Our Mission from Jesus
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Our Mission from Jesus
Our Mission from Jesus
Intro — What is the good life…If I were to tell you…your life would look like this:
Let me describe for you what probably most Americans would say is the good life.
Live a fairly healthy life (no major issues or cancer), get married (or not), have a few kids, have a successful job that allows me to have a house, not go into major debt, go on vacation at least once or twice a year; have enough money for retirement, live to at least 90 years old, die in my sleep—not face any major health problems or emergencies for me and my loved ones. That’s a good life.
now those are not necessarily bad things—and if God gives you them, they are blessings, because they are ultimately from Him.
but is that description of what life is really to be about....is that to be our main mission in life as followers of Jesus?
I think we can all agree that that is not our primary mission.
What are we to be about—from the moment we accept Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord, to the moment we take our last breath—what are we to be about—what is our mission—and what will that look like.
Great questions.
I believe Revelation 11 helps us answer.
So Please turn there.
Now, it’s been a minute since we have been in Revelation—and by minute, I mean about 7 weeks.
Let me do a little review before we dive in by giving you True/False statements---Now, I always disliked True and False statements on tests, b/c I could over-think them. Don’t overthink these.
True or False: Revelation is the last book of the Bible. True
True or False: Revelation was written by the Apostle John. True (he was suffering, banished to the island of Patmos, and God gave him this vision).
True or False: Revelation is all about secret codes and puzzles, so we can figure out the exact time when Jesus will return. False. It certainly includes Jesus’ return…that’s a big part…
but Revelation was written to real Christians in the Roman Empire who were suffering. in chapters 2-3—John writes to 7 real historic churches in modern day Turkey who were suffering.
Instead, what is Revelation about—it is a calling for Christians to endure and suffer faithfully for Jesus—it’s worth it—don’t give into the world or the devil or our sinful nature. follow Jesus, even to death, and you will live with Him forever b/c He is coming back and He will set everything right.
God has already given John several visions so far—
4-5 — vision of God on the throne ruling and the Lamb, Jesus Christ
6-8 the scroll is opened with 7 seals
8-9 6 of the 7 trumpets of God’s judgment
and what is interesting about the layout of this book...
in chapter 6—we saw 6 of the 7 seals, and before we get to the 7th seal—God interrupts that vision and shows the people of God—the 144,000 and a great multitude and then the 7th seal—how God preserves us and protects even to death.
similarly here—God has given John 6 of the 7 trumpets—and then before the 7th trumpet, interrupts it to have chapters 10 and 11, showing what we are to be about on this earth as Christians and the people of God.
Let me read Revelation 11—and warning I admit, this has been the hardest chapter for me to interpret and understand so far
Revelation 11:1–6 (NIV)
1 I (John) was given a reed like a measuring rod and was told, “Go and measure the temple of God and the altar, with its worshipers.
2 But exclude the outer court; do not measure it, because it has been given to the Gentiles. They will trample on the holy city for 42 months.
3 And I will appoint my two witnesses, and they will prophesy for 1,260 days, clothed in sackcloth.”
4 They are “the two olive trees” and the two lampstands, and “they stand before the Lord of the earth.”
5 If anyone tries to harm them, fire comes from their mouths and devours their enemies. This is how anyone who wants to harm them must die.
6 They have power to shut up the heavens so that it will not rain during the time they are prophesying; and they have power to turn the waters into blood and to strike the earth with every kind of plague as often as they want.
a huge question—you must always ask when interpreting Revelation—is this literal or symbolic? Has it already happened or will it happen in the future? Great questions. depending on how you answer that.
One of the most popular and common understandings of this passage is that the temple refers to a literal future temple that the Jewish people will rebuild on the Temple Mount in Jerusalem (currently a Muslim mosque is there), that that will happen in the end times.
and the 2 witnesses described here are 2 literal people that will boldly witness, die and be resurrected (a new Moses and Elijah).
that is one common one, and that may be right. That’s how I used to understand it.
but I think what Revelation 11 is describing here—are a lot of symbols and imagery from the OT to describe what we as the church are to be about between Jesus’ 1st coming and his 2nd coming as we wait for him. why do I think that?
First of all the 2 witnesses are described in verse 4 as two lampstands. we actually saw back in chapter 1:20 that the lampstands stand for the churches.
20 The mystery of the seven stars that you saw in my right hand and of the seven golden lampstands is this: The seven stars are the angels of the seven churches, and the seven lampstands are the seven churches.
so I think that the 2 witnesses here are not describing just 2 literal people, but is a symbolic way of describing all the church now. and there are 2 of us—because the Bible says every matter must be established by 2 or 3 witnesses in the OT; Jesus sent out his disciples 2 by 2.
second, I think this is symbolic because the temple in vs 1-2—in Revelation, in the book of Revelation when the temple is mentioned, it is describing the heavenly temple, or God’s presence, or dwelling place—not a literal temple. In fact, throughout the NT—the temple is often a reference to the church. Now that Jesus has come, died, and dwells in us (he called himself a temple)—we as the church are the temple of the Holy Spirit b/c Jesus dwells in us, and when we gather with other Christians—we are a type of temple now that Jesus has accomplished his mission to die and rise for our sin.
so back to the original question if I am right (and it’s a big if…)
what are we to be about…We as followers of Jesus — what is our mission in the good life of following Jesus.
Our mission is to witness to others about Jesus. (vs. 1-6)
and this involves words (look at verse 3)
3 And I will appoint my two witnesses, and they will prophesy for 1,260 days, clothed in sackcloth.”
prophesy—means to declare Gods’ Word. this is a really important point to bring up—b/c we sometimes assume if we just live good lives, then that will be enough to point to Jesus. certainly this is important—our junior Bible quizzers are studying Matthew 5, 6, 7, and Matthew 5:16—talks about letting our line shine that they may see our good deeds and glorify our Father in Heaven.
but it’s not just our lives (must match our words)—we have to speak up. we have to be willing to bring up Jesus Christ (not in a jerk way—the Greek word is jerk-us), but even just simple things like—do your co-workers or family or friends that don’t the Lord—do they know you are a Christian? Do you they know you are a part of a church—do you mention Jesus?
one great way to bring up Jesus in conversation is when a friend or co-worker is going through a hard time—asking “do you mind if I pray for you right now?” most people don’t deny prayer.
and we also learn from the imagery that our witness is to be dependent on the Holy Spirit and prayer.
the image of the olive trees in verse 4—is from Zechariah in the OT—and Zechariah famously says in that imagery:
6 So he said to me, “This is the word of the Lord to Zerubbabel: ‘Not by might nor by power, but by my Spirit,’ says the Lord Almighty.
just as the people of God in the OT in Zechariah needed God’s Spirit—so we are to witness out of dependence on God’s Spirit—we faithfully are lampstands—being lit by Jesus. are you dependent on the Spirit for your witness? A great place to start is to pray for those who don’t know the Lord—and pray for open doors—do you do that?
and then the reference to sackcloth—in verse 3—they are clothed in sackcloth—sackcloth was worn as a way of showing that you were mourning, and lamenting, and grieving. do we witness in tears at times—this humbles us—knowing that we are so concerned for others—b/c God’s judgment is against our sin—and unless we turn to him in humility and repentance, we will spend eternity away from Him.
so words, dependency, humility, prayerfully…we are to witness for Jesus. all of us are called to do this—not just pastors.
but secondly...
Our mission for Jesus is filled with danger, (suffering, and attacks) (vs. 2, 7-10). In other words, our assignment is difficult and filled with costs.
Revelation 11:7–10 (NIV)
7 Now when they have finished their testimony, the beast that comes up from the Abyss (reference to demonic attack) will attack them, and overpower and kill them.
8 Their bodies will lie in the public square of the great city—which is figuratively called Sodom and Egypt (both were enemies of God’s will and people in the OT—Sodom a place where sexual immorality was pursued; Egypt a place that enslaved God’s people)—where also their Lord was crucified (Jerusalem—where religious people killed the Messiah and rejected the Gospel.
9 For three and a half days some from every people, tribe, language and nation will gaze on their bodies and refuse them burial. (ultimate contempt against God’s people)
10 The inhabitants of the earth will gloat over them and will celebrate by sending each other gifts, because these two prophets had tormented those who live on the earth.
our mission is not easy…
this suffering starts in verse 2—where it says:
Revelation 11:2 (NIV)
2 But exclude the outer court; do not measure it, because it has been given to the Gentiles. They will trample on the holy city for 42 months.
if the temple represents the church—the people of God—then we will be trampled on from others, even though we belong to God.
but then in verses 7-10 a beast figure comes out of the abyss—we actually see a reference to more beasts in Revelation 13—and this image comes from the book of Daniel chapter 7—where the beasts in Daniel’s vision represents world empires who persecute God’s people.
so in John’s day who was writing—their beast was the Roman Empire—persecuting them. and it’s not just a human empire or people—behind it is Satan powers and spiritual powers who are bent on keeping us from following God and doing his will. There is a spiritual battle.
we are to expect this kind of suffering, push-back for the Gospel.
I think sometimes we are surprised at this. We know we are called to go and share Christ with actions and words, and when we run into problems or obstacles we are surprised!
when things don’t always go as planned—when the person doesn’t come to Christ the first time, or when someone doesn’t want to talk about it.
or I have also seen—when you truly take the mission of Jesus seriously—that you specifically are called to go—all of us—be prepared for worldly opposition, human opposition, and demonic spiritual warfare opposition. your family may be against you; your friends; you who are part of our Brianna’s Hope family seeking to become clean and free from addiction, can experience this in the addiction world as you find out your friends may not have really been your friends.
I just read an interesting article of missionaries in eastern Europe—who mentioned strange things happening to their family—finding their stroller and urine poured into it, blood splattered on their door, lack of sleep, strange dreams. even their 2 year old had these crazy scary dreams of a demonic figure, he described as this: “At two and a half, he was finally able to verbalize what he’d been dreaming about for the past few months. One of his most vivid dreams was about a woman with black hair and red eyes who wore only a bra and black pants and would offer him a basket of rotten fruit and force him to eat. His nightmare was X-rated, not a typical toddler-being-chased-by-a-bear dream.” the missionaries go on to call this demonic bullying.
they go on to say this: Because we were so overwhelmed with our situation, we needed help. We called our teammates to come pray with us. While our son was asleep, we prayed at his bedroom windows, that God would not allow any evil to enter into his room and that he would sleep peacefully. The next morning I asked him, “Did you have a nightmare last night?” His toddler answer was flabbergasting: “Yes, but this time the woman was outside my window, and she couldn’t come in.” (source: https://www.thegospelcoalition.org/article/dealing-with-demons/)
I want to prepare you—if you truly follow the first point to actively pray and seek ways to share the good news of Jesus—be prepared for opposition. When Jamie and I were church planting in Lima, Ohio-it never failed—every time we would step out to reach out to our neighbors or a planned event, one of us in our family would get sick. I often would have very vivid kind of demonic dreams, where I was stuck in these dreams until I could say the name of Jesus. Now, I don’t want to give more credit to the devil than he deserves, but that still happens today—whenever our family is stepping out in faith to reach out, to disciple someone, we still experience it.
are you ready for suffering for the mission of Jesus?
#3 Our mission involves supernatural protection and supernatural results. (vs. 1, 5-6, 11-13)
1 I was given a reed like a measuring rod and was told, “Go and measure the temple of God and the altar, with its worshipers.
I made a very basic case that the temple stands for us—God’s people. and the fact that he is measure the temple of God—is a way of showing that God owns us, we belong to Him, He has measured us, and He always protects his people spiritually.
but the reality of verse 2 is that we still get trampled on. we are not always protected physically.
BUT look at verses 5-6 again—as we witness—look at the supernatural power
Revelation 11:5–6 (NIV)
5 If anyone tries to harm them (2 WITNESSES), fire comes from their mouths and devours their enemies. This is how anyone who wants to harm them must die.
6 They have power to shut up the heavens so that it will not rain during the time they are prophesying; and they have power to turn the waters into blood and to strike the earth with every kind of plague as often as they want.
I don’t think that the fire is a literal reference to super-human power to destroy people—but God’s Word is a fire—it will prove true. If people reject it, and reject the Creator of the Universe—they will experience his judgment some day.
and in verse 6—the way it describes is like Elijah who prayed it wouldn’t rain and it didn’t, and Moses—turning the waters into blood. Those are the kind of people we are like when we follow God’s mission.
look at verses 11-13 now. after the 2 witnesses—the church had been killed.
11 But after the three and a half days the breath of life from God entered them, and they stood on their feet, and terror struck those who saw them.
12 Then they heard a loud voice from heaven saying to them, “Come up here.” And they went up to heaven in a cloud, while their enemies looked on.
13 At that very hour there was a severe earthquake and a tenth of the city collapsed. Seven thousand people were killed in the earthquake, and the survivors were terrified and gave glory to the God of heaven.
14 The second woe has passed; the third woe is coming soon.
we saw the first woe in chapter 9 with the 7 trumpets.
even if they take our body—they cannot ultimately harm our souls. God will, at the end of the age, give us resurrection bodies. If they kill us now, to be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord. and we get to be with the Lord.
and verse 13 refers to another earthquake (we saw a big earthquake in chapter 6 as well with the 6th seal)—and some will turn to Christ.
so be encouraged—that God ultimately has the final word. He protects our souls even if man takes our bodies. and we will be with Christ forever.
our faithfulness to boldly witness and trust Christ is one of the ways we endure and conquer in the book of Revelation. by faithfully, showing and telling the Gospel of Christ--
this is the mission Jesus has given us.
and we see that all of this—somehow God is still in control.
vs. 2—says we are trampled on for 42 months (3.5 years) vs. 3—we witness for 1,260 days (approximately 3.5 years.)
Nancy Guthrie says this: If we consider that Israel journeyed in the wilderness for two years before they were judged for disobedience and told that they would spend forty years wandering, we see that God’s people spent forty-two years journeying from Egypt to the promised land, a time of testing. Later we discover that when Elijah prayed for the heavens to be shut over Israel because of idolatry, there was no rain for three and a half years (Luke 4:25). “This period seems to be associated with a time of rebellion during which God’s faithful people are protected in the midst of trials.” This same time period of three and a half years is also significant in the book of Daniel, as it is the period of time given for the tribulation of the Jews under Antiochus Epiphanes, an intense period of suffering through which God’s people emerged victorious. So whenever we read about forty-two months or 1, 260 days, or three and a half years in Revelation, we should think of it as a period of testing or suffering, which is overseen and limited by God and from which God’s people will emerge as overcomers.
Guthrie, N. (2022). Blessed: Experiencing the Promise of the Book of Revelation (p. 135). Crossway.
#4 — Our witness points to Jesus’ life and His coming kingdom.
a. one thing that majorly encourages me—God doesn’t ask us to do something that He hasn’t experienced. Jesus was the most faithful witness ever. her ministered faithfully in word and deed. and he was attacked; he was killed, publicly. the people gloated over him and his death—both the Romans and his own people. but after 3 days, the breath of life from God entered him, and he rose, and over 40 days later—ascended up to heaven where he now reigns. as we witness and suffer, we follow that same trajectory.
I want to close by reading Revelation 11:15-19 (these words inspired Handel’s Messiah)
15 The seventh angel sounded his trumpet, and there were loud voices in heaven, which said: “The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of his Messiah, and he will reign for ever and ever.”
16 And the twenty-four elders, who were seated on their thrones before God, fell on their faces and worshiped God,
17 saying: “We give thanks to you, Lord God Almighty, the One who is and who was, because you have taken your great power and have begun to reign.
18 The nations were angry, and your wrath has come. The time has come for judging the dead, and for rewarding your servants the prophets and your people who revere your name, both great and small— and for destroying those who destroy the earth.”
19 Then God’s temple in heaven was opened, and within his temple was seen the ark of his covenant. And there came flashes of lightning, rumblings, peals of thunder, an earthquake and a severe hailstorm.
this 7th trumpet is highlighting the return of Christ—one day it will come
as we faithfully witness to Christ—we warn people to be prepared for the coming kingdom. a day is coming, when God will reign fully and finally.
so what is the good life—what are we to be about—witnessing faithfully, boldly, dependently for Jesus no matter what, no matter the suffering, no matter the chaos, even to death, trusting that He will raise us and one day set everything right.
we live like Jesus, died like Jesus, and are raised like Jesus to be with Jesus forever in Jesus’ kingdom.
let’s pray.
tear down—lunch
this Wed. is soup there it is at 6pm fellowship hall; and then several testimonies from:
Luke and Brandi Liechty
Nia Litwiller and Meredith Sprunger
Diana Kellermeyer
Rusty Fights
Lee and Liz Johnson
next Sunday—we have the opportunity to hear from the Tom Frye Band in Worship—this would be Amy Sprunger’s brother. looking forward to that and continuing in Revelation 12