RevelationPT1: Welcome to the Faith Alive Sermon Podcast. This is a replay of a past sermon from Faith Alive Church. Whether you missed it, want to hear it again, or share it with someone you know, we're glad you're here. This sermon is by Jordan D. Waage lead pastor at Faith Alive Church. Somebody wave at me if they love Jesus in the house here today. Man, it is my delight, it is my honor to preach to our third service here this morning, this afternoon. And we are so excited that you're here. If you're new with us, thank you so much for being with us here at Faith Alive Church in West Branch, Michigan, both in person and online. My name is Pastor Jordan. I have the privilege and the honor of leading this church alongside my beautiful, amazing Latina wife. And we're very thankful for her. I am very thankful for her, as we should all be. Can you give her a round of applause just real quick? Behind every good man there's a more amazing woman. Amen. Amen. Very thankful for her. I just felt like I needed to point her out today. We're about to walk through a sermon series that will challenge you. We're about to walk through a sermon series that will remind you who is on the throne. We're about to walk through a sermon series that you will hear certain things within it to make you question where we are going as a country and as a world. but I want you to know that when we walk through this sermon series, you will not be fearful, you will not be scared, but you will come out at the end of this sermon series more encouraged than you ever have been before. I don't claim to be or have prophetic dreams, but I do believe that I had a dream just a couple of weeks ago from the Lord God Almighty. He gave me this vision and I wanna share it with you here today. We were in a house, my wife and I, and we were speaking to a pastor, a priest, a leader within the church. And out of his mouth should have come encouragement, out of his mouth should have come love, out of his mouth should have come direction. But instead, what came out of his mouth was vile. It was disgusting, it was gross. Things that a priest, a pastor, or a leader should never be saying, and as he was doing it, he was seething, he was smiling. My wife and I looked at each other in the dream, and I grabbed him by the collar, and I dragged him through the house. Again, this is a dream. I threw him on the front lawn of the house, and when I came back into the house, the entire staff at Faith Alive Church was standing in the living room and they looked at me and they said, Pastor, what are you doing? And I turned to them and I simply said I was just taking out the trash. Now I tell that story because I do believe that the Lord is trying to challenge us and remind us that there comes a day when this world that we live in the world as we know it will collapse and fail and move into a place where pastors are in pulpits, pastors are leading, pastors are moving from a false doctrine. I do believe that they are going to say things that they shouldn't say. I do believe that they are going to follow maybe just one of the Holy Trinity. See, it's not enough. Let me remind you that we are a church that believes in the Holy Trinity, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. I do believe that church our churches of today and globally are leaving. One of those, two of those out intentionally. And there comes a day where Jesus Christ will come back and judge those places. I don't wanna be one of those churches that He judges. If you have your Bibles with you, turn with me to Matthew chapter twenty four. Matthew chapter 24. In Matthew chapter 24, Jesus is walking with his closest companions, his disciples, and they are leaving the temple area. And as they walk away from the temple area, his companions, his disciples are looking back and admiring the beauty that is the temple area. They are looking back and seeing the majesty that is the temple. Area. And Jesus turns back to his closest companions. He turns back to his friends. He turns back to his disciples and he says, This, do you see these things? He says, Truly, I tell you, not one stone here will be left on another. Every one will be thrown down. What is Jesus? Saying in this moment, he's alluding to the fact that one day the temple area will crumble, fall, and collapse. This is a prophetic word coming from Jesus Christ. He further warns his disciples as he sits with them. He says, Watch out that no one deceives you. For many will come in my name, claiming I am the Messiah. And will deceive many. You will hear of wars and rumors of wars, but see to it, Jesus says, that you are not alarmed. Such things should happen. Such things might happen. Such things must happen. But the end will still come. Verse 7 says, Nation will rise against nation and kingdom against kingdom. There will be famines and earthquakes in various places. Verse 8 says, All of these things, somebody say, All of these things, all of these things are the beginning of birth pains. What is Jesus saying here? He's saying that what you're going to see, what you are going to experience. The chaos, the crumbling of the temple area is just the beginning. This is what's going to happen within the world. Then Jesus goes into what's going to happen to each and every one of us that believe in Jesus Christ. He says this in verse 9: then you will be handed over to be persecuted and put to death. And you will be hated by all nations. Why? Because of me. At that time. Many will turn away from the faith and will betray and hate each other. And many false prophets will appear and deceive many people. Remember my dream. Verse 12 says, Because of the increase of wickedness, the love of most will grow cold. But, but the one who stands firm to the end will be what? Saved. And the gospel of the kingdom will be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end. Will come. Let me tell you something. We live in a world right now where we are seeing prophetic messages come to pass. We are starting to see things crumble. We are seeing things turn to chaos. We are seeing things move in ways that they shouldn't move. We are seeing false doctrines being preached. We are seeing false prophets preaching. We see false teachers. sharing what they think should be in the word of God and it's inaccurate and it's wrong and it's isogenetical. But in the end of days there will be a global movement of God. People will come to know him in a great way. The the the gospel message will go forward. He will be exalted. Amen. See, we live in a tension filled world. We live in a world where there is instability in the government. There is instability economically. There is instability everywhere that we look. There is war, there's an increase of godlessness in America and around the world. And with these things on the rise, we are reminded that the end is near and the world as we know it will soon collapse. Pastor, you're freaking us out. Pastor, you're scaring us. Pastor, I don't like what you're preaching. Hey, you don't have to like what I'm saying. Take it up with the Lord God Almighty. I'm just a messenger. My intention, though, my intention, listen to me, is not to frighten you. My intention is not to scare you. My intention is to warn you. It's to warn you. Listen, there comes a day where everything that you know will disintegrate and be gone. Make sure, hear me in this, that you are on the right side of Christ. The right side of Christ. Listen, for the next seven weeks we will be walking through the book of Revelation, line by line, verse by verse, we will exegete these holy scriptures, meaning we will pull out the true intention, what God means by what he says through his messenger John. As it pertains to the end of the world, we'll study the letters that were written by John addressed to the seven churches in Asia Minor, and I pray, listen to me, that those that feel nervous or those that are fearful of what is to come will be comforted in who is to come. Because we know that one day this is good. One day the heavens will crack open. I said one day the heavens will crack open. And there there will be a rider who is called faithful and true, who will descend from the heavens upon a white horse. He is called faithful, he is called true, and out of his mouth will come a sharp, two-edged sword. Which he will strike down the many nations, and that one has a name that is written upon his robe, that is dipped in blood. It is written upon his thigh. What is that name? King of Kings and Lord of Lords. This is the Savior coming back for his church. King of Kings, Lord of Lords. Would you pray with me today? Father in heaven, we pray. That you would meet us here today. God, that you would guide us, that you would direct us, that you would remind us that even though these things are to come to pass, we have solace and we have peace and we have strength, knowing that you are still on the throne. So, Lord God, guide our speech here today. Lord God, guide our message here today. May it be your words, not my own, in the precious name of Jesus Christ, everybody said. Amen. The book of Revelation was written by John the apostle. He was the only one left of the original 12 disciples. He was not killed, but he was exiled to an island called Patmos. And on Patmos, he receives a vision from God. This vision shows him what is to come in the future. It is apocalyptic, meaning it is a revelation, meaning that it is unveiled of what is to come. In chapters two and three, John writes to the seven churches in Asia Minor, and they all have their own set of issues. You saw it in the video. Some had abandoned their love for Christ, some were so caught up. In pagan idol worship. So, what does Christ do? Christ gives this unveiling to John, both to comfort, to strengthen, but also to rebuke and to warn. Who in here knows that we need both of those things? We need to be convicted from the Lord. You've heard me say it time and time again. I'm gonna say this for my entire ministry: conviction is not a dirty word. We need more conviction here. So Christ gives this unveiling to John. And what we read in these chapters, they're not speculation about what the future looks like. We have what the future looks like. Revelation reveals to us what our human minds can't fully comprehend or put into place. So God has John write it. Turn with me to Revelation chapter 1. Revelation chapter 1. Verses 1 and 2. John writes this: the revelation from Jesus Christ, which God gave him, was to show his servants what should, what might, what must soon take place. Why I emphasize that word so much is because it gives intentionality to what God is doing. Right? It's not like it's Out there and it might happen. be be be ready and and so on and so forth. No, God says what must soon take place. He made it known by sending his angel to his sermon, John verse 2 says, Who testifies to everything he saw, that is the word of God and the testimony of Jesus Christ. Revelation chapter 1 and verse 3. Blessed is the one who reads aloud the words of this prophecy. What is the prophecy? It's the book of Revelation. Blessed is the one who reads the book of Revelation. Blessed is the one who reads prophecy. Why do I focus so heavily on bringing your Bible? Because if you don't know this, you won't know him. I'm gonna say that again because I think that was too good. If you don't know this, if you don't know the word of God, if you don't know what is written here, you don't know God. This is his written word. His logos. This is inspired. It is inerrant. It is infallible, meaning that it is incapable of being wrong. It is truth. It is truth. It's a compass. So blessed is the one who reads aloud the words of this prophecy. Blessed is the one who reads their Bible. Blessed is the one who understands the character of God through his word. And blessed are those who hear it. What are we doing today? We are hearing the word, go forward, and take it to heart. Listen, it's not enough to read and to hear. It's not enough to read and to hear. We have to put it into practice. Why we focus so heavily on that? Why are we a servant-based church? Because if we're not out there doing what needs to be done, there are people that we'll be left wanting, not understanding who Jesus is, and why not Faith Alive Church to bring them the message of Christ? So, so be there, read it. Listen to it, put it into practice. Prophecy, listen, is not just information, it is transformation. We have to understand prophecy. We have to go at it. We have to try to put it into practice. Because God didn't give revelation so that we could win some arguments. See, there's so much debate on what's real, what's allegorical, what's what's this, what's that, what's that, what's this, right? God never gave us revelation so that we could debate about how it is. No, this is truth. He gave us revelation so that we could remain faithful until the end. That's why he gave us revelation. Revelation chapter 1, verses 4 through 8. John to the seven churches in Asia. He writes this grace and peace to you from Him who is and who was and who is to come. Who are we talking about? We're talking about God the Father. This alludes to his eternal nature. And from the seven spirits that could be translated to the Holy Spirit before his throne. And five says, and from Jesus Christ. What did we just witness? We witnessed the Holy Trinity, the Godhead, three and one. See, it is a theme throughout scripture, and he doesn't stop at the last book. You see what I'm saying? There are churches out there that have left out the Holy Spirit of God. But we believe in the Godhead three in one, the Holy Trinity. You need each person of the Godhead. And this is further example on that He exists and moves in His church. And from Jesus Christ, who is the faithful witness, the firstborn from the dead. And the rulers of the kings of this earth to him who loves us and has freed us from our sin by his blood. I don't need to remind you in the place, at least I hope I don't, that when Jesus came to this earth and bled and was broken and died, he did that for you. He spilled his blood for you. He took the penalty and the punishment that we deserved because of his love for us. Verse 6. And has made us to be a kingdom and priest to serve God and Father. To him be the glory and power forever and ever and ever. Amen. Verse 7 says, Look, he is coming on the clouds. If you want further, Study on what that is. That's prophetic message found in Daniel chapter 7. You can write that down if you want to go and research that later. And every eye will see him, even those who have pierced him, and all peoples on earth will mourn because of him. There will be people in the future that have not heeded the warnings. Don't be one of them. Everybody listening online, don't be one of them. Follow Jesus today. If you want more on that prophetic message, you find that in Zechariah chapter 12. So shall it be. Amen. Verse 8 says, I am the Alpha and the Omega, says the Lord God, who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty. I want to walk through some of these when. Jesus is spoken about when he says, when God gives this to John and He says that He is a faithful witness, I want you to know that that alludes to His crucifixion, what he went through with each and every one of us. He was on this earth ministering for three and a half years. And just in that three and a half years, he was hated, mocked, beaten, broken, and killed because he was a faithful witness. So that alludes to his crucifixion. The firstborn from the dead is what it says next. That is his resurrection from the dead. Aren't you glad in this place that our Jesus didn't stay in that tomb? But Joseph's tomb is empty because our Jesus is alive. He is active. He's alive. He's active. He's moving in his church. He's moving in your heart. He's moving in your life. When it talks about Jesus being the ruler of the kings of this earth, I want you to know that that alludes to an exaltation of who Jesus is. When we walk into this place, I don't want you to ever feel that this is just a mundane, this is just something that we have to do. It makes me feel okay when I leave. No, no, no. I want you to walk into this place with an expectation of exaltation. Exaltation is a posture within us that says, Lord, have your way. I will place your name upon high. I will put you in front of my issue. I will put you in front of my ailment. I will put you in front of my illness and let you do what you can do. That was too good to not hear an amen. Put God in front of your issue. Let him be God in your life. I've said it time and time again, he can do it so much better than you can. I find peace in that. I find solace in that that I don't have to have the answers because I serve a God who has all the answers. He is omniscient, he is all knowing. He is omnipotent, he is all powerful, he has all authority, he is omnipresent, he is everywhere at once. That's the God that we serve. Amen. Amen. Revelation chapter 1, verses 9 through 20. Get ready. Get ready. John writes what the Lord has given him. He says, On the Lord's day, I was in the spirit, and I heard behind me a loud voice like a trumpet. Listen to me. If those, if you we have people in here that are struggling to hear the voice of God, spend time in the spirit of God. See, I think that we sometimes get a little impatient. Me included. I'll get down on my knees and I'll cry out to God for how long? Two, three, five, ten minutes, and I don't hear anything, so what do I do? I get up and I move about my day. And what do I say? I have the audacity to say that Lord never spoke to me today. When we need to take an example of what Jacob did with God and wrestled him until when he blessed him. You hear me in this place? Jacob refused to let him go until he blessed him. See, I believe that we need to wrestle with that God and ask him to bless us. We won't let go, God, until you move. We won't let God go, God, until you speak to us. We won't let go, God, until you heal. We won't let go, God, until you give me direction. We won't let go, God, until you bless us. That's a perfect example on how to spend time in God's presence. You want to hear him spend time in his presence. Verse 11. Jesus says, Write on a scroll. Trent, you can come at this time. What you see and send it to the seven churches, to Ephesus, to Smyrna, to Pergamum, to Thytira, to Sardis Philadelphia to Laodicea. Y'all ready for this? Verse 12. I turned around to see the voice who was speaking to me. Man, this fires me up. We're in the last service. I'm giving it all that I can in this one. Y'all ready? Come on. I turned around to see the voice that was speaking to me. And when I turned I saw seven golden lampstands, and among the lampstands was someone like the son of man. Dressed in a robe, reaching down to his feet, and with a golden sash around his chest, the hair upon his head was white like wool, and white as snow, and his eyes were like a blazing fire. His feet were like bronze glowing in a furnace, and his voice was like the sound of rushing. Waters in his right hand he held seven stars, and coming out of his mouth was a sharp two-edged sword. His face was like the sun shining in all of its brilliance. Somebody give Jesus some praise. Listen, listen, 2,000 plus years ago when Jesus walked this earth. I'm sweating bullets. When Jesus walked this earth 20 plus years ago, he walked around and he was beaten. He was broken and he was beaten and bleeding beyond any recognition. They said they couldn't even recognize who he is. He wore upon his brow a what? A crown of Of thorns, he stumbled on his way to Calvary, he stumbled on his way to the place of the skull, Golgotha, and he hung upon a cross until death. So we look at this picture of Jesus unrecognizable, broken, beaten, bleeding, unrecognizable, frail, out of energy, stumbling over himself, being mocked, being ridiculed. Listen to me. Two thousand plus years ago, that was the picture. Of who Jesus was, and He did that for us. Listen, but there comes a day. Stand on your feet in this place. There comes a day. There comes a day. I said there comes a day where Jesus Christ will not be a frail, broken down, or bleeding man. But there comes a day that he will come to this earth and he will be dressed in a white robe with a gold sash across his chest. His feet will be like bronze burning in a furnace, and his eyes will be like a blazing fire. His mouth will come a sharp, two-edged sword. You know what I love about Hebrews chapter 4? It tells us that this is our compass. You've heard me say it before. This is a compass to give you direction, but it's also a sword to take out your enemies. Out of his mouth comes a sharp Two-edged sword, Hebrews chapter 4 says, the word of God is alive and active, sharper than what? A two-edged sword. So out of his mouth comes this. Out of his mouth comes the written word of God. Out of his mouth we get to learn what Jesus said. Give Jesus some praise. Watch it gets better. It gets better. Verse 17, when I, John, when he saw him, he fell at the feet of Jesus. Man, let this be an encouragement to you today. Lord, let us fall at your feet again. Man, I know that there's uncertainty in this world. I know that there's chaos in this world. I know that we're headed towards destruction. But I find peace and strength at the feet of Jesus. Check this out. Jesus places his right hand on John and he says, Do not be afraid. I am the first and the last. I am the living one. I was dead. And now look, I am alive forever and ever and ever and ever and ever and ever and ever. Amen. And I hold the keys to death and hell and the grave and Hades. Don't you let anybody tell you that the devil is just as strong as Jesus Christ. Don't let anybody speak that into you. We serve a God who is above all, who is through all, who is in all, and has all authority in heaven and on earth and everything under the earth. It ain't no competition. I have no rival, I have no equal. This is the Jesus that we serve. Jesus is in our church. He's moving in us today. He's with us today. That's why I'm so thankful to be a part of a church that believes in Jesus Christ with their whole heart. A faithful church that is going after Jesus in a greater way. I'm so glad that I'm a part of a church. that perseveres. I'm so glad that I'm a part of a church that is bold for Jesus Christ. Because here's the fact there are churches out there that aren't. Let us be an example to those other churches on how to love Jesus. Can we be that example? Can we be that example? Here's the modern connect. Let me let me finish with this. Technology. This is where it all pulls together. Technology is accelerating. Here's the connection to our everyday life. Technology is increasing in an in an amazing way. It's a crazy thing what's happening where we are seeing CEOs of major AI companies that are actually retiring because they are so afraid of what AI could be. We live in the end of days. We live in a world right now where moral relativism, meaning what you believe is right and what I believe is right, are two completely different things. Can I encourage you in this place here today? That if you are struggling to discern what truth is, get off of TikTok. If you're struggling to discern what truth is, get off of Facebook, get off of Instagram, get off of watch this, Reddit, and go back to the book. Go back to the book. Christianity is is increasingly challenged. False prophets, as you heard in my dream, false religions, false doctrines seem to be on the rise. we live in a world where we are starting to see these things come to pass, but I want you to find solace and peace in knowing that God's got this. Revelation, listen to me, is not that the the purpose of this book isn't for you to figure out the timeline. It's it's it's not we're not gonna walk through this, and by the end of the sermon series, you're gonna be like, I know that Jesus is coming back in 2032. That's not what revelation is about. That's not what that's about. It's not for you to figure out when Jesus is coming back. The Bible says that no one knows the day nor the hour. In fact, only God the Father knows Jesus doesn't even know when he's going back. The Bible is clear on that. The Bible says Then no one knows the day nor the hour. The purpose is not to figure out the timeline. The purpose of Revelation is to keep watch and keep your eyes upon Jesus Christ. The world, the world may seem out of control. The world may seem broken, but find solace and peace in who is on the throne. Thank you, Jesus. Bow your heads with me in this place. Lord God, you are worthy of our praise. Thank you for your word. Thank you for your spirit. Lord, I pray that as we walk through this sermon series, Lord God, that we would gain a greater understanding of who you are. Help us to understand what prophecy looks like. Help us not to be fearful or scared, but help us to be encouraged, knowing that our Lord is coming back. He is coming back and he's not coming back as a broken. beaten down and bleeding Savior, He is coming back as the King of all Kings, the Lord of all lords, the one whose eyes blaze fire, the one who will speak, and out of his mouth will come a sharp, two-edged sword. I pray that if there's somebody in this place, maybe it's your first time here, maybe it's your first time online watching Faith Alive Church. I pray right now that you would lay your life at his feet. If you don't know Jesus as your personal Lord and Savior, make that commitment right now. The Bible says that when you declare with your mouth that he is king, that he is Lord, and you believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. So believe those things, and you will be saved from the calamity and the chaos that is to come. It's not a scare tactic, it's just an urgency. It's an urgency. So, Lord, we thank you. We ask that you would bless each and every person here, each and every person online. Keep us protected as we leave this place. It's in Jesus' mighty, precious, matchless, and amazing name. Somebody say amen. Thanks for listening to the Faith Alive Sermon Podcast. We hope this message encouraged you. If it did, be sure to subscribe or share it with someone else who may need it. If you want to get connected or reach out to one of our pastors, go to our website at faithalive.church. We'll see you next time.