Invincible Yet Vulnerable

I ask you to take your Bibles this morning and turn to Revelation chapter 11. You know, I neglected to mention that Dave and Sue were here. But as you can see, when Niku's here, everything just disappears. So make sure that you greet them before they leave today. Revelation chapter 11. We'll be reading the 13 verses, alright?

You follow as I read. Then I was given a measuring rod like a staff. And I was told, Rise and measure the temple of God and the altar and those who worship there. But do not measure the court outside of the temple. leave that out for it is given over to the nations and they will trample the holy city for 42 months and I will grant authority to my two witnesses and they will prophesy for 1,260 days clothed in sackcloth these are the two olive trees and the two lampstands that stand before the Lord of the earth and if anyone would harm them fire pours from their mouth and consumes their foes If anyone would harm them, this is how he is doomed to be killed.

They have the power to shut the sky that no rain may fall during the days they're prophesying, and they have power over the waters to turn them into blood and to strike the earth with every kind of plague as often as they desire. And when they have finished their testimony, the beast that rises from the bottomless pit will make war on them and conquer them and kill them, and their dead bodies will lie in the street of the great city that symbolically is called Sodom and Egypt, where their Lord was crucified. For three and a half days, some from the peoples and the tribes and languages and nations will gaze at their dead bodies and refuse to let them be placed in a tomb.

And those who dwell on the earth will rejoice over them and make merry and exchange presents because these two prophets had been torment to those who dwell on the earth. But after the three and a half days, a breath of life from God entered them and they stood up on their feet and great fear fell on those who saw them. Then they heard a loud voice from heaven saying to them Come up here And they went up to heaven in a cloud And their enemies watched them And at that hour there was a great earthquake And a tenth of the city fell.

7,000 people were killed in the earthquake. And the rest were terrified and gave glory to the God of heaven. Let's pray. Our God and our Father, we ask now that you give us your grace as we worship in listening to your word. Help us to understand this. And Lord, having understood it, to stand firm and faithful in this age in which we live.

God, help us now as we look into your word. We pray that your spirit would give us insight, not just into the text of Scripture, but into our own hearts and into the very life of this congregation. God, help us to that end, we pray. Amen. When you see this picture, what do you think? Hmm.

This is a picture of two brothers who got so mad at each other that they started fighting each other with muskets and bayonets. And you know, one must be poorer than the other because he's dressed a little bit poorly than the other one. And you know what? I'll bet those two boys just broke their mother's heart when they got into that fight. Is that what you're thinking?

And you're saying, Tim, that is so stupid. Of course that's not what it's saying. Why do you say that? Because you know that that's not a photograph. You know that that's a symbolic representation of a greater reality. Instead of a photograph, you have a symbol.

And you know, as you look at that, you know that it tells not of two brothers fighting, but of citizens of the same country warring against each other. One man represents the people of the northern states and the other the people of the southern states. And the flags in the background are the flags of their respective forces, the Union and Confederate armies.

It communicates the tragedy of the Civil War that ripped our nation apart, causing fellow citizens of this country to kill and maim and destroy one another. When you see it as a symbol rather than a photograph, it says a whole lot more. Well as we come to Revelation chapter 11 you have to see the figures here as symbols and not photographs Alright When we look at Revelation chapter 11 we are not looking at a photograph We are looking at symbols.

The symbolic pictures say much more than a photograph ever would. Now, recall where we are. I know it's been a while since we've been in Revelation. You probably thought the Lord was going to return before we ever got back to it. But let's just recall where we are in this book. We are in the midst of the seven trumpet judgments, symbols that represent the plagues that God pours out on the unbelievers of this age.

Those plagues are patterned after the plagues in Egypt. And like those original plagues, they serve the purpose, these plagues that God is pouring out in this age, they serve the purpose of hardening unbelievers in this book called Earth Dwellers. It sets the stage for the great exodus of God's people when Jesus appears and they are to display the glory of God to those who do not believe.

Now, between the sixth and the seventh trumpet, we have this interlude, this parenthesis, remember, that runs from chapter 10, verse 1 through chapter 11, verse 13. So you have trumpets 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, parenthesis, trumpet, judgment, 7. We are in that parenthesis right now. Okay? Now, we've encountered one of these parentheses before, between the 6th and the 7th seal.

You remember that? Now remember what that was. You had seal 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 being opened and broken, then a parenthesis, and then seal 7 being broken. And in that original parenthesis, you remember that God sealed his people, the 144,000 that represents the church, and how God numbered and sealed them so that they are a protected, invincible army. And then next in that parenthesis, between the sixth and seventh seal, we see the victory of God's people, the preview of the victory that they're going to celebrate, and then the seventh seal.

Now the same thing happens here. Here's a parenthesis between 6 and 7, plague, the trumpets, I should say. Now, like that first parenthesis, do not think of this chronologically. That is to say do not think of this interlude as following the sixth trumpet It not following it chronologically The first six trumpets focus on the judgments the plagues inflicted upon the godless in this age in which we live Then this parenthesis appears saying, look, I've been telling you about what happens to the earth dwellers during this age.

So let me interrupt for a moment and tell you what is going on with God's people, the church, during this age. So the first six trumpets, what God is doing to the unbelievers, parenthesis, interruption. Let me tell you about what God is doing with his people during this age, and then the final trumpet. So this doesn't tell you what happens after those trumpets.

It's telling you what's going on during the trumpets. Only the focus here is the church, God's people, rather than the earth dwellers. Now, in the first part of this interlude, chapter 10, we saw that John is recommissioned for his prophetic work, telling us of the bittersweet message that's yet to come. Now, in chapter 11, verses 1 through 13, we see the rest of that interlude.

And here, Jesus communicates heaven's perspective of the church in this age. So in this age of plagues, what should you know about the church? Two things happen in verses 1-13. You have to know the nature of the church, and you have to know the ministry of the church. Now this morning, we're going to look at the nature of the church. Now friends, dear people, let me tell you something.

I fully intended to preach 1-13 in one sermon. I really did. But it just isn't going to work out. You're going to have to bear with me. I mean, you know, when you're looking at these symbols, chapter 11 is one of the, to me, is one of the hardest to get. And so I've been beating my head against this for, what, I was really going to preach this on May 1st, and we changed.

Do you remember that? So we're going to be going one through three and a little bit of four, all right? You'll thank me when we get to heaven, I'm sure. All right. So we need to know the nature of the church. Christ reveals that His church is invincible but vulnerable, yet possessing great authority.

That's what He tells us in the first three verses. Invincible, but vulnerable, and yet it possesses great authority. It's an invincible church. Verse 1, Then I was given a measuring rod like a staff, and I was told, Rise and measure the temple of God and the altar of those who worship there. Alright, as we re-enter the vision now, John is standing, you remember chapter 10, John's standing before this giant angel who's striding the earth.

And as we noted before, that angel is Jesus. Okay? It's Jesus who gives him this measuring stick and commands him to measure. So he takes this staff or this reed that measures, and he measures the temple. He measures the altar, which we have seen represents the prayers of the saints. And he measures the worshipers.

All right? What is all this measuring about? What is that all about? You know, one day, a couple weeks ago when Jans and Lee were painting this, that was several weeks ago, and they had one of those lifts in here so that they get way up to the top. They had one of those lifts, that scissors lift. And Ryan was helping them one day.

And so they said, okay, how tall is it from there to the bottom? I didn't know what this was going on. I was just in my office. Suddenly I hear these guys yelling, hey! Dad! Dad!

So I walk in here, and these three guys are up there in that thing right there. And they got a measuring tape, but it hasn't reached the ground. They say, pull that down and measure that. We've made a bet as to who's got the best accurate, the most accurate measuring here. By the way, Ryan won that one. He came the closest.

Measuring, what is that all about? Their measuring was merely to win a bet, okay? All right? What's this measuring all about? What is this business about measuring the temple? Well, if we would go back to the Old Testament, particularly the book of Ezekiel, and the last nine chapters, the last eight chapters, chapters 40 through 48, is this long description of an angel measuring the temple in Ezekiel.

And it's a vision. And there in a vision Ezekiel sees this angel measuring out a new temple A temple that will never again be defiled and so will never again be subject to judgment and it will be the place where God will always dwell. Now, in the book of Ezekiel, Ezekiel has this vision. They have defiled the temple. They're worshipping false gods. They have temple prostitutes in the very temple of God.

And so because of that, Ezekiel has this vision of God's glory leaving the temple and going away. And then he says the temple is going to be subject to judgment because it is so defiled. And then this angel comes and measures a new temple. And so what's happening there is we'll see. Look at Ezekiel 48. Turn back to Ezekiel 48.

Let's just look at the very last verse of Ezekiel. And he'll tell us what's happening there. Ezekiel 48, verse 35. The circumference of the city shall be 18,000 cubits. Here's the sentence. And the name of the city from that time on shall be, The Lord is there.

Alright? He's measured the temple. And so there's this final statement. And the name of the city from that time on shall be, The Lord is there. What's he talking about? The temple is going to never again be defiled.

It will never again suffer judgment and it will be the place where God always dwells. That's what measuring is all about. That's what the measuring is about. It's going to be a temple, no longer defiled, no longer subject to judgment, where God will always dwell. Now what's interesting is you not only see the measuring here, but you see it at the end of Revelation.

So turn to Revelation chapter 21. Revelation 21, verse 15, And the one who spoke with me had a measuring rod of gold to measure the city and its gates and walls. The city lies foursquare, its length the same as its width, and he measured the city with his rod, 12,000 stadia, its length and width and height are equal. He also measured its wall, 144 cubits, by human measurement, which is also an angel's measurement.

Now, drop down to verse 27. For nothing unclean will ever enter it, nor anyone who does what is detestable or false, but only those who are written in the Lamb's book of life. What's he saying? He measured it so now it no longer be defiled It no longer be defiled So this measuring guarantees the presence of God in the temple or in the city and guarantees its purity and its protection That what measuring is all about We say but he measuring a temple Why are you talking then about the church Well because the temple and the holy city symbolize the church How do I say that?

Well, let's look back to Hebrews chapter 12. Hebrews chapter 12. Hebrews 12, verses 18 through 22. For you have not come to what may be touched, a blazing... for you not come to what may be touched a blazing fire and darkness and gloom and a tempest and the sound of a trumpet and a voice whose words made to heaven hearers begged that no further messages be spoken to them for they could not endure the order that was given if even a beast touches the mountain it shall be stoned indeed so terrifying was the sight that Moses said I tremble with fear what's he talking about here he's talking about mount sinai we're not we're not at that mountain anymore not at a mountain with trembling and fear where the judgment of god is so evident and there's darkness and so forth rather verse 22 but you have come to mount zion and to the city of the living god the heavenly jerusalem and to innumerable angel innumerable angels and festal gathering to the assembly of the firstborn who are enrolled in heaven and to god the judge of all and to the spirits of the righteous made perfect and to jesus the mediator of a new covenant and to the sprinkled blood that speaks a better word than the blood of abel he says we've come now to a worship gathering what he's saying here is as we're sitting here worshiping on this part of mount zion there's another part of mount zion that's worshiping too and that's with the angels we're worshiping with the angels right now you didn't you can't see them But so here we are now, right here at Mount Zion, not Mount Sinai, Mount Zion.

That's where we are right now. That's us gathered here. OK, that's what he's picturing here. And again, now look at Revelation 21. Revelation 21 verses 2 and 10 And I saw the holy city New Jerusalem coming down out of heaven from God prepared as a bride adorned for her husband Drop down to verse 10. And he carried me away in the Spirit to a great high mountain and showed me the holy city, Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God.

The holy city is the bride. Who is the bride? We are. We are the New Jerusalem. so why do I say that he's measuring us it's because the church is the temple of God this is the dwelling place of a faith of faithful Gentiles and Jews already present on earth but fully established in the age to come and notice what did we see in our call to worship today and in our New Testament reading both the apostles Peter and Paul call the church the dwelling place of God Right?

The temple, the dwelling place of God. And so when I say that John's measuring shows us the invincibility of the church, it's because the Zion and the temple represent the church. John's measuring shows that it is Christ's church in which God dwells, which will never be defiled, and which will be kept and protected by God. This is just exactly the same thing as we saw in the other parentheses.

The sealing of the people of God to be a numbered, invincible army. Here, it's more of a picture of this protected sanctuary, which will never be defiled. The true church in this age will remain faithful to the Lord, invincible against spiritual attack, never subject to the wrath of God, and never subject to any attack that would bring about its destruction.

This temple will never be destroyed. By the way, that should just make hope spring up in you. This temple, this city, this Jerusalem, this church of Christ will never be destroyed. However, what does he say in verse 2 of chapter 11? However, he says to John, don't measure the outer courts. Don't measure the outer courts.

Verse 2, do not measure the court outside the temple. Leave that out, for it's given over to the nations, and they will trample the holy city for 42 months. So the church is not only invincible, it's vulnerable. We're not completely measured. John does not measure the outer court because it, along with the holy city, must be trampled. Not measuring then means that it will not be protected, so that it's going to be trampled.

This will be a time when the temple, the holy city, God's people, the church, will suffer. We will be exposed to physical suffering, social contempt, violence, and death as we remain faithful to Christ. But nothing will ultimately harm us. God has measured His temple and thus we'll remain faithful to Him. But faithful in the midst of suffering. So that part's not measured.

We're going to suffer. We're going to get trampled. Now, let's tackle another symbol here. All right? Okay, and you're going to have to think with me. You're going to have to follow me.

We're going to have to go through this together. All right? 42 months. What is that about? Oh, my goodness, there have been volumes written about this. And frankly, I want you to believe what I'm going to tell you right now.

All right? 42 months, 1,260 days, and 3 1⁄2 years all the same. Okay? That 1,260 days that you see in this text is 42 months of 30 days, which equals 3 1⁄2 years. So get that in your mind. 42 months, 1,260 days, 3 1⁄2 years all the same.

Okay? All right. Now again, I plead with you. These are heavenly symbols, not photographs. So these numbers represent another reality. So in the book of Revelation, the 42 months, the 1260 days, the three and a half years, are not literal three and a half years.

They represent a set time of suffering. You say, wait a minute. You can't play with numbers like that. Numbers can be symbols Really Really Your wife comes out She got this brand new dress on And she says honey how do I look And you say honey you look like a million dollars And she looks at you and says are you kidding You mean I look like I got a million greenbacks pasted all over me Is that what she's going to say?

No, because she knows that you look like a million bucks means you look like something that I've never seen before. I know, you can take that any way you want. But it just proves the point that numbers can represent other than just literal numbers. They can be symbolic. We use it all the time. If I've heard you say that once, I've heard you say it a million times.

Right? I mean, you actually sat there and said, okay, one, two, nine hundred thousand. You didn't do that. You're using that symbolically. Same thing is happening here. Now, why? just 42 months or three and a half years equals suffering.

The idea of three and a half years equaling suffering starts in the book of Daniel. I want you to turn to Daniel 9. Daniel 9, 26 and 27. Alright? Verse 26. And after the 62 weeks, an anointed one shall be cut off and shall have nothing.

And the people of the prince who is to come shall destroy the city and the sanctuary. Its end shall come with a flood and to the end there shall be war. Desolations are decreed and he shall make a strong covenant with many for one week. And for half of the week, he shall put an end to sacrifice and suffering. And on the wing of abomination shall come one who makes desolate until the decreed end is poured out on the desolator.

All right? Here is a king who wars against the people of God. Now, if you would turn back to Daniel 7. Okay, in verse 25, And they shall be given into his hand for a time, times, and half a time. There's your three and a half. alright that's expanded then in chapter 9 this one who's going to come alright he's going to come and destroy the temple he's going to attack the temple and the city for three and a half time times and half a time Some years later about 200 years later if I not mistaken Antiochus Epiphanes, a Syrian king, did just that in 164 B.C.

He came against Jerusalem and laid siege to the city for three and a half years, bringing this abomination, defiling the temple. And yet, when we come to Matthew 24, if you want to turn there, Matthew 24, Jesus says that this predicted abomination of desolation was still to come. Well, keeping in mind that the Old Testament is the shadow and pictures what's to come, Antiochus Epiphanes is the picture of the greater fulfillment that's going to come in 70 AD when Jerusalem is destroyed.

Look what Jesus said in verse 15 of Matthew 24. So when you see the abomination of desolation spoken of by the prophet Daniel, standing in the holy place, let the reader understand. Then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains. That happened. You know what happened? In 70 AD, Titus comes along, General Titus comes along, and besieges the city and the sanctuary for three and a half years.

And destroys the temple. Levels the city. Okay? Now, we want to throw something else in here. We need to remember Elijah. When Elijah prophesied against Israel, he brought drought on the land for how long?

42 months, three and a half years. So, you see this, it represents a time of tribulation. Now, when we come to Revelation, I believe that number is used symbolically. Again, notice in our passage that the 42 months, like before, involves an attack against the temple of God. Alright? It involves an attack against the temple of God.

What is the temple of God? It's not something in Jerusalem. You know, the temple's right here. You know what? The temple was also, earlier today, at Holy Trinity in Bucharest. The temple was assembled there.

The temple was assembled. Alright? The church of God is the temple. Now, look at Revelation chapter 12. I want you to see something here. Revelation chapter 12 verses 5 and 6 Alright now we come to that in a couple more weeks all right Here this woman this symbolic woman And she gave birth verse 5 to a male child one who is to rule all the nations with a rod of iron.

Who is that? Just take a wild guess. It's Jesus. But her child was caught up to God and to his throne, and the woman fled into the wilderness where she has a place prepared by God in which she is to be nourished for 1,260 days. Now what this verse tells us, note carefully, is that the 42 months start when Jesus ascends to heaven. Do you see that?

He's caught up to God's throne, and then this woman is protected for 1,260 days. It can't be literal, because there have been more than 1,260 days that have transpired since Jesus went to heaven. But that number symbolizes suffering. Really, the 1,260 days symbolize protection in suffering. Because the 1,260 days are always used about protection. But we won't go any further with that.

All right? Now look, chapter 13, verses 5 and 6 give us the same clue. And the beast was given a mouth uttering haughty and blasphemous words, and it was allowed to exercise authority for 42 months. It opened its mouth to utter blasphemies against God, blaspheming His name and His dwelling, that is, those who dwell in heaven. What do you think that represents?

The tabernacle, the dwelling place, is identified here as the people of God, those who dwell in heaven. So what I would say to you is simply this. What he's saying is that we live in an age of suffering, in tribulation. This is a time of limited suffering. So you see then that although God's temple, the church is secure from apostasy and divine wrath by the power of grace of the lamb it is vulnerable to attack by god's enemies the unmeasured courtyard balances the portrait of the church as the measured sanctuary although god keeps us pure and protected we are still exposed to physical coercion, to contempt, and even violent aggression.

All right? So we're invincible, but we're vulnerable at the same time. All right? But you might say to me, wait a minute. Okay, just wait a minute. Now, here are two witnesses.

What do you make of that? Aren't those two people who are going to show up in the future? Well, I was taught that. We were taught that this is Elijah and Moses showing up later. Because as you read through it, they have all the characteristics of those two prophets. But to say that is to think in terms of photograph and not symbols.

And the book of Revelation is not a photographic album. All right, if we can get that in our minds, it'll make so much, I think, make so much more sense. The book of Revelation is not a photograph full of albums. It's a book of symbols. These two witnesses symbolize the authority of the church. They represent the church.

Why? Because he calls them what? Lampstands. Now, in the book of Revelation, where have we met the lampstands before? chapter 1 where the seven churches each have a lampstand and we saw that that represents us as well it was written to originally those seven churches so it's written to us we're a lampstand all right now John obviously is looking back to Zechariah chapter 4 because he has two lampstands and what?

Two olive trees, right? In the presence of the Lord. And so he changes the image a bit in order to make the point he wants to make, but he keeps the essential idea. The two lampstands here represent the church. Now they don't just represent two congregations as if what happened to the other five, right? What he's doing here is drawing on Deuteronomy 19, verse 15.

You know what it says? A single witness shall not suffice against a person for any crime or for any wrong in connection with any offense that he has committed. Only on the evidence of two witnesses or of three witnesses shall a charge be established. All right? We see that in church discipline. It also draws on Deuteronomy 19, 15, right?

If your brother will not listen to you, take one or two others along so that what? Charge can be established. And so he saying here the church calls the world to repentance and when it refuses to respond the charge is going to stick There are two witnesses against the stubbornness of the world So they represent the church They lampstands But they represent the church because they're two olive trees.

Now you remember, we just heard about that. Ben read about the two olive trees. They are the two anointed ones. And in Zechariah, they're the two anointed ones leading and rebuilding the temple. It's Zerubbabel, the descendant of David, representing the royal rebuilders, and Joshua, the high priest who leads the people in the worship in the temple. They prefigure the coming of the servant of Jehovah who's going to take royalty and priesthood and put them together into one.

Okay? That's what we see in Zechariah 4. It prefigures the one who's going to come and is going to take the royalty and the priestly office, the king and priestly office, and put it together. Well, that's true of us too. Haven't we seen that already in this book? Well, let me remind you.

Turn back to Revelation 1.6. All right. To Him, chapter 1, the last part of verse 5, To Him who loves us and has freed us from our sins by His blood and made us a kingdom, priests to His God and Father. To Him be glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen. Okay?

So here, we are called a kingdom and priests. Now look over at chapter 5. Look over at chapter 5. Look at your Bibles, not at the screen. All right? And they sang a new song, saying, Worthy are you to take the scroll to open its seals, for you were slain, and by your blood you ransomed people for God from every tribe and language and people and nations.

And you have made them a kingdom and priests to our God, and they shall reign on the earth. What's true of Jesus is true of us. We are priests and kings. What's that to say? That's to say that this is the church. Priests and kings These two witnesses the church are called then to proclaim the authoritative word of God They are told to prophesy which means much more than talking about the future We've all had a great example this week about how people misunderstood prophecy.

When you look at the word prophesy in the Old Testament, it means to preach the word of God. 75% of what the prophets did was preach. 25% of what they did was predicting the future. And even then it was for the purpose of calling the people back to faithfulness to God. And they are given authority for 1,260 days, the 42 months. They are granted authority for the age of suffering to proclaim the word of God.

What do they proclaim? Repentance. They're dressed in sackcloth. John the Baptist, Elijah, dressed that way, preaching repentance. So you have pictured here the church of God confronting the world with its message of repentance throughout an age of suffering. Now, what's the whole purpose of that?

Why is this here? So you will get heaven's perspective on what's going on today. You remember, as we have looked through this book, we saw it originally was written to seven local churches and thus to churches today. And it was written to encourage faithfulness to King Jesus. And God encourages that faithfulness by revealing the reality behind the appearance.

What we're seeing all around us is just what appears to be true. And the book of Revelation gives us the reality that stands behind the appearance. So what is he trying to say to you? He's saying this. We will come under attack. We must suffer.

Our explanations of the world and its workings and our solutions to its dilemmas will be ridiculed and dismissed as antiquated and irrelevant. They're not going to buy what we say, right? That's part of our suffering. Our attempts to live in a way that magnifies Jesus, that's faithful to his commands, is going to invite from the world contempt. and it going to invite from the world pressures to conform to it And it going to bring persecution and execution Many times We're going to suffer.

Don't be surprised. Don't think God has abandoned us. He's told us, here, get heaven's perspective. You're going to suffer. Now, when I, every ten years or so, get a suit, All right? I get measured for that.

Right? They measure to make sure it fits. So let's think about measuring here. You know what? The divine tailor has not measured you for a suit of ease and comfort and popularity. Hasn't measured you for that.

He's told us right here. There's a part of the temple that's not measured. It's open to attack. We are going to suffer. Let's not be surprised at that. When we want to live for Christ, people are going to give us grief.

And sometimes more than grief. Right? You know, as a shepherd, as one of the shepherds in this congregation, I've walked with some of you through hard times. And you are suffering because you say, I want to be faithful to Jesus. But remember this. We will never collapse, nor will the church ever end up in defeat.

We may suffer, we may even die, but the church will continue on to victory. Always remember that. Jesus says in Matthew 16, the gates of death will not prevail against the church. What did he mean by that? He meant that you can kill God's people, but the church will not be defeated. the death of god's people does not equal the death of the church your suffering is never in vain can you think that your suffering is never in vain you may even die for the sake of christ but his church will not die you know hitler proposed that the rule that he brought to Germany in 1933 was going to be the thousand year Reich.

Right? The thousand year rule. It was dead in about 13 years. What happened? You know what happened? More Germans were killed than allies.

It's as simple as that. we beat them. We killed more of them than they killed of us. And so, his proposed rule ended. That will never happen in the church. That will never happen. Our perspective may be, or the appearance may be, look how many believers around the world are dying.

The reality is, the church will not die. It will go on to victory. Our sufferings, and even maybe our deaths, are never in vain. Never. heaven's perspective tells you that we're in a position of invincible weakness. How's that? We're invincible, but we're weak.

And from that position, we speak with authority. From that position, we speak with authority. Now, how is it that our president can order SEAL Team 6 to hunt down and kill Osama bin Laden? But if I sent a note to SEAL Team 6 and said, you guys know where he is? Go get him. They wouldn't budge.

Why? Why? Because I don't have the authority to tell SEAL Team 6 to do anything. I don't have that authority. The President of the United States does have that authority And by the way he has that authority because he convinced more than 50 of the people of this country with his message And he won, which means his authority is derived from the people. That's not so with our message.

Our message as authority is not determined. It is not determined by who accepts it. it is not determined by political power. The authority of our message is not determined on our cultural influence. And you know, Christians, you know what we do? We're always saying, oh, we need more influence in the culture. You know, I'm kind of tired of hearing about that.

You know, we hear this a lot. You know, your message will go out, if you Christians can really make good movies, then you'll really have some authority to speak to the world. Forget all that. We don't need any of that. The authority of our message does not depend on whether people even accept it. It is the authoritative message of God.

We may be invincible, we may be weak, and yet we still speak with authority. The reality behind the appearance is our authority is not derived from any human institution. Our authority is derived from the King, and we speak His message. And so it doesn't matter whether we're suffering or not. We speak with authority. so what would I say to you this morning catch the vision the vision of heaven that describes the true nature of the church in this age Although we are an impregnable fortress against evil, we will suffer.

And although it looks like we suffer defeat, we are the victors. And although we appear powerless, we speak with authority. That's the reality behind the appearance. You see? Why is that? Listen carefully.

It's because we follow the Lamb, who at the point of His greatest defeat, won the greatest victory. That's the reality behind the appearance. We follow a King whose reign is not evident to anyone but us. We follow the Lamb, who is the Lion. It doesn't look that way, but it's true. What is true of Him is true of us.

We're in Him, we are His, and like Him, we will prevail in suffering. We speak with His authority and with the power of His victory behind us. so don lose heart that what John saying here don lose heart we an invincible temple destined to suffer in this age speaking with the message of the Lamb Let pray God of heaven we thank you that the reality behind the appearance is what drives us. Lord, we look around and we see ourselves as defeated.

We see ourselves as those with very little authority. And yet, Father, You have told us, You have measured us. And so we are protected. And although we suffer, we will never be overcome. and father we speak with the authority of the lamb god help us to remember that please help us father so that your name will be exalted in this age in which we live thank you father for your goodness and grace to us we pray now that we would honor you as we leave here today, remembering that we are invincible, although we will suffer and we speak with authority.

We thank you now in Jesus' name. Amen.