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The episodes are the weekly sermons from 922 Ministries (St. Peter and The CORE) of Appleton, Wisconsin.
Good morning, everyone. Welcome back to week number four of five of our journey through the book of Revelation.
Do any of you ever get nervous as you look around culture, as you study the trends and the changes? Do you ever get nervous for the future of the church of Jesus?
I'm not sure if you pay attention to the surveys and the statistics. I'm not sure if you're old enough to have noticed that culture, especially here in America, has really shifted when it comes to its priorities and its values. When you kind of look around at your generation and what's normal, or you're part of an older generation and you notice what used to be normal, that no longer is. Do you ever get worried or concerned for the future of Christianity?
I'm a guy who loves to read studies and surveys, you know, what one generation or another believes. And every time I read a survey like that, I never think, oh, this is good for Jesus. Instead, it's always, like, anxiety inducing and worrisome, as if the mighty name of Jesus is slipping through our fingers right before our eyes.
For example, if you're taking notes today, I recently heard from a 2023 survey that the largest spiritual group in America is no longer the Catholics in America, and it's not the Protestants in America, it's not evangelical Christians, it's not Muslims, it's not jewish people. The number one spiritual group currently in America, with 28% of the adult population, are the “nones.”
I'm not talking about women, catholic women who take a vow of celibacy. I'm talking n o n e s, like, what's your religion? None. People don't even claim to be Christian. I'm not talking about people who just show up, you know, on Christmas and Easter. These people say, no, I don't even claim to be part of that. I don't have any sincere interest in that. I'm not a follower of Jesus. 28 of the population. And if you limit the survey just to American teenagers and 20 somethings, the number skyrockets from 28% to 50%.
Statistically, people who are labeled as none feel no obligation to attend church. They're much less interested in any kind of organized religion. They don't read their Bibles most of the time, and that doesn't bother them one bit. And I think about that. What's going to happen when the 20 somethings in America have kids and they don't teach them how to pray before bed, and they don't bring them to hear the story of Jesus birth on Christmas Eve or his death and resurrection during Holy Week. If my children have children, what will be the normal in this place?
I'm not a prophet, but it doesn't feel like Jesus is winning.
Then I read this other survey from Gallup in 2023. It said that currently in America, this is the worst data in American history. Less than one in three people think that pastors like me are honest and ethical. I think the exact number was 32%. So even though I've read the Bible cover to cover how many times, even though I went to school for how many years, if you could introduce me to one of your friends who doesn't go to church, the vast majority of them would think before I even open my mouth, oh, this guy is not telling the truth.
Maybe this is personal for me, but the next time you're watching a tv show or a movie and there's a pastor involved, I bet you $100 he's a hypocrite before the closing credits. He's hiding some secret. He's super hateful. He's not sincere or kind. He's after people's money, and he'll use any version of spirituality to get it.
What happens when the people who are literally trained to teach the message of Jesus are the least trusted when it comes to Jesus?
And as long as I'm dropping a bunch of bad news on you, you ready for the worst one? According to a 2020 survey by the Cultural Research Center, 52% of self-proclaimed christians think that getting to heaven is something you earn or deserve by living a good life.
Now, if you're new to church, I just got to tell you, this is the exact opposite of what Christianity is all about. Christianity teaches that God is so great and heaven is so good, you could never earn or deserve it by giving some money, saying some prayers, or walking a bunch of little old ladies across the street. It's so glorious. The only way that you or I could get there is if it's an absolute gift. And that's what it is.
The good news is that Jesus did all of it. He lived and died and rose so that people who believe in him would get to heaven. So if 52% of people who think they're Christians don't even get, like, the basics of the christian faith, if half the population has no connection to Christianity and half of the people who do get Christianity wrong, what do you think is going to happen to the reputation and the message of the Church.
I look around, and I just don't want to read any more surveys because they don't trend well. And maybe if you're older, you share some of those concerns. You're afraid for what's happening politically, what's happening educationally, what's happening societally. You look at the trajectory in your family who used to go to church in your grandparents generation, and then yours and the kids. I mean, there's not much good news.
Or maybe for you, the bigger concern, and fear is not what's happening out there. It's what's happening right here. You're not looking at the statistics. You're just looking at that person in the mirror, and it's just the same stuff, right? You thought the more you went to church and prayed and studied the Bible, it would be up and to the right with your spiritual growth. But I know, has this happened to any of you? That sometimes you pray less than you used to or you trust less than you used to, or you're just, like, flatlined? I still worry. I still get defensive. I'm still proud. I'm still drinking too much.
And you become so aware of your own human weakness that despite all of the teaching, despite all of the Bible, it's like you still struggle and you still sin. It really makes you wonder, like, what could happen to a person who is as weak as I am. My spirit is willing, but my flesh is so weak.
In Christianity, we talk a lot about having a peace that goes beyond understanding of just being still because we know that he is God. But when you look around at what's happening and when you look within at what's happening, it's really hard to get there.
But today, today, I'm so glad that you're here. I'm so glad that you're watching or listening at home, because I have some really, really, really good news for you. Are you ready for it? The best news that I could share. For those of you who are worried about your spiritual future or the church's spiritual future, the number one thing I want to share with you today is this.
Jesus is like my mother in law, and my daughter knows this is really good news. My mother in law, her name is Candy. My wife's mother. Candy, is like this amazing christian woman who raised two amazing christian daughters. She is devout, she's generous, she's kind, and she gave me permission to tell you this.
She is a walking spoiler alert. So if you like surprises, don't hang around my mother in law. If Candy sees a movie or a show before you do, she cannot not tell you. At our dinner table, we call this getting grandma candied. I saw this show.
I'm like, no, no, no. Don't tell us. We literally cover our ears, because when she has gotten to the other side of the tension, when she has seen the good ending of the story, she is so excited, she just has to share it with you. And this is exactly, exactly what Jesus does in the Bible.
He sees the future. He knows the end of the story. And instead of letting you and me live with attention and the suspense, are we going to make it? Is the faith going to make it? Am I going to make it? Jesus, who sees the future as clearly as you see the present, he talks to us and he spoils the ending.
Today's sermon is called Jesus spoiler alert, because Jesus is going to give us some amazing news about your future and mine, the future of everyone who follows in faith after our lord and savior Jesus Christ. We're going to jump into the book of Revelation today. We're going to see this cosmic battle between Jesus in one corner and all of his enemies in the other. It's going to seem like this epic. Hold your breath. What's going to happen to us? But spoiler alert, Jesus does not lose.
So let's jump in. Today we're in the book of Revelation. Once more, chapter 19. We're going to jump in in verse eleven, where we meet in this corner, standing for everything good and of God, the Lord Jesus Christ. John writes this.
“I saw heaven standing open, and there before me was a white horse whose rider,” this is Jesus, “is called faithful and true. With justice he judges and wages war. His eyes are like blazing fire, and on his head are many crowns. He has a name written on him that no one knows but he himself. He's dressed in a robe dipped in blood, and his name is the word of God. The armies of heaven were following him, riding on white horses and dressed in fine linen, white and clean. Coming out of his mouth is a sharp sword with which to strike down the nations. He will rule them with an iron scepter.” It's a quote about the Messiah from the Old Testament. “He treads the winepress of the fury of the wrath of God almighty. On his robe and on his thigh, he has this name written, king of kings and lord of lords.” An epic description of Jesus. In fact, there's so many good things about Jesus packed in here. I want you to grab a pen if you're taking notes. There's six things that I see that make me love Jesus even more than I did yesterday.
The first one, the fact that Jesus is called faithful and true. I love that my Bible capitalizes those words I saw before me this rider on a white horse who was called capital f, faithful, and capital t, true. This means that when Jesus says something to you in the Bible, he has to do it. When he makes a promise, he has to keep it. Like it is, against the fabric of the universe would fall apart if the one who is faithful somehow could not be faithful. If he says it, he'll do it. You can bet on it. You can bank on it. You don't have to lose sleep about it. You don't have to stress about it. He is faithful and he is true.
Some people in this world want to manipulate and use you. They are unfaithful. Other people have the best of intentions, that they love you, and they vow to love and respect you or be there for you. But they're human, so they run out of energy or intention.
They forget the promises they've made. But that's not Jesus. He's capital f faithful. If he makes you a promise in the word, that's why we love it. When you come to church and hear the promises of the word, if he says it, he has to do it.
He's faithful. Second, according to this description, Jesus is also just a great line with justice. He judges and wages war. A simple definition for the big idea. Justice in the Bible means to punish all the guilty and to protect all the innocent. And every time Jesus judges, he does it with justice.
This doesn't always happen in our lives, does it? Sometimes innocent people become innocent victims. When I was growing up, my older brother, Chris, my mom's sitting right over here. He would always get in trouble because he's the older brother and should have known better. Chris to this day claims that I started the drama 92% of the time.
And I'm not going to tell you who was right in this debate, but sometimes you don't know the whole story. You don't know who's right. Sometimes the class gets punished even though these kids didn't do anything wrong. Sometimes the court can't make a compelling case. Sometimes you can out lawyer someone and get away with an injustice. Sometimes there's bribes and favoritism and sexism. Sometimes innocent people become victims and guilty people get away with it.
But not with Jesus. When he comes to fight for what's good and fight against what's evil, with justice, he judges and wages war. You don't have to worry that your spiritual enemies have put a bribe into the pocket of Jesus. The one who is faithful is also the one who is just.
Number three. Here's why. Because he is all knowing. Verse twelve says that Jesus' eyes are like blazing fire. He sees everything with absolute clarity. You can't hide anything from Jesus. His vision isn't clouded by greed or pride or old age. Because he is all knowing. He's able to judge like no one else can judge. All the evidence of all the cases are printed in 72 point font, and Jesus doesn't need his readers to render a verdict.
Number four, maybe a key point in this section. He's also authoritative. You heard in Revelation 19, phrases like, on his head are many crowns a symbol of authority. The armies of heaven were following him, not themselves, but him, because he's the one in authority. He rules the nations with an iron scepter. And I love this on his robe and on his thigh. How do you picture that?
I picture Jesus like a heavyweight boxer with, like, a satin robe embroidered on the back, and it opens up and, like, on his thigh, he's got the sweet. I don't think there's a dragon there or something. I don't know how you picture this, but on his robe and on his thigh, here's what's written. King of kings and Lord of lords.
Like, maybe you can't fight against the king and his army against the Lord with all of his resources, but Jesus is the king above every other king and the Lord above every other lord. He's not sweating when world superpowers stand up to him. He is infinitely above them, because on his head are many crowns, and he rules the universe with an iron scepter.
Number five. This text teaches us that Jesus is holy. He hates sin and he must deal with it. The verse is pretty graphic, isn't it? Verse 15. He treads the winepress of the fury of the wrath of God almighty.
Do you know how you like viscerally feel in your heart when you read some disturbing news story that these jacked up, abusive parents put their kids in the basement? Part of you just gets righteously angry that that must be trampled on, crushed, dealt with. That's a good instinct in your heart. We can't shrug or smile at things that are evil. When you see it for what it is, you say no, it's exactly how Jesus feels about all sins.
Like grapes are smashed underneath human feet in a winepress. So Jesus treads the wine press of the fury of the wrath of God almighty. Don't mess with Jesus. Sin is not funny to him. He has to deal with it in his righteousness. But finally, my favorite part, Jesus is also loving.
Amazing verse. I wonder if he caught that. Verse 13. He is dressed in a robe dipped in blood. That embroidered robe that says, King of kings and Lord of lords, it's dipped in blood, but the battle hasn't even begun. So it forces you to ask, well, whose blood is it? And the answer is his own.
That Jesus was so full of love for sinful people, for those who used to rebel against his kingdom, that he sacrificed himself for his very enemies. He died in the greatest act of sacrificial love in human history, so that when you believe in him, you don't have to worry that God's going to trample you underneath his angry feet.
If Jesus shed his blood before the judgment day has arrived, then you can cling to the cross. Your sins will be separated as far from you as the east is from the west, no matter how many or how messed up they are. So that when God looks at you, instead of being furious and wrathful, a smile will break over his face, and he will express you the greatest affection and acceptance that your heart has ever known.
In this corner, in the cosmic battle, we meet Jesus, and Revelation 19 tells us he is faithful. He is just, he's all knowing, authoritative, holy, and he is loving.
But there's someone that wants to fight Jesus. In this other corner is everything and everyone that is Antichrist. Just one verse that we see in verse 19. Here's Jesus' enemies. “Then I saw the beast and the kings of the earth and their armies gathered together to wage war against the rider, on the horse, and on his army.” Just one verse, but there's a lot of pushback packed into that passage.
The beast. If you were here last week, we learned in Revelation 13 was all political power that persecutes the people of God. So whenever the government, whenever the laws, whenever law enforcement, whenever the educational system, whenever the university professor or the grade school teacher teaches, pushes, enforces something that is Antichrist, that is a beast that not many Christians can resist on their own. I saw the beast, and the kings and their armies, picture every ruler with power and resources showing up with all of the soldiers, all of the weapons, and they're there not to look for some truth. They have gathered together to wage war against Jesus.
These are people who will not bow the knee and call Jesus Lord. These are people who refuse to follow God's commands because they themselves want to be king. They won't fall in line behind general Jesus. They're following their own hearts. Instead of saying that Jesus is the truth, they claim that their heart is the truth. Instead of praying your will be done. They're following the own desires of their heart. This is it, the final battle. Christ versus everything and everyone anti-christian. Since Adam and Eve, there have been skirmishes, but this is the final war. What do you think is going to happen next?
Before you answer, did anyone catch what I just did? Got to pay attention to preachers. Not all of them. Tell you the truth, I said, in this corner, in verses eleven through 16, is Jesus. And in this corner, the beast and the kings. But that was in verse 19, which means, if you're good at math, I skipped two verses.
I suppose I didn't want to spoil it, but apparently the Bible did, because the actual flow of Revelation 19 is in this corner. Jesus. And before we even meet his enemies, look at verses 17 and 18, “and I saw an angel standing in the sun who cried in a loud voice to all the birds flying in mid air. Come gather together for the great supper of God, so that you may eat the flesh of kings, generals, and the mighty of horses and their riders, and the flesh of all people, free and slave, great and small.”
No one's thrown the first punch. No one's taken the sword out of its sheath. The battle hasn't even begun. And yet this angelic messenger is calling to the birds and predicting how the battle will end. They can come down to feast on the flesh, not of Jesus for a single second, but the flesh of all these powerful forces that waged war against him, kings and generals.
In fact, if you'd like Revelation symbolism, we've been learning a lot of that in this series. Many interpreters think that the ten groups listed here represent the complete opposition to Jesus. So he fights against kings, generals, and the mighty (one, two, three), horses of the riders (four), (five) the flesh of all people, then (six), free, enslaved (seven, eight), great and small (nine and ten). And Revelation ten sometimes represents just everything. So this is a way of saying everything that stands against Jesus, everything that makes you worried and anxious, all of it, will be defeated when that great battle comes. And heaven knows the end of the story before the battle even begins.
So I guess what Revelation 19 is trying to tell us is that the end of the world, the cosmic battle between good and evil, will be a lot like Mike Tyson versus Marvis Frazier. I'll show you a picture. Back when I was a kindergartner, I think back in 1986, there was this epic, hyped ABC Wild World of Sports fight between Mike Tyson, Iron Mike from upstate New York. I just showed my youngest daughter a bunch of YouTube clips of Mike Tyson knockouts. So great. And he's fighting against Marvis Frazier, who was the son of boxing legend Joe Frazier, during that time in history, had just been knocking dudes out left and right. And ABC was hyping this fight. Like these two titans, no one can stand against them. What happens when they fight each other? The place is packed. Everyone was excited. And then the bell rang.
Do you know what happens next?
They dance around each other like boxers do during the first few seconds of the match. And then Mike Tyson threw his first punch. I've watched the whole fight multiple times because it lasted 30 seconds. Marvis Frazier maybe did like this one time. And then Iron Mike just like, uppercuts him.
He stunned a second and this giant man just crumbles like a sack of potatoes. The ref rushes over to keep Mike from throwing a third punch. He starts counting to ten. He doesn't even bother. He gets the five and declares after 30 seconds, the fastest knockout of Mike Tyson's career. You thought it was going to be a fight. And then Tyson, Tyson’d him, you know what I love about the Bible?
The Bible is so honest about the bigness of our spiritual enemies, about sin, death, the devil, culture that turns against the christian church. But whenever those biggest enemies, kings, generals, the mighty, stand up against Jesus, you know what happens? They get knocked out real fast.
That's exactly what happens here. In Revelation 19, we meet Jesus. There's the prediction of how the battle is going to end. We meet his enemies, the beast and the kings. Look at verse 20 with me.
It starts with a great word, “but,” the anti-christian forces were so great and mighty. But. “But the beast was captured.” Well, did he, like, at least scratch Jesus? Nope, he's captured. Just like that? Just like that.
And with the beast, the false prophet, aka the beast that comes out of the earth, aka the great harlot. This is the corrupted church. The false prophet who had performed the signs on its behalf. With these signs, he had deluded those who had received the mark of the beast and worshiped its image.
The two of them were thrown alive into the fiery lake of burning sulfur. Done. Gone. Dead. The rest, oh, are they going to fight Jesus? Nope. The rest were killed with the sword coming out of the mouth of the rider and the horse. And just as promised, the birds gorged themselves on their flesh.
It's graphic, it's definitive. Human history doesn't have to go to the judges to see who scored more points. Jesus showed up and the fight was over.
Apparently the Bible is more into your personal peace than the suspense of a good story. Apparently, God didn't want you to go through this day or try to fall asleep this night, holding your breath, wondering if it's going to work out. Apparently, God likes to spoil the ending so that you can have a peace that goes beyond understanding.
In fact, this hit me the other day. I've been reading to you from the fourth to last chapter of the Bible. What? There's 1,263 separate chapters. So we're almost to the very end.
And you might say, well, all those people, Pastor Mike, they had to wait to hear this message, and the answer is nope. Do you know what happens when we go all the way back to the book of Genesis, all the way back to the first pages? Do you know what happens when we get back to the first page where evil showed up? God spoiled it.
Genesis, chapter three. The fall into sin. Adam and Eve. The serpent. Crafty, sneaks, tempts.
Did God really say, no, God's not telling you the truth. Adam and Eve rebel against God. They take the fruit. They eat it. God shows up. The very same page where evil enters the world. God shows up. He looks Satan right in the eye, and he says this. In Genesis 315, he that's the coming savior. Jesus “will crush your head.”
Oh, you'll strike his heel, you'll fight back, you'll wound him on the cross. But you know how this story ends. Don't you love this? On the first page, where sin shows up, God spoils the ending and promises his people peace.
So whether you lived pre Jesus or post the birth of Jesus, whether you were forever from the end of the world or feel like you're living in the days when the end of the world must come, God simply wants you to know it's going to be okay. Jesus wins.
So write that down. Your bulletins, in your minds and in your hearts, despite how bad it is, despite how much worse it might get, you don't have to hold your breath. Our God is good at his job. Jesus is the King of kings and Lord of lords, and he will win.
500 years ago, there was a catholic priest and monk named Martin Luther. Maybe you've heard the story. Martin Luther started what's called The Reformation. And what really kept Luther up at night is that he was so passionate about God, but he never felt any peace with God. It's what he would later call in his writings, the monster of uncertainty.
He could pray. He could memorize scripture, he could repent, he could confess every sin. He used to whip himself for being such a sinner, starve himself he would try harder. He would pray for hours. And despite trying to be as good as he could, he never could escape this monster. Maybe it's not good enough. He's God, after all.
And then Luther, through his own study of the Bible, specifically in the book of Romans, he discovered that God wanted to spoil the ending, not just with the judgment day, but with our own personal stories of salvation. God never wanted you to hold your breath and think, am I good enough? Have I done enough? He's God. I messed that up. But then I did this good thing, and I made that mistake, but I tried to learn from it.
God never wanted you to question if you were good enough. And that's why Jesus stretched out his arm on a cross and said, it's finished.
Spoiler alert. God so loved the world that he gave his one and only son that whoever believes in him shall not perish, but will have eternal life. You might fight many battles. There might be a lot of temptation ahead of you. You might win some skirmishes and lose some.
But if you have Jesus, you don't have to hold your breath and wonder if you're going to make it to heaven. You will, because everyone who follows Jesus on the white horse is dressed in linen, white and clean. Impurity and perfection. We don't have to carry around guilt and shame. We know how the story ends and how our story ends because we believe at the end of the day, Jesus wins.
So, brothers and sisters, I ask you, what would happen to you today, tonight, this year, if you would believe the spoiler?
Some of you have avoided the book of Revelation for most of your life because it freaks you out. What if God gave us the book of Revelation to calm us down, to admit, yeah. Yeah, it's gonna be hard, but don't hold your breath. What would happen the next time you see the news, the next time you doom scroll, the next time you read the survey, it's bad. It's getting worse.
What would happen in your heart if you would remember the last pages of this book or the first pages and realize how the story ends?
Some theologians call this the already and the not yet of the Christian faith. Are we in heaven? Not yet. Has Satan finally been defeated? Not yet. But do we know that we're going to heaven already? Am I safe with God already? Am I done fighting these spiritual battles? Not yet. I got to pray. I got to share my faith. I got to reach out to the next generation. But do I already know that God loves me, accepts me, approves of me? I do. Because, like my mother in law. Jesus loves to spoil the ending of our spiritual stories.
So it reminds me of the pastor and the janitor. Have I told you this story yet? This one's a pastor who was teaching his way through the book of Revelation. He's in the church basement with like, the really super devout Bible readers from the church, and people are trying their best, but with all the monsters and the mysteries and the beasts and the numbers and the interpretation, half the people are lost.
One day, after a particularly hard lesson, everyone left. The pastor was cleaning up his materials, and he noticed the church janitor waiting to clean things up after the study was done. The janitor is in the doorway, leaning on his mop with a little Bible open in his hands. Pastor notices the Bible, smiles, says, “Hey, whatcha reading?”
Janitor smiled. “Book of Revelation.”
“Oh. Do you know what it means?” The pastor asked.
“Sure do, pastor,” the janitor said.
“Okay, well tell me, what does the book of Revelation mean?”
Janitor smiled even wider. “I think it means, Jesus wins.”
The pastor packed up his dozen pages of notes and he said, “Yes it does.”
Friends, it's bad, and there are no promises. It might get worse, but please do not worry for a single second, because, spoiler alert, Jesus wins.