Moraine Valley Church

Pergamum: Compromise

Pergamum: Compromise
Rev 2:12-17 June 30, 2019
I. Introduction:
A. Compromise can be a very good thing when it comes to our differences in
relationships but compromise when it comes to the extreme differences between
Jesus and the world can contaminate our relationship with Jesus.
B. In this third church, Pergamum, there is pressure from both outside the church and
inside the church to compromise.
1. The great majority of this church remained faithful in a very difficult
satanically inspired culture, but there were some on the inside of the church
who thought that compromise was ok, something that could become a
stumbling block to this church!
C. As I read this passage so we can get a feel for them, watch for all of this. Read
Rev 2:12-17
• Let’s begin by looking at …
II. The outward pressure upon the church
A. This is the part that Jesus commends the church for. Let me reread this: v13.
B. Two times he refers to Satan in this verse. He says this city where they dwell, is
where Satan’s throne is, this is where Satan dwells.
1. And this church is commended by Jesus for their faithfulness to Him in the
midst of this very anti Jesus culture!
C. Why would Jesus say this city is where Satan’s throne is, where he dwells? Let’s
learn a little bit about Pergamum and we will not only see why He calls it that but
also understand the great pressure these Christians were under and the cost of
their faithfulness there.
1. Pergamum was a large city and was the political center of Asia Minor. It was
the Washington DC of Asia Minor!
2. One ancient writer said Pergamum was “given to idolatry more than all
Asia!” It had a series of pagan cults located there: Zeus, Athena, Dionysus,
Asclepius
3. They had a theater there that seated 10,000 people. The primary purpose of
the theater was to make the city’s views the people’s views. Sounds like
Hollywood doesn’t it?
a) This theater was dedicated to Dionysus, the god of wine and orgy, and
right next to the theater was the temple of Dionysus.
b) Before the shows people would go to the temple and drink all the free
wine they wanted.
c) Then they would go to the play which often were performed in the nude.
d) Then after the play they would binge and purge with raw meat until they
got in an ecstatic state then spend time with the temple prostitutes!
4. And lastly but not least, Pergamum was the center of emperor worship in
Asia Minor.
a) Pergamum may have been the first place to deify kings upon their death
and this practice so deeply impressed the Caesars of Rome that it led to
the deification of their Caesars upon their death!
b) And then Domitian, who was reigning at that time, was the first to start
the deification of Caesars while they were living.
c) Emperor worship was more intense in Pergamum than any of the other
surrounding cities. The surrounding cities were required to worship the
emperor just one time a year, but in Pergamum every day you had to
worship the emperor.
d) It was here it is believed that the practice began of burning incense to the
Caesar in order to be able to buy and sell in the market. It was so
pervasive that one could not buy or sell, get fire or water, or acquire meat
without declaring Caesar was god. To refuse could mean death to the
believer.
5. It appears this is what probably happened to Antipas who is referred to in v13
as God’s faithful witness who was killed there.
a) Tradition says Antipas was supposedly roasted alive in a hollow life-size
bull, which had a bonfire under its belly, because he refused to renounce
his faith in Christ Jesus.
D. This is the kind of external pressure that this church of believers lived under day
in and day out; and Jesus said they held fast to His name and did not deny the
faith even in the face of death!
• Since Satan could not get this church to go down from the outside pressure he
switched his schemes to
III. Inward pressure upon the church
A. Jesus is going to use the story of Balaam who could not put a curse upon Israel
from the outside, so he instructed Balak to put a stumbling block on Israel from
the inside by getting them involved in idol worship and immorality. Read v14
B. Now in verse 15 he says that in the “same way” the Nicolaitans are doing the
same, causing the church to stumble from the inside by getting them involved in
the local pagan culture of idolatry and immorality. Read v15
C. The Nicolaitans were believed to be characterized by two things:
1. First, synchronism – they felt that separation from pagan occult practices was
not essential. So they mixed together different belief systems and practiced
them as one!
2. False freedom - they were guilty of turning God’s liberty into license.
Reckless grace – they insinuated that freedom in Christ granted them a blank
check to sin.
3. So as a result of their beliefs and practices they were mixing in idol worship
with worship of the true God and the permission for immoral living which
often accompanied their idol worship.
4. They were people who compromised with both the pagan religions and
ungodly culture around them!
D. Note that it says “some” in v15. The great majority of this church was faithful to
Jesus in the midst of external and internal pressure to conform to this ungodly and
immoral culture.
1. But there were some who were holding onto the teachings of these
Nicolaitans.
E. It appears that the problem with this church is that they welcomed them into their
church where they could influence other believers and now that they were there
they were not dealing with them. Jesus called the church to repent, wake up to
what is going on in your church and deal with this internal cancer or I will come
myself and deal with it! Read v16
F. And in v17 he states the reward that is theirs if they do deal with it!
1. It appears that the hidden manna refers to Christ as the bread of heaven to
nourish and strengthen their souls in the midst of this tough days
2. The white stone with a new name written on it refers to the future kingdom
when Jesus will give them a name that is reflective of their unique character
• So
IV. What does this letter have to say to us?
A. We live in a time:
1. A time when our culture is very ungodly and immoral! Yes, under the
influence of Satan as he is called “the god of this world.”
a) There are all kinds of false religions, cults and eastern religions right
here on our doorsteps.
b) And as Ben Carson says “we’ve distorted things to the point where
people believe that anyone who opposes mothers killing their babies is
waging war on women. How can we be so foolish to believe such a
thing? One must be able to recognize the depravity to which we have
sunken as a society when valuing a baby’s life is frowned upon!”
(1) And there are few states that buy into this deeper than the one we
live in.
2. A time where even in the church some who mix together biblical Christianity
with new age beliefs and practices and even some with ideas from eastern
religions.
3. A time where many Christians think it is no big deal to be involved in
premarital sex or live together – I mean “everybody is doing it aren’t they –
what is the big deal?
a) They are right – in our culture and through fleshly eyes it is no big deal!
b) But in God’s eyes sin, any sin, was a big enough deal to send his own
son to a bloody and torturous cross. A big enough deal for someone to
spend an eternity in the lake of fire.
c) It is true – as high as the heavens are above the earth so are God’s
thoughts above ours!
4. A time where many churches are buying into, accepting and even promoting
some of the immoral sexual practices of our culture. Where other churches
say to churches like MVC that “we are unloving and un-Christ-like if we do
not agree with and accept the life style of the LGBTQ community!”
a) Like Jesus said to Ephesus we must be a church that holds to the tension
of love and truth without sacrificing either one!
5. Need I say more? – We live in a time that is much like the time when the
church in Pergamum lived! The only difference is that at this time we are not
under the pressure and persecution that they were for not submitting to the
ways of the pagan culture.
6. I think we are more deceived into compromise than pressured into it!
B. Satan is the god of this world!
1. The world has its own program/system. This system has its own ways,
pattern or mold, basic principles, standards, philosophy, wisdom, viewpoint
and loves.
2. It is a system which is programmed to constantly put pressure on people to
squeeze them into its mold.
3. Satan is the personal agent behind our external enemy called the world which
has all the goodies that attract our internal enemy our flesh!
C. In closing I want to ask you the questions I saw in an article I read:
1. Can you think of any area of your life where you have allowed yourself to be
compromised by the world? If so, can you see where that compromise has
hindered the power of God from operating in your life?
D. Pray

Truth and Love

Ephesus Church: Truth and Love
Rev 2:1-7 June 16, 2019
I. Introduction:
A. Marriage Monday for Men -
B. I have always been challenged by this statement by John Stott “Truth without love
is too hard and love without truth is too soft."
1. It has been a constant check on my own heart to make sure my
communication of truth is tempered with love and my love has backbone
with truth!
2. We will see today in Jesus’ letter to the Ephesians Church that His heart is for
both truth and love and not one at the expense of the other!
C. As we move into the section of the book of Revelation that contains Jesus’ letters
to the seven churches in Asia, we will learn what Jesus is most concerned about
with church life!
1. The truth is that not everything that goes on in the church is of equal
importance, and you and I may differ on what we think is important but we
will find out in these letter exactly what is important to Jesus.
D. Now listen to how Jesus begins His letter to the Church in Ephesus.
1. Read 2:1
2. We learned in 1:20 that:
a) Stars = the angels of the church = messengers = most likely human
messengers, today we would call them the pastors of the church,
especially teaching pastors
b) The lampstands are the churches themselves and give us an indication of
the churches purpose to be God’s light in this dark world!
3. The fact that He holds the messengers in His right hand indicates that He has
a firm grip on these pastors by His power and authority.
4. The fact that He walks among the lampstand, the church, indicates that His
presence and activity are right there in the church.
• So bottom line Jesus’ presence and power are in operation in His church. Both the
Ephesus Church and MVC!
II. The Church in Ephesus
A. The Church at Ephesus which at the time of Revelation was in existence for just
over 40 years
1. Ephesus was the largest city in Asia Minor and had temples there both for the
Imperial Cult of Rome and the Greek goddess Artemis.
2. In Acts, we learn from Paul’s ministry of the word in Ephesus for two years
that the gospel spread throughout all of Asia Minor.
3. God’s word was growing mightily and prevailing to the point that believers
were turning from pagan religions, burning their old religious books and
turning from idol worship to such a degree it impacted the business of the
silversmiths, which brought about a big disturbance from an angry mob!
4. So the ongoing threat of persecution was always a reality for this church!
B. And false teaching and false doctrine were real threats to them
1. In Acts Paul warned the Ephesian elders to be on guard for themselves and
all the flock because there would be negative influences and false teaching
coming from both outside and inside the church.
2. In 1 Timothy, we learn Paul left Timothy in Ephesus so that he might instruct
certain men not to teach strange things.
C. Now listen to how Jesus commends/praises this church.
1. Read v2-3
2. They did many things for Jesus’ sake (deeds v2) For Jesus’ sake they have
worked hard and persevered under these pressures and have not tolerated evil
immoral men or false teaching. In none of this have they grown weary but
they keep on whole-heartedly serving Jesus.
3. This sounds a lot like MVC – For nearly 75 years now MVC has done many
things for Jesus, worked hard, persevered, disciplined immoral members and
proclaimed God’s Word!
4. Side Bar – In the midst of false teachers from within and without for 40 some
years they have stayed faithful to God’s truth! Truth is important and
essential to Jesus and His Church
a) I believe they were faithful here because of the instructions that Paul
gave to their pastor, Timothy. By practicing these, they were able to
remain faithful to God’s truth!
(1) 2 Tim 2:2 a strong discipleship movement
(a) Finding faithful men and women who are able to teach
others and entrusting God’s truth to them. Then
commissioning them to do that with others. Simply going
deep with a few and multiplying from there.
(b) That should be an encouragement to MVC as that is exactly
what we are seeking to do
(2) 2 Tim 4:1-4. A strong preaching ministry. One that is not driven
by the desires of the people but by the word of God truthfully and
practically taught in such a way as to instruct and encourage as
well as convict of sin and warn of the consequences of such a life.
b) MVC must focus on these two means for the next 75 years if we want to
see God’s truth, to be at the center of MVC ministry! Something that
Jesus considers not just important but essential!
D. So they had many good things going on in this church but listen to one big
concern that Jesus had for them.
1. Read v4
2. Their love! It does not say whether that is love for one another or for God. I
think God left it that way because it applies to both!
3. John in 1 John 4:20 says “… the one who does not love his brother, whom he
has seen, cannot love God whom he has not seen. Our love for God and
each other are intimately tied together!
4. Love for each other can easily be overlooked when we get so involved in
doing so many good things for the Lord.
a) I have seen many people so busy serving that they are getting angry with
everyone else because they are not helping or doing as much as they are.
(1) Then the temptation of every person involved in ministry is to use
people to build our ministries rather than using our ministries to
build people.
(2) Often people become interruptions to our ministries rather than
interrupting our ministries to serve people
b) I have seen too many theologically minded people who will ram people
over because they disagree with them about Bible interpretations.
(1) They have a sharp theological mind but it is totally divorced from
relational love for people.
(2) Other Christians who disagree with them have become the enemy!
5. Our love for God can be totally left behind as we fall in love with the
ministry, keeping busy with God’s work, loving the significance and
affirmation we can gain from doing something to help someone else.
a) Read 2 Corinthians 11:2-3
b) Have you lost the simple and pure devotion to Jesus?
c) We can love the Bible and the truths that help us live better without
loving God
d) We can love ministry without loving God
(1) We can fall in love with the mission and vision, the strategy and
goals, and the work with them becoming realities and loving that
more than Jesus.
(2) Like a good pastor friend of mine that was confronted by his wife
for having an affair with the ministry and leaving her behind.
e) It is no different from the husband and wife that are busy keeping the
house up, going to all the events on their calendars, caring for the kids
and love doing it but the reality is that their love for one another has lost
its fire. It is not that they do not like each other but rather they have lost
the fire and passion for each other, which should be at the heart of
everything they do!
E. There is a tension that the Bible teaches and Jesus is calling his church to –
remember, "truth without love is too hard and love without truth is too soft but
truth and love in tension is just right.”
1. Generationally that older generation falls a bit heavy on the truth side and the
younger generation falls a bit heavy on the love side.
2. Listen to Beth Moore’s strong words to the younger generation at the Passion
Conference Video Link
3. MVC will rise or fall based upon whether we will sacrifice one for the other!
May God give both the younger and older generations the courage to live the
tension of both truth and love!
F. Next Jesus tells them what they must do to correct this. Read 5a-c
1. Remember – regain their bearing of what it is supposed to be like by
remembering when they first began this journey being in love with Jesus and
ministering out of love for Him.
2. Repent – Be so convicted in your heart and mind of this sin that you are
broken to your core so that the direction of your ministry turns around!
3. Do - the things you did at first when you were deeply in love with Jesus and
people!
G. If we do not the consequences are big
1. Read 5d-e
2. The effectiveness of MVC as a lighthouse for Jesus will go out.
3. Either we will end up eventually closing the door and selling the building to
Home Depot or we will be a church that continues with business as usual but
with no eternal value or effectiveness.
H. But on the other hand if MVC has the wisdom and courage to be a church that
holds the tension of truth and love for years to come listen to the reward!
1. Read v7.
2. The privilege to eat of the tree of life in the future eternal kingdom of God!
I. Pray

OVERCOME

Dave Parro continues in our summer series, "Overcome".

Student Sunday

Celebrating our High School Grads and hearing from our Family Pastor, Mike Locke.

Revelation

OVERCOMERS: Revelation in One Sermon
Rev 1:1-22:21 May 26, 2019
I. Introduction:
A. Today I have a large assignment – Preach from a PANORAMIC view the
WHOLE book of Revelation in ONE MESSAGE.
B. To do this you need to know where I am COMING FROM and WHY. There
are PRIMARY 4 WAYS people interpret the book of Revelation.
1. Preterist - Revelation is like an ANCIENT NEWSPAPER.
Events already fulfilled in the first century AD.
2. Idealist - see Revelation as a non-historical and non-prophetic allegorical
DRAMA about the struggle between the kingdom of God and the powers of
evil.
3. Historic
a) Revelation is like a HISTORY TEXTBOOK understanding the events in
Revelation as symbolic descriptions of historical events throughout
CHURCH history.
b) Spiritualize the Covenant Promises to be fulfilled by Church.
4. Futurist
a) Revelation is like a ROAD MAP that describes the end of time and the
years leading immediately to the end, things yet to occur.
b) Take Covenant Promises Literally to be fulfilled by Israel
c) Church Participates in Promises through the seed of Abraham and David
– Jesus Christ.
C. I PERSONALLY HOLD the 4th view Futurist, which some call
DISPENSATIONAL. This is the same view MVC has held for over the last 60
years and the same view that MOODY BIBLE INSTITUTE teaches. Let me
give you just 3 REASONS WHY I interpret the book this way.
1. 1st as I said last week the ROOTS of all prophecy are found in the Covenant
promises that God made to Israel. And since the covenant promises and
many prophecies have ALREADY BEGUN to be FULFILLED
LITERALLY it is reasonable to EXPECT THE REST of them to be
FULFILLED LITERALLY.
2. 2ndly Because of Israel DISOBEDIENCE and REJECTION of Jesus as
Messiah – many say that the Church now REPLACES Israel as the New
Israel and thus SPIRITUALIZE many prophecies as being symbolically
fulfilled by the Church. They believe that ISRAEL FORFEITED their right
to these promises.
a) Not only does Romans 11 indicate that God has a FUTURE PLAN for
Israel but Listen to what God says about this in Ezek 36 right before He
talks about GATHERING Israel from the nationS and BRINGING
THEM BACK into their own land in the FUTURE!
(1) at a TIME WHEN:
(a) The land will be FRUITFUL and BLESSED
(b) it will be like the GARDEN OF EDEN again
(c) a time when it will be FORTIFIED, and at PEACE
b) As I read note that God does not ACT or REFRAIN from acting
DEPENDING upon Israel’s good or bad PERFORMANCE but to
VINDICATE THE HOLINESS of His great NAME.
(1) Read Ezek 36:22-24
(2) Then he talks about the NEW COVENANT of forgiveness and a
new Heart with the Holy Spirit inside of it
(3) Read V28 – My friends this is EXACTLY what we see happening
in the book of REVELATION after JESUS RETURNS
3. Finally The CHARACTER of God – His HESED = His FAITHFULNESS
to keep His Covenants and GRACE. – If God could TURN HIS BACK on
Israel when He made COVENANT PROMISES to Israel and BREAK HIS
PROMISES with them what KEEPS HIM FROM DOING THAT to the
Church today.
a) I will tell you what KEEPS Him from not BREAKING HIS PROMISES
with ISRAEL or the CHURCH – it is His FAITHFULNESS and
GRACE. His HESED – His OWN LOVE to FULFILL His covenant
Promises
• So now let’s jump into
II. The Book of Revelation in One Message
A. The Basic OUTLINE of the Book is simple: Read Rev 1:19
1. Things Have SEEN – Ch 1 (VISION of the Glory of Jesus)
2. Things That ARE – Ch 2-3 (7 CHURCHES)
3. Things Which WILL TAKE PLACE AFTER These Things – Ch 4-22
a) TRIBULATION 6-18
b) RETURN of Jesus in Glory 19
c) KINGDOM of God 20-22
B. We learned last week:
1. Theme – The RETURN of Jesus Christ in GLORY as Judge and King to
destroy EVIL and set up His KINGDOM
2. Purpose – To encourage the 7 Churches to persevere in HOLINESS,
ALLEGIANCE to and WORSHIP of Jesus.
C. Let me show you HOW I came up with those, let’s start with the THEME!
1. We saw in verse 1 the book STARTS with these words “The Revelation of
Jesus Christ” – we saw the book is PRIMARILY ABOUT Jesus.
2. Now look at v7 where his FIRST WORDS after he finishes his
INTRODUCTORY words! Read
a) Now look at the END of the book as he COMPLETES THE HEART of
the book and TRANSITIONS to his closing words! Read 22:7
b) The HEART OF THIS BOOK is about Jesus COMING BACK, the
RETURN of Jesus Christ.
3. Now turn to 11:17-18 it reveals to us the heart of WHY HE IS COMING
BACK. As he starts with the WORSHIP of the 24 elders then moves to the
RESPONSE of the nations. Read
4. Thus the THEME of this book –The RETURN of Jesus Christ in GLORY
as Judge and King to destroy EVIL and set up His KINGDOM
D. PURPOSE – To ENCOURAGE the 7 Churches to PERSEVERE in Holiness,
Allegiance to and Worship of Jesus.
1. Read 1:3 Heed
2. We must REMEMBER the book was WRITTEN TO the 7 Church who
currently were experiencing external persecution from Rome and internal
struggles of apostasy and immoral behavior
3. Letters to the 7 Churches
a) The letters to each Church are STRUCTURED basically the SAME –
Essentially it is
(1) VISION of Jesus in His glory
(2) COMPLIMENTS about what they are doing well
(3) CRITICISM of where they are coming up short
(4) EXHORTATION to do something or a WARNING
(5) PROMISE to OVERCOMERS
4. Note that each one of these PROMISES has something to do with a
REWARD in the future KINGDOM!
a) V2:7 – Eat of the TREE OF LIFE in Paradise
b) V2:11 – Will not be HURT by the SECOND DEATH
c) Cr 21:7 – This is DURING the time of the FUTURE KINGDOM of
God
5. This is important because God is encouraging CHURCHES to
PERSEVERE and live HOLY LIVES with full ALLEGIANCE to God
because it is WORTH it, the eternal REWARD FAR OUTWEIGHS the
current STRUGGLE and pain.
6. PAUL would have said it this way Read 2 Cor 4:17-18
E. Then we move to the 3rd section of the book and the LARGEST section – “the
things that TAKE PLACE AFTER these things.” Read 4:1
1. In Chapter 4 we get a vision of the THRONE Room and the one who SITS
ON it followed by WORSHIP of Him.
a) Read v2
b) PURPOSE of this is to REMIND them who is on the THRONE or
simply who is RULING and in CHARGE of these MESSY things going
on earth!
2. Then Chapter 5 we get a vision of Jesus as the one who is WORTHY TO
OPEN the scroll and WORSHIP of Him and the Father.
a) Read v1-5
b) PURPOSE is to show that Jesus is the ONLY ONE WORTHY to bring
about the JUDGEMENT upon the earth that is about to take place.
3. We have MODELED for us from this section and the 7 interludes of
WORSHIP that take place in chapters 6-19 during the severe judgment
upon the world that the proper and natural and HEAVENLY RESPONSE
to Jesus as Judge and King is WORSHIP!
4. And they are there to REMIND us that Jesus is the BACKDROP by which
we should READ ALL OF THESE EVENTS. Reminder it is about Jesus
PRIMARILY and the events SECONDARILY!
F. Then in Chapter 6 the JUDGMENTS BEGIN as Jesus BREAKS the first SEAL
of the scroll. Read v1
1. What we are going to see in Chapter 6-19 are a series of JUDGMENTS.
2. But there are BREAKS IN THE CHRONOLOGY of these judgments by
INTERLUDES that are like side bars that explain a bit more to us what is
going on like
a) Key CHARACTERS and INSTITUTIONS,
b) And 7 interludes of WORSHIP that show us the PROPER RESPONSE
of Heaven and God’s people to these times
c) and then finally we see the RESPONSES OF MAN on earth at the
time of these judgments!
G. So the 1st series of JUDGMENTS are the seven SEALS – These judgments are:
1. Seals:
a) First Seal: White Horse—Conqueror by AntiChrist
b) Second Seal: Red Horse —War
c) Third Seal: Black Horse—Famine
d) Fourth Seal: Pale Horse—Death 1/4th of the Earth
e) Fifth Seal: Martyrs under the altar
f) Sixth Seal: Earthquake, signs in the Heavens
2. Listen to the RESPONSE OF MANKIND to this – read 6:15-17
3. Note the Last Phrase in v17 “WHO WILL STAND?”
Chapter 7 is an interlude in the action that answers that for us telling us
about the 144,000 JEWS who will be SEALED and the great MULTITUDE
from every nation that will be SAVED!
4. Then the multitude breaks into WORSHIP declaring that SALVATION
belongs to God.
H. At the start of Chapter 8 the 7TH SEAL was BROKEN which INTRODUCED the
7 TRUMPETS and their was complete silence in heaven for ½ hour.
1. Trumpets:
a) First Trumpet – Hail, fire, blood
b) Second Trumpet – Fiery mountain in sea, 1/3 of sea becomes blood
c) Third Trumpet –Star falls, 1/3 of rivers Bitter
d) Fourth Trumpet – 1/3 of sun, 1/3 moon, 1/3 stars turn dark
e) Fifth Trumpet—Demon locust from the Abyss to torment mankind
f) Sixth Trumpet—200 million man army kills 1/3rd of mankind
2. Again note MAN’S RESPONSE to all of this read 9:20-21
3. Then in Ch 10-11 we see another INTERLUDE about
a) Ch 10 - a LITTLE BOOK that had 7 PEALS OF THUNDER in them
but the content of these were SEALED and John was not to write about
them
b) Then the 2 WITNESSES in Ch 11 who for 3 ½ years will PROPHECY
for God, be KILLED by the beast and then RAISED again to life and
CAUGHT up into heaven. Read v13
4. Then the 7TH TRUMPET Sounds and Christ’s REIGN right here on
EARTH is foreseen. Listen to 11:15-19.
I. Then in Chapters 12-14 there is another interlude to explain who some of the
main characters are in this tribulation and what their roles are! We learn here
about:
1. The WOMAN – Israel
2. The Red DRAGON – Satan
3. The MALE CHILD – Christ
4. Michael and his angels WAR with Satan and his angels.
5. The BEAST from the SEA – AntiChrist
6. The BEAST from the EARTH – False Prophet
7. The GREAT REAPER – Jesus
J. Then in Chapters 15-16 we move into the FINAL JUDGMENTS the seven
Plagues/Bowls. Read v1
1. Then in v3 we see WORSHIP again where they declare just how GREAT,
MARVELOUS, RIGHTEOUS and TRUE are His judgments
2. The Bowls of WRATH
a) 1st Bowl Painful SORES
b) 2nd Bowl Turns sea into BLOOD
c) 3rd Bowl rivers and springs - BLOOD
d) 4th Bowl—Sun SCORCHES people
e) 5th Bowl—Plunges kingdom of the beast into DARKNESS
f) 6th Bowl—DRIES UP the Euphrates for Battle of Armageddon
g) 7th Bowl—Judgment against BABYLON
3. Note MAN’S RESPONSES to these judgments. Read: 16:9, 11, 21
K. Then in Chapters 17-18 we see the judgment of the Babylon the GREAT
HARLOT her RELIGIOUS and POLITICAL systems during the Tribulation
along with CITY itself and its great COMMERCE!
1. And note the RESPONSE OF MANKIND to this – Read 18:17-19
2. But the SAINTS are actually called to REJOICE over this, listen – v20
L. Then we start Chapter 19 with a great MULTITUDE WORSHIPPING God
1. Read v1-2
2. Then we see the MARRIAGE FEAST of the Lamb with His bride, the
Church
3. Then the Lord appearing as a WARRIOR for His FINAL ACT of judgment
as He RETURNS with the saints and the angels to DEFEAT the anti-Christ
and all his allies who have gathered together for WAR AGAINST the
Lamb.
M. Then finally we move into the KINGDOM of God in TWO FORMS
1. 1st in Chapter 20 – 1000 YEARS here on earth while Satan is BOUND then
at the end of that time he is RELEASED and he deceives the nations into one
more LARGE WAR against the Saints and he is DEFEATED and thrown
into the LAKE OF FIRE where the ANTI-CHRIST and the FALSE
PROPHET already are.
a) This is followed by the GREAT WHITE THRONE Judgment where
everyone whose name was not written in the BOOK OF LIFE will be
thrown into the LAKE OF FIRE
2. In Ch 21-22 we see the ETERNAL ASPECT of the Kingdom of God as a
NEW Heaven and earth is created and God DWELLS right here on this new
earth WITH His people.
a) Read 21:3-4, 7
b) Read 22:1-5
3. This is the CONCLUSION of God’s STORY and the FULFILLMENT of all
His PROMISES!
4. These 2 aspects of the Kingdom are ESSENTIAL because it will REQUIRE
BOTH a 1000 year earthly kingdom and an eternal Kingdom with a new
heaven and earth to FULFILL all the promises and prophecies made by the
PROPHETS in the Old Testament and the promises in the New!
N. And in the final section we see Jesus again PROCLAIMING that He is
COMING Quickly and that His REWARD is with Him.
1. The CRY and PRAYER of the Church, the Spirit and John who wrote this
book was “COME”
2. And the INVITATION to those who are thirsty is “COME”
3. And all of this was written for them, for the Church for you and me who live
in a CULTURE THAT IS NOT FAVORABLE towards Christianity,
(Rome/United States) to persevere in HOLINESS, ALLEGIANCE to and
WORSHIP of Jesus because Jesus Christ is RETURNING in GLORY as
Judge and King to destroy EVIL and set up His KINGDOM
O. PRAY

Overcome

Introduction to Book of Revelation
Revelation 1:1-4 May 19, 2019
I. Introduction:
A. When I think that I am starting a series this morning on the book of Revelation
there are two polar opposite thoughts in my mind:
1. First, the excitement of learning together each week from this very amazing
and important book
2. Secondly, is terror thinking “Am I nuts thinking I can preach through this
very amazing and important book”
B. Let’s jump right in as this week I want to introduce you to the book, then next
week I want to preach through the whole book in one message.
• Turn to Rev 1:1 – the last book of the Bible.
II. Introduction to Book
A. Read 1:1a- Note this is not the book of Revelations but the Revelation! That
means to properly understand this book we need to look at the book as one whole
revelation rather than a series of different revelations throughout the book.
1. Read 1:1a-b – The revelation is concerning Jesus Christ.
2. Now listen to 1c.
3. To get our heads on straight about this book we need to understand right from
the beginning that the book is foremost about Jesus and the future events
reveal something to us about Jesus. This will become even clearer as we see
the book as a whole next week.
4. But so many people miss God’s intended purpose of this book because they
are so intrigued by the end time prophecies that they miss that these
prophecies are revealing something to us about Jesus!
B. We see in this verse that God gave this Revelation to Jesus, who gave it to an
angel, who gave it to John to show God’s bondservants! Read 1b and d.
C. In v2, we see what John will be doing in this book. Read v 2
1. Testified – That means that a person with direct knowledge of something
provides information about what they know, heard and saw!
2. He is going to provide for us two things he has direct knowledge of:
a) The Word of God – He is not referring to the Bible here but the idea of a
prophetic utterance from God just like it is used in the Old Testament
when God spoke inspired utterances to prophets.
b) Secondly, the testimony of Jesus – this is the content about what he
learned about Jesus through the things that the angel showed him.
3. This reinforces again that this book is primarily about the revelation of Jesus
not the end time events. Actually, the end time events reveal Jesus to us and
it may be said that at the heart of all prophecies, they point to Jesus; they are
teaching us something about Jesus!
a) Read Rev 19:10d
b) Robert Deffinbaugh says this – Christ is preeminent in prophecy. Things
to come are incidental because all of those things which are to come
occur at the power, the authority and the dispatch of Jesus Christ
Himself!
1. Some are going to be troubled by what they learn about Jesus in this book.
a) If you like the picture of Jesus we get in the gospels, a true picture of
Jesus as the sacrificial lamb, the one who is closer to us than a brother,
the one whom I can put my head on his shoulder at the beach as we listen
to Christian music together about God’s love for me, you might be a bit
trouble by the revelation of Jesus in this book
b) The same John who put his head on Jesus’ chest at the last supper is the
same one who wrote this book and this time when he saw Jesus in His
glory he fell at His feet like a dead man.
c) In this book, we will see Jesus as a judge pouring out His wrath upon all
of mankind who has rejected Him. We will see Him as a warrior who
sheds a lot of blood, we will see Him as a king who rules the nations
with a rod of iron and we will see Him as our shepherd who protects,
blesses and rewards His followers!
B. Look at the blessing that is promised to us as we go through this book. Read v3.
1. The key to the blessing is not just reading or hearing this book but heeding it,
keeping what it teaches us.
2. So that raised a question for me – what is there to heed in this book, as it just
seemed to be a book about a lot of information about Jesus and end times.
C. Actually, the next verse gives us some insight into this question. Read v4a,11
1. This book was written to the seven churches in Asia. Note the whole book
was written to them not just chapters 2 & 3.
2. When we learn a bit more about these churches, we will understand a bit
more of what we are to heed and why this book was written.
3. This book was written approximately in 95-96AD during the reign of the
Roman emperor Domitian.
4. His reign was chiefly known as a reign of terror
a) It is alleged that he insisted on his own divinity, demanded worship of
himself and persecuted Christians who did not participate in the imperial
religion.
5. And while they were suffering persecution from the outside, they were
struggling on the inside with their own purity and loyalty to Jesus.
D. So when you put all of this together this is my stated theme and purpose of the
book:
1. Theme – The return of Jesus Christ in glory as judge and king to destroy evil
and set up His kingdom
2. Purpose – To encourage the seven churches to persevere in holiness,
allegiance to and worship of Jesus.
3. Thus, the “heeding” in this book is made up of the exhortations to the seven
churches and visions and interludes of worship throughout the book.
4. Again, we will see this a bit clearer next week in one message of the whole
book at once.
• There are
II. Two other key purposes for the book of Revelation!
A. The consummation of all the Biblical prophecies are found in the book of
Revelation.
1. Apart from the book of Revelation, we find no complete prophetic
fulfillment.
a) Listen to 10:7
b) Read 1 Peter 1:10-11 – The two major categories of prophecies can be
broken down into prophecies about Jesus’ suffering or prophecies about
Jesus’ glory!
(1) The book of Revelation is prophecies about His glory!
(2) In His first coming, He fulfilled the prophecies about His
sufferings.
c) Turn to Acts 3:
(1) Read 17-19 – suffering prophecies fulfilled - first coming
(2) Read 20-21 – When Jesus returns He will fulfill the prophecies
about the restoration of all things. Thus the book of Revelation
2. The major categories of prophecies are found in the covenants that God made
with Israel, the particular prophecies in the Old Testament find their roots in
these covenant promises. We learn in Revelation about the fulfilment of
these covenant promises. We see from:
a) Abraham – a land forever, God being their God forever
b) Deuteronomy – restoration to the land, Israel’s enemies being judged and
the nation receiving full blessings
c) David – a forever king, reigning forever over a forever kingdom
d) New Covenant – Israel being saved and abiding blessings in the land.
B. And that leads us to the other key purpose of the book of Revelation and that is
the consummation of the story of the Bible. We learn the end of the story that
God restores to man what was lost at the fall and much more! Without the book of
Revelation, the Bible would be incomplete.
1. In the beginning of the story we see in Gen 1-2 that …
a) God created the heavens and the earth – a perfect and fruitful
environment
b) God created man with a body perfectly suited for this earth
c) God created man with a soul perfectly suited for a relationship with God,
self and others.
d) God created man with a spirit that was alive to and walked with God.
e) God ruled as king over man
f) Man was a loving subject of God’s kingdom
g) God gave man the responsibility to reign over His creation.
2. But something happened in Genesis 3 that changed everything; Satan, God’s
#1 enemy, who rebelled against God, was seeking to get man to rebel against
God’s rule over them as his king. He succeeded by deceiving man to drink
the poison – sin which left deep consequences upon himself and the earth.
a) The earth was cursed and subjected to futility resulting in it not being as
fruitful as God intended.
b) Man’s perfect body was subjected to death and all the sickness and
diseases that come with it.
c) Every area of man’s soul was affected, it became depraved.
d) Man’s spirit, the source of life with God died. Life with God was cut
off.
e) Satan became the god of this world
f) Man’s membership was transferred from the kingdom of God to the
kingdom of Satan
g) Man’s reign over God’s creation was perverted.
3. From Genesis 3 on we read about:
a) Both man and the earth being under a curse and our relationship with
ourselves, others and God has been deeply affected!
b) But we also read a story about the fulfillment of a promise that God
made that He would send a ‘seed’ someone born of a woman who would
totally crush Satan and deliver man from the mess that sin created in his
life!
4. For many thousands of years this condition and conflict continues until we
come to Revelation 19 & 20 where God finally, fully and forever deals with
sin and Satan.
5. Then we come to Revelation 21-22, where once again sin and Satan have no
part just like Genesis 1-2. The curse upon man and the earth will be totally
removed forever. And we find:
a) A new heaven and a new earth, this is a perfect and fruitful environment
for God’s eternal purposes. Read Revelation 21:1
b) We will have resurrected bodies that are perfectly suited to live on this
eternal earth.
c) With sin removed, we will live in perfect fellowship and harmony with
God, self and one another. Read 21:3
d) Man shall live with God forever Read 21:4b
e) God will be king forever with His throne right here on earth among His
people. Read 22:1,3
f) The only people there will be members of God’s kingdom. Read 21:27
g) Man will be reigning with God forever and ever. Read Revelation 22:5
C. The story of the Bible is God glorifying Himself through Jesus the Redeemer by
restoring His original plan for man and the earth by reversing the effects of sin
and the curse upon them and God Himself reigning forever as King.
III. Conclusion
A. In closing, I want to pray for us Titus 2:11-13. Read.
1. May God give MVC a heart to focus on Jesus and not trying to solve the end
times puzzle of who’s who and when will it happen!

Mother's Day

Happy Mother's Day! We were blessed to hear from our Director Of Women's Ministry, Ava Perry.

Here, There, Everywhere

Pastor Gary Olson

Prayer Review

Prayer Review
Passages April 28, 2019
I. Introduction:
A. E. M. Bounds in his book “The Power of Prayer” says this, “The Church is
looking for better methods; God is looking for better men and women.” “What the
Church needs today is not more or better machinery, not new organizations or
more and fresh methods, but men and women whom the Holy Ghost can use –
men and women of prayer, mighty in prayer."
1. The power of prayer should not be underestimated. Listen to James 5:16-18
2. Over the past 3 months, MVC has taken prayer very seriously! We not only
preached about this on Sundays but we also studied and discussed it in small
groups and practiced it over 21 days!
• We started this series by
II. Review
A. Learning a foundational principle of prayer: God has established asking as the
means of receiving in His kingdom
1. Jesus said, “Ask and you shall receive.”
2. James 4 says, “You have not because you ask not!”
B. Then we learned in John 15 that our attitude in prayer should be humble desperate
dependence upon Jesus rather than a complacent self-sufficiency we saw in the
church in Revelation 3
1. One says, “I can do nothing apart from Jesus” The other says, “I have need of
nothing.”
2. One “God, I need You for this” The other says, “I can handle this”
C. Then we learned that the true motive in prayer is to bring glory to God
1. Remember this quote:
“Too often our prayers are intended to inform God of what we believe He
needs to do to structure the universe in compliance with our desires for a
happy and comfortable life. Because most of us have been taught that the
primary purpose of prayer is to ask God to meet our temporal needs, we
continue in this routine without the thought of something greater and more
powerful.” Daniel Henderson
D. Then we learned that to pray in Jesus’ name actually has three aspects to it.
1. Access to God through Jesus
2. Ambassador – ask what Jesus would ask
3. Authority – the legal right to ask for that with all of power of Jesus to back up
His name
E. Then we took two weeks to answer the question, “What should we pray about
other than God meet my needs and bless my family?”
1. We learned from the Lord’s Prayer that we should pray first and foremost for
God’s agenda (His glory, His kingdom and His will) along with our personal
and spiritual needs.
2. We learned from Paul’s prayers that he prayed kingdom focused prayers for
the spiritual needs of the church at large.
3. We learned from Timothy Keller’s research on revival that one of the
primary means God has used to bring about revival was corporate prayer for
kingdom centered needs. That is the kind of praying we learned from Jesus
and Paul
F. Then we learned that there is no simple answer to unanswered prayer and we need
to be careful about giving nickel answers to million dollar questions for people
who are struggling deeply with unanswered prayers
1. We learned sometimes it is a matter of not now
2. We also learned there could be a variety of different reasons why God would
say no. And they should be prayerfully considered when no answer is
received.
3. And sometimes the best answer is I do not know – as we learned from Job
that sometimes it is a mystery bigger than I am smart!
G. Then we saw one reason we should persistent in prayer is because God uses
prayer to change us as we pray. We saw at Jesus’ baptism that as He prayed Holy
Spirit came upon Him, at the transfiguration as He prayed He was transfigured
and in the garden as He prayed angels ministered to Him. All this happened as he
prayed!
H. Then finally we learned about the priority of God’s Word in prayer as we learned
the simple and life changing method of Martin Luther
1. Capture the heart of the text
2. Praise, thank, and worship God from the text
3. Admit/confess sin from the text
4. Petition/ask God to do for you in light of the text
I. The most important part of the series was when we sought to put into practice the
things we learned in 21 days of prayer
1. We learned in Hebrews 11:6 that God is a rewarder of those who seek Him
2. I was so moved to see a church full of over 100 people come out for 21 days
at 6:00am in the morning to seek God in an hour of prayer.
3. I not only heard of answers to prayer but of many people who said they were
changed as they prayed these three weeks!
II. Celebrate
III.Going Forward
A. An old preacher Samuel Chadwick said this, “The one concern of the Devil is to
keep Christians from praying. He fears nothing from prayerless work and
prayerless religion! He laughs at our toil, mocks at our wisdom, but trembles
when we pray!
B. MVC has no desire for prayerless work and wisdom. We want prayer to become
a part of the DNA of MVC and the people of MVC.

Palm Sunday

The Setting for Palm Sunday

Various Passages April 14, 2019
I. Introduction:
A. The setting for any story is a crucial element of the story.
1. Just think if you missed the first 15 minutes of the Wizard of Oz and all you
saw was the rest of the story without being introduced to key characters, the
tornado that knocked Dorothy out and not know why she was trying so hard
to get back to Kansas!
2. That setting helped us better understand the events, characters and the
conclusion to the story of the Wizard of Oz!
B. The setting is also important to the story of the triumphal entry of Jesus into
Jerusalem. It helps us get some context as to what was really going on, helps us
see the importance of that event, we learn more about Jesus from it, and finally
the theme of that event that we celebrate today on Palm Sunday.
C. My goal this morning is to show “what is the big deal” with this event that kicked
off …
1. The most important week in the history of this whole world which resulted in
the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.
2. And it kicked off a series of events that eventually led to Jesus’ departure
from this world, His ascension when He went back to heaven.
• To accomplish this goal let’s look at …
II. The setting to the Triumphal Entry
A. Turn to Luke 9:29-31.
1. This passage was the time that Jesus was transfigured on the mountain while
He was praying. It goes on to tell us that two men appeared at that time and
were talking with Jesus, those two men were Moses and Elijah.
2. Wouldn’t you have loved to be in on that conversation and listen to what they
were talking about?
3. Read 29-31.
4. They were talking about His departure, His departure from this world after
He died, rose and ascended to heaven. And it was going to take place in
Jerusalem.
5. I would say since that was their discussion during the transfiguration of Jesus
Christ then it would put that topic right at the top of importance list!
B. Look at Luke 9:51 and read
1. We see here that the days were approaching regarding His ascension which
He talked about with Moses and Elijah on the Mount of Transfiguration.
2. In light of that, Jesus was determined to go to Jerusalem. It literally means
He “set His face” to go to Jerusalem. That means Jesus had a strong, firm
and unchanging commitment to go to Jerusalem
C. Then in Chapters 13 and 17 it makes a point of telling us about Jesus teaching and
doing miracles while He was on his way to Jerusalem.
D. Turn to Luke 18:31-34 where Jesus told the twelve disciples why He was going to
Jerusalem. Read v31-34
E. Turn to Luke 19:11 as they now were getting real close to Jerusalem. And the
twelve disciples had a whole different idea as to why they thought they were
heading to Jerusalem.
1. Read 19:11
2. They thought it was time for the kingdom of God to appear
3. But in the next verse Jesus starts to tell them a parable that indicates He is
going to be going on a long trip, receive a kingdom, then return back again.
Read v12
4. No, that earthly kingdom of God is not going to start now but after a long
period of time when I return!
F. Look down at 19:28 where we see that they were so close that Jesus sends two of
His disciples ahead to get a donkey, actually a colt – a young male donkey, to
bring to Jesus.
1. Read v28-35
2. And now we are ready for the entry of Jesus into Jerusalem.
• So it is clear that this entry is important. But to understand why this is the
significance and Jesus had to do this we need to see
III. The setting behind the setting
A. We find this by looking at three key Old Testament passages that actually refer to
“this” event of Jesus coming into Jerusalem. And these will help us understand
why this is so important, exactly what was going on that day.
B. Turn to Psalm 118:22-26. This is what is known as Messianic Psalm – simply a
Psalm that speaks of the Messiah, the Christ, the coming Savior and King, not
only of Israel but of the whole world.
1. As I read watch for
a) The rejection of the Messiah, the stone, by the builders but God taking
that rejected stone and making it the chief corner stone for His building,
His church, His kingdom.
b) Also note that the psalmist calls upon Him to save them, and they give
their blessing upon this one, this corner stone who comes in the name of
the Lord
2. Read
3. Note in Acts 4 that Peter told the rulers and elders of Israel, their leaders,
their builders, that they had crucified Jesus the Christ whom God raised –
then he said this. Read Acts 4:11-12
4. So we learn in this passage that there is going to be a rejection by the leaders
of God’s Messiah, His Christ, His King and a praise of Him by the people!
C. Turn to Daniel 9:25-26
1. And it is important to realize this book was written 600 years before Jesus
came!
2. Here we see what I believe is the most amazing prophecy in Scripture where
God tells Israel the exact date the Messiah will come to them. I did a sermon
on this 16 years ago where I broke down the whole passage phrase by phrase
(April 13, 2003) – I am sure you all remember it. But if you forgot it will be
attached along with these notes on our church web page. Also CDs
available!
3. Actually from this verse if you do the calculations you will see the exact date
the Messiah, God’s anointed King will come to Israel.
a) When the calculations are done you will see the date is April 6, 32 AD –
the exact date of the Triumphal Entry we are looking at today in Luke
19. The day that Jesus officially presented Himself as the Messiah!
4. Then the next verse tells us what will happen after this date. Read v26
a) The Messiah will be cut off – the Hebrew word used to indicate a violent
death. – An obvious reference to the Cross of Christ
b) Then after this violent death the city of Jerusalem and the Temple will be
destroyed by enemies. –
(1) We know from history that the city of Jerusalem and the Temple
were destroyed in 70 AD by the Roman army under the leadership
of General Titus.
D. Final prep verses I want you to see is in Zechariah 9:9-10. A book that was
written 500 years before Jesus came! Read and point out
1. Their king was going to come to Jerusalem bringing salvation and riding on a
donkey, specifically a colt a young male donkey. v9
2. And note that He is coming to bring peace v10
a) He is going to cut off the chariot, horse and bow – all instruments of war.
b) He will speak peace to the nations
3. His reign will be over the entire world!
• Now let’s go back to Luke 19 and read the account with all this setting now in our
minds.
IV. Triumphal Entry
A. We already saw in the setting to this that Jesus was coming into Jerusalem and He
is going to be on the colt of a donkey, just like Zechariah 9 says and He is also
coming in on the exact date Daniel 9:25 told us that the Messiah would come to
Jerusalem. April 6, 32 AD
B. So let’s read this – Read Luke 19
1. Read 35-37a
2. Remember we learned in Psalm 118 that the people will praise him but the
leaders will reject Him.
a) Listen to 37b-39
b) They actually quoted the very words of Psalm 118 but changed it from
one who comes to the King who comes. Because of the miracles they
saw they knew He was the Messiah
c) The religious leaders told Jesus to stop the people from calling Him the
King. They rejected Jesus as the King.
3. Note Jesus’ response to what just happened as he was approaching Jerusalem.
Read
a) V41-42
(1) “This” day – this specific day – April 6 32 AD the date that Daniel
had told you about.
(2) This day with a proper response would have brought the peace that
v10 of Zechariah 9 spoke of, cut off war weapons and bring peace.
4. Now in the next few verses we see the enemies and destruction that Daniel
9:26 told us would happen after the Messiah came to Jerusalem and would be
violently killed. Read 43-44b.
5. The reason for all of this is found at the end of v44. Read 44c
a) They did not recognize that they just got a visit from God, from the
Messiah who would bring them peace and salvation.
b) Rather than accepting and worshipping the Messiah the leaders of the
nation rejected Him and actually sought to put Him to death – Read v47
a fulfillment of Daniel 9:26 the violent death of the Messiah.
C. Palm Sunday was the official presentation of God’s King to Israel, who came to
bring peace and salvation and while the people recognized who He was the
official leaders of the nation rejected Him.
• There are two possible responses to this major event in Jesus life. First….
V. Application
A. The religious leaders rejected Jesus because they did not recognize who Jesus was
or what was going on
1. Read v44.
2. Do you recognize that King Jesus is actually here at MVC this very morning?
You can’t see Him but the Bible teaches very clearly He is with us when we
gather in Jesus’ name
3. And do you recognize what is going on here today is you just heard clearly
who Jesus is as proven by this very special event, the Triumphal Entry? And
He is here today to bring you salvation and peace!
4. John 1:9-13
B. Is your response like the common people who recognized and praised Jesus as
their King?
1. Read v37c-38
2. Read v40 – If they did not praise Him the stones on the street would have
because this event was so big and important. This entry demands praise!!!!