Well, good morning, Providence. Greetings from the Pacific Northwest. Is this on? Can you hear me? Greetings from the Pacific Northwest. It's a tremendous privilege to come and visit and to spend time with friends, with fellow believers, and of course, what a privilege to preach God's Word. I was saying earlier to some friends that all the pressure, ironically, is not on me. It's actually on Pastor Aaron, because if I mess up, it's his fault, not mine. So it's comforting to know that I can come and I can share God's Word with God's people. It's not often I get to preach. In fact, it's very difficult when you're not in the rhythm of preaching. So pray for me as I bring God's word from the book of Revelation, chapter 15. Our text is verses one to four. But before I actually preach, I want to thank you as a church. tremendously for your blessings, your kindness, your prayer. For a missionary, it's absolutely impossible to sustain your ministry without knowing, or at least without having, people who genuinely pray for you. The world that we minister in is quite radical. It's filled with just a whole lot of spiritual warfare. So without your support and your financial support, it is practically impossible. So hopefully this stays on my ear. I spent many years behind the pulpit, church planting, preaching, and then God shifted me into the mission field, shifted our family into the mission field. And when he did that, I started reading the biographies of missionaries. I started studying missiology and just missionary work in general. And as I looked at this concept of mission and people who went into the mission field, it struck me that one era just stood out. And it was the era of 19th century missions. And why it stood out was that this particular period The world at this time was only 25%. And yet when 19th century missionaries went out into the four corners of the globe, they changed that statistic from 25 to 50%. A hundred years, the world went from 25 to 50%. And I sat back and I wondered, on earth did that happen? How did these people change the constitution of spirituality across the globe? Such, they affected it in such a way, change forever. Well, today's sermon, I hope to answer that question Because if one studies mission history, I believe you'll be deeply moved and inspired by how the early apostolic Christians built their missionary enterprise upon the Great Commission. When you look at them, you will see that they believed that all authority resided in a person of Christ's providential rule. They believed that there was no neutral area in the world, that Christ's government was expanding everywhere, as Paul said in Colossians chapter 1. And it meant that these apostolic Christians departed their homes, their comforts to win the world for Christ. That across history, missionaries, sought to manifest Christ's lordship in the same way as the apostles did in Judea, Samaria, and the world. They went, that is, all missionaries went into the unknown. They entered into hardship, persecution, calamity, and poverty for the glory of God. And I'm not so sure, but I doubt whether the great navigators such as Columbus, Balboa, de Garma, Magellan, and Cabot could ever have imagined that as they crossed perilous seas and uncharted oceans, that their navigations into the new world would become the very compass points of the 19th century mission. who used their navigations to take the gospel of Jesus Christ and the benefits of Christianity to new civilizations, new cultures, the remotest part of the globe. In fact, two things happened when they entered these dark regions. When missionaries went into uncharted worlds, they described what they termed as the horrors of untamed heathenism. It was such a radical contrast to the noble savage that John Dryden described in his conquest of Granada in 1672. You see, it was typical of secular humanists. to describe those cultures and people who have not been touched by the gospel as innocent, as nature's gentlemen. That's not what these centuries have found. No, instead what they found was not an untamed utopia, neither egalitarian peace, but they found abortion, infanticide, endemic poverty, famine, disease, slavery, cannibalism, human sacrifice, worst of perversity. And in the face of such shocking existence, they taught that Jesus Christ is the only perfect sacrifice for sins, and that in Him alone is found redemption. That is in Jesus Christ. And I'll tell you one other thing that they faced as I build this sermon. They found strident opposition from those governments back home and from, well, at that time it wasn't corporations yet, but companies, trading companies would embrace enlightenment and Darwinism. International trading companies prohibited their missional efforts and nation politics argued that indigenous cultures should be left alone. Does that not sound so much like our own context today? aside from the horrors of the mission field and secular opposition, missionaries, 19th century missionaries, as they looked to these apostolic missionaries, they went forth, they crossed oceans, they entered jungles, they preached light out of darkness, liberty from tyranny, life out of death, they entered jungles, and there they brought grace, charity, law, medicine, and a sanctity of life. Wherever these people went, they confronted the hearts of man, sin in his culture. And when I look at this, I ask myself, where did these missionaries get such an indefatigable spirit from? Where did they look? Where did they derive this resolve and this character to do what they did? I propose to you this morning, As they went through the Scriptures, they came to Scriptures or texts like Revelation 15, verses 1 to 4. Let us turn our attention now to God's Word and read what John writes. Then I saw another sign in heaven, great and amazing. seven angels with seven plagues, which are the last, for with them the wrath of God is finished. I saw what appeared to be a sea of glass mingled with fire, and also those who had conquered the beast and its image and the number of its name, standing beside the sea of glass with harps of God in their hands. They sing the song of Moses, the servant of God, and the song of the Lamb, saying, Great and amazing are your deeds, O Lord, God the Almighty! Just and true are your ways, O King of the nations! Who will not fear, O Lord, and glorify your name? For you alone are All nations will come and worship you, all righteous acts. This is the word of God. Pray, oh gracious heavenly God, we come before you this morning and we recognize the fallibility of flesh. Father, I understand my own weaknesses. I understand my limitations. And so I cry out to you this morning, Father God, for the sake of this congregation, for the sake of your people whom you have redeemed, God, fill me with your Holy Spirit and allow me to preach this word to your people and may it edify them. May it draw them close to your heart. May it cause them to love you more deeply and be willing willing to give so much more for the glory of your name, for your fame. Father, we pray for you. God's people say. Actually, before I go on with the sermon, I'm going to do something a little different. I don't want to jump into a three-point sermon without first at least, well at least, making some crucial observations. I'm not starting from the book of Revelation chapter one and working my way through it. So I'm jumping right into the last portion of the book of Revelation so to make sense of what is going. To understand John's context, I think it is vital that I at least give you as best as I can understand the context of John writing this particular passage. And what is happening in John's mind. We must not forget that John is on the island of Patmos. He's imprisoned. The Spirit of God comes to him. In fact, something quite unique happens. He's elevated. He's taken into the presence of God. Revelation chapter 4, we get a glimpse of what he's experiencing. We are told that as he comes into the presence of Almighty God, he sees this throne room. He sees God sitting on the throne. He has the rainbow arching over him. the thunder and lightning. There are strangers filling the air, angelic hosts singing antiphony. He has, or at least he sees 24 elders bowing down before this eternal almighty God. He sees a strange creature like a wheel within a wheel. Faces of a lion, an ox, in a man. This image of a sapphire river flowing before the throne of God and God then opens his eyes to see the thing. Now in Revelation 15, John is writing about all of this. He's writing to a church that has come under much duress. In fact, the first observation is that this portion of chapters, from chapter 15 to 22, is considered the final unit of the Apocalypse. And it corresponds to Christ's letters to the pastors of the churches in Theatra and Laodicea. In Theatra, Christ says this. In fact, he warns the church not to associate herself with the false teaching of Jezebel. You see, the culture of Israel has begun to affect Asia Minor. As these synagogues are being placed out into Asia Minor from Jerusalem, the Jews are beginning to spread across the Roman world. But as they are spreading across the Roman world, they bring with them Spiritual compromise. And they're persecuting the church. So Jesus says to the church, whatever you do, do not give up. Do not compromise with the culture that is seeking to undermine you. Stay true to the word of God. Second observation, as I begin to paint the picture for you, that all of history falls under the heavens. In other words, you'd like the zodiac. Now, I'm not going to, you know, support astrology. I'm going to speak to the concept of astronomy. But it has been said that God's intentions have often been written or the gospel has been written in the stars. In fact, we know the scriptures are full of references and allegorical references to the stars, the sun, the moon, and the heavens. Here in our text we see a parallel to Revelation chapter 4. We see the last four living creatures in the last quarter of the story, which is ruled by the constellations. The water pourer God is writing this, and He is not divorced from the history of Israel, the material world He lives in, and the vision He sees. He's writing with His very being tied to these realities. And what he's seeing in the heavenly realm and what he's writing to the church can be seen in the material universe. At that particular time, astronomers have been able to determine that in a zodiac, Aquarius was stepping forward and pulling out her veins. revelation that the ministers of God are stepping forward to the portals of heaven and they are going to pour out their chalices of judgment. So here's the picture you should begin to see, and that is The church of God is coming under duress. They are beginning to compromise with the culture of their time. John is writing and he's saying, stop, whatever you do, stop, because God's judgment is coming. Stay true. Yes, it's difficult. Yes, you're dying, you're being persecuted, but stay true. Judgment. As they must have looked up and saw a query, they must have seen this letter come to them and realized that the stars are confirming the word of God. The chalices of judgment are about to be poured out. Let me run a quick rabbit trail here, just to push this point a little bit further. Revelation chapter 12, we see the same phenomena. We are told that this woman, who is the composite figure of the elect of God throughout the ages, she stands on the moon. The sun is in her mid-portion. She has a crown of stars. She's about to give birth to the mother of the child. The God of heaven is about to come into this world. In the book of Revelation, chapter 12, we see that the scorpion, the ancient scorpion is about to come and devour that child. Again, astronomers were able to reverse the order of heavens and what they found is that on September the 11th, the heaven was the constellation, in the Zodiac, constellation. The womb was the child. on the stars and the ancient scorpion was there, the constellation was there to divide. And again, my friends, this is exactly what the pagan philosophers, historians were looking at. When they saw the stars, you could read extra biblical writings where they knew God came to be born. This is what Daniel taught the ancient Babylonians. They knew the time was ready to march out of Babylon and to go and teach them how they came into this world. So this is the context that John is writing in, that people are being persecuted. The stars are beginning to declare the justice of God that is about to unfold. And the third observation, bear with me, as good Presbyterians, we understand covenant continuity and discontinuity. Deuteronomy from chapters 28 to 34, we read that God says, if you do this, I will bless you. If you do that, I will curse you. This is what unfolds before us. Deuteronomy chapter 31, God appears in the glory cloud. The glory cloud is out the doorway of the tabernacle. guts Moses to go and teach Joshua, the priest, and Israel. Song of witness. And this song, listen carefully, is nothing less than a covenant lawsuit against apostasy. This is what it reads. God says to Moses. He says, Moses, behold, you are about to go lie down with your fathers. This people, Israel, will arise and play the harlot with strange gods of the land. They're going to forsake me. They're going to break my covenant. My anger is going to be kindled against them. I'm going to forsake them and hide my face. They will be consumed. Many evils and troubles shall come upon them. Now, therefore, write this song and teach it to your children, that this song may become a witness against Israel, and it shall come about that when many evils and troubles come upon them, that this song will testify the witness. Moses taught them, forgive me, this thing's flipping here, but Moses taught Israel. Chapter 32 verse 44, and it corresponds to this section in our present text. We see John describing the manifestation of God's glory in the heavenly tabernacle, and it's from here that we're going to see the final covenantal judgment being issued by the seven angels, or seven ministers, and it all happens to the choral accompaniment of it's the song of Moses, the bond servant of God, and the song of the Lamb. By the way, this is the longest portion of the sermon. The rest goes quite quickly. Bear with me. This is the picture. John is writing. His entire being is tied into everything that is happening around him. The church, the apostolic church, is under tremendous persecution. People are dying for what they believe. Christ fights this. In it. Christ is in it. Yes, you're dying. I want you to know that. The difference. And I want you to know that I'm going to touch those. The days of about to break out upon Israel. And while they're doing it, they sing a song of covenantal discontinuity. Now let's move to the final part of this observation. That is, just before Moses and Israel are to enter the land, God calls Israel up, and He says, come up to Mount Nebu. He says, Moses, you see all of this? This is the promised land. But you ain't going in. Stand against it. I'm sure He didn't say it for the Americans. But Moses says to God, Whatever happens, I want to ask you that one day, my people will see and experience like I do. I want them to see, and I want them to see Christ. God said, it's done. Now, with that, then to see that God's or trauma. They have to enter into it, but God's working them in. It's okay. You're going to come out on the other side, and you're going to come out seeing me face to face. I'll divide the sermon up into three portions. They get shorter and shorter as we go. The conqueror's place, the conqueror's praise, and the conqueror's question. And we'll pull all that information throughout the sermon. But the conqueror's place, verses 1 and 2. Look at the text. John tells us that he saw another sign in heaven, great and amazing. What's the previous sign? I just told you, it lies in Revelation chapter 12. Verses 1 and 3, there the woman is clothed with the sun and she's pursued by the red dragon who wants to destroy the messianic line so that the gospel cannot come to future generations. This incredible vision in chapter 12 now works its way out here in verse 15. This mighty conflict culminates in the vision with seven plagues which are the last. For with them The battle between God's people and apostate Israel, who are persecuting the early church, terminates in judgment against the wicked. John writes, The astute reader of the scriptures immediately harkens back to the time of Pharaoh and Joseph. Pharaoh's dream? Pharaoh dreams. Gosh, this is annoying. Pharaoh dreams of seven cows, both lean and fat. In addition, he dreams of the withered heads and the full heads of grain. Both the same story, but the principle behind that dream, the repetitious intent was to emphasize the inevitability of the coming justice. In fact, God says this in the book of Leviticus. He reminds them of the prophecy against Israel when he says, if you act in hostility against me, and you are unwilling to obey me, I will increase upon you the plague seven times according to your sin. In other words, I will judge you. Notice. Not only does God tell God's people as they read this, God is going to judge their enemies. A sea of glass. This is similar to, as I said to you earlier, what is found in chapter 4 verse 6, this sapphire pavement. was the very sapphire pavement that Moses had to go through on the mountain in Exodus chapter 24. In fact, it's the very expanse that Ezekiel must pass through on his way to seeing the glory of God in the cloud. This river crystal is not blue, but it's red. with fire, and it ties into the previous scene again of chapter 14, there John sees the river of blood flowing through the land. Death is coming, land, but the righteous are going to be delivered and their enemies destroyed. Does this not remind us of the Red Sea when Moses led Israel out of Egypt, out of the land of bondage? Of course it does. Now, like Israel, the saints must pass through the troubled waters, but they will come out on the other side as conquerors, and they will be delivered from a threefold description. Look what John says. They'll be delivered from the beast, from his image, and the number of his name. His very person. Beloved friends, We do not fully appreciate what the early church did. The church was persecuted by the Jewish van Heeden. It was absolutely awful. If you read the epistles in the book of Acts, you can see the pain that they endured. Think of Jesus. Think of how they sought to murder him and finally were able to achieve it according to God's purposes. Think of what they did to John and Peter, how they whipped them, how they imprisoned them, how they threatened them that if you preach that name, we'll kill you. Think of their resistance to the Holy Spirit. When they were cut, we are told, to the heart. They gnashed their teeth at Stephen, and they cried out with a loud voice, and stopped their ears, and ran at him with one accord. Think of what they did to Paul. Think of the knights at sea. Paul said, I was naked. I was hungry. I was stoned. He even pretended to be dead. They lowered him down in a basket through a window in a city wall. Paul ends up speaking to the governor. He ends up in front of a gripper. What does the gripper say? Oh, Paul, Paul, Paul, you almost Go to Rome and give an account of your life and your faith there. Friends, Christianity did not fit into the cultural ethic and morality of Rome. It did not fit in to ancient Judaism as a whole. It was not politically controllable. And so, men like Tacitus wrote, he said, Christianity was a danger to superstition where love feasts and cannibalism occurred. Nero took Christians as objects of amusement. He clad them in animal skins. He fed them to the lions in the circuses while people cheered and ate bread. He used Christians as torches at his night parties. He tarred them and put them on stakes, had dining parties, and people roamed through the gardens while Christians were burning at the stake. Marcus Aurelius, Diocletian, Aurelius. Oh, they all did the same, but they did not annihilate Christianity. And I'll tell you why. Because as the ancient Christians said, it was the faith of the martyrs. Christians chose death over denial, and it impressed onlookers like Tertullian so much that he converted to Christianity, and at the time of his martyrdom, said this, the height of the martyrdom. This, my beloved friend, doubled wart, and Christians I will tell you subsequently, nothing has changed. In the 19th century, I propose to you that those missionaries looked at this and said, listen, if they could do it for Jesus, It was not uncommon for missionaries in Europe to be measured up both length and width and boarded ships with their coffins because they knew that their average lifespan once they left Europe was only 18 months. They were going to the mission field to die for Jesus. I think of men like Adoniram Judson, He went to Burma. He lost his wife. He lost his children. He was imprisoned. He was diseased. He was tortured. All he saw was a few Burmese from the Karen tribe come to salvation. Today, the Karen tribe is a group of Christian Burmese amidst an ocean of Buddhists. I think of my favorite missionary, John Williams. His biography is absolutely amazing. He fought tooth and nail to bring the gospel of Jesus Christ to the New Hebrides. He wanted to see the people living on the islands in the South Pacific, Christ. And against the advice of his mission society and his wife, who said to him, John, whatever you do, do not go to the island of Edom. John went. He landed there, he was not even there for a few minutes when he was clubbed to death. That night is cannibals. Today, today you go into the South Pacific and Christianity is still the majority. William Chambers, burnt in Mancuria. Missionaries who countered the eternal cost in the Boxer Rebellion. 50,000 Chinese and 188 missionaries were beheaded by the imperial troops. I can go on and on and on, but the persecution and death, this was the accepted way of life of these Christians. He says, that these ancient Christians, as they entered this river of blood and persecution, come out and they stand beside the sea of glass with harps of God in them. Ah, this is so much like Paul describes in 1 Corinthians 10, Paul's description of Israel being baptized into Moses. What you're seeing, as I close this point, they get short. God's promise. It does not fit well with our sentiments. When we hear God say, I will protect you, we're thinking, well, you will protect me from everything and keep me comfortable in life. God says, no. When I say, I will protect you, what I mean is, I will protect your soul from whatever the world does to you. But you will come to the other side of the river, and you will be in eternity with God. What we see is this, God says they stand there, God's people. Now the promise has been kept among them, God's people face to face. Now let's move into this concept of the praise. Verse three, very quickly, evidence shows us this, that more Christians have been martyred in the last 50 years than the first 300 years of the early church. If that doesn't shock you, then I don't think any... All Christians, first of all. The theologists call this time that we are living in, Christian generation. We live in a generation of Christians. Look at the song that these people sing. It's the song of Moses and it's the song of the lamb. Here are echoes of the song of Moses, and theologians believe that this is a compilation of victory psalms from all over the Old Testament, but the image is taken from Exodus chapter 15, where the people of God are on the other side of the Red Sea, and they're singing glory to God. The fact is, and this is what I want you to see, that what you're reading here is not fiction. This is reality. As God delivered his people, destroyed Pharaoh's army. So, beloved friend, what we are seeing is that the saints, the principal here, the saints are overcomers in time and history with future consequences. One theologian said this, and listen carefully, the earth is the Lord's and the area of His victory. of the kingdom's battle will be no more flight from history than the incarnation and the atonement. Jesus Christ did not enter history in order to surrender. He came to redeem his people, to assert his crown rights, to make manifest the implications of his victory, and then recreate all things in terms of his sovereign will. This God bridged himself with humanity with his son. And it was no joke. It cost his son's life. And if Jesus did this to reconcile us to God so that he can make all things new, and it cost him his life, I think it should cost us everything. We want to do God's work, but we do not want it to cost us anything. And it does seem so strange. I'm in a mission field. I have been part of church planting. I'm doing what I'm doing now, but I will tell you something. It's not easy. This is the most difficult thing I've ever done. I was a professional soldier. I was in the industry as an engineer. I have planted churches. I've preached the Word of God. This is the most difficult thing I've ever done, and I'll tell you why. Because every step I take forward, I take 10 back. It seems like we go nowhere. But God's kingdom is in the world. That it's in weakness. poverty that God's kingdom has built, and I'll give you a good example of this. In 1950, a man by the name of Jim Elliott was led to missionize the Waibini tribe in Ecuador. If you've seen the movie, you know what happens. Or if you've read the book, you know what happens. Jim Elliott lands with his friends on what looks like a sand bank by the river. He gets out of the plane. He looks around because he sees some of these warriors. They step out of the bushes, and they shoot him, and arrows, and they're dead. Go, what was the point of that? But this is what God wants. Years later, White writes an astounding book. She writes the book, Gayness, Black Love. And in that she writes, there's no fool who gives up what he cannot keep to gain that which he cannot lose. There's no fool who gives up what he cannot keep to gain that which he cannot lose. And amazingly, Elizabeth and a sister of one of the brothers, or missionaries, Rachel was her name, they go back to the Wadini tribe. They live amongst them. They bring them the gospel and almost that entire tribe comes. Why does this happen? John tells us. He can do with us as He pleases. He raises kingdoms and He brings them down. He raises kings and He brings them down. And I will tell you, as long as I am in ministry, the one thing that I am learning is that the nations, the people of this world, are by me. I follow them. God is beautiful. owes us the life of passing hardship if we are serious about building the kingdom of God. But as we pass through and we suffer, we come out on the other side of eternity, God face-to-face. Now, the ancient Christians did it. They imposed it. And it applies in verse 4. Have a look. It's the question, who will not fear, O Lord, and glorify your name? Who is not going to be converted, serve, and obey this God? This holy, majestic, unique in all his qualities, transcendent God, this unapproachable being, breathes itself with you. And the consequences of John says that all nations shall come and worship before God him for his righteousness. This super historical narrative that reaches back in Genesis and goes to the far ends of the book of Revelation. This whole story is being told and it is an incredible story wherein people are falling in love and they die. And God is making himself for us to do the same. Listen, I'm closing off. Today, the remnants of historical Christianity and the West are being torn down. I'm sure you've noticed Christianity is being accused of historical oppression. Secular humanism and other faiths are making a concerted effort to end the reign of Christianity in the West. And so the question that I have for you as we look at this is how does the modern church, how do you and I respond to this attempt of eradicating Christianity and yet remain loyal the commands of Christ their witness and nation and disciple the nations. We are told in Revelation 15 that the kingdoms of this world shall become the kingdoms of our Lord and King. Now I will tell you How we do it. It is not just a simple witnessing to the nations. No, no. That is not enough. We have to not only go to the nations and witness to them, but we have to draw them under the Lordship of Jesus Christ and every sphere of human activity. Nothing can be left. We must bring it in under God's authority. Now is a good time to tell you this, that the river of life does not flow from Congress, nor does it flow from the world's parliaments. It is obedient to their living God. We must mobilize in this difficult age. We must render to God unceasing pleading with Him that He will bring the nations into subjection, that He will reform nations, and we must send missionaries and keep them on the forefront as we equip them, as we send them ammunition. Maybe a bad word to use, but send them ammunition by discipling, training, and sending our very best. It is sad to say this, we don't always send our best. and people who want to go into the mission, they think where they might be going is a real cool place, palm tree and drink, virgin Pinnacoladas, but it doesn't work like that. We want to see the work of our best theologians, we send our best preachers, we send our best anthropologists. Results? They're up to God. They're not up to us. But I will tell you this. And the world, their end will be exactly like you lost it. It was said of him in his days of prosperity that he would point his dagger up to heaven and would call Christ that gallant. battlefield, the final battle where he was finally, where he finally died. History tells us that on his knees, blood was pouring out of the sand, up that sand and his clotted blood. Now, now, now, Galilee. Our end? Our end is going to be determined by our end. Yes, by challenge I'll end. The world is a fragile place becoming more and more insecure. Perhaps it's going to make you and I realize that in this world we have no lasting sin. But we must learn to see the future ahead. Come, we read that. We're sojourners, we're exiles, and we should not be surprised, says Peter, if we enter into fiery trials. We should not act as though something strange were happening to us. In the West, we have this false notion of living in this place. And when someone dares to intrude, we spend all our energy blaming them and seeking ways to cope. This whole thing has poured into the church, hasn't it? We want to serve God from a safe space. I will tell you, God has a way of settling up. The church must realize, if we want to do God's bidding, we will have to be a tribulation against the kingdom of God. There, listen, I'm on the forefront. There has never been an occasion that we know of where the opportunity... The fields have never been so vast, but I will tell you, the workers have... A month ago, I was in North Carolina. I was in a seminar there. One of our regional directors stood up and he said this. when the church asked, what can we pray for? And the next 10 years across all denominations, who were attrition by virtue of retirement, and the fact that no young missionaries were coming into the field, we have a problem. For the first time, Western history You know where they're coming from right now? Africa, Southeast Asia. I spoke to an African missionary. Yeah, I'm running a rabbit trail. And I'm an African. I said, why the states? He said to me, they need Christ. They need Christ. gospel to them who vows first minister the gospel to us. One missionary said this, Most churchgoers are secular in their mindset and their lifestyle. They've got few convictions. They've got more questions than answers. They're reluctant to make long-term commitments. Our society is existential. We are concerned about our own personal experience. This is a throwaway, disposable culture which is short-sighted, cynical, and short of faith and vision. Vision for the future, selfish, self-indulgent, unaccustomed to personal sacrifice, and willing to endure hardship. A missionary who spent 50 years in East Germany said this, he said, listen, it's not as if Western Christians aren't willing to suffer persecution. Shocking words. Don't want to be convicted. John Piper said in a sermon, He said, the problem with us in the West is we don't, we think that Golgotha was a suburb of Jerusalem. Golgotha? I whisper it, I want to make sure you hear it. Golgotha, Piper said, was not a suburb of Jerusalem. It was a way of life of the Christians. Some are going to die. Fame. Father God, we come to you. And Father, I can only imagine it was the devil's intent to irritate me this entire sermon by shifting this microphone. But in spite of this diversion, I pray that God this word will have gone forth. And it will have touched the hearts of your people, and it will shake them to become uncompromising saints in a culture that hates you, that is seeking your destruction and your people's destruction. Lord, awaken their spirits to the greatest and mightiest force in this world, and that is our God and His Son on march to win a people for Himself. Father, bless this church. Raise it up as a foundational church that is uncompromising, that preaches the word, that is unafraid to hold on to everything that is true. Father, may your spirit dwell amongst them. All of God's people said,