Heavenly Father, as we come before you this morning and we open your word, we ask for understanding. We ask for the illuminating power of your Holy Spirit. Our prayer, Father, all along has been specifically to understand this book of the Bible. We ask that you would answer that prayer this morning. Help us to see the truth contained in your word and then help us to apply it so we can live more and more faithfully. before your face. We pray this in Jesus' name, amen. Well, we've all seen the spot the difference pictures before. Sometimes it's called photo hunt. Have you seen these? Two very similar pictures, but with subtle differences between the two. The game is to try to find the differences between these two very similar pictures. And they can be easy. This one looks like it might be for a young child. Similar pictures with a couple differences and they have to spot what's different. Or they can be a little more challenging like this one. This might be for an older child or maybe even an adult. But the idea is the same. They're barely noticeable. It wouldn't work if the two pictures were In other words, if we had a simple picture of a cat, and then a picture of a dog, that would be very easy to spot. It's usually maybe a cat and a cat, and the only difference is an extra whisper, or something that's a little bit different with his tail, or something that would be harder to pick out. If the differences were really big and easy to spot, then it would defeat the purpose of the game. Faith in Jesus is not a game. Faith in Jesus is serious business. And the difference between having faith in Christ and not having faith in Christ is huge. Revelation 19, as we're gonna see in this passage, the second half of Revelation 19, there are real subtle differences between faith in Jesus and not having faith in Jesus. Things that are hard to discern as we squint our eyes and try to find the difference. No, Revelation 19 makes it abundantly clear that the difference between having faith in Christ and not having faith in Christ is huge. Huge differences between the two. Being in Christ makes a huge difference for the original readers, it makes a huge difference for us now, and it'll make a huge difference for eternity. Well, what are these differences? We're gonna take a look at this. As we unpack this passage, we're gonna see what those differences are. So we wanna look at 11 through 21 of chapter 19. Here's the word of the Lord. Then I saw heaven opened, and behold, a white horse, the one sitting on it, is called Faithful and True, and in righteousness he judges and makes war. His eyes are like a flame of fire, and on his head are many diadems, and he has a name written that no one knows but himself. He is clothed in a robe dipped in blood, and the name by which he is called is the Word of God. And the armies of heaven, arrayed in fine linen, white and pure, were following him on white horses. From his mouth comes a sharp sword with which to strike down the nations, and he will rule them with a rod of iron. He will tread the winepress of the fury of the wrath of God the Almighty. On his robe and on his thigh, he has a name written, King of Kings and Lord of Lords. Then I saw an angel standing in the sun, and with a loud voice, he called to all the birds that fly directly overhead, come, gather for the great supper of God, to eat the flesh of kings, the flesh of captains, the flesh of mighty men, the flesh of horses and their riders, and the flesh of all men, both free and slave, both small and great. And I saw the beast and the kings of the earth with their armies gathered to make war against him who was sitting on the horse and against his army. And the beast was captured and with it the false prophet who in his presence had done the signs by which he deceived those who had received the mark of the beast and those who worshipped its image. These two were thrown alive into the lake of fire that burns with sulfur, and the rest were slain by the sword that came from the mouth of him who was sitting on the horse. And all of the birds were gorged on their flesh. So if you remember where we left off, last time we were in Revelation, we're at the beginning of Revelation chapter 19, we saw how God brought it home. how this transition between the old covenant to the new covenant was not a single pinpoint moment in time, yet instead it was a process that took several years to begin. We could go back to the birth of John the Baptist and the announcement of Jesus. We could go back to Jesus' birth and the shepherds in the field, and we could make our way all the way through, of course, the cross. resurrection and the ascension and then Pentecost. But remember, we said that this is all part of how God transitioned between Old Covenant to New. And then finally, the last piece, the last component was the destruction of Jerusalem and of unbelieving Israel in 70 AD. That was when God brought it home. Well, now that we are post bringing it home, now that the transition from the Old Covenant to the New Covenant is complete, Now, in the rest of the chapter 19, we're given a picture of what happens after that. What happens after the destruction of Jerusalem? What happens after the marriage supper of the Lamb? What happens after Christ has been united with his new bride, the church, and has cast out the unfaithful, idolatrous bride, unbelieving Israel? Well, we're given a picture, and the first picture we're given is of King Jesus. King Jesus, verse 11, that I saw in heaven, and behold, a white horse, the one sitting on it, is called faithful and true. So this is a picture of King Jesus. He comes as a warrior, bridegroom, king. He comes on a white horse. Remember, a white horse in antiquity symbolized or illustrated victory. So Jesus rides in on victory. The one sitting on it is called faithful and true. This is the exact same language that we saw earlier in Revelation. Once again, earlier in Revelation described Jesus Christ, Revelation 3.14, amen. Amen, faithful and true witness. Revelation 1.5, faithful witness. And remember, we said this refers to Jesus. He's faithful and true. Everything he says and does is true. Everything that he seeks to accomplish comes to pass. Amen, let it be so, true. In righteousness, he judges and makes war. So what we're seeing in this first half of our passage is a series of descriptions that talk about Jesus. We're walking through each one of these. In righteousness, he judges and makes war. If you remember, Jesus fulfills the three offices, prophet, priest, and king, and he does so completely. He is the ultimate and final prophet, priest, and king. And this is focusing on that kingly role. And as part of his kingly role, Jesus judges in righteousness and makes war. Our old friend, the Westminster Shorter Catechism uses this language, restraining and conquering all his and our enemies as part of his kingly role. He goes out to conquer his enemies. Of course, the Old Testament refers to this kingly role. Here's some Old Testament messianic prophecies looking forward to Jesus. Psalm 72, may he judge your people with righteousness. Isaiah 11, he shall strike the earth with the rod of his mouth and with the breath of his lips, he shall kill the wicked. Each one of those talking about an aspect of his kingly office. The New Testament as well describes the kingly office and role of subduing all his enemies. We're looking at 1 Corinthians 15. Paul says, then comes the end when he delivers the kingdom to God the father after destroying every rule and every authority and power for he must reign until he has put all enemies under his feet. That's Jesus. That's Jesus fulfilling his kingly role. Jesus going forth in power, that's another way of looking at this section, is Jesus going forth in power, ruling and reigning, subduing his enemies, going forth with his word. And as he goes forth, he is bringing people into the kingdom through the ordinary means of the proclamation of his word and a special operation of the Holy Spirit. And every time someone comes into the kingdom that contributes to and points to the glory of Jesus Christ, it contributes to his victory over Satan and over evil. Colossians 1.13, he has delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved son in whom we have redemption and forgiveness of sins. That is ongoing, it is happening right now. His eyes are like a flame of fire. Again, very similar, almost, well, it is identical language to what we saw earlier in Revelation. Revelation 1.14, his eyes were like a flame of fire. God's Spirit, seeing and knowing all things. Of course, Jesus is fully man, fully God. And because he is full of God, he is omniscient, he sees all. Eyes like flames of fire, there's nothing hidden. Hebrews 4.13 says, and no creature is hidden from his sight, but all are naked and exposed to the eyes of him to whom we must give an account. This is speaking of Jesus' omniscience. On his head are many diadems. Diadems means crowns. Jesus is not just king of Christianity. Let's make sure we understand this correctly. It's not just that Jesus is king over his followers. Jesus is king over all creation, all domains, all different realms. If you remember the Great Commission, all authority in heaven and earth has been given to me, all authority. in heaven and on earth, that's comprehensive language. So there are different realms, there's the earth, land, sea, sky, waters, all the people, all nations, every social realm, every political realm, everything you can think of, Jesus is Lord and King, and he reigns over all. So the many diadems represents his all-encompassing authority. He has a name written that no one knows but himself, and to know means to know, to perceive, to have knowledge of, And that's one way it's used in the Bible, is I know something, like cognitively, intellectually, I'm aware of something, I can sense that something is there, I know that. But remember, John often imports Old Testament language and prophecy and ideas and concepts, and that's really no surprise to us. And the Old Testament informs the meaning of know, and in the Old Testament, it often refers to belonging relationally. God knows his people, not in the sense of God knows that we exist, of course he knows that, but in the sense of knowing us relationally. We belong to him in a covenantal relationship. He knows his own. We belong to God. Well, the name of Jesus belongs to Jesus. No one else knows it. No one else possesses the name of Jesus. No one else possesses the title, the authority. His name belongs to him and him alone. Verse 13 says he is clothed in a robe, dipped in blood. This is the blood of his enemies. First and foremost, we have to see in this context, we're gonna see later on in verse 15, I believe, it says he's talking about treading the winepress. Remember the language back in chapter 14, a couple page turns earlier, the harvest of the earth talks about the grapes being thrown in the great winepress of the wrath of God. Yeah, Jesus in his kingly role, going forth, conquering his enemies. Part of that includes judgment, justice, wrath of God on his enemies. And in this context, of course, we understand he's talking about the destruction of Jerusalem and unbelief in Israel. So it's the blood of his enemies, the wrath of God. But also, we have to also see this at least has quiet echoes and faint whispers of his own blood. It's the blood of his enemies. It's God's wrath poured out. Remember, God also poured out his wrath on Jesus Christ. And we're invited to see this contrast and this dual blood purpose. It's this idea that Jesus on the cross provided atonement for sin. He shed his blood. He received, he took the wrath of God on himself. so that God can remain just as he not pours out his wrath on his own people. So remember the options is it's either our blood or the blood of Jesus. It's either Jesus' death or our death. God either pours out his wrath on the king's enemies or he pours it out on the king himself. And that's the beauty of the cross is that Jesus took the wrath that we belong. The name by which he is called is the Word of God. It points to Jesus' eternal divinity as the second person of the Trinity. Remember, Jesus is not a created being. He is fully God, eternally existent. The Word of God, that would have immediately called to mind some language. It probably does in our heads, too. When we hear the Word of God and we hear the beginning, we think of Genesis. In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. And the Word was right there, the creative activity of God through the Word of God. And of course, John won, John wrote Revelation, he also wrote the Gospel of John. Jesus was in the beginning with God, and the Word was God. Jesus was in the beginning with God, and through him all things were created. So this title, the Word of God, points to his eternal divinity, his active role in creation, points to Genesis 1, John 1. Verse 14, the armies of heaven arrayed in fine linen, white and pure, were following him on white horses. We've already seen that Christians are seated in the heavenly realm with God in the throne room. We've already seen earlier, actually earlier in this chapter, we saw that the people of God were dressed in fine linen, righteous deeds of the saints. And remember that they were clothed because it was granted to her, the bride of Christ who was granted to her to be clothed. We can't clothe ourselves unless we've first been clothed with the righteousness of Jesus Christ. So whether this refers to the angelic hosts, the armies of God, whether it refers to the saints, the people of God dressed in white linen, or maybe a little bit of both, but either way it is Jesus Christ writing forth. And I think it refers to Jesus Christ and his church. The church is going forth with the gospel, united to Jesus Christ. Not only is Jesus riding out on the white horse, but those who are with him are riding out on the white horse. Jesus is victorious. If we're united to Jesus through faith by his spirit, then we're victorious. This is a picture of what's happening after he takes the new bride, after he takes the new bride, the new covenant church. From this point forward, their future is this, riding forth, under the power of Jesus Christ, in the power of the Holy Spirit, riding forth with the word of God, conquering. It's the ordinary means, it's the church, engaging in spiritual battle and victory. Verse 15, from his mouth comes a sharp sword with which to strike down the nations, it's the word of God. Living and active. This is the means by which God has chosen to transfer people from the kingdom of darkness to the kingdom of light. It's the Word of God, spoken or written, proclaimed, accompanied by the power of the Holy Spirit. That's what convicts sinners. That's what, through a special operation of the Holy Spirit, leads them to repentance and belief. God's Word is able to penetrate the hardest of unbelieving hearts. God's Word is able to penetrate the most apathetic, nominal believer to bring them to faith. Again, our friend, the Westminster Shorter Catechism, Q and A 89. What makes the Word effective for salvation? The Spirit of God causes the reading and especially the preaching of the Word to convince and convert sinners. and to build them up in holiness and comfort through faith to salvation. That is the mission of the church. The great commission is to go and make disciples. How do we do that? Well, baptizing, teaching. It's through the word of God. We see this almost immediately. After we see Jesus death, resurrection, and ascension after we see Pentecost being poured out, what's the very first thing we see? We see Peter standing up, preaching the word of God, the spirit of God accompanying that proclaimed word, and what? People repenting and believing by the thousands. That's the mission of the church. And that's what we have here is a picture of Jesus Christ going forth in victory with his church with the power of the word. It says he rules them with a rod of iron. Christ rules as king. And as king, he tolerates no rivals. He rules with a rod of iron. He will tread the winepress in the fury of the wrath of God the Almighty. Remember, a king also, as part of his kingly duties, he just doesn't sit on a throne with a nice golden crown with a jewel in the middle and a red robe with that kind of white leopard skin trim and kind of twiddles his thumbs and says, more entertainment, bring in the wine. That's not the idea of a king that we have here with Jesus. He rules and reigns, and part of that kingly rule includes bringing wrath and judgment on his enemies. What kind of king would that be if he sat in his castle and his enemies were breaching into his territory? They were harming his subjects and taking over his land, and the king just kind of sat back and did nothing. He would be an irresponsible king. He would be an unjust king. A good king rides out into battle. This is our king. Again, one more time, let's turn to the Westminster Larger, number 45. How does Christ execute the office of the king? We're gonna hear both of those, we're gonna hear everything in this answer. Christ executed the office of a king in calling out the world of people to himself and giving them officers, laws, and censures by which he visibly governs them and bestowing saving grace upon his elect, rewarding their obedience and correcting them for their sins. preserving and supporting them under all their temptations and sufferings, restraining and overcoming all their enemies, and powerfully ordering all things for his own glory and their good, and also in taking vengeance on the rest, who know not God and obey not the gospel. Is Jesus king or not? He is, and in executing that office of king, he exercises the full range of what it means to be a king. Verse 16 says, on his robe and on his thigh, he has a name written, King of Kings and Lord of Lords. If you haven't noticed by now, that's part of my opening greeting almost every Sunday. The title of Jesus is King of Kings and Lord of Lords. This is an emphatic way of communicating the total lordship and authority of Jesus Christ. He's not a king. He's the king of kings. He's not a lord. He's lord of lords. In other words, he's not one god sitting on the shelf next to all the others to which you can, as a consumer, come up and select the one that best fits your lifestyle or where you're from or what your background is. He is the only king. He is the only lord. And in this sense, we need to understand that every single person is obligated to be a Christian. No matter who you are, think about that. If it's true that God is God and he's created us in his image, and we are moral beings accountable to him, it is our obligation to bow down and serve the king, no matter who we are. Again, Jesus is not just king of the Christians. Jesus is king of kings. Jesus is king of everyone. And so everyone is obligated to be a Christian. That's very abrasive to the world. That's not going to be warmly received by everybody at work, that they're obligated to be a Christian. But let's think about that. Everybody at work, all of our extended family, Everybody you see at the grocery store, as you pass people in the aisle, you see faces. Everybody you see, all the celebrities, all the politicians we see in the news, the people delivering the news. Every single person is obligated to be a Christian and to repent of their sins and to bend the knee to Jesus and serve him. That's the type of king Jesus is. For everyone else, they are his, by definition, according to scripture, his enemies, and that's to what we turn to next. So that first section is Jesus Christ riding out victory with his church through the power of his word and the spirit, accomplishing his victory, bringing in the elect into the kingdom of God until all things are put under his feet. Now we turn to 17 and 18, enemies of the king. It says, an angel standing in the sun, and with a loud voice he called, We really can't identify this angel other than the fact that it's an angel that's been given the assignment to make this invitation to the birds of a year. But the invitation is this, it's an invitation to a great supper of God. Now we are correct if we're seeing this in contrast to the marriage supper of the Lamb. Same chapter, we don't even have to turn the page, they're right next to each other. One is the Mary's Supper of the Lamb, the other one is the Great Supper of God. Some are invited to the Mary's Supper of the Lamb, some are invited over here. We've got two suppers, two banquets, two meals, two invitations. They're juxtaposed like that so we will see the contrast. Again, what kind of difference is there between having faith in Christ and not having faith in Christ? Huge difference. It's the difference between the Mary's Supper of the Lamb and this Great Supper of God. Huge difference. We saw what the future is for Christ and his followers. Now we're seeing what the future holds for those who are enemies of the king. Notice the all-inclusive language, kings, captains, mighty men, all men, free and slaves, small and great. That's everybody. Everybody who is not serving the king is by default an enemy of the king. There's only two groups. All-inclusive language, so this is the future for all unbelievers, those who refuse to submit to the King of Kings and Lord of Lords. It talks about the birds of the air and eating the flesh. Remember, to remain unburied in the Old Testament, we've looked at this before, so I'm not gonna put up verses, but we could go there. To be unburied, to be eaten by wild animals, to not receive a proper burial, that was a sign of being cursed by God. That was a sign of a shameful death, a shameful burial. All the saints participate in the conquering and victory of God through the power of the Gospel of Jesus. Now we're showing a picture of those who don't belong to God. Huge difference. And then we go to verses 19 through 21 and the rest. So do you see how there's two different visions? And verse 17 begins with, then I saw, then the beginning of verse 19, it says, and I saw, that means there are two different things. So the first one is just in general, this is what happens to the enemies of the king. And now specifically, this is what happens to, and then he's gonna identify some specific enemies of the king. So to the believers who were originally reading this letter, this would have been a huge source of assurance and encouragement for them because it's one thing to know, in general, God will deal with all evil and wickedness. That is huge. That is a truth we want to cling to. But when they're faced with specific enemies, when their brothers and sisters and family members and fellow believers are being persecuted to the death, It's also encouraging to hear a word from God that he is going to deal specifically with those enemies. And that's what this message is about in 19 through 21. He's calling out the beast, remember, which is Rome. He's calling out the kings of the earth or rulers of the land. And he's calling out the false prophet, which is also called the second beast back in chapter 13. And remember, that's unbelieving Jewish leadership, including the high priests. those of religious authority in Israel. And I just, I want to throw a couple of verses up there to show that we're on the same page. The second beast and the false prophet are synonymous. They're interchangeable. So here's our passage, Revelation 19, 20, and the beast was captured and with it, the false prophet who in his presence had done the signs by which he deceived those who received the mark. And then Revelation 13, 14 says, and by the signs that it was allowed to work in the presence of the beast, it deceives those who dwell on the earth, who have received the mark. So it's the same, we're talking about the same symbolic identity. It's the unbelieving Jewish leadership, unbelieving Israel. Remember, there was an unholy partnership between Rome and unbelieving Israel to persecute or make war against the saints. It was both, they were working together. We saw that with Jesus, they worked together. We saw that with the Apostle Paul, they were working together. We saw that consistently throughout the New Testament and extra-biblical literature. Here's one scholar, he says, far from representing the Judean people's interests, the high priestly aristocracy collaborated with the Roman authorities on whom their positions depended. So again, John's showing them specifically, yes, I am also going, God is also going to deal specifically with your present enemies. In general, everybody, but specifically the ones that are most pressing right now. Unbelieving Israel fully cooperated and went along with Rome. Remember, they cried out at the trial of Jesus, we have no king but Jesus? No, we have no king but Caesar. They were aligned with Rome, the first beast. What he's saying is, Rome and unbelieving Israel is not gonna escape judgment. Ultimately, they are thrown alive in the lake of fire that burns with sulfur. So remember, he's not talking about a past event here. This is a vision that John's being shown, and he's delivering it to the people, but it's going to take place in the future. It hasn't happened yet. We'll talk more about the lake of fire in Revelation chapter 20. but it's the final resting place for the enemies of the king. Verse 21 says the rest were slain by the gospel. It says the rest were slain by the sword that came from his mouth. Remember the sword is the word of God, the gospel, the truth. It says the rest were slain. Now wait a minute. I thought just a moment ago we said the sword goes forth and he conquers the nations and that's talking about bringing people into the kingdom of God and transferring from darkness to light. Yes. But now it seems like it's being used here, it says, and the rest, and in this context it means the rest of the enemies of the king, they're being slain by the sword. So, what's going on there? It's both. You see, the gospel, as it is used by God, as it's proclaimed, accompanied by the power of the Holy Spirit, does both. is, on one hand, a message for salvation. The general call is issued, the general call goes forth, but the effectual call is for those that God regenerates, and they're brought to faith. But for those who God does not call, that general call goes forth, and instead it serves a hardening function, because they reject the king, and they reject the gospel that is being presented to them. Origin of Alexandria was an early church father. He wrote several things, but one of the things he wrote has been paraphrased often, and it goes something like this. The same sun that melts the wax hardens the clay. The same sun that melts the wax hardens the clay. He's talking about the gospel. On one hand, it melts the hardness of the hard-hearted unbeliever, so that they come to faith. But on the other hand, if they do not accept the gospel, if they haven't been called by the Spirit of God, then it serves as a hardening agent. And ultimately, it will witness against them on the day of judgment. This is exactly what we saw. Remember Luke 10? Remember when we went through Luke 10? And Jesus sent out the 72, and he says, look, you're gonna get two responses. You're gonna go out, and they're either going to receive you, or they're not going to receive you. That's it. He said, I want you to go out. I want you to stick to the plan. You go out, proclaim the word. Don't worry about the response. You're going to get both. For the ones who receive you, okay, stay there and continue. Give them everything you got before you move on to the next one. For those who do not receive you, shake the dust off your feet and move on. Don't worry about that. It's as if Jesus was saying, you know what? Don't worry about that. I'll take care of that. He closes that by saying it will be more bearable for Sodom than for those in that city on the Day of Judgment. The same gospel that melts wax hardens the clay. Huge difference. I think we saw that as we walked through here. Huge difference between faith in Christ and not having faith in Christ in terms of now, for them, in terms of the final outcome. Excuse me, and I want to make sure we hit on three differences that we pull from the text here. One, faith in Christ makes a huge difference when facing persecution, evil, wickedness, hardship, powerful enemies. Again, remember, they were generally told God will take care of all evil. He will be the final judge. None of this is going to escape him. But specifically, they were told even the enemies that are most pressing on you right now, I'm going to deal with them. That was hugely encouraging to them. Faith in Jesus still makes a huge difference today. It means we don't have to be anxious when we see all this stuff happening all around us. We don't have to freak out. when we see what looks like the world disintegrate. We don't have to wonder if the wicked will one day receive justice or not. We don't have to take matters into our own hands. In fact, we're commanded not to. Romans 12, 19. Beloved, never avenge yourselves, but leave it to the wrath of God, for it is written, vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord. God will take care of that. We're not to take matters into our own hands. We're to leave that to God. Do we trust Him? I hope so. We can trust Him with vengeance. Some might say we live in a spiritually dark, almost dystopian sort of culture and country, maybe even world. Some would say as they look around and watch the news that they're shocked daily, maybe even multiple times a day, and some of the horrific, tragic evil that's going around. And so the next thing taps the one before it. Every time we turn on the news, we hear something else and we say, what? We hear of another unjust law. We hear of another crime that's been committed. We hear of things that are just horrific and that stand against Christ and his word. And it's tempting in this type of world. Again, it depends on where you're looking around and where you're sniffing around. We can stay in our bubble. We can stay in the protective arms of the church. We can stay on rough shoulders with other Christians and never really have to deal with that. But as soon as we step outside of the bubble, it is a nasty place out there. And it's easy to become discouraged and fearful, maybe outraged or even a little panicked. unless we remember that God will make things right in the end. Not just generally, but specifically. Not just God will bring all things to account, but specifically. So in other words, if we went around the sanctuary this morning, we're not going to do that. But if we went around the sanctuary this morning and we had each person say something, the first thing that comes to mind when you think of the anti-Christ, anti-biblical junk that's going on in the world today. Or maybe you can think of an example of just some horrific evil that you saw in the past or that you saw last week. If we went around the room and we each said something different, we would have a long list. Whatever you're thinking of, that. God is going to deal with that. Nobody's getting away. Nobody's walking scot-free. Even when we see things that happen in the world when justice is not served, even when we know something has gone horribly wrong and they walk away from it, even when things aren't resolved to our satisfaction or to justice satisfaction in this life, we can trust God. He will deal with that. So number one, it makes a huge difference. Faith in Christ makes a huge difference in how we respond. to persecution, hardship, evil, wickedness. We can trust God to deal with that no matter what we're seeing real time right now. He's gonna take care of that. Number two, faith in Christ makes a huge difference for us today regarding the overall purpose and pattern of our lives. The overall purpose and pattern of our lives. For those who are in Christ, we are called to follow Jesus and engage in mission. appropriate for Mission Emphasis Sunday. We are to engage in a mission. What is the mission of the church? It is the Great Commission. Go and make disciples of all nations. That is the Great Commission. That is the mission of the church, hands down. No question about it. That's what we're called to participate in. There was a teenager, probably 14, 15 years old, And he was brought up in the church and he attended youth group and the youth leaders did a great job of bringing a gospel message every week. Every Wednesday night at youth group, they presented the gospel to these students. And every week they heard that message. One of those weeks, this young student recommitted. He thought he was a Christian, but he felt led to just kind of recommit. And so he did. He prayed and he went home and told his parents. He said, I feel great. He kept coming back and they kept delivering the message. Finally, after several weeks went by, he pulled one of the leaders aside and he said, I really appreciate that you're presenting the gospel every time. He said, I understand every time you're asking people to pray and accept Jesus and become a follower. He said, I've done that. Now what? What's the next step? And it was a light bulb moment for the leaders because they realized, first of all, hey, the spirit of God is working. Praise God. Second of all, we need to put something in place to show people where to go after they've taken that step. And it reminds us, and we talked about this in the new members class, remember the gospel is not this bridge. It's not just transferring from the kingdom of darkness to the kingdom of light, although it is that, but it's more compared, instead of a bridge, to a road. It's something we walk our whole life. And here's the other component, it's not just that we come to Christ and then we grow in sanctification and in holiness. In other words, it's not just me and Jesus. It's not just me and now I'm in Christ and I'm gonna walk that road and I'm not gonna look at anything else, I'm just gonna pursue holiness and eventually I'm gonna become more Christ-like. It's not just that. It is that, but in addition to that, we are joining ourselves to his body, the church, and we are engaged to participate in the mission of the church. So yes, it is all those things. It's conversion, it's walking in sanctification, but it's also participating in the mission of the church. What does that look like? Well, it looks different for every single believer because no two people are exactly the same. God has created you uniquely with a unique gift mix with unique talents, with unique abilities. He has spent a lifetime forming you and shaping you with unique experiences and training and equipping so that you can do something that no one else can do. And he's placed you in your specific environment, your sphere of influence. He's opened doors of opportunity. It looks different for everybody, but it's going to be consistent with scripture. You're going to be utilizing your spiritual gifts in Christ's church. participating in the Great Commission. Vastly different, huge different than the world. That's what we're called to. If you're not in Christ, if you're not a child of the King, if you're an enemy of the King, your life is gonna look very different. The overall purpose and pattern of your life, it's not Christ-directed, it's self-directed. No matter what anybody says. I've heard somebody say, well, I live my life by a code. Okay, where did you get that code? Maybe you picked it up. Maybe it's a patchwork quilt of things you've heard. Maybe somebody told it to me. Maybe somebody told you, if you live by this code, you'll be honorable and people will respect you. Maybe, but whatever it is, it's not the word God. And it can be altered at your pleasure. Can it not? It can be changed at your convenience. The Christian life stands in very stark contrast to every other way of living. Huge difference. We don't live our life by some kind of made up code or passed down code. We don't live our life with something that we've decided. We live our life following the king, who has not only saved us and is sanctifying us, but has revealed our purpose in his church. Everyone else lives a self-directed life. So that's number two. Number one is, Huge difference in how we respond to persecution. Evil number two is a huge difference in the overall purpose and pattern of our life. And then the last one, probably the biggest difference, maybe we could even say hugest difference, is that faith in Christ makes a difference in the way God sees us. Faith in Christ makes a difference in the way God sees us. If we were to go out and buy two identical cars. Let's say we go to Philips on the corner and we buy two Camaros. We drive them off the lot. One is parked in a parking lot, the other one is taken to a garage and the mechanic opens up the hood and puts in a new intake, new fuel pump, fuel lines, new cylinder heads, supercharger, and then they take it to a dyno, and they tune it, and they squeeze every last bit of horsepower in it. They remake it under the hood, they close the hood, and then they go and they drive it to the same parking lot. And you've got those two Camaros, assuming you can't see any difference in the exhaust. You see these two Camaros, they're identical. And if somebody walked up and said, is there any difference between these two cars? No. No, they look exactly the same on the outside. But the minute you start it up, and the minute you drive it, you're going to be able to tell there's a big difference, huge difference, between those two vehicles. It's the same way with people who have been changed and transformed by the spirit of God. If we took all our driver's licenses, if we, you know, driver's licenses, they all look the same, neutral expression, light background, we're standing there without a smile. If you took all the Christians, all the non-Christians, and you just looked at driver's license photos, you can't tell. You can't tell there's a difference, but there's a huge difference. There's a huge difference in how God sees that person because of what's under the hood. It's the Spirit of God indwelling in them. Huge difference in how God sees that person 1 John 3.1, see what kind of love the Father has given to us that we should be called children of God, and so we are. The reason why the world does not know us is that it did not know Him. It's invisible. You cannot detect it by looking outwardly at a driver's license photo of a Christian and a non-Christian, but it's there. Do you see what John's saying? He said, the Father, for those that have been transformed by the Spirit of God, for those who have faith in Jesus Christ, God sees them differently. He has set his covenantal love on them. He will never abandon them. We are literally the children of God, sons and daughters of the Most High. Huge difference. And the world doesn't see it. Why? Because they haven't been transformed. The world says, I don't see any difference. I know that's your thing and, you know, it's just not an important part of my life. And that's great that you like church and you're religious and everything, but I don't need all that. I hear what you're saying, but I don't think I need God to see me differently. I would direct them to verses 17 to 21. Because here's the other thing. You may not see a big difference as we go through life. In fact, it might even look like the opposite. You might see those that are not in Christ, that are getting the red carpet treatment, they have doors open for them, they're doing very well in life, wealthy, affluent, healthy, good looking, whatever you want to put next to it. And maybe nothing ever tragic happens to them. I mean, think about Solomon, the book of Ecclesiastes. You look at these people, they're godless, they're wicked, and they can live a full life. They live a great life, according to the world. See, somebody looks at that and they say, I don't see any difference. You may not see it right now, but one second after you die or one second after Christ returns, there's going to be a huge difference. The difference is a regenerated heart that's been called by God, that's been forgiven. How does that happen? Faith in Christ. turning from our sin, repenting from our sin, acknowledging that we're sinners, acknowledging that we've broken all Ten Commandments, acknowledging that we are held out sinners apart from Christ, just owning up to that, confessing it, and then turning to Christ in faith, believing Jesus is who He says He is, the Son of God, King of kings, Lord of lords, trusting Him for our salvation, I'm not trusting in my own works to get into heaven. I'm trusting in Jesus's perfect righteousness, his perfect works to get into heaven, which are credited to me when I put my faith in him. Positively, he fulfills the law and he gives us his righteousness. It is imputed to us. Negatively, he takes the curse. He takes the wrath of God. His blood is shed. so that God's wrath is satisfied and God is both just and the justifier, the one who has faith in Christ. That's how that works. And then we walk with them. It's the only thing that makes a difference, huge difference, faith in Christ. Amen. Father, we thank you that you have given us your word, your spirit. You have shown us what it looks like to be made right with you. And it is through the power of the gospels, through the shed blood of Jesus Christ, that's the only way. Father, we confess that there is a huge difference. We confess that in Christ alone, we can be counted as righteous. Father, thank you for our Savior. Thank you for your covenantal love that is set upon us. Thank you for giving us purpose in life. And we ask that you would fill us with your spirit and enable us to fully live for you. Amen.