We are the champions.
We are the champions.
We are the champions.
Well, today we're getting a new series that we're calling Champion.
This summer, we will be studying the Book of Revelation together.
Now, in the Book of Revelation, there are some disagreements among believers about some of the details.
But we can't allow that to make us miss the big picture of what Revelation is all about.
That it's all about Jesus, and Jesus is our victorious champion.
We live in a world that's messed up, that desperately needs a champion, that needs a savior.
The things that we do to each other are sometimes hard to even comprehend.
And I went back looking at some of the big news stories from the last few years.
On July 20, 2012, 12 people were murdered and 58 wounded in a movie theater in Colorado.
On December 14, 2012, 20 children ages 6 and 7 and 6 adults were murdered in an elementary school in Connecticut.
On September 16, 2013, 12 people are murdered at a Washington Navy Yard.
On June 17, 2015, 9 people are murdered at a prayer meeting inside an AME church in Charleston, South Carolina.
On December 2, 2015, 14 people are murdered at a holiday office party in San Bernardino.
And on June 18, 1990, I'm sorry to say that our city, Jacksonville, Florida, made national news as 8 people were murdered and 6 people wounded at a Bay Meadows finance office.
A theater, a school, a Navy shipyard, a church, a Christmas party, an office building.
Is there any place safe?
Day after day, horrific things are reported in the news.
Evil people killing innocent people.
How is it possible that there can be that much hate in our world?
Many times it seems like evil is winning over the good.
The Bible tells us that we actually live in two worlds, the physical world and the spiritual world.
The physical world is the things that are going on all around us, the things we see and hear and touch and feel and smell.
The spiritual world is the things that are unseen, and even though it's invisible to the human eye, it's just as real as the physical world.
In this spiritual world, we encounter powerful spiritual forces for both good and for bad.
The Bible teaches that there are two kinds of angels on earth, those who protect and care for the followers of God,
and the fallen angels whose whole purpose is to steal and to kill and to destroy.
The Bible tells us about one fallen angel who has many names, and his names describe his character,
the accuser, the evil one, the enemy, the liar, the deceiver, the prince of this world, the serpent, Satan, and most call him the devil.
According to a recent poll, 78% of Christians say that they believe in one all-powerful, almighty creator, God.
But 33% of those Christians say that they believe that Satan is a real person, which I find unusual,
because if you believe in an almighty God and you read his word, it's clear that Satan does not make believe,
that he's not just a symbol, that he's real.
Evil spiritual forces really do exist.
In 1 John chapter 5 and verse 19, we know that we belong to God, but the evil one controls the whole world.
And this evil one tries to put a blindfold over our spiritual eyes. In 2 Corinthians chapter 4 and verse 4,
the devil who rules this world has blinded the minds of those who do not believe.
If today you are a Christ follower, his mission is to destroy you.
1 Peter chapter 5 verse 8, control yourselves and be careful.
This is where we get the idea that we talk about around here, about guardrails, that you have things in place to protect your life.
Control yourselves and be careful. The devil, your enemy, goes around like a roaring lion looking for someone to eat.
We are all influenced by the spirit of evil in our world.
And even those people who don't believe in spiritual beings are under their control.
The spirit world is real and it's not like human thinking, it's based on fact, the fact of the word of God.
Some people deny the existence of the spiritual world.
They do this because it scares them or they don't understand it.
Or they refuse to believe in a world that cannot be proven scientifically.
So the only thing that matters to them is the physical world.
They are willing to base their eternity on their scientific understanding.
When the truth is their unwillingness to put their faith and trust in God is actually the result of those spiritual forces that they say don't even exist.
You may not believe in these evil forces and actually they like it when you don't.
It's easier for you to be deceived.
The devil is the leader of these evil forces.
The devil hates us because we're the only beings that are created in the image of God.
And the devil hates God and one way that he thinks he can get back at God is to destroy our lives.
When Adam and Eve disobeyed God one of the consequences was Satan became the ruler of this world.
So much of the evil, the murder, the abuse, the hate, the violence, the racism are because of the devil and his angels.
But are you ready for some good news after all that?
But Revelation has some good news for us.
We have a hope this will not go on forever.
The day is coming when all of this will stop.
In fact, Satan has already been defeated at the cross.
God is waiting for the right time to finish him off.
Romans 16 verse 20, the God who brings peace will soon defeat Satan and give you power over him.
The grace of our Lord Jesus be with you.
Ephesians chapter 6 and verse 12, our fight is not against people on earth,
but against the rulers and authorities and the powers of this world's darkness,
against the spiritual powers of evil in the heavenly world.
That is why you need to put on God's full armor.
Then on the day of evil, you will be able to stand strong.
And when you have finished a whole fight, you will still be standing.
The book of the Revelation of Jesus Christ is an amazing book.
And I don't know if there are any two people who actually agree on everything in this book of prophecy.
But we can't let those disagreements keep us from seeing the main message.
It would be a tragedy for us to get lost in the detail and miss what we cannot afford to miss,
that Jesus Christ is King of Kings and Lord of Lords. Jesus is the champion.
When Jesus came to us 2,000 years ago, he came as the Lamb of God.
When he returns, when he comes again, he'll come as the Lion of Judah,
the one who is faithful and true, riding on a white horse leading the armies of heaven.
He will defeat everyone who opposes him.
He will throw Satan into the lake of fire where he will spend eternity.
This is the theme of the book of Revelation.
Many Christians see Revelation as a mystery and sometimes even scary.
So we tend not to read it and even less study it because it can be confusing.
One way for us to try to understand the confusion and why there are so many different interpretations
is because it's the last book in the Bible.
The Bible is made up of 66 different books.
It can be compared to a novel that has 66 chapters.
A novel usually begins the story in the first chapter and then develops the characters
and the story until the story ends in the final chapter.
The Bible doesn't read like most novels, but it was meant to be understood as a single work
written by a single author.
The author of all 66 books in the Bible is the Holy Spirit.
God used 40 people to write the Bible over a period of 1500 years.
These Bible writers wrote as they were inspired by the Holy Spirit as what to write.
Those who wrote the Bible lived at different times.
Some were separated by hundreds of years.
Some of them were businessmen, some were fishermen, some were shepherds,
some were soldiers, some were physicians, some were preachers, some were kings,
some were human beings from all walks of life.
All 66 books of the Bible agree with each other and when the 66 books were put together,
we find perfect harmony in their message.
But what would happen if we decided to read a novel and begin and only read the last chapter?
How much of that last chapter would we understand?
We would be completely confused without reading the entire book
and the final chapter would not make any sense.
We could also see Revelation as the final chapter of God's 66th chapter novel called the Bible.
And we would have to have some understanding of the first 65 chapters in order to understand the final one.
So here are some principles that we want to try to use as we go through the book of Revelation this summer.
Today's just an introduction. We'll begin with chapter one next Sunday.
Revelation is not only a prophecy, but it is also a letter and an apocalyptic writing.
That kind of literature looks forward to the day when God will judge the wicked and set his people free.
As we study Revelation, make sure your interpretation would work for Jewish believers 2,000 years ago.
For example, making the locust in Revelation the Apache helicopters
or the red dragon to represent the nation of China might not work in the first century.
Not everything in Revelation is in the future. Some of it was written to churches in the past.
Not everything in Revelation happened in the past. We are still waiting for the second coming of Jesus.
We are still waiting for the end of all things.
Not everything in Revelation is only symbolic. This is the one that gets people who are over-saved and troubled.
There are actual events that happen in history. Be careful with the symbols.
Allow Revelation to interpret itself.
Instead of guessing what the lamp stands are, allow the book of Revelation to tell you what they are.
For instance, Revelation 1 verse 20.
Here is the secret of the seven stars that you saw in my right hand and the seven golden lampstands.
The seven lampstands are the seven churches and the seven stars are the angels of the seven churches.
Do not read Revelation as if it is written in code.
The book is highly symbolic, has a lot of imagery, but it is not a code.
But this does not mean that things are less literal when they are symbolic.
It means we have to be careful interpreting the symbols.
Interpret the symbols in Revelation in light of the Old Testament, especially Ezekiel and Daniel.
Instead of watching C and N to find out who the four horsemen are, read Zechariah chapter 6.
Instead of reading the newspaper to find out who the beast is, look for clues in Daniel chapter 7.
We have to guard against fulfilling our own agenda to make sure we do not misinterpret the book of Revelation.
The book of Revelation is all about Jesus.
The point of Revelation is to encourage believers who had been persecuted for their faith,
and it is telling them to hang in there and not give up and stay faithful to Jesus.
And even though it may be difficult at times to study, Revelation is inspired Scripture that is breathed out by God.
So let's not lose sight of the great Lord and King as we study.
Let us find hope in the second coming of Jesus.
When Jesus comes again, nobody knows when he's coming, but we do know this.
He will not come as a baby that's born in a barn.
He will not come as a gentle shepherd.
Jesus will come in power and in glory as the King of kings and Lord of lords.
Jesus will come as the champion.
And this is the theme of the book of Revelation.
It's all about Jesus and his glory, for he alone is worthy of the praise.
And because we are Christ followers, that means that we are part of his family.
That means that we are part of his team and we are champions also because of what Jesus has done.
And all because we are Christ followers and what Jesus has done.
We can reign with him forever in the new heaven and the new earth.
Jesus is coming back.
Nobody knows when, so be ready.
Could it be that God in his grace and mercy has not returned yet to allow time for one of you that are here today to put your faith in trust in Jesus Christ.
Don't put it off any longer. Trust in him today.
Colossians chapter 2 and verse 13.
When you were spiritually dead because of your sins and because you were not free from the power of your sinful self,
God made you alive with Christ and he forgave all our sins.
He canceled the debt which listed all the rules that we failed to follow.
He took away that record with its rules and nailed it to the cross.
God stripped the spiritual rulers and the powers of their authority with the cross.
He won the victory and showed the world that they were powerless.
So Jesus come quickly.
This summer, unless Jesus comes first, we will read and study the book of Revelation together.
There will be times that you will want to shout and that's okay.
There will be times that you will want to fall on your knees and humble worship of the only one who's worthy of praise.
John wrote this book to encourage the early church as they were being persecuted because of their faith.
All of his friends had been killed.
God continues to use this book to encourage and comfort his followers.
It helps us to know that in the end, as Christians, we win.
What if Jesus returned today?
What would he find us doing?
Would we be proven faithful or would we be found unfaithful?
Would we be sharing our faith or would we be keeping it to ourselves?
Would he find us worshiping God or would he find us bowing down to something else?
The truth is we should live every day to the glory of God as if he could come at any moment.
The question is, when will Jesus return?
The question is, what will we do until he gets here?
Jesus is coming back. What if he returned today?
