thank you that you promised to give us peace.
And for so many of us that have walked with you, that testimony is true.
Even in the midst of difficulty, your peace reigns in our hearts.
And we're so grateful for your faithfulness, God.
Father, this morning we want to pray for those in our congregation that are facing real challenges, God.
We know some of our friends are going through health challenges, really significant health challenges.
We bring them before you, God.
We pray for those that are parenting and just finding the reality of parenting is hard, God.
Christ, won't you pour out your grace on our parents, Lord.
We pray for those, God, for whom marriage is difficult at the moment, Lord.
And we pray for your grace and your gospel to be at work in our hearts.
God, help us to take our eyes off of ourselves and to fix our eyes on you, God.
Lord, we pray for those that are making big, life-altering decisions, God.
Whether to, yeah, take some big step in a new direction.
God, we pray that you will be with them and that you will make your will so abundantly clear.
We pray that we will know what your will is, God, in those situations.
So we pray for our students and our high schoolers, God.
I want you to lead them and be with them.
We bring ourselves before you, God.
We need you.
And that's why we've come to worship you, God.
Father, we want to pray for the young people in our city, God.
Those that are part of our church and those that are not.
Those who are dealing with trauma and conflict.
God, those who are really cut up and hurting deeply because of what's happened in the last couple of months.
God, we pray for your healing power to be at work in the young people of our city, God.
We pray for conflict to be resolved.
We pray for conflict in families and churches to be resolved.
We pray, God, for those involved in counseling, God, that you're given profound wisdom.
We pray for healing to come to our city.
Oh, God, we pray for your healing to come.
Jesus, we so need you.
Come and heal our city, we pray.
Father, we bring our city before you and we long for it to be in Hong Kong as it is in heaven, God.
We long for your grace and your priest to rule in our city.
And so we pray for the churches, God.
Cause us to be salt and light in the city.
Cause us to shine, to point to the hope of Jesus.
We pray for our politicians this morning, God.
Give them wisdom, Lord.
Help them to make right and good decisions for the well-being of our city.
We bring these things before you in your wonderful and your faithful name.
Amen.
Let's listen to the reading of God's word.
And Jefferson and Echo are going to read to us this morning.
The scripture reading comes from Revelation 19 to 21.
Please follow along in your bulletin or on the screen.
Then I saw heaven opened and behold a white horse.
The one sitting on it is called Faithful and True.
And in righteousness he judges and makes war.
His eyes are like a flame of fire and on his head are many diadems.
And he has a name written that no one knows but himself.
He is clothed in a robe dipped in blood.
And the name by which he is called is the word of God.
And the armies of heaven arrayed in fine linen, white and pure, were following him on white horses.
From his mouth comes a sharp sword with which to strike down the nations.
And he will rule them with a rod of iron.
He will tread the winepress of the fury of the wrath of God the Almighty.
On his robe and on his thigh he has a name written.
King of kings and lord of lords.
Then I saw an angel standing in the sun.
With a loud voice he called to all the birds that fly directly overhead.
Come, gather for the great supper of God.
To eat the flesh of kings, the flesh of captains, the flesh of mighty men,
the flesh of horses and their riders.
And the flesh of all men, both free and slave, both small and great.
And I saw the beast and the kings of the earth with their armies gathered to make war against him
who was sitting on a horse and against his army.
And the beast was captured.
And with it the false prophet, who in his presence had done the signs by which he deceived those
who had received the mark of the beast and those who worshipped his image.
These two were thrown alive into the lake of fire that burns with sulfur.
And the rest were slain by the sword that came from the mouth of him who was sitting on the horse.
And all the birds were gouged with their flesh.
Then I saw an angel coming down from heaven, holding in his hand the key to the bottomless pit and the great chain.
And he seized the dragon, that ancient serpent who is the devil and Satan,
and bound him for a thousand years and threw him into the pit and shut it and sealed it over him,
so that he might not deceive the nations any longer until the thousand years were ended.
After that, he must be released for a little while.
Then I saw thrones, and seated on them were those to whom the authority to judge was committed.
Also I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded for the testimony of Jesus and for the word of God,
and those who had not worshipped the beast or its image and had not received its mark on their foreheads or their hands.
They came to life and reigned with Christ for a thousand years.
The rest of the dead did not come to life until the thousand years were ended.
This is the first resurrection.
Blessed and holy is the one who shares the first resurrection.
Over such the second death has no power,
but they will be priests of God and of Christ,
and they will reign with him for a thousand years.
And when the thousand years are ended,
Satan will be released from his prison
and will come out to deceive the nations that are at the four corners of the earth,
Gog and Magog,
to gather them for battle.
Their number is like the sand of the sea,
and they marched up over the broad plain of the earth
and surrounded the camp of the saints and the beloved city.
The fire came down from heaven and consumed them,
and the devil who had deceived them was thrown into the lake of fire and sulfur,
where the beast and the false prophet were,
and they will be tormented day and night forever and ever.
Then I saw a great white throne and him who was seated on it.
From his presence, earth and sky fled away,
and no place was found for them.
And I saw the dead, great and small,
standing before the throne,
and books were opened.
Then another book was opened,
which is the book of life,
and the dead were judged by what is written in the books,
according to what they had done.
And the sea gave up the dead who were in it.
Death and Hades gave up the dead who were in them,
and they were judged,
each one of them,
according to what they had done.
Then death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire.
This is the second death,
the lake of fire.
And if anyone's name was not found written in the book of life,
he was thrown into the lake of fire.
Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth,
for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away,
and the sea was no more.
And I saw the holy city,
new Jerusalem,
coming down out of heaven from God,
prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.
And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying,
Behold,
the dwelling place of God is with man.
He will dwell with them,
and they will be his people,
and God himself will be with them as their God.
He will wipe away every tear from their eyes,
and death shall be no more.
Neither shall there be mourning,
nor crying,
nor pain anymore,
for the former things have passed away.
This is the word of God.
Okay, thank you, Jefferson and Echo.
I don't know if you remember this.
If you're a student,
this might be before your time.
I feel very old saying that.
But I remember when I was a kid,
I don't know if you remember,
seeing these 3D images,
or it was just a picture,
I think I've got one on the screen,
of like a blur of lines and patterns and colors,
and if you stare at it long enough,
you can see some 3D image emerging.
Does anyone remember any of those?
Okay, just one or two of us.
I remember looking at these things,
and like really squinting,
and trying to like,
from every different angle,
and I could never see the 3D image.
I was just useless at it.
Sometimes the book of Revelation
can feel a little bit like that.
It's just this blur of symbols and imagery,
and you can stare at it and think,
I don't have a clue what's going on.
But hopefully as you look at it long enough,
and as you read it enough,
you start to see the consistent patterns
and images emerge,
and you start to see the picture behind it.
Now if you've joined us recently,
or you've joined us halfway through the series,
you might be a little lost.
And to be honest, that's completely fine.
If you're lost,
and you've been here the whole time,
that's also fine.
And just by the way,
you are welcome to come and ask any questions you want.
I cannot promise I can answer every question,
but you're welcome to ask any question.
But I do hope for some of us
that have been here from the beginning,
we're starting to sort of see
the consistent patterns and images emerge
as we work through the book of Revelation.
Because really,
this book is one of the most repetitive books.
It keeps on just saying the same thing
time and time again from various angles.
Now, I have good news and bad news for you this morning.
What do you want first?
Okay, I would normally choose the bad news,
but I'm gonna go with the good news, okay?
The good news is this.
We are coming to the home straight.
I don't know if you've ever run a marathon,
and you get like three quarters of the way through,
and your legs turn to jelly,
and you just think,
there's no ways I'm gonna finish this thing.
When is this thing ever gonna end?
You might have felt like that
through the book of Revelation, right?
You might have thought,
I've hit a wall.
When is this thing ever gonna end?
We're coming to the home straight.
The finish line is ahead of us.
Two or three more weeks away,
we'll finish before Christmas, okay?
That's the good news.
The bad news is this.
Today's passage is probably the most controversial
and the most difficult passage
in the whole of Revelation,
and possibly the whole Bible.
It's one of those passages
that has had a gazillion books written about it
throughout the history of the world.
There are a million different podcasts,
everyone with their own opinion, okay?
And it's my joint privilege
to explain it to us this morning.
Part of the reason why it's so divisive
is because it talks about how the world,
as we know it, comes to an end.
And it talks about this strange period of time,
this period of a thousand years,
what's known as the millennium.
And that is really difficult
and has generated a lot of debate
for two main reasons.
The one reason is because the Bible's actually
not crystal clear on exactly how it all works.
And so there's varied opinions.
Some people say,
no, it definitely works like this.
Other people say,
no, it definitely works like this.
This is actually the only passage in the Bible
that talks about this mysterious millennium,
this thousand-year period.
The other reason why it's generated controversy
is it hasn't happened yet.
And so everything people say is speculative.
You know, we can look back on the crucifixion,
we can look at secular history
and eyewitness accounts and archaeology,
and we can piece it together
and say this is what happened.
But the future, it's all a little speculative, okay?
And so we're gonna try and look at this
a little bit today.
So today, I'm gonna need you to really concentrate
and stay with me, okay?
This is gonna, we're gonna dive in
and we're gonna do our best to try and make sense of it.
And so we've got three questions
we're gonna try and answer today.
The first one is,
what on earth is up with the millennium?
The second one is,
what's going on with this passage as a whole?
Okay, what is God actually trying to say to us?
And the third one is, how should we respond?
Okay, so that's where we're gonna try and go today.
Okay, so firstly, let's give a brief overview
of what Jefferson and Echo read to us.
So in chapter 19, we encounter Jesus Christ.
And he's on this white horse,
which speaks of authority and intentionality and power.
And his eyes are of fire.
He's got the sword coming out of his mouth.
And he's riding on the nations
and he comes in to judge the nations
in righteousness and truth and justice,
which is a really good thing.
Right, think about it.
Even the most perfect judges in our world
have limited perspective.
Even the brilliant judges in the world
don't know everything
or the intentionalities of everyone's heart.
But Jesus comes and he brings perfect justice.
The things that are going wrong in this world,
one day the one who knows everything as it really is
will bring righteousness and judge the world
in righteousness and truth.
And that's really good news for us.
And on his robe is written this title.
He is the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords.
Caesar is not King.
Rome is not King.
The stock market is not King.
Jesus is King of Kings and Lord of Lords.
And he comes as the perfect Lord.
And then we see the kings of the earth and the armies
and this beast,
which is the symbol of idolatrous institutions of power
and structures and the kingdoms of this world.
They are conquered by Jesus and his armies
and they are thrown into this lake of fire.
And then we get to chapter 20.
And chapter 20,
John sees this angel
and he's holding a key to this bottomless pit.
And there Satan is seized
and he's bound
and he's tied up
and he's cast into this bottomless pit
for this period of a thousand years.
And while he's there,
we are told that he cannot deceive the nations any longer.
And so for this thousand year period,
this millennium,
it's kind of like this golden age.
It's marked by the reign of Jesus.
Jesus reigns in the world with his people.
And it's a picture of this golden period
for the gospel and the church.
Satan seems to be restricted and bound
and Christ together with his people,
including those that have been killed and martyred,
they reign throughout the world.
And then we see at the end of this period,
Satan seems to be released
and he gathers all his evil forces
and they launch one final battle against the church,
this Armageddon battle.
But as he's about to fight the church,
he is destroyed and conquered
and forever and ever,
Satan is thrown into this lake of fire
where he is tormented day and night
forever and ever and ever.
And Satan is finally and fully defeated.
And then all people,
Christians and non-Christians,
anyone that's ever lived,
stands before the judgment seat of God.
We are held accountable for our decisions.
And finally after that,
the new heavens and the new earth appear.
That's what Jefferson and Echo
read to us this morning.
Now here's the question.
So what's up with this crazy thousand year period?
And why have people been so interested in it?
And the reason is this.
Because this thousand year period
is meant to be this period
sometime at the end of the age
before the world comes to an end.
And so Christians for hundreds of years
have tried to piece together and work out.
Okay, so does Jesus come
and then there's this thousand years
and the end of the world?
Or is there this thousand years
and then Jesus comes
and it's the end of the world?
How is the world going to end?
And can we as Christians
bring about this thousand year period?
Are there things that we can do?
Can we send missionaries
to the end of the world
that will speed it up?
Or is there nothing we can do
and we've just got to get on with life?
And so what's going on with this?
Now there are three main views, okay?
The first one is this.
It's called pre-millennialism.
I think we've got this up there somewhere.
Okay, pre-millennialism.
And those that believe this would say this.
Before this thousand year period,
this millennial period,
whether it's literal or figurative,
Jesus comes back.
And Jesus is going to come in power
and glory with eyes like fire
and he's going to conquer the world.
And Jesus, along with Christians,
are going to reign throughout the world.
It's going to be this golden period
where the kingdom of God advances,
Satan is defeated,
and all Christians who have died
will rise from the dead
and be alive for a thousand years with Jesus.
And those that have not died,
we are going to get our new resurrection bodies.
And Christians will reign with Jesus
on the earth for a thousand years.
And then at the end of that period,
Satan will be released.
There'll be this massive Armageddon battle.
Jesus will conquer Satan.
There'll be the final judgment,
the living and the dead,
and then the new heavens and the earth.
Okay?
And so some people say,
pre-millennial,
Jesus is going to come back
and he's going to bring about
this golden period of peace and prosperity
and the world is going to be lovely.
Now, one of the things is this.
Pre-millennials generally have
a very negative view of the world.
So the world's going to get worse
and worse and worse and worse.
There's going to be more chaos,
more destruction,
more anarchy,
until finally Jesus comes
and rescues us all.
Okay?
So that's pre-millennialism.
Another view is post-millennialism.
And those that believe in post-millennialism
say,
no, no, no, no, no.
It's the other way around.
There's going to be this period,
this golden period of a thousand years.
The church is going to advance.
Christians are going to reign.
Christians are going to rule the earth.
It's going to be wonderful.
There's going to be peace and prosperity.
And at the end of that period,
Jesus is going to come back,
destroy Satan.
There's going to be judgment day.
And then the new heavens
and the new earth is going to come.
And post-millennials believe
the world is going to get better
and better and better.
As the church advances,
as the gospel goes forward,
nations are going to get better,
more righteous,
more justice in the world.
And it's going to lead
to this golden period of prosperity
for a long period of time.
And when the world is almost perfect,
Jesus will come back again.
So post-millennials
have a very positive view of the world.
And generally will say,
we can bring this about
as we send missionaries
to the end of the world.
As missionaries go out,
it will bring Jesus back sooner.
Okay?
Then there's a third view.
And this, by the way,
is my view,
which means that it's the right view.
You are welcome to disagree with me.
You have the right to be wrong.
But otherwise,
you can agree with me.
I'm just joking about that.
By the way,
Chris Thornton and I
have spoken about this.
We actually happen to agree on this.
And a third view
is amillennialism.
And that view says,
people like me
that believe in this
would say,
no, no, no,
there's no future period
in the coming
of this like thousand
either literal or figurative period.
Actually,
the millennium
is the church age
between Jesus' first coming
and his second coming.
This is it now.
And between the cross
and the throne,
Jesus is ruling and reigning.
And his people,
Christians,
do actually rule
and reign as well,
even though it doesn't
seem like it.
And so,
amillennials would say
that we are living
in this period now.
And one day,
Jesus will come.
He will utterly defeat Satan.
There will be judgment day
for the living and the dead
and then the new heavens
and the new earth.
Now,
to be honest,
if you had asked me
three weeks ago,
what do I think?
I would have said,
I don't have a single clue.
I don't even know
what premillennialism means.
But as we've worked
through the book of Revelation
and as I've thought about it
for these weeks,
it seems to me
this is the best pattern
that follows
the book of Revelation
and the New Testament teaching.
So,
in other words,
I personally don't think
there's this golden period
in the future
that is coming
and Jesus will come
before or after.
I think this is the period
where Christians
and reign with Jesus
in the world.
Okay,
so there it is,
the three views
of millennialism.
Now,
you can go and debate
with your friends
and tell them
how the world
is going to end.
Okay,
I somehow think
that's probably
not going to happen.
Now,
the truth is this.
Many really good theologians
and Bible-believing
men and women
have disagreed on this
throughout the ages.
Men that really love
the Bible
and love Jesus
have strong views
one or the other.
And so,
what that means is
we shouldn't be so dogmatic.
We don't know
how the world's
really going to end.
We can have our views
and it might inform
a couple of things,
but we shouldn't be
so dogmatic.
We should be humble
in the way
that we hold them.
But,
in some ways,
Jesus has left it
a little bit vague.
But there's a whole lot
in this chapter
that he hasn't left vague.
And so,
that leads us
to the second point.
What on earth
is going on
with this passage?
The millennium aside,
what do we know
for certain?
What is not vague
in Revelation 20
and 21?
What is Jesus
absolutely clear about
and what does Jesus
want you to go away
from today
knowing with conviction
and certainty?
Jesus said,
nobody knows
the hour
or the time
that I'm coming,
only my Father
in heaven,
but there is some stuff
that he does want you to know.
Jesus again and again
and again says,
there's some stuff
you don't know,
don't worry about that,
but there's some stuff
I do want you to know
and I want you to have
conviction around this.
And so,
imagine this.
I don't know if soda's here.
Here we've got
the lovely soda.
Soda is expecting
a baby
in February,
right?
14th of February,
Valentine's Day.
Come,
imagine Dan and Soda,
first time parents,
say,
you know,
we don't really know
how the whole labor thing
is going to work.
Like,
there's so many things
that are unknown.
Is the baby going to be
lying the right way?
Is it going to be breached?
Is baby going to come early?
Is baby going to come late?
Is labor going to be quick?
Is it going to be prolonged?
There's things
that we don't really know.
And so,
imagine Dan Soda say,
we don't really know
how this whole labor thing works.
Ah,
we're just going to,
like,
who cares about it?
We're not going to read about it.
We're not going to think about it.
One day,
it'll just come
and then we'll deal with it then.
Exactly.
Yeah,
my suggestion,
that wouldn't be
a very good idea.
There's a whole lot of things
you don't know
about giving birth,
but there's a whole lot
of things you can know.
And you would be wise
to read up
and to find out
what you can know.
So that one day,
when your waters break,
or those contractions start,
you don't think about it
for the very first time then.
In much the same way,
Jesus says,
there's a whole lot
about the future
that we don't know.
And you don't need
to get overly worried
and caught up about that.
But there's some stuff
you do need to know.
And Jesus is telling us
in this passage
what we do need to know.
There's a day coming
that's going to change your life,
like giving birth
to your first children.
We best be prepared for it.
And so what can we know
for certain?
Let me give us three things
from this passage.
The first one
that we know is this.
Jesus is going to come back.
And he's going to come back
and it's going to be sudden,
it's going to be personal,
it's going to be visible,
and he's going to come back
in a bodily form.
However you read Revelation,
whether you think
there's some golden age
in the future,
whether Jesus is going to come
before that or after that,
or this is the golden age,
irrespective of the sequence,
look at what John writes
to tell us.
He's telling us
that Jesus is going to come.
And when he comes,
he will finally and fully
and forever defeat Satan
and evil and wickedness
in the world.
Jesus is going to come
clothed in power and glory.
We read it earlier.
He comes with fire in his eyes.
He comes with a sword
in his mouth.
He comes with his robe
dipped in blood.
His robe is written,
the King of Kings
and the Lord of Lords.
And following behind him
is all the armies of heaven.
Listen to how Paul writes it
in 2 Thessalonians.
He says,
the Lord Jesus,
when he's revealed from heaven,
will come with his mighty angels
in flaming fire,
inflicting justice
on those who do not know God
and on those who have not obeyed
the gospel of our Lord Jesus.
Friends,
the New Testament
is abundantly clear.
Jesus Christ,
and not just an image of him,
Jesus Christ,
the man,
the man who died on the cross
and rose again,
is coming again
in human bodily visible form.
Some teachers think,
no, no,
Jesus won't come,
just his spirit will come.
Or just his soul will come.
Or just the teachings
of Jesus will come.
No, friends,
Jesus Christ,
the man,
is going to come
and everybody will recognize
that he is king
and will fall down
on their knees
before him.
And Jesus tells us
that this is reason
for good hope.
I don't know
if you remember Narnia,
C.S. Lewis' Narnia,
the first book that he wrote,
which isn't the first book
in the series,
The Lion, the Witch,
and the Wardrobe.
If you saw the movie
or you read the book,
the way it starts off
is these four children,
the Pivensi children,
are at the train station
and their mom
is kissing them goodbye.
And why is she doing that?
Because it's 1943
or 1942,
whenever it is,
World War II has happened
and the German bombers
are bombing London.
And so what happened
was everybody in London
sent their children
to the towns
and the villages
and the countrysides
around the UK
to protect them
and keep them safe.
And so the children
go off to the countryside
to these foster parents
and foster families
until the war is over.
Now everybody thought
the war is going to be over
by Christmas.
Our boys in beige
are going to get them
and Christmas time
it's going to be over.
And Christmas came
and went
and then they thought,
okay, this year,
this year it's going to be done.
By Christmas this year
the war will be over.
And the war was far more
prolonged
than anyone expected.
And so what would happen
is these parents
would write to their children
in the countryside
saying,
I know things are taking
longer than you expected.
I know you hoped
that I would have returned by now.
I'm coming soon
to come and get you.
Now friends,
the children wouldn't lie
in bed at night
and wondering,
is mom and dad
going to come
on this train
or that train?
I wonder if they're going
to come before sunrise
or after sunrise.
They didn't care
how it was going to happen.
What they needed to know
was mom and dad
haven't forgotten about me.
They're coming to get me.
Soon the war will be over
and I'm going to come back
to my home.
And that's what John
is writing the book
of Revelation.
That's what it's about.
Jesus constantly comes
and he says to us,
I'm coming back.
Don't give up hope.
I know it seems
like it's been delayed.
I'm coming to get you
and to take you home.
Friends,
this is the hope
of the gospel.
The gospel isn't just
that Jesus died
on the cross
to forgive us.
That is true
and wonderful.
But that's not
the whole gospel story.
The gospel story
is Jesus is coming again
and he's going to vanquish.
That means destroy
his enemies
and he's going to bring
the new heavens
and the new earth
where there will be
no more tears
and no more pain
and no more heartache
and no more mourning
or crying
or distress.
No more anxiety
and depression
and trauma.
Jesus is coming
to bring us
to our true home.
Jesus is coming
again.
And we have to know that.
Otherwise,
in this world
we'll get depressed.
In this world
we'll be overwhelmed.
When things go wrong
we'll think,
what's the point?
Where are you God?
Jesus says,
I'm coming.
I'm coming to take you home.
We have to know that.
Okay,
that's the first thing.
The second thing is this.
Jesus is coming
to bring judgment
and to judge
the living
and the dead.
Look at what we
read here
in chapter 20
verse 11.
John writes this,
I saw a great
white throne
and I saw him
who was seated on it.
I saw the dead
great and small
standing before the throne
and the books
were opened.
Then there was another book
that was also opened
the book of life.
The dead were judged
by what was written
in the books
according to what
they had done.
The sea gave up
the dead who were in it.
Death and Hades
gave up the dead
who were in them
and they all stood
before the throne
judged each one of them
according to what
they had done.
And if anyone's name
was not found
written in the book
of life,
he was thrown
into the lake
of fire.
John sees these
two sets of books
that are opened.
And the first set
of books
is the annals
of history.
It's the story
of everyone's life,
your life
and my life
and everything
that we've done
in our lives,
not only what
we've done
but even the private
thoughts
and the personal
motivations of our hearts.
Every single thing
that we've done
or thought about
or the intention
of our lives
is written
in these books
and are laid bare
before Jesus
on the throne.
I don't know
if you've ever heard
people talking about
one day when you get
to heaven
there'll be a DVD
of our lives shown.
Anyone heard
that description?
Okay.
That comes from
this verse.
In John's day
they didn't have DVDs,
right?
They had books,
they had scrolls.
But the point here
is they're saying
every aspect,
every facet
of our lives
will be laid bare
before Jesus
and you'll hold
us accountable.
Not only for what
we've done
but even the thoughts
of our minds.
But then
John writes
and he says
there's another book.
And the other book
well if this
if we were solely
judged on what
we had done
friends each one of us
would have been
in trouble.
Remember the words
of the psalm.
Oh Lord if you should
mark our iniquities
who a God
could stand?
Romans chapter 3
says before
the just judge
of all the earth
every mouth
will be stopped.
No more excuses,
no explanations,
no mitigating
circumstances.
One day we'll
stand before God
our mouths
will be stopped
because we'll
have no excuses,
nothing to say.
And so if we
merely judge
on the basis
of what we've
done or how
we've lived
our lives
friends we're
in deep trouble.
Who our Lord
can stand?
But then before
the great throne
of God
there's not only
justice
there's also
mercy.
Because look
a second book
is opened.
And what's
in this book?
It's the Lamb's
book of life.
And in this book
are written
the names
of those
that have
taken refuge
under the blood
of Jesus.
In this book
are written
the names
of those
that have
trusted Jesus
as their only hope.
We have
appealed to
Jesus' death
on the cross
as their hope
for forgiveness
and mercy
trusting that
Jesus was sufficient.
And so John
sees these two books
where our lives
are before us
and we're held
accountable
and even Christians
will be held
accountable.
But then there's
this other book
and look at what
it said earlier.
It said those
whose names
are written
in this book
over such people
the second death
meaning final judgment
between heaven
and hell
has no power.
We are all
exonerated
before God.
Friends
this is what it
means to be a Christian.
A Christian
is not just somebody
who does good things.
A Christian
is not just somebody
who lives a moral life.
A Christian
is not just somebody
who tries to get God
to help them
to have the best version
of themselves.
A Christian
is not just somebody
who has a nice personality
or a good persona.
A Christian
is somebody
who has come
to the end of themselves.
Who has realized
they have no hope
in this life
apart from the blood
of Jesus.
A Christian
is somebody
who realizes
that Christ
is the only hope
for forgiveness
and mercy.
Friends
a Christian
is somebody
who rejects
all man-made solutions
and trusts
in Jesus alone.
And that's what we see here.
That God will hold
every one of us
the living and the dead
every human being
accountable
for the lives
that we've lived.
God holds us
accountable
for how we've responded
to Jesus
and his offer for grace.
Whether we've rejected it
and thought we don't need it
because our lives
are good enough
or whether we
have come to him
and cast our lives
at his feet of mercy.
And do you know
what that means
that every one of us
will be judged?
It means two things.
It means firstly
that our longing
for justice
will be satisfied.
Friends,
in this world
there is so much
that is unjust
and unfair
in this world.
There's so much
that happens
and you think
where's the justice
in that?
How's anybody
going to hold
these people accountable?
How can somebody
just get away with that?
It's not right.
It's not fair.
Friends,
every one of us
in our hearts
has a longing
for justice,
right?
And that's a good thing.
Friends,
Jesus Christ,
the perfect judge
will one day judge
the living and the dead.
And that means
not a single iota
of injustice
or evil
or wrongdoing
in the world
will ever go unpunished.
Not a single iota
of it.
Every bit of injustice
will be fully satisfied
in Christ's justice.
But you know
what it also means?
It means, friends,
that we can freely
forgive those
that have wronged us.
Because when somebody
wrongs us
or hurts us,
why do we want
to take revenge?
Why do we want
to get angry
and bitter towards them?
The reason is
we often feel
somebody needs
to hold that person
accountable.
If I just forgive them,
where's the justice
in that?
They need to know
that what they've done
is wrong.
And so we hold
resentment
and bitterness
against them.
But friends,
if Jesus one day
is going to hold
every person accountable,
it means we can
freely forgive
those that have wronged us.
We don't need
to take vengeance
on them because
one day,
perfect justice
will be done.
Okay, does that make sense?
Great.
Okay, so two things
we know for certain.
Christ is coming
and he's going to come
and judge the living
and the dead.
One last thing
that we need to know
in this passage,
and that is that
Christians
and the church
will triumph
even in the face
of grace and sufferings.
One of the challenges
with Revelation chapter 20
is it describes
this millennium period
where,
let me actually read it to us.
Let me read chapter 20
verse 4 and 5.
It says this,
Then I saw these thrones
and seated on the thrones
were those that had
the authority to judge.
I saw the souls
of those who had been beheaded
for their testimony
and for the word of God,
those that had not worshipped
the beast or its image.
They were alive
and they reigned
with Jesus
victoriously
for a thousand years.
Now,
one of the challenges
is that this passage
tells us
that those that reign
with Christ,
those that are victorious,
are the ones
that have lost their lives.
Their heads have been
chopped off.
They are martyrs
for Jesus.
And in some ways,
that's a strange paradox.
How does that make sense?
How do those
that are killed
live?
How do those
that die
reign?
How do those
that are killed,
how do they end up
victorious?
But friends,
isn't this what Revelation
has told us again
and again
and again?
That Jesus
and his people
are victorious
but they reign
through apparent defeat.
Those who give up
their lives
for the sake of Christ
and others
are those that find it.
Tim Chester
puts it so well
where he says,
the church's reign
and victory
is a cruciform reign.
In other words,
it takes the form
or it takes the shape
of the cross,
of the crucifixion.
In other words,
the reign of Christ Jesus
and his church
is a veiled reign.
It's a hidden reign.
It's hidden
in what is contrary
or upside down.
Just think of this.
Jesus,
the night before he dies,
he goes to his disciples
and he says this,
now my moment of glory
has finally arrived.
My moment of glory
has come.
And what's he talking about?
He's talking about
his death on the cross.
How is Jesus' death
on the cross
his moment of glory?
How is the most tragic
and horrific day
in the history of the world
also the most glorious?
Friends,
the reason is
because the cross
and the resurrection
was the day
that Jesus defeated
Satan
and sin
and evil
and wickedness
and death
on the cross
and his resurrection.
As Jesus died
and rose again,
he defeated Satan.
He defanged death.
He disarmed
the power of sin.
He rescued
and redeemed
this fallen world
from the horror of sin.
At the same time,
it seemed like
the worst day
in the history
of the world
and yet,
it's the greatest day
in the history
of the world.
Jesus' apparent defeat
was his moment
of victory.
Jesus' apparent defeat
was his moment
of reigning
and ruling
over all the world.
It was a hidden
and veiled victory.
Friends,
just think about
how throughout
the New Testament,
power is found
in weakness.
greatness
is demonstrated
in service
and servant-heartedness
like washing
your disciples' feet.
Think about it
throughout the New Testament,
wisdom appears
to be foolish
because it doesn't follow
the conventions
of this world.
Friends,
throughout the New Testament,
victory and glory
are accomplished
through what seems like
defeat
and setback.
And we've seen this
throughout the world.
In fact,
we see this right now.
In the Middle East
right now,
the church
is being trampled.
In many parts of Asia,
the church
is being defeated.
Christians are being killed
daily.
Churches are being
closed down.
The gospel is being
trampled and set back.
And on one hand,
we may think,
oh no,
it's set back.
Friends,
this is the greatest hour
of the church
in those very regions.
Where the church
seems to go back,
actually it's going forward.
Where the church
seems to be dying,
actually it's flourishing.
It's the blood
of the martyrs
that's the seedbed
of the church.
In the very places
where Christians
are being killed,
that place,
the church
is most alive.
And friends,
this is the repetitive
message of Revelation.
That the martyrs,
those that are beheaded,
those that lose
their lives
for their faith,
those who trust God
even to the point
of death,
don't reign
after their martyrdom,
they reign
through their martyrdom.
Christians aren't victorious
on the other side
of suffering.
Christians are victorious
in the midst
of suffering.
Christians come alive
as they die
to themselves
and as they live
for others.
Remember what Jesus
says to the church
in Smyrna
in the second week.
He says,
do not fear
what you're about
to suffer.
Satan will come
and persecute you.
Some of you
will be killed.
Some of you
will be thrown
in prison.
But don't worry,
those that hold
on to me
will get the crown
of life
even as you die.
How do you reign
when you're dead?
Friends,
this is the paradox
of the Christian life.
That Christians reign
in the midst
of suffering
and persecution.
In chapter 11,
we saw the two witnesses
are killed
for their testimony
and yet
the nations repent.
In chapter 12,
we saw that the church
conquers the work
of Satan.
How?
Through the blood
of the Lamb,
the word of their testimony
for they loved
not their lives
even to the point
of death.
Friends,
how do you conquer
your enemy
when your life
is taken from you?
That's the shape
and the form
of the Christian life.
The Christian life
is a cruciform life.
It takes the shape
and the form
of the cross.
And this is one of the,
part of what makes
suffering
and embracing suffering
and refusing violence
so hard
is that it often
doesn't seem effective.
Think about this.
You're witnessing
and somebody
pushes back against you
and persecutes you
and you think,
what's the point in that?
Maybe I should have
just quietened down.
How does losing my life
for the sake of the gospel,
how does that actually work?
How does that affect anything?
And for the church
in Revelation,
their non-violent witness
to Jesus,
rather than taking
a position of power
and dominance
and trying to overthrow
the Roman Empire,
rather their witness
was just through
faithful suffering,
it doesn't end
in a democratic
and just Rome.
Rome doesn't turn
to the Christians
and say,
wow, you guys are right,
sorry, we should have
done things your way.
How does it end
for the Christians?
They lose their heads.
They're beheaded.
But that doesn't mean
it's not effective.
Because friends,
what happens
to the Roman Empire?
It comes to an end.
What happens
to the church?
It flourishes
and it grows.
Friends,
God's kingdom
grows as His word
is proclaimed.
As Christians
don't assume positions
of power and authority,
but as they lay down
their lives
and are faithful
to the message
of Jesus.
And so what is Jesus
saying to us here?
He's saying,
friends,
if Hong Kong
is going to get
the gospel,
if the gospel
is going to advance
in our city,
if the kingdom of God
is going to come,
how's it going to come?
It's not going to come
through demonstrations
of power.
It's not going to come
through violence
and trying to overthrow
the kingdoms
that we don't agree with.
It's going to come
through Christians
that are faithfully
proclaiming
that Jesus is Lord,
that Hong Kong
is not Lord,
that the economy
is not Lord,
that the stock market
is not Lord,
that Jesus is Lord
even in the midst
of suffering
and persecution.
Friends,
the kingdom of God
is going to come
to our city
as Christians
faithfully witness
to the lordship
of Jesus.
And that means
that we're going
to suffer for it.
That means that
maybe you won't
lose your head
but you may
lose your job.
That means that
your career
may get some setbacks.
Friends,
I was talking to
someone this week,
one of our sisters,
her company is asking
her to do unethical things
and she said,
sorry,
I can't do that.
She had to resign
her job.
Was out at work
for a couple of months.
That's suffering.
But you know what?
That might seem ineffective
but that's how
the kingdom of God
comes.
As faithful brothers
and sisters say,
our hope is not
in this world.
Our hope is in Christ
and Jesus is Lord.
The kingdom of God
comes through suffering.
Okay,
three things we need
to know.
Jesus is coming again.
Jesus is going to come
and he's going to judge
the living and the dead.
The church
and the kingdom
will advance
in the midst
of suffering
and opposition.
How do we respond?
Well,
let me give us
three things
really quickly
and then we don't.
First is this.
We need to give
careful consideration
to how we respond
to Jesus.
Jesus calls us
to follow him
and his call
is of utmost
and eternal importance.
Friends,
what matters
is not what works
for you
or what works
for me.
It's not just a matter
of personal preference.
One day when we stand
before Jesus
we can't just say
well truth is relative
and you know
what works for those guys
didn't work for me.
Friends,
we need to give
careful consideration
to our response
to King Jesus.
Jesus is summoning
every single one of us
to come
and to find our hope
in him.
Whether you are religious
or not religious
whether you are
Chinese,
American,
African,
no matter what
your background
Jesus is summoning
all of us
to come
and lay down
our lives before him.
And friends,
our eternal destiny
is in the balance
depending on how
we respond
to Christ.
Friends,
what matters
is not just
whether we went
to church or not.
What matters
is not just
whether we gave
money to the poor.
What matters
is not whether
we think we belong
to Jesus.
What matters
is do we love him?
Is he first
in our hearts?
Have we come
and given
our entire lives
to him?
Have we surrendered
to him
because he is
our only hope?
Have we cast
ourselves
at the mercy
of Jesus?
Have we taken
our hope
in the blood
of the Lamb?
Friends,
we need to give
careful consideration
to Christ's call
to come to him.
Second response
is this.
It means for those
of us that are
Christians,
this world
as we know it
is not our final
home.
And therefore,
let's not over
capitalize in this
world as we
currently know it.
Last week,
Jeremy spoke to us
about the fact
that in Hong Kong
there are so many
sojourners.
Those that come
to Hong Kong
for long periods
of time,
but this city
is not their home.
They are always
going back to
another place
that will be
their home.
The Bible says
that if you are
a Christian,
you are a sojourner,
which means that
this world
as we currently
know it,
is not your
final home.
Picture this with me.
Imagine you have
a home,
massive typhoon,
a T10,
sweeps through
Hong Kong,
and your home
has got severe
damage done to it.
You can't live
there anymore.
And so you've
got to move
to another place,
a temporary
accommodation,
for six weeks
while your home
is being repaired.
Okay?
Maybe some of you
had to do that
last year.
So you're in
temporary accommodation
for six weeks
while your home
is being repaired.
It would be crazy
to overcapitalize
on that home,
to spend millions
of dollars
fixing it up
because there are
slight inconveniences,
to bash down walls
and redo the whole kitchen
just while you're there
for six weeks.
There might be some things
that are inconvenient,
and what do you do?
You just put up
with those inconveniences
because you know
you're going home.
Friends,
Jesus tells us
this world
as we currently know
it is a temporary
arrangement.
There is coming a day
when we'll be taken
home again.
And therefore,
we don't need to
overcapitalize
in this world.
Our hope is not
in the things
of this world.
Things will go wrong.
People will let us down.
We will experience
disappointments.
That's true.
But our hope
doesn't lie here.
We're living for our home
that is coming.
And next week,
we're going to hear about it.
Third thing
and final thing
is this.
Friends,
for those of us
that are Christians,
keep looking to Jesus.
Fix your eyes
on Jesus.
In the midst
of the challenges
of this world,
in the midst
of all the difficulties,
in the midst
of everything
that's going on,
fix our eyes
on Jesus.
Friends,
the book of Revelation
is not some strange
conspiracy theory.
It's not some secret
code book
to let us know
how the world
is all going to end.
Friends,
the book of Revelation
is given to us
because John wants
to tell us,
in the midst
of what's going on,
keep your eyes
fixed on Jesus.
The first century
Christians had
two great temptations.
The one temptation
was to trust
in the power
and the prestige
and the pomp
of Rome.
To think,
Rome's going to save us.
And John writes
and says,
no, no, no,
don't put your trust
in Rome,
put your trust
in Jesus.
The other temptation
was this,
to hold onto
their lives
and to think
that to avoid
suffering
was the way
to life.
And John writes
and says,
don't put your hope
in your life now,
put your hope
in Jesus.
In this world
you will have trouble,
but take heart,
Jesus has overcome
the world.
Fix your eyes
on Jesus.
Friends,
Jesus says to us
this morning,
be faithful
even to the point
of death.
I will give you
the crown of life.
Fix our eyes
on Jesus.
Friends,
one day Jesus
will come back
and in that place
you'll conquer
all wickedness
and evil.
One day Jesus
will come and bring
a new heavens
and a new earth.
In the midst
of all that's going on,
Jesus,
the one who is faithful
in truth calls us
to himself,
to look to him
and to trust him.
We know that
we may not know
exactly how the world
ends,
we may not know
the sequence
and what exactly
happens,
but we do know this,
Jesus is coming
and Jesus is going
to bring us home.
Let's fix our eyes
on him.
Let's close our eyes
and pray.
Let's respond
to Jesus' words
this morning.
Maybe before we pray,
I want to give us
just a minute
of silence.
Maybe even the band
we can just hold out
for a second.
And I want to ask you,
what is one thing
that God has possibly
said to you this morning?
I hope in all of this
God has said something
to you.
What is one thing
that you feel like
Jesus is saying to you
and how are you going
to respond to that?
What is one thing
God?
Let's take a minute
and just think of that.
Let's take a minute
and just think of that.
Heavenly Father, what do you want to say to us this morning?
God, come and speak to us, we pray.
Lord, we pray that this week as we go into this city,
pray you will remind us that this world as we currently know it is not our home.
Father, may we not lose our minds when things go wrong.
May we not lose our minds when disappointments arise, when people let us down,
when things don't work out the way that we'd hoped they would.
Jesus, I pray help us to fix our eyes on you.
God, I pray that tomorrow morning when we wake up and get ready for work,
or to go to class, or to take exams,
that God, we will fix our eyes on you, God.
I pray that on Tuesday, God, as we look after kids, or make business deals, or we travel,
for work, that Jesus will fix our eyes on you, Lord.
I pray, God, on Wednesday, when we have to make some presentation,
or our boss is disappointed with us, or we make some mistake at work,
and we think it's the end of the world,
help us to fix our eyes on you, God.
Father, I pray that this week, we will be faithful witnesses.
We'll be courageous, God, and point to the hope of Jesus, Lord.
God, when things go wrong, may we remember that you, Christ, are coming again.
That you will put an end to all that is wrong and broken of this world.
You are bringing your new heavens and your new earth, God.
Will there be no more tears and no more mourning, no more pain and anxiety.
Jesus, we long for that day.
Help us to live in hope and anticipation of the day, we pray.
We pray these things in your wonderful name.
Amen.