Well, I do feel at home here at Miller Valley. This is a special place for us. In about 40 plus years of relationship with this church and seeing God's blessing in different ways as we were praying earlier, how God has brought you down different roads and some have been bumpy and how God has blessed and there is the beauty of Christ's people here together. I'm thankful very much for your pastors and The joy that is to see God's blessing in family here, and there's a beauty to not only see a theologian here and author and writer, but most beautiful part is to see Chris's wife and three children. That to me is just a joy. Wow. Thanks be to God. Certainly, what a breakfast. Where is he? Enjoyable. As we come to God's Word this morning, and I really prepared a message thinking of missionary endeavors that this church has been involved with. Some have been really amazing missionary endeavors, some sending out books and seeing widespread blessing in different parts, not just to profit of the church here locally, but something of a larger vision And you know, there is a beauty to that. So when we come this morning, I have been reading out loud the book of the Revelation of Jesus Christ, which has 22 chapters. And reading through the whole of this book is an amazing thing. And I would entitle the message this morning, The Missionary Manifesto, because I believe we have lost something of the importance of this book, and maybe because there's been so much controversy about it, and we were talking just the other morning, I think it was by phone, about how strange interpretations have come about, and Your pastor and I, we were trying to remember a quote, and I found it at G.K. Christen. Chesterton has these words. He says, Though St. John the Evangelist saw many strange monsters in his vision, he saw no creature so wild as all of his own commentators. And you read the commentaries about, and they got these weird, strange things, and all of this. And even among those who are godly men, they have come up sometimes with strange things that they can tell you from this book. When Christ is going to come, the year, the date, the time, the when. And Christ has said, no one knows the time of the coming of the Son of Man. And yet, we know. What pride. Or, when it doesn't happen, they say, my arithmetic was a little off. Now, some of this we kind of smile at, but I had the experience of speaking with the pastor of a man that Actually, the pastor who visited a family when there was these predictions being given And the idea was, don't give your money to Christ's church, send your money to our radio station, because we're broadcasting to all these lands, and do it before this date when Christ comes, because we must reach all these people as soon as we possibly can, because this is the date when Christ is coming. So, as they were visiting this family, the man had to go to the restroom, and while he was out, the wife says, What are we going to do if he doesn't come on that day? And the owner said, what are you talking about? To find out, they had given their 401k, they had given all this to that radio station. And of course, date, no one knows when. So I ask the question, do you think maybe there have been those who have kind of gone away a bit from this missionary manifesto that's glorious and wonderful because it's had so many bad interpretations and it's been misused and misunderstood with all these wild date settings and things of that nature. When we come to this book, we need to realize that it's the culmination of all of Scripture, and it is a missionary manifesto. Amazing. There's 404 verses. I remember having taken this course and having to know all the grief of this 404 verses. 265 of those verses have allusions from the Old Testament, the Hebrew Scriptures. So to really understand this book, we need to have something of a light of all the Scripture that has gone before. Important. What we have here is a whole list that you can go through the book, and you'll have serpents and dragons and Extraordinary keys to open things, and chains, and lambs, and lions, and numbers that are symbolic, and altars, and amazing things of beasts, and Babylon, and plagues. Without the Old Testament, it's a strange, strange thing. And with the Old Testament, it has a glorious encouragement for us. Because there's a unity to all of God's Word as it comes together in this missionary manifesto. It's not some imaginary telling of the future. in the reality of fulfillment and the power of what God has yet to do and His triumph in Jesus Christ. Not about airplanes and bombs that John would have written about, some kind of futuristic thing that he was trying to imagine what might be out there. Again, when we come to the Lamb, we don't think something that's literal there, where we have, BAAH! BAAH! We have a whole history of the sacrificial system, that Jesus Christ is the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. Missionary Lamb that He is. What we don't think of the Lion is, wow, something liberal like that. But He is the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, the Great King that has come. So we have something here that's very important, this missionary manifesto. Let's read the opening words of this revelation of Jesus Christ. The revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave to him to show his servants what must soon take place, he made it known by sending his angel to his servant John, who testifies to everything he saw. This is a powerful vision. This is the Word of God and the testimony of Jesus Christ. Blessed is the one who reads the words of this prophecy, and blessed are those who hear it and take to heart what is written in it, because the time is near." Then he speaks of how it's for the churches. And I believe we are to read that as something for us in our very day, for the churches of all time. This is a book for us. And then we read down, I love this, there, a little further down, about halfway through verse 5, it says, To Him who loves us, present tense, and has freed us from our sins by His blood, has made us to be, present tense, a kingdom and priest to serve His God and Father. To Him be glory and power forever and ever. Amen. Whoa. He is coming with the clouds, and every eye will see Him, even those who pierced Him." Speaking, you know, all the people will see Him. Even Jews, and nations, and all the peoples of the earth will mourn because of Him. So shall it be. Amen. I am the Alpha and the Omega, says the Lord God, who is, and who was, and who is to come, the Almighty. Father, we pray that you would give us a sense of the beauty and power of this glorious manifesto of Jesus Christ. We pray, Father, for your Holy Spirit to give us ears to hear, and may the words I speak be acceptable in your sight. We pray in Christ's name. As you look at this book, certainly the context in one sense – we have to say the whole of the New Testament – is missionary. That is, here is the fact of Christ's coming, and then all these letters are really written by missionaries who are on the field, writing missionary letters to missionary churches, and then we come to the book of the revelation of Jesus Christ. And it's the missionary manifesto. It's exactly what they need when there's suffering, persecution, difficulties, and John is exiled from the Isle of Patmos. Why? For the testimony of Jesus. For the Word of God. He's suffering. The Church of Jesus Christ is in that very same context constantly. We need this missionary manifesto. How important it is. Here, God declares the victory. God declares His purpose in all these things. He declares that His Son is what? King of kings and Lord of lords. Don't you love that phrase? It's something that encourages our hearts. He is, present tense, King of kings and Lord of lords. He's not trying to get our vote or somehow to get into office. He is King of kings. and Lord of Lords and this great importance. So what I'd like for us to do with this briefly together is to see that this Missionary Manifesto is Jesus Christ. And this Missionary Manifesto is the strategy that God gives to us as His Church. And then briefly, this Missionary Manifesto calls us to action. not just to be theologues and have data and understanding of things, but to really be those who are in Kingdom action, involvement. So to start with, the Missionary Manifesto is Jesus. Look at verse 12. John says, I turned around to see the voice that was speaking to me, and when I turned, I saw seven golden lampstands. And among the lampstands was one like a son of man, dressed in a robe, reaching down to his feet, and with a golden sash around his chest, his head, his hair, were white like wool, as white as snow, and his eyes were like blazing fire. His feet were like bronze glowing in a furnace, and his voice was like the sound of rushing waters. In his right hand he held seven stars. And I hope no one here wants to take all this literally. I mean, you can't hold one star in your hand. This has symbolic, important instruction. And out of his mouth came a sharp, double-edged sword. His face was like the sun, shining in all its brilliance. So here we have the one who is given to us, Jesus. shines forth, he is the manifesto. We have here beautifully portrayed on the walls the five solas, and I enjoy looking at how different churches take these, and here is sola Christo, solus Christus, Christ alone, he is the one who shines forth, he is the manifesto. He is the complete and full revelation of God. That expression that He is Alpha and Omega. He's the beginning of the written revelation of God, the first letter in the alphabet, and the last letter in the alphabet. He is all that's needed. He is In the Old Testament, he is the beginning, the olive, and the top, the first letter of the Hebrew alphabet, and the last letter of the Hebrew alphabet. He is the fullness of God's revelation. He is what we need. to know God. And He alone is that revelation. He is the beginning and the end of God's revelation. But notice something so important in this. Look at verses 17 and 18. It says, When I saw Him, I fell at His feet as though dead. Then He placed His right hand on me and said, Do not be afraid. I am the first and the last. I am the Living One. I was dead. Behold, I am alive forever and ever, and I hold the keys of death and haze." In Jesus Christ, if you're in Him, you don't need to fear hell, you don't need to fear death, you don't need to fear Satan. He holds the key. He is the one who is King of Kings and Lord of Lords. We need this manifesto for our lives as Christians. God has brought us to know that Jesus is now the King, the Lord. The ruler over his church and over the cosmos, he is Lord. Just as you would look at this passage before us, it's amazing how he is the one who overcomes. overcomes all of these things. He is the fulfillment of all that has gone before. He is the one who has been on the throne, yes, even in the Old Testament, He is the one that was present. And then we come, and He is enthroned at the Father's right hand. Yes, I do believe that through the years to hear what we would consider North American teaching in the churches, the missing element of the gospel has been the Lordship of Jesus Christ. He is Lord today. And it's not that we're going to decide that He is Lord later and receive Him as Lord. Or it's not that somehow or another we are going to vote Him in if we decide He's going to be Lord of our lives. He is Lord right now. Now, if you would think of our task of today, and as you look at the task, it would seem hopeless. all the difficulties, all the problems, all the bumpy roads that churches are going down. I believe there is a strategy that's given to us that has simplicity to it. And here, this missionary manifesto is our strategy. And I think losing the book of Revelation as being has hindered us. So I would ask that we come afresh to this book. How do we overcome? Do we have a strategy? Yes, we do, given to us in this missionary manifesto. of the book of the revelation of Jesus Christ. How to evangelize the world, not just somehow or another to a few individual churches or people here and there. But there's an amazing plan given to us in this manifesto to cover the earth. with the gospel, the knowledge of the glory of the Lord. Turn with me in your Bibles. I think it's important for us to notice how through chapters 2 and 3 it speaks to the churches there, and as it does that, it's a beautiful thing that as you read through those, there are churches that really represent churches of all times. Some have somehow or another thought, here's the history of the church. Well, it doesn't fit. One church changes, and there's all kinds of things that we think geographically of all the churches in the world, and certainly you can't make somehow church one through seven as the history of the church. It doesn't fit with reality. But they are representative of all the churches, geographically and in time, and there's a beauty to see how these different churches apply to us. But there's something in common by all of them. Notice with me, in verse, the church in Ephesus, chapter 2, verse 7, it's a church You will overcome. Look at verse 7 of chapter 2 with me. There it says, He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To him who overcomes, I will give the right to eat from the tree of life which is in the paradise of God. Smyrna, chapter 2, verse 11, speaks of overcoming. Pergamum, 2.17, overcoming. Thyatira, overcoming, 2.26. Sardis, chapter 3, verse 5, overcoming. Philadelphia, chapter 3, verse 12, overcoming. Laodicea, a church that is to be overcoming. Notice verse 21 of chapter 3 with me, just for time to hurry through this, but an important point. Verse 21, "...and him who overcomes, I will give the right to sit with me on my throne, just as I overcame." The way, the means, is just as Christ overcame. It's through His Word for us. It's through His way that we overcome, that we are overcomers. As Paul wrote in Romans chapter 8, verse 37, those familiar words of, in all these things, we are more than over, more than overcomers, more than triumphers, more. Yes, in Christ we have this wonderful way of a strategy that's given to us. Notice chapter 5 now. The first verses there have this very important note. Chapter 5 of Revelation, and if you'll notice, there's no strategy in this world that works. No one is able. What does it say here? Then I saw the right hand of him who sat on the throne, a scroll with writing on both sides, and sealed with seven seals. And I saw a mighty angel proclaiming in a loud voice, Who is worthy? to break the seals and open the scroll. But no one in heaven or on earth or under the earth could open the scroll or even look inside. I wept and wept because no one was found who was worthy to open the scroll or look inside. Stop there with me for a moment. Think about the way the world approaches all the problems of this world. All the wars and animosity and the hunger and the violence and the crime and everything that's going on in this world. They come forward as philosophers and say, here is the way. They come forward as politicians. They're especially good at this. They promise everything. They can't do it. They're not worthy. They're unable. They can't transform this world of darkness. They can't do it. They're unable. They're not worthy. They come as messiahs, politicians. They say, I can save The land, I can do it. And what do we find out? From Karl Marx to the presidents of our own country, they promise. And yet, people so often will come to believe in them when technology comes along. And it says, now we'll have this new thing. We have this. We have another thing. And technology can be the salvation of the land. None is able. None is worthy. We need to write that down. Verse 5, though, tells us something beautiful. It says in such clarity, "'And one of the elders said to me, "'Do not weep. "'See, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, "'the Root of David, has triumphed.'" He is able to open the scroll and its seven seals. He is able to bring forth the plan of God. He is able to do what all the world, all through history, philosophers, politicians, presidents, whatever they may be, that have all failed. that Jesus Christ will accomplish God's great plan of salvation. We have that wonderful reality. We, not the lion, the rude. He will accomplish this. Look at verses 9 and 10. We read, you are worthy to take the scroll and to open its seals because you were slain. And with your blood you purchased men for God from, out of, every tribe and language and people and nation. You have made them to be a kingdom and priests to serve our God and they will reign on the earth. There is the song that's to be sung through There's the great one for all the nations, all the languages, all the people, all the different tribes. There's the great song of the redeemed. It helps us understand things, doesn't it? That there is a people out of that He has purchased. They belong to Him. He has purchased them with His blood. It's real. And with that, we can explain how is it that five young men, I just read, recently read the story of these five young men, the book by Elizabeth Elliott, Through Gates of Splendor. Five talented, amazing young men who gave their lives to reach the Akka tribe. A tribe so violent that other tribes had tremendous fear of them. They killed whoever they came in contact with. These five young men were martyred with the purpose, what? To reach that people, that people with the gospel. Because Christ has a people among every language and tribe and nation. something in 1956 that went on Life Magazine's cover, on Time Magazine's cover. It was something amazing for people to understand why these five young men would give their lives. We understand that because it was a purchased redemption of people from that crime and that later The wife of one of those, and the sister of one of those young men, they went into that tribe and lived with them, and so many of them come to Christ. We understand with this missionary manifesto, this great song that's a missionary song, a missionary manifesto, we can understand why they gave their lives. Have you ever watched the footage of that story? They have things they brought back. a hand from a monkey. It was a gift from the Aukus when they were trying to reach them. And these young men, 30 years old, I forget their exact age, but they were jumping around like teenagers with such joy because they made contact with them. This is powerful. He goes back to that era when the Church of Jesus Christ committed itself to sing the gospel, go to the Jews, committed itself to the gospel, to go to all nations. It was a burden. I think some of you have maybe sung the hymn that's taken from the letters of Samuel Rutherford. I don't know if you're familiar with Sands of Time. Do you ever sing that? It's a beautiful hymn, a powerful hymn the hymn writer took from his letters and wrote this hymn. The first ends of the Sands of Time are sinking. The dawn of heaven breaks. The summer morn I sighed for. The fair, sweet morn awakes. Dark, dark hath been the midnight, but the day's spring is at hand, and glory, glory dwelleth in Emmanuel's land. Just listen with me to the last stanza. The bride eyes not her garment, but her dear bridegroom's face. I will not gaze at glory, but on my king of grace. Not at the crown he giveth, but on his pierced hand. The Lamb is all the glory of Immanuel's Lamb." Samuel Rutherford had that vision. The Manifesto, the book of the revelation of Jesus Christ that was part of how he wrote and lived and preached. He was born. Actually, in 1600, when he lay dying in 1661, he had these words that there were nations tongues, languages, and all peoples of Christ have it on earth yet to come to Christ, Jews and Gentiles." His prayer as he was dying, that they wrote down, he said that he prayed that the Jews might be converted and that the gospel might be preached to the remainder of the Gentile nations. I asked, and that hope of that work of God yet among the Jews, among the nations in a larger sense. We think of the work of the gospel in all these places that we are part of that. What God is doing in our day, our prayers for revival and reformation, for the conversion of the Jews, for tribes that haven't been reached yet. We are involved with that, the great commandment of Christ that the gospel goes on. peoples. There's a promise there. He has a people for all of these nations, tribes, languages, and peoples. How is it he will accomplish this? How is this? I believe we find it in this manifesto. This missionary manifesto calls us to action. What is really powerful in our world today? We think sometimes, oh, if we could have a Christian president, or if we could have a Christian Senate and House of Representatives as a nation, boy, we could really make progress. But you know, don't find that as being the burden of the Apostle Paul or John in their letters. What did Paul say? I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God unto salvation. to the Jew first and also to the Gentile or to the Greek. He saw something so powerful in this message of one crucified on a cross that a thief could look at this one being crucified on a cross and say, remember me when you come into your kingdom. Come into your kingdom? God worked in a suit. this gospel missions today for us. What are we to do? And I believe the first thing is that we are, yes, we are to go. We are to be involved. We are to invest in taking the gospel to the nations. And the why of that, of course, is the great commandment. Could there be someone here, even this morning, that would be involved in taking the gospel to the nations? a tribe that has not heard, or a community that has not heard the gospel? Or can you as a church be involved in doing those very things? This powerful message transforms communities, not just people, not just individuals, but nations, and peoples, and languages, and tribes. And I want us to note this. There's an open door in many places. Before the coming of Christ, the nations were deceived. There was such a blindness that they didn't have the gospel being brought into them. I taught just the other day a teenage class of teenagers, and I said, give me some who were Gentiles who became followers of the Lord in the Old Testament. I think we worked at it, but we didn't have to take our shoes off to count. There was only a handful, one hand they came up with. Now, there's many arriving to know Him. He is at work, because that strong man, Satan, was tied up by Christ. Let me note these verses for you, and I want you to look at them with me. And I think it's important, though we have this one who still roars, he is still tempting us, and there's still evil, an evil presence, yet the gospel now is going into the nation. We have received the gospel. First, note John 12, 31. Turn with me what John says in John 12, 31. And I believe it's important to have these verses down in our minds. John 12, 31, we read, Let's see here. Here we are. Now, now is the time for judgment on this world. Now the prince of this world will be driven out. But I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all men to myself. And he's speaking there that through the gospel, Through the cross of Christ, He draws from all the peoples of the earth. They come to Him. There is a power of the cross. Note, secondly, Matthew chapter 12, verse 28. Important to note these down and have them ready in our minds and understand that there is open door to all the nations today. Matthew 12, 28. We read there, But if I drive out demons by the Spirit of God, then the kingdom of God has come upon you. For again, how can anyone enter a strong man's house and carry off his possessions unless he first ties up the strong man? Then he can rob his house. And we have there that Christ is talking about the Gentile nations. He tied them up, the evil one, that is, Satan, who was deceiving the nations, and now the gospel's going to them. Or, there again, we know, Matthew 16, 18, Christ says what? I will build my church. And what? And the gates of more sophisticated Hades, the gates of hell, will not be able to prove. And Satan will not prevail to keep the Word of God out. The gates of evil and darkness will not be able to stand. This one called Satan, as we have in Revelation chapter 20, he's on a leash. He's like in a cage. He's confined. on a leash. I remember as maybe eight, nine years old we had a dog that was, I mean, I think we even named it Jumper because this dog is a jumping big terrier and you could hold up a piece of meat as high as I think anyone in the family could hold and this dog from a standing place could go bam chain because otherwise it just was into everything. And that chain had a circle like this that was constantly on the run. I mean, this dog had energy. And we had a fanny rooster. I don't know if you know what a fanny rooster is, but this, it loved to go after anybody that had bare legs. It was a bird. And it was a powerful little creature. and it would sit out on this fence and crawl and then it would jump down and it would do exactly the length of that chain and it would strut right around and that dog would charge and every time, they never learned the lesson, it would charge out there and then jump and go out in the air and then hit the ground because the chain would only go that far. Well, my Uncle John He links them to chain, two feet. And we enjoyed watching. Now, Banny Bruce has got a surprise. But let us think for a moment. Who has the evil one on a leash? It's not my Uncle John. Thankful. The Lord Christ has him on a leash. And He will not tempt us beyond what we are able to bear. He has promised, I will be with you always, even in enemy territory, even when we're in the workplace, even when we're in the difficult places. There's actually a dear man who spent quite a few years in prison, came out of the prison and Christ had found him. Mez McConnell, I don't know if you know the name, but from Scotland, and he has founded and has planting churches in difficult places. He goes into these housing areas in Glasgow, Scotland, and sees churches started, because he has couples living in those places. The Gospel goes into enemy territory and transforms, and churches are planted. Christ is with us in all those places. We're seated with Him. He is on the throne. We can trust in Him. We have a friend who has written a ballad about one of these men who has spent 19 years, actually, he spent in prison for his crimes in Colombia, South America. The story is in Spanish and I have to have a little bit of explanation given to me because it has all this ingrown vocabulary within the drug world. This man, known as El Ruso, this man had the job for one of the cartels of keeping everybody in line in his particular barrio, in his community, where he was in charge. He would go and get the Virgin's Blessing every morning to do whatever evil he had to do that day to keep these people in line, and it was evil. While he was in 19 years in prison paying for his crimes, Christ transformed the man. When he came out of prison, he went door to door through that whole community and brought the gospel by asking their forgiveness and bringing to them the gospel, house by house, and through that, the church was formed. The cartel put him on a hit list because of the transforming power of this church that started there, and as the song goes, it tells the story of Eruso. This gospel is powerful. It's more powerful than the President of the United States. This is transforming of the heart, not just the exterior processes. It's a powerful word. Action for us. I believe the action for us needs to be that we would invest all that we have right now to see this gospel go forward. But do it with Wisdom, hakmah, wisdom from God. Doing that with our lives, with the bags of gold, whatever God gives to us, see the gospel go forward. Yes, we can be those who live with the 3D glasses of this world of depression, despondency, despair, but if we put on the manifesto of Christ, It's a world that Christ has called to himself. I closed this morning with what came to my mind afresh on the way up here. Some years back, we had the privilege of going to Israel and preaching in a family conference in Haifa. And it's an unusual experience, because what takes place is that there's all the Jewish people of the congregation, which is a beautiful congregation there in, actually, in Rizon Lezion, where it was at that time, not far from Jerusalem there, and from Tel Aviv, actually. And they all gather there in Haifa for this family conference, and this And about halfway through the sermon that I was giving, there came in the Palestinians in two large buses, and they began to be seated all through the congregation. Not just in one place, but they, on purpose, were placed all around next to the Jews. Palestinians seated next to Jews. Now, if you understand that for a moment, and just start to grasp it a little bit, At that time, you had Palestinians who would go into crowds, and inside their coat would be explosives, and they would push the button and explode themselves to kill Jews in those crowds. The horror to think of this inhumanity, to have a brain to think like that. There's this animosity. Well, as I was preaching, trying to preach, I should say, because they're translating, Baruch is translating into Hebrew, out loud, and someone else is taking the Hebrew and translating into Arabic, out loud, and someone else is taking the Arabic and translating that into Russian, and then it's my turn again. And if you try to tell an illustration, whoo, you say halfway through, maybe I shouldn't have even gotten started. But these people are all through the congregation, some couple hundred plus of them, weeping quietly. So when I end the message, I turn to Baruch and say, what's going on? I knew it wasn't anything I'd say. And he says to me, it happens every time when the Palestinians come in. It's the only place in Israel where Palestinians and Jews can hug each other. After that message, when they come in, look where they are. Nothing, nothing else is powerful like this gospel. We have a missionary manifesto. This thing is more powerful than all the peace accords of history, of all the things of Congress, everything, every president, all the things, you can put them all together, and they can't do it. Father, we do believe that you're yet to do great things through Little Valley, through your church in so many different places. We pray, O God, that you would cause us to hear and see and experience this missionary manifesto of Jesus Christ. We ask, O Lord, that you would give us understanding how we can Answer the call to action. Who will go for us? Who can we send? Here, my Lord, send me. Help us as a church. working together. Give us something of, Lord, that cohesion together, of loving each other in such a way that the world would know that you sent Jesus Christ to save your sinners such as we are. Nothing else could really bring us together to love each other like we do. Give us, Lord, a fresh burden for the conversion of the Jews. and Gentiles, and that he's purchased by his blood some from every tribe, language, nation, and people. Give us, O Lord, the privilege of participating and singing that song. We pray in Christ's name. Forgive us, Lord, our sins. Amen.