“The message is this bittersweet scroll: we must share in the sufferings of Christ in order to share in the life of Christ. If the message that you have swallowed is semi-sweet, and lacking in bitterness, it’s not the word of God. If it’s not the sweetest thing you can imagine, and it’s not bitter…that we’ve been called to lay down this life…to lay down this life and take up our cross…if the message you’ve believed is not so sweet that you cannot imagine anything better, and if the messaage you’ve received doesn’t have this bitterness as well…it is not the word of God…”

“It’s a sobering vision, especially the end. It’s even hard to hear. These chapters in Revelation 8 and 9 are yet another vision that paint another horrific picture of the wrath of God being poured out in judgement against those who reject him…Every translation uses this word ‘fear’. Do you know why? Because that’s the word they used in the original language. We are to fear God…Where does that fit in with ‘there is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus?’ The answer is those who fear God do not be afraid of him. Now, that’s my lingo, my interpretation. But this is what that means: those who fear God do not need to fear this wrath. It’s exactly like what we teach our kids about a stove or a campfire. we don’t need to be afraid of a campfire because we fear fire…Likewise, we can boldly come into the very throne room of God, even though he is absolutely Holy, because we know by which we have proper relationship with Him. This doesn’t mean we don’t fear him, we should fear him! Our God is a consuming fire! Handle with care! He’s not tame! We have to respond to God in the way He commands himself to be responded to. But we don’t have to be afraid that we are going to be the ones who receive this wrath, unless we are the ones who are pretending to live for God and are in fact living for ourselves…”

“Church are we those who live with great joy and celebration because of the salvation plan of God. When we think about the way the Father planned from the beginning, executed by the Holy Spirit his transformation in our hearts, and suffered and died as the Son — we see that God in his three persons, each working together, agreeing together, for our salvation. When we see that we are those who deserve wrath, deserve the judgement of God poured out. Can we say that we wake up daily in celebration?…”

“He rules and reigns. Nothing that’s happening in our governance, nothing that’s happening in our economy, nothing that’s happening in the youth of today, is out of control. God gives his righteous judgement….this is what Revelation is all about. The message is that this allows all of our rage and grief and fear to be channelled into obedience to the one who sits on the throne…”

(Originally preached on March 25, 2018)

“The first thing we are confronted with in this passage beyond the majestic glory of the heavenly throne room, far more splendid than any government of earth, is the way in which God is worshipped in this setting. God himself is indescribable in his glory; jasper and carnelian, not much there for a descriptor from John’s vision.  The narrative quickly moves on to those worshipping their creator, the elders and living creatures…”

“In what way have we today failed to honor God and give thanks for his ultimate authority and power; perfect sovereignty and plan?  Because God is on the throne. We cannot let fear keep us from sharing the gospel. We cannot abandon a vocal and public proclamation of the gospel, even in a culture that vilifies talking about religion and calls any verbal component of evangelism “cramming religion down people’s throats…”

“The last of Jesus’ seven messages to the churches, he addresses the church in Laodicea, an extremely wealthy, and self-sufficient city…The charge made against this church is that they are lukewarm; an accusation that has often been taken to mean that their zeal for Jesus had mellowed and their faith was no longer hot passion; it has cooled to lukewarm but is not quite cold yet. The problem with is interpretation is that it invents the idea that Jesus prefers a cold heart to one with at least some desire, and that in no way does this fit the context of Laodicea…Jesus is not contrasting being “on fire for” him with being “cold toward” him. Instead he is comparing the Laodicean believers to their water supply.  Cold water is a good thing; good for drinking, and hot water from the heated springs is a good thing; good for health and relaxation, but the Laodicean Christians are neither cold nor hot. They are, in fact, absolutely worthless.  They are just as offensive to Christ as their lukewarm water was to those who had to drink it…”

“God has not commanded us to ‘take the city’ or build his church. That is Christ’s own role.  If your metric for the health of the church is anything other than growing in frequency and fervor in obedience and faithful overt witness, you are headed for disappointment. When we are weak, he is strong…”

“Jesus will never be satisfied with an outward show; superficial airs of pretended godliness. This was exactly what Jesus condemned in the Pharisees! We often misunderstand Jesus’ harsh rebukes for religious leaders and the Pharisees throughout the gospels thinking that Jesus calls them out for being legalists or religious in some negative sense. What Jesus primarily and specifically warns them and the crowds about was their contentment with fostering a reputation for outward devotion to God while their hearts were actually far from him…”

Tune in as Pastor Josh preaches from Revelation 2:12-17, the letter to the Church in Pergamum:

“So we find in Pergamum teachers who are advocating compromise with the culture around them. As a result they are enticing believers in Pergamum to indulge in sexual immorality and idolatry or just compromise with sin in general…We cannot soothe our conscience by pointing out that we have been faithful in other areas when Christ demands obedience in every area. We are to take seriously any compromise among ourselves…”

(Originally preached on February 4, 2018)

Tune in as Pastor Josh preaches from Revelation 2 this morning, the letter to the Church in Smyrna:

“ We might be shocked by the fact that Jesus expected his followers to die for him. Maybe you became a Christian because you were told that ‘Jesus has a wonderful plan for your life.’ He does have a wonderful plan for every one of his followers, but that plan may well involve torture and death. Notice what Jesus is doing with the promise he gives to overcomers in Smyrna. He is reminding them that death is not what they should fear. It is the second death…“

(Originally preached on January 28, 2018)

Pastor Josh teaches from Revelation 2 this morning, Jesus’ message to the church of Ephesus:

“This letter to the Ephesians, I believe, is one that most clearly speaks directly to this church at this time…their passion for what is right is not echoed by a passion to share this with all those who have not yet heard this message…”

(Originally preached on January 21, 2018)

“Most of the biggest mistakes in interpreting and understanding Revelation are a result of failing to read it in its historical context. Reading it as a road map of all of church history…make the book all but worthless for those to whom it was originally sent to…If I need a chart outlining the last 2000 years of church history to understand Revelation, or if I need to have a passing knowledge of modern day munitions and military superpowers, it would be nonsense to those John wrote to…”

Continuing to draw from Dr. Martin Culy’s material for his teaching, Pastor Josh adds to the list of important instructions for reading the book of Revelation:

4. We must read Revelation in light of the particular historical context to which it is addressed.

5. We must recognize that Revelation makes use of symbols and symbolic uses of numbers.

6. We need to recognize that Revelation often communicates using Old Testament language and imagery.

7. We must notice and carefully consider Revelation’s internal connections.

(Originally preached on January 14, 2018)

Pastor Josh begins with a series studying the book of Revelation:

“Are you compromising so that you don’t receive persecution? The benefits that Rome had to offer exerted significant benefits to live like the culture around them - to assimilate, either to avoid persecution or to enjoy the bounty of what society had to offer. This is a great temptation and this is the temptation that is happening to us today. The temptation to live like the culture around us so that we can enjoy the things that the culture around us enjoys - and also to avoid persecution.

We are going to explore this - this is so relevant for our church today - as we continue through the book of Revelation.”

Key themes of Revelation

1. Christians belong to God; they are His bondservants.

2. Jesus is coming soon.

3. Christians are to imitate Jesus, the faithful witness.

4. Death is not the end of the story.

5. Jesus is the supreme ruler of this world, not Caesar.

Reading Instructions for Revelation

1. This message is to God's own people.

2. We must determine what Revelation would have meant to the first audience.

3. We must read Revelation in light of its complex genre.

4. We must read Revelation in light of the particular historical context to which it is addressed.

5. We must recognize that Revelation makes use of symbols and symbolic uses of numbers.

6. We need to recognize that Revelation often communicates using Old Testament symbolism and references.

7.  We must notice and carefully consider Revelation's internal connections.

(Originally preached on January 7, 2018. The first few minutes of the sermon were unfortunately lost. Sermon prepared from Pastor Josh’s mentor and friend, Martin M. Culy, The Book of Revelation: The Rest of the Story (Eugene, Ore.: Pickwick, 2017).)