Hope in Times of Cultural Confusion | Chris Gordon

Thank you. Please be seated. I really want to mess with your notes right now. We want to just do a quick, a brief introduction for each other, mostly. Some of you might be new to Abound in Grace Radio, and if you are, Justin and I cannot recommend it enough.

And you can get it anywhere you want to. You can watch it. You can listen to it. But what I wanted to do is just kind of prepare your heart a little bit to hear from another pastor. We had the opportunity to have lunch today with Chris, and I learned something new about him I didn't know, that he's been at this church over 12 years.

And that says a lot. When you're in one place for that long, it means you get to know your people. You learn how to love them and care for them. And I have personally had the opportunity to know Chris for this last year, and he's on my short list of phone calls when I have a theological discussion or question, or I just feel like debating somebody.

And I know I know that our brotherly love will not be affected by that debate, and we've had some fun discussions. I am really excited to hear from Chris today. And so Chris, come bring us Christ as you always do.

Can we welcome Chris this morning? So I was at my son's state cross-country.

Meet in Fresno, and John called and wanted to debate baptism. So I engaged for a while, didn't tell him I was at the meet until I think he heard all the crowd. What's going on? I said, my son's running.

I said, let's put this down for a while. So well, it's good to lead you today in this session. I thought it would be helpful today to think about hope in light of the book of Revelation. I think John and Justin made some really wonderful comments about hope and how we should look at the book of Revelation.

So I thought, well, let's spend at least a little bit of time here looking at the first vision of Revelation, because I think if you really do get this vision, you get the book. It's a setup vision for the book, and then he addresses the seven churches, and the other visions are really all developing this first vision.

So I'd like to read that with you today to think about hope and the theme of this, suffering and hope, and also to encourage you with the proper look of the coming of the kingdom of God. So I'm going to read actually from, we'll just read the chapter.

It's not a very long chapter. Let's hear the word of the Lord. The revelation of Jesus Christ which God gave him to show his servants things which must shortly take place, and he sent and signified it by his angel to his servant John, who bore witness to the word of God and to the testimony of Jesus Christ to all things that he saw.

Blessed is he who reads and those who hear the words of this prophecy and keep those things which are written in it, for the time is near. John to the seven churches which are in Asia, grace to you and peace from him who is and who was and who is to come, and from the seven spirits who are before his throne and from Jesus Christ the faithful witness, the firstborn from the dead and the ruler over the kings of the earth.

To him who loved us and washed us from our sins in his own blood and has made us kings and priests to his God and Father, to him be glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen. Behold he is coming with clouds and every eye will see him, even they who pierced him, and all the tribes of the earth will mourn because of him.

Even so, amen. I am the alpha and the omega, the beginning and the end, says the Lord, who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty. I, John, both your brother and companion in the tribulation and kingdom and patience of Jesus Christ, was on the island that is called Patmos for the word of God and for the testimony of Jesus Christ.

I was in the Spirit on the Lord's day and I heard behind me a loud voice as of a trumpet saying, I am the alpha and the omega, the first and the last, and what you see write in a book and send it to the seven churches which are in Asia, to Ephesus, to Smyrna, to Pergamos, to Thyatira, to Sardis, to Philadelphia, and to Laodicea.

Then I turned to see the voice that spoke with me and having turned I saw seven golden lampstands and in the midst of the seven lampstands one like the son of man clothed with a garment down to the feet and girded about the chest with a golden band.

His head and hair were white like wool as white as snow and his eyes like a flame of fire, his feet like fine brass as if refined in a furnace, and his voice is the sound of many waters. He had in his right hand seven stars out of his mouth when a sharp two-edged sword and his countenance was like the sun shining in its strength and when I saw him I fell at his feet as dead, but he laid his right hand on me saying to me, do not be afraid I am the first and the last.

I am he who lives and was dead and behold I am alive forevermore. Amen. And I have the keys of Hades and death. Write the things which you have seen and the things which are and the things which will take place after this.

The mystery of the seven stars which you saw in my right hand and the seven golden lampstands. The seven stars are the angels of the seven churches and the seven lampstands which you saw are the seven churches.

What a little statement there that when John fell as dead, it's the first thing that Jesus said, don't be afraid. That is what echoes throughout this book. That right there echoes to his people throughout this book, I don't want you to be afraid.

Now that comes in a context that we need to spend a few minutes with today to understand how the Lord wants his church to operate, his church to be, his people to be in this present age that's filled with so much confusion and so much darkness, so much suffering and at times persecution, but everything really does develop here.

If you're, if you have the scriptures open, you're looking at verse 7, Behold, he's coming. Behold, he's coming with clouds and every eye will see him. No one is going to miss this coming that is imminent.

The scriptures maintain that everywhere. Every eye will see him, even they who pierced him and all the tribes of the earth shall mourn, even so, amen. So, this is what's going to happen to the tribes of the earth and the Lord says to you here in this vision, but I don't want you to be afraid.

So, there's this reminder at the beginning of the book of Revelation, right at the outset of it, Jesus is coming. Jesus is coming. We forget that. We forget to live in light of that. We forget to think about that.

We become so immersed in all the problems of this world that we forget that basic truth and that's what the book of Revelation, as it addresses the seven churches, that's what it's aimed to help with.

Jesus is coming, but you have a purpose here. You have a mission here and as you are all caught up in the problems of this world, what I have to address in my church are certain levels of compromise because you've forgotten what all this is about.

Life is complex. We don't like complexities as Americans. Everything has to be figured out. Life is very complex. There are complexities that are difficult and there are things happening that we don't always understand and you know what?

You never will in this life. That's some of the things that happen. That's okay. The scriptures are clear that we do not wrestle with flesh and blood but with principalities that we're wrestling with the rulers of the darkness of this age.

But before us, one of the more difficult question is that I want to engage with you a little bit from Revelation 1 is what are we to expect in this present age and what is the answer for us and how does Jesus help us in this opening vision that I want to set before you today?

Some have told us don't worry about it because when things get really bad, now I haven't had to address this much, but I have those who've come out of this today. John's come out of this. Justin's come out of this.

You're going to be raptured out of here and you won't have to experience any tribulation. That's been a predominant message in our land for a long time. I don't think it's today very as popular as it used to be for various reasons that we talk, but that's one of the views that has been out there.

Others have told us which is sort of the bandwagon eschatology of the moment. We've addressed the pop eschatology of the moment that what we can expect to happen right before the coming of Christ is that the masses will be converted to Christ and the golden age will be brought in on the earth.

All the enemies of Christ will finally be subdued under his feet and then Christ will come. That's a remarkable claim. That's a remarkable claim. Well, it's true that as we talked about what you believe about your eschatology, what you believe about the return of Christ, and what you believe that will happen in this age can cause, if you're not listening to the scriptures and think of think of the transfiguration.

This is my beloved son. Listen to him. If you're not listening to Jesus, you can become very confused in this moment, especially when things are in the turmoil that they are, and we can forget priorities in this age, and we can forget what our most important purpose is in this age, and we can forget what the church is about in this age, and we can be unrealistic about what the Lord has told us will happen.

I think John knows all these discouragements of the present age can derail. They can confuse. They can take us off mission. The responses can be wrong. It can turn people, as we're seeing in our day, to anger because of the wrong expectations of the coming of the kingdom that we enter the kingdom through much tribulation.

But what does that mean, and what does that look like, and what can we expect? We are often cast down. We are often feeling, as Paul trampled, we're often perplexed. We are often in despair. We are often discouraged.

We often feel like giving up. It's a big burden to lay on the shoulders of the Christian to save America when you can barely deal with yourself. You've got your own sins to deal with. How are you doing?

John knows all this. I think we wonder, is there any help? Is there any answer to this? I'm glad you asked. Voila, we have Revelation 1. In many ways, if you get this chapter, you get the book. This is an initial introductory vision that is really the vision of all the visions in the book, and I encourage you, hold on to this vision when you have these moments.

It's this vision that's meant to encourage you. It's this vision that's put in chapter 1 right at the beginning for a reason, that it is meant to strengthen you. It is meant to help you. It is meant to encourage.

It is meant to lift up. It is meant to give you perspective. It is meant to correct and instruct and guide and take away all the perplexing things so that all your fear is gone and that you rest in your Savior.

Well, there's a reason the Bible says fix your eyes on Jesus. As you move into the opening scene, you have a disturbing scene that's presented. It really is disturbing. It's a sad one. Maybe you could kind of enter John's shoes and step in John's shoes just for a moment with him in this initial scene, which should invoke sadness at the beginning.

It's one of the more perplexing verses, I think, right at the beginning for the Christian to wrestle through. I, John, your brother and partner in the tribulation and the kingdom and the patient endurance that are in Jesus was on the island called Patmos on account of the word of God and the testimony of Jesus.

John is on Patmos. He's banished here. How many of you have ever been banished to Alcatraz? You know, for us, it'd be like saying, I was banished to Corcoran. Anybody ever been to Corcoran? I grew up near Corcoran.

They say don't pick up hitchhikers. It's not a good place. I was banished for the testimony of Jesus and the word of God. You know what had happened at this point? They're all gone. They're all gone. Peter, if history's right, was crucified upside down.

James was beheaded by Herod I. Philip dies by hanging. Bartholomew was flayed to death. Matthew and Thomas were martyred. They all were. He's an old man. Left as an old man, where's his family? Banished to this island was a Roman penal settlement for prisoners who were viewed as a threat to the Roman empire.

So they tuck them away out on Patmos. What a sad portrayal, listen to me, of the disciple Jesus' love. Can you reconcile that? Does that make any sense? This doesn't feel like love. This is not an encouraging outcome to being an apostle of Jesus.

This is awful tribulation. Old, alone, no family, all your fellow partners in the gospel ministry killed and martyred in a big world of millions of people bowing down to a different king who's not Jesus.

Where's Jesus? Nowhere to be seen. Nowhere to be seen. Now Hebrews come along and say we haven't seen everything put under his feet. That's exactly right. Not yet. This makes no sense. And we're supposed to believe that Jesus is king over all.

And we're supposed to believe that all authority in heaven and on earth has been given to him. Listen, I don't see it. You gotta be kidding me. This is victory? You gotta be kidding me. This is kingdom progress?

Didn't John write? Listen, it's faith that overcomes the world. What have I overcome? You have this glorious kingdom called Rome. Is Jesus' kingdom really greater than that? Rome had consolidated power.

Rome, fourth beast of Daniel, I mean Rome was, Rome was remarkable. They had economically prospered like no nation on earth up to the time. Rome was called the gift to the world in providing for people.

Rome was the savior. Watch some of the movies, that's how they viewed it. Savior of the world and their Caesar. In the midst of all this loyalty, what was demanded by Rome, by the Roman government was the complete and the total acceptance of Roman ideology.

So in other words, to put it clearly, if you didn't bow to Caesar as lord, you would be persecuted and you'd get banned to a place like Patmos. Now I think this is where it's important to think about John for a minute.

This is, this is helpful for us in our day. If John were a dispensationalist, the rapture better come pretty quick, you know, because this is getting bad. Or if John was a postmill, he's sure missing the golden age, let me tell you.

Where did this leave John? Just to die an old man in sadness? Is that that pessimistic view again? Defeatist view? It's a great question. Are we just a bunch of pessimists in this age? Defeatists who just take it on the chin and don't worry about it and can't do anything about it and mope our heads around.

Is that the view? Is that what Revelation 1 is about to present to us? Well, one thing we have to see is John says here something very important and he says something that I think we should never miss in this opening section and it is this, I, John, your companion in the tribulation.

You realize how important that is that he would say that? Many have talked about this time of great tribulation that will happen before Christ comes. What does John say? I'm in it. I reached it. John is meant to be looked at here as a representative of the entire church in this age and struggle.

John is represented a figure that way for us to think about this in this age. I was on the island. I was banished. I was in exile for the word and the testimony of Jesus. I was banished for the gospel, he's saying.

We tend only to look in the moment at the momentary affliction and we put that momentary affliction under a microscope and we often become absorbed with it and I think that's what people are doing today with this.

The U .S. in our time, we've talked about in this conference already, is in a time where we see much godlessness. We see what Jesus said, lawlessness. We see impending persecution. We see governments implementing changing times and seasons and laws.

We see all these things and the tendency is in the midst of this to lose hope. The tendency is to say, what good is this? The tendency to say is, do we really have a king that's winning? Do we really have a god on the throne?

Do we really have anything that measures success in this world? What is success? What is it that I should expect and is there anyone who can change this or is there anyone who will or are we just supposed to grin and bear it?

What are we supposed to do? Well, it's easier at moments like this just to compromise, to run the other way. All John had to do to get off of Patmos was soften the testimony of Jesus, right? All John had to do was soften the testimony of Jesus, adopt the ideology of Caesar and his worship, bow to Caesar in his realm, bow to Jesus in his realm.

I'm good. That's not what John does. You can get out a lot of tribulation in life if you lighten your commitment to Christ, I suppose. But John wants to not do that but encourage us here. What is the big problem in the book of Revelation?

You could say there's many problems in the world. It's corrupt governments. It's beasts. It's antichrists. Where does Jesus start? With his church. Seven churches. First church had left its first love and you can go down through the churches, tolerating all kinds of false ideas, destroying the gospel, losing the gospel, becoming lukewarm.

What's happening? What's happening? They're abandoning the testimony and John has not. All of a sudden, as John here is supposed to be representative for us, he hears a roaring, thundering voice in the midst of all this.

As the sound of a trumpet, every voice of the Lord that was ever described in history is now being heard by John. Whatever sound it was throughout history when the Lord spoke, John is hearing it now in culmination.

He says, then I turned around and I heard a voice and you know what I saw? What's the first thing he sees? Seven lampstands. What's he looking at? Well, the lampstand was right in front of the holy place.

We're told explicitly in verse 20 that the lampstands are the seven churches. So John is in prison. John is banished. John is weak. John is old. John is frail. John is discouraged and not seeing anything of strength, nothing of outward power and all of a sudden he hears this voice and in the midst of this, in struggle and in weakness and in banishment and in no glory, he is pointed to the church.

Look up. Who's standing amidst his church? Who's standing there? John, who do you see? I see a warrior. I see a king and he's standing in the midst of his people. What an amazing word. I know people want to see something.

We've had this debate in our times of whether we can make images of Jesus and people get all sideways on that question and get offended on that question. What we usually end up with is, ironically, a Jesus according to our own ethnicity.

So you get a white Jesus with blonde hair and blue eyes and chiseled abs, you know. That's not fair. You get a Dutch Jesus, a Swedish Jesus, you know, the only image of Jesus in the Bibles right here, the only one God gave you, and he's on fire.

This is the one to hold on to. You can't draw it. It's entirely symbolic. You can't even begin to try to draw this. It says he's clothed with a garment down to his feet and girded about his chest with a golden band.

His head and his hair were like white wool, as white as snow, his eyes like a flame of fire. What is John seeing? Let me stop and help. John is describing the blazing glory of God, resplendent glory, awesome brightness, who dwells in unapproachable light, who blazes in fire and dwells that way.

Sheer majesty, exalted glory, radiant beauty, that if anyone came close to him, his eyes would incinerate his head and his hair like wool. You know, fire's different colors. You know that. Red, it's still consuming something.

You know, blue indicates a higher energy. You know what color fire is when it's at its highest intensity, right? It's pure white. So red is just visible. It's like 980 degrees Fahrenheit. Dull is, you know, 1300.

Orange is deep. It's 2000 degrees clear. It's 2200 degrees Fahrenheit. White, whitish, is 2400 degrees Fahrenheit. Bright is 2600 degrees Fahrenheit. Dazzling white is 2700 degrees Fahrenheit. The sun is 27 million degrees Fahrenheit, and that's what he's like shining in his glorious strength.

See it? He's like the sun. You can't even look at the sun. I advise don't try it. It's the same concept as the burning bush. Moses was curious why this bush wasn't consumed. It was the one who was in the midst of the bush who was on fire.

Christ is on fire brighter than the sun. And where is he standing? His eyes are aflame. In fact, he's standing ready to judge the nations. His feet are fine brass. Everything's under those feet. Burnished or polished brass doesn't even really explain it.

Christ's feet are burning as if they're in furnaces. They're so hot they're going to trample every enemy that gets in his way. Now, I believe, you know, as I mentioned in the discussion earlier, there were indications of this.

Remember I said when Elisha's servant asked, he was afraid of the armies, and Elisha just opened his eyes to all around him was an army around him of the heavenly angels surrounding him. Remember that?

He said, don't be afraid for those who are with us are more than those who are with them. Then Elisha prayed and said, oh Lord, please open his eyes that he may see. So the Lord opened the eyes of the young man and he saw and behold the mountain was full of horses and chariots of fire all around Elisha.

So heaven, I think we're wrong about it. I'm not so sure it's some far out realm somewhere out there. The scripture seemed to indicate it's another dimension right here, but here's the encouragement. It's not just angels who are standing around us.

New covenant, I am with you. Those are my Baptist friends right there. Presbyterians never get that, stuffy Presbyterians. I don't mean that. Jesus is in the midst of his people. Look at the encouragement.

John falls down as dead. That's what everyone would do. It's what they've all done in history. Anyone who ever saw just a glimpse of the glory of God, Isaiah 6, Isaiah said, woe is me. He called down prophetic curses because he's breaking up.

Daniel says, when I was left alone and I saw just the vision, I had no strength remained in me. My vigor was turned to frailty in me and I retained no strength. Yet I heard the sound of his words. And while I heard the sound of his words, I was in a deep sleep and on my face with my face to the ground.

But here's the imagery. This King takes his right hand and he lays hold of John. And you know that right hand throughout history was the right hand of God's power, but it's not to destroy him. He says, do not be afraid.

I am the first and the last. I am he who lives and was dead and behold, I'm alive forevermore. Amen. And guess what? What are you fearing? I hold the keys of death and Hades. I hold them. The one who told you don't be afraid.

You see what John realized was, is that he's in the appointed tribulation. But when he realized that Christ was with him, the old man stood up. He got up with purpose. He received strength from his King, whose right hand of power rested on him.

The Old Testament shows us this about Israel when they faced discouragement along the way and they fell into idolatry and they got discouraged. That what happened was they began to compromise. That's what we do when we're discouraged and we begin to compromise.

And he tells John, write these things, which you've seen and the things which are and the things that will take place after this. My churches need to understand which, which you understand, John, here.

My churches need this. My people need this. Their holy God walks among them, John. What can man do to them? See, if at the heart of it right now, at the heart of all this toughness, as I said earlier, the Merle Haggard approach, stogie, you know, beard.

I like beards, but you know, I'm not trying to be tough. Flannel, blow torching things. It's not our strong man. Jesus is our strong man. My chief churches need to understand I walk among them. But what's happened is as many are failing and struggling because of the discouragements.

And, you know, think about us today, friends. We're so worried about the culture. We're so worried about who's going to be president. You have no idea the fights that are about to happen. You have no idea what this year is going to look like.

They were worried about the same thing. Who's going to be the next emperor? They lopped him off all the time. The evil we're worried about. And we've forgotten who's in throne. Who's the king? Sad reality is in the first century, many of these churches were facing mass discouragement and great compromise followed so much so that Christ is going to have to say, listen, I remove lampstands.

If my church is not going to be a faithful witness to the testimony of Jesus Christ and the gospel, I will remove a lampstand. And people at times can't even see this. He pulls a lampstand, the church goes on, and that ministry is nothing but tickling people's ears.

But they go on without a lampstand. See, I think what John is saying to us here is you need a vision today of Christ. The right vision. I hold the keys. You're discouraged and fearing the wrong things, and that's why you're a mess.

I'm in charge of history. I hold it all. Yes, indeed, every square inch. No one denies that. It's all mine.

I'm the ruler over all.

And I'm with you, and I'm on fire in the church. I'm with my people. This is where when Daniel's friends were thrown into the furnace, that fourth was there. He's always been. And here's the real importance.

I know your situations more intimately and better than you do. I know your sufferings, and I've appointed them for a purpose. I am he who lives and was dead. I died, but you know what I did? I rose. I defeated it.

I'm alive forevermore. And I hold these keys. I control the destinies. When he was born, this child was destined for the fall and rising of many in Israel. I am sovereign over all. I am coming to judge.

I am the one who triumphed over death, says Jesus. I have risen victorious. I hold the keys of the kingdom, meaning that even if you are put to death for me, death can't injure you. Death can't touch you.

Whoever believes in me, even though he dies, he shall live. God is not the God of the dead, but of the living. And so the vision says, fix your eyes on Jesus. He's the vision you need today. And remember your commission in life.

Remember your purpose in life. Jesus said it so clearly in the midst of the all of it discourse. The gospel of the kingdom will be preached, and all the world is a witness, and then the end will come.

There are all kinds of social media pundits today telling us and pulling us away from this. See it. But there's one great encouragement to close this today. One great encouragement. I wonder if anyone missed it.

When did John see this vision? Verse 10, I was in the Spirit on the Lord's day. Now there's been debate about that, but the received position is that he received this vision when? When the Christians gathered on the first day of the week for worship.

When the gathering of the saints happened, a lot of people go through a lot of suffering and a lot of hardship themselves because they've still not appreciated where their strength is coming. All of this is meant to say to you, if you want to see clearly through this age, if you want to have a proper vision through this age, if you want to have strength through this present distress, the encouragement that you need is come every Sunday to the well and drink freely from the water of life.

There was a reason Jesus gave this vision on the Lord's day. It was to encourage the church to continue to gather and continue to worship because where his people are gathered and there's fellowship around the word, Jesus Christ is feeding and keeping and strengthening his church.

That's why he cares about what the church is doing. And I can't help but to think this is John's way of saying to us, when he found himself vanished in great tribulation, the way he remained committed to the testimony of Jesus and the way that he remained patient through it all was the blessing of Lord's day worship.

Can I say that? I want to be as clear as possible as I can on that. Because we as pastors meet all the time people who just don't get this concept. There's means of grace for you. There's a gospel preached to you.

There's a sacrament given for you to uphold you, strengthen you. So my friends, this is the vision we need today. Whatever he calls you to endure, every path will look different. You know, most likely if there's going to be martyrs, it's going to be the pastors.

But hey, we signed up for that when we went into this. We said that we would die for the doctrine. He will not abandon us no matter what. He calls us to trust him and no one dies in their own strength.

Let me just say that. He calls us ever to go through that. It's his power resting upon us. Our sufferings don't define us in the sense of who we are. They testify to who we belong to. So be strong and courageous in the gospel and worship the Lord and make that the priority of your lives.

And the encouragement of Revelation 1 is you too will see Jesus. You will see him in power. You will see him in glory. That's what's held out for you in the life to come. But even now it's held out in the word and sacrament.

Let's praise him in prayer. Heavenly Father, thank you for your word to us and for encouraging us. Help us, we pray, Lord, to have strong confidence in these days, to not lose heart in whatever you call us to endure, to see Jesus in this vision that you've provided, our strength, our refuge, our hope, to not get caught up in all the movements, popular movements of this present hour, but to be strong and enduring and firm and centered on the gospel and driven by your word and realizing that whatever you call us to endure, you will accomplish your purposes and you will gather your sheep to the ends of the earth.

Not one will be lost. Encourage your people in Jesus' name, amen.