The Church of Eleven22 - They Will Overcome: Testimony - Wk 1

Episode Date: January 14, 2024

There is power in testimony. God wants to take the gospel to the ends of the Earth through you by the blood of the lamb, the word of your testimony and loving not your life unto death. But first and foremost, He wants to take the gospel to you individually. - The Church of Eleven22™ is a movement for all people to discover and deepen a relationship with Jesus Christ. Eleven22 is led by Pastor Joby Martin and based in Jacksonville, Florida, with multiple campuses throughout Jacksonville and the surrounding areas. To find out more about how God is moving at Eleven22, go to coe22.com

Wow, amen, amen. What a testimony, amen. Hey, if you got your Bibles, then you better. Revelation chapter 12. Everybody nervous? That's where we're going to be. The book of Revelation chapter 12. If you don't have a Bible, there is a soft cover one right there in front of you. That is our gift to you. And it's the new year. So if you want your own Bible, go to Lost and Found. We have many leather-bound Bibles. Find one close to your name, and you just take that home with you, too. If you leave your sunglasses, you come back immediately. Your Bible, whatever.

Okay, so, Revelation Chapter 12, if you're brand new to Bible study, I would suggest you not begin in the book of Revelation, but I'm a professional. I can get us in and out of there. It's going to be awesome. It's in the back of the book, so if you just go, like, to the maps, go left a little bit, you're going to be in Revelation. Make your way to Revelation Chapter 12.

We're going to spend the next five weeks talking about testimony, doing a teaching series on testimony. Today we're going to talk about the power of a testimony. Next week I'm going to help you be able to write your, or tell your own testimony. Don't miss that. But testimony matters, man. It is important.

And what a testimony that is. That's Garrett. He's from our Jessup campus, and God is doing an amazing word up in Jessup. Praise God. And Garrett was here. He and a bunch of folks from our Jessup campus came down to the Promised Land on Thursday night.

And it's just cool to see what God is doing in us and through us. The word testimony, according to the day. dictionary just means a first-hand experience. The definition is a solemn declaration usually made orally by a witness under oath. Another definition is a firsthand authentication of a fact or evidence. And so if you know Jesus, you have a testimony and God is writing your story and your story matters. Now, one of the things I want to warn you about or caution you on moving into this series on testimony is please whatever you do, don't compare your testimony to anybody else's testimony.

Because how many of you watch that testimony? My brother's slinging drugs from a cell phone when he's 17 years old. And then you look at your own testimony and you're like, well, mine sucks. I went to VBS twice and here I am. Okay. Your testimony doesn't suck according to God. He said his only begotten son to redeem and rescue you. And he knew exactly what he was getting.

when he purchased you, amen? Listen, every parent in here wants that boring testimony for their babies, amen? We want God to save our babies from sex drugs and rock and roll when they're six without ever experiencing it, amen. So your testimony matters to God because it is God who saved you

and it is to him that we give the glory. Revelation chapter 12. I don't even know how to set it up. This is the first four chapters of the book of Revelation, pretty straightforward. John writes this, the Apostle John, he is on the Isle of Patmos. He gets a, he has a dream, or literally a revelation from Jesus, and Jesus has write this down.

By the way, from you real country folk, it's not revelations. There's not multiple of these. There's just one revelation in the book of Revelation. And Jesus says, write this down. He writes letters to seven churches, and then in chapter four, he gets caught up into the heavenlies, and he sees a picture of what ends. what was and what is to come. That's a part of what it'll help you understand

the book of Revelation. The key to reading the book of Revelation is don't ask what's next, just ask what John sees next. And so there's a whole bunch of stuff going on, man. And then in Revelation chapter 12, in the midst of this war, we're going to pick it up in verse 7.

The Bible says it is, now war arose in heaven. Michael, he's an archangel, and his angels fighting against the dragon, We're going to find out in the next verse that the dragon is the devil, and the dragon and his angels fought back. Here's something I just need you to know going into 2024. We are at war. And our war, our battle is not against flesh and blood.

Now we're in the second year of this two-year discipleship journey called the 10-10 life, and we've been studying this for a year now that we have an enemy, and he is a thief. That means he's trying to take something that's not his. and his M.O. is to kill and to steal and to destroy. And if you don't believe that, you just haven't lived life yet, right? That there are spiritual forces of darkness working against us. But what Revelation helps us understand is that there is this battle that's not just against flesh and blood, but there is this heavenly battle, this eternal battle that has been going on,

that Lucifer tried to take over what was not his. He wanted to somehow oust God off of his throne, and he wanted to try to sit in a place that he could not sit. This is this heavenly battle, and what started in heaven had spilled out into our planet right now. And since our enemy cannot take out our God, that he's going to try to take out what God loves most and what God loves most is his image bearers.

And so that's what's going on. the dragon and his angels, they fought back. But he, the dragon, the devil, was defeated, and there was no longer any place for them. That includes the angels that followed him, in heaven. And the great dragon was thrown down, the ancient serpent who was called the devil and Satan. John wants us to know who he's talking about here.

So he's talking about the same entity, and he uses four different phrases or names. He calls him the great dragon, because in the book of Revelation, this is how he shows up, as a great dragon, a red dragon. And it refers to him as the ancient serpent. We would know this version of the enemy from all the way back in Genesis chapter 3.

When God, out of an overflow of God's love for God's self, creates Adam and Eve image bears, and they are in a perfect face-to-face relationship with God and with one another, and the Bible says they were naked and unashamed, And as a 50-year-old, that sounds miraculous to me right now, okay? And everything's going fine. And then the enemy, this great dragon, this ancient serpent,

he slithers his way up there, and he begins to deceive in the garden. You see, here's something you need to pay attention to. Everything God creates, the enemy tries to corrupt. God creates, the enemy corrupts. And the enemy slithers up there, and he begins with this. Did God really say, you see, God's not into rules, he's into relationships. You don't believe it. Read his original intent in creation.

He's given all of these commands and all of them were positive. Be fruitful and multiply. So do and cultivate. He says, I've given you all the plants to eat. Enjoy, eat up. Don't even get fat. You're going to be awesome. There's one thing I don't want you to do because if you do this one thing,

it'll cost you your life. And then the enemy slithers up there. in the ultimate form of FOMO says, does God really say, don't eat of that one tree? That's the ancient serpent he's talking about. He also calls him the devil. The devil is the Greek term for this enemy.

He also calls him Satan. Satan is the Hebrew term for this enemy. So John wants us to make sure that we know who he's talking about. By the way, the Greek word Diablo is for, it means adversary. Satan or Satan, the Hebrew word, accuser. This is who this enemy is. And so the great dragon was thrown down, the ancient servant who was called the devil and Satan, the deceiver of the world. This is what he does.

He deceives. Again, what God creates, Satan corrupts. That in the garden, he comes slithering up to Adam and Eve. Did God really say, see, what he wants to do is the enemy, he's a trickster, he's a deceiver. And he's always trying to take what God has done and twist it. And there's three things primarily that the enemy wants to deceive you with or to get you to doubt. He wants you to doubt the word of God, the work of God, and the worth of God. He wants you to doubt the word of God. You can see it all the way back kindergarten of Eden. Did God really say, don't do that. Let me tell you how it plays out in our life. It's when the enemy comes in the recesses of your mind and says, does God really mean what he says in his word? I mean, I mean, I mean, I

I know what the Bible says about sex and sexuality and marriage and all that kind of stuff, but he's never lived in 2024. He doesn't even know what he's talking about. He wants us to doubt the Word of God. He also wants us to doubt the work of God. You know what the primary work of God is? Is Jesus finished work on the cross? This is that moment when you're sitting in church and I'm talking about what salvation is,

and I ask the question, do you believe that when Jesus died on the cross, it counted for you, and something in your head goes, he doesn't mean you. He means everybody else. That's the enemy. And he also wants us to doubt the worth of God. He wants us to believe, if God really loved you, wouldn't he treat you better? And he would have let you have all your hopes and dreams? He's not worthy to be praised.

The Bible also tells us that this deceiver of the whole world has three primary tactics. You can see it in the Garden of Eden in Genesis 3. You go to 1 John, the same author, the same John that writes Revelation, writes first, second, and third John. And in it, he says, do not love the world or the things of this world. For all that the world has to offer is, here the three primary tactics of the enemy, the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life. That's how he comes at you. You want a war against the enemy?

One of the ways that you can war against the enemy is identify which one of the three are you most susceptible to and pay attention to that. The lust of the eyes is when you see a thing and you think that thing is going to satisfy you. We all got a little bit of it in us, right? Whatever that thing is. You ever walking through somewhere? And you're like, I didn't even know I had to have that until I just saw that. How have I lived without this? You ever do that?

I see it, man. That's called lust of the eyes, all right? Lust of the flesh is I've got to feel a thing. This is when you begin to convince yourself you deserve to feel a certain way. and it could play out in everything from self-medication to self-care. It honestly could. I've told you before. It could be a cookie that you don't need or crack.

Now there's a wide variety of different choices between crack and cookies, all right? But the core of it is the same thing. I want to feel a certain way. Or it's the pride of life. I'm going to be somebody. I'm going to make a name for myself. This has been going on from the very beginning, and it is the enemy trying to deceive.

the whole world. This is what he's doing. And again, the reason that he does this is he hates God, but he can't touch God so he's going to try to take out what God loves, which is you and me. The deceiver of the world. And he was thrown down to the earth and his angels were thrown down with him. And I heard a loud voice in heaven saying, now the salvation and power and the kingdom of our God and the authority of His Christ have come. This is the incarnation. We studied it in our Christmas series a few weeks ago, last month, last year, all right? This is when the Word became flesh and dwelt among us.

Again, what's happening in eternity is playing out in the chronology of our lives. This is when Jesus comes on a rescue mission for us. This is when the good shepherd leaves the 99 and comes after the one. Have ever thought about this? That the good shepherd Jesus leaves the comfort of heaven where the angels, the cherubim, and the elders are just singing to him constantly. Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty

who was and is and is to come. And they're laying down their crowns at his feet. And he says, hold up one second. And leaves that, takes off his robe of godliness and puts on flesh, fully God, fully man, and leaves the comforts of heaven and comes to the earth on a rescue mission for me and youth. That's the announcements that's been made.

And yet, while this is playing out on earth, he was actually born 2,000 years ago. The Bible says that the lamb has been slain before the foundations of the world. So it's hard, man. One of the hard parts about understanding the book of Revelation is we are trying to take a book that is describing eternity

and we're trying to put it in chronology. and people have different ideas about when and where, okay? And so in the next chapter, in Revelation chapter 13, you're going to see that the Lamb was slain before the beginning of time. And then he says this. So he makes this announcement. Now the salvation and power and kingdom of our God and the authority of His Christ have come,

for the accuser of our brothers has been thrown down. This is what the enemy does. The King James says that he is the accuser of the brethren. and he has been thrown down. Satan is the accuser of our brothers who accuses them, which is us, accuses us day and night before our God. This is one of his primary tactics. He is an accuser.

He's the kind of one that will, again, man, show up in the recesses of your brain right now while you're at church and begin to say, who do you think you are? If the person sitting next to you knew what you were doing last night, do you think they would let you in here? Anybody ever get that? Don't raise your hand right now. That would be terrible. Like, oh, thank God. I'm a little hungover right now.

Okay? It's what he does. He's an accuser. And not only does he accuse you, he tries to stand against you towards God. Think about that. He is an accuser of the brethren. And his primary tactic of accusation is called condemnation. You ever feel condemned?

You ever feel like you don't measure up? You ever feel like you're not good enough? You ever feel like this overwhelming sense of heavy guilt every time you come to church? That's why you only come about once every six weeks? Because you just can't handle it. I want you to know that is not the language of the Heavenly Father.

That is words of condemnation. Condemned is a building term. It means unfit for use. You see, what the enemy wants you to do is he wants you to define yourself by your past. He wants you to define yourself by your scars. He wants you to believe that thing that you did you could never be forgiven of,

that it defines you forever and it determines your future. Therefore, you, darling, are unfit for use. You see the Apostle Paul wrestling with this in Romans chapter 7. If you've never read Romans chapter 7 and want to feel better about your own discipleship, you should. This is the Apostle Paul. Can we believe that the Apostle Paul is a Christian when he writes Roman 7?

in case you don't know, the answer is uh-huh. And he's like, he's doing a little introspection there, and he's like, what is my problem? You ever been there? You ever, you ever been following Jesus for a minute? I mean, I've been a Christian for like 35 years. I would think I would be much further along in my sanctification path than I am right now.

No amends, please. You ever look at you something like, what is serious? What is wrong with me? Paul asked the same question in Rome's chapter 7 and you can hear the enemy kind of whisper it and he goes he goes what is wrong with me I don't understand the bad things I don't want to do I can't stop doing those and the good things that I promised again

in my New Year's resolution that I was going to pull off I can't even do this I mean I was here when Pastor Adam was preaching I swore I was going to read the Bible every day read it one time while he was preaching what's wrong with me this is where Paul gets to in Romans 7 and then he makes this conclusion what a wretched man I am who would save a wretch like me and then he answers his own question praise be the god the father for Jesus Christ my savior who came for my salvation that Jesus knew exactly what he was getting when he purchased me and paid for me and of course I've got an enemy that wants to attack me and then he and then he keeps going in romans chapter 8 verse 1 this is the answer to the whispers when the enemy lies to you he says therefore now there is

no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. Listen, when the enemy comes at you accusing you and trying to deceive you, you better memorize some Romans 8 chapter 1. You better memorize some 8-1 that says, therefore now, hey, enemy, when he begins to say, who do you think you are? You know what I like to do? I like to talk back to him. I go, look here, Scooter, it's actually worse than you think.

You're not omniscient. All you have is game film on me, and for sure I got some sins of the past. I need to be forgiven. I ain't no doubt about that. But you don't even know how sick and twisted I am in this mind. And yet, even in my crooked and depraved situation, Jesus sought me, loved me, came for me, died for me, set the joy before him to go to the cross,

and calls me his blood-bought son. Now what you've got to say about that? Therefore, now there is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. And as the accuser accuses, Paul keeps going, man. You want to read the greatest chapter in the history of chapters of all the world, Romans chapter 8. And then by the time he gets to the end, he then says this, what then shall we say to these things? These things that he's talking about is the accusations of the enemy. He goes, here's what we should say to these things. If God is for us,

who could be against us? He who did not spare his own son, but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things? Who shall bring any charge against God's elect? And I tell you who will try. It's the devil. the accuser of the brethren. That's who will try. And your answer is, it is God who justifies, who is to condemn. Christ Jesus is the one who died.

More than that, who was raised, who is at the right hand of God, who indeed is interceding for us. You know what Jesus is doing right now? He is at the right ear of God the Father praying for you and praying against your accuser as we're sitting here in church. Praise God for that.

Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? shall tribulation or distress or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or a sword? And then he's going to answer his own question in 37. No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor death, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus, our Lord. Amen.

If I was going to write a song about it, it would sound something. something like this. I'm fighting a battle we've already won. Now you may look around and you might feel like, well, I don't feel like a winner right now. And sure, man, so you say things like, God, I don't know what you're doing, but I know what you've done. And at the cross of Jesus Christ, you declared it is finished. He is the accuser of the brethren. So when you feel like you're not enough, the actual answer is, you're right. You are not enough. This isn't you being a better version of you. This is you and I are lost and crooked and depraved,

but God, rich in mercy, reached out and saved us and redeemed us and adopted us. In fact, the Bible says that we're more than conquerors. You know what a conqueror is? If you were in an army for a king and you conquered another land, then you would get some of the spoils of that victory. But you know what happens if you're a son?

You get to go home with the king need at the king's table. Why? Because you are more than a conqueror. That's who we are. It's a really big deal. So he's the accuser of the brethren. That's what he does. By the way, this is very interesting. Everything God creates, the enemy corrupts. The reason I'm setting up this cosmic battle for you is because I want you to understand what a big deal your story in light of this battle is. And so everything that God creates, the enemy corrupts. In this list, several times in the New Testament, there are these list of dangerous sins. There's these list of sins that it's saying, hey man, people that live this way don't go to

heaven, not because what you do decides whether you go to heaven, but if you love Jesus, then Jesus is going to walk you away from these kinds of things. And it lists all kind of crazy stuff. It's like drunkenness and debauchery and sorcery and witchcraft and swindling and murder and orgies. That one's always in there. It's always a bit of a like, I think you just said orgy, Sunday morning church, yep. Then in every one of those lists, there's a couple of things that always show up. Gossip and slander.

Isn't that crazy? You're like, hold on, wait a second. swindling and murder and orgies, there it is again, is in the same list with gossip? Hold on a second. That's, I mean, go on. Here's the thing, man, here's the thing. What God creates, what God created your mouth for was to give glory to him to speak truth and to use our mouth to lead other people to him.

And then the enemy corrupts it and says, oh, I'm actually going to take that very thing. and I'm going to have you spew hate about other people. You're going to talk about people where you're not the problem or the solution or make up lies about other people. The Greek word for this is called Twitter. I don't know if you know that. Anytime, man, you were on the other side of pointing the finger at that person or that leader or that church, I can't believe that.

I'm just going to tell you, you could be participating with the accuser of the brethren and gossiping and slandering about someone that God paid. with the blood of his son to purchase. Don't do that. Please don't be that kind of person. And so this is who he is, the accuser of the brethren. He has been thrown down who accuses us day and night before God. And they, here's our big verse.

This is the whole verse, ready? And they, talking about the brothers. Some about the church. Some about me and you, if you're a follower of Jesus. And we have conquered him. And it tells us by three things. and they have conquered him by the blood of the lamb, by the word of their testimony,

for they love not their lives even unto death. You want to be more than a conqueror? He gives us the ingredients to what it takes right here. By the blood of the lamb, the activity of Jesus, by the word of your testimony, and by the attitude of the church that they love not their lives even unto death. really, really big deal. In Matthew chapter 16, Jesus takes the disciples on a camping trip to

Sessaria Philippa. It was like the vagus of the first century, super shady. They had this temple there to this sex god named Pan. He was like a half goat, half man, like tumnus and the line of which in the wardrobe. Look like that like that. Okay. And there was shady stuff like strippers and prostitutes and all that kind of stuff. By the way, if you bring your kids to adult church, we have kids church. You just take them there, okay? So this is what's going on. So this is what's going on, okay? I mean, they ran commercials on TV. It was like, what happens in the Sassaria, Philadelphia? Stays the Sessaria of Philadelphia, except nothing ever stays where it's supposed to stay. You understand? It's shady. Jesus takes these boys on a camping trip.

They're overlooking this temple to the sex god pan, and right beside it is a hole in the mountain, and there's a cave there, and the water from the spring in the cave would spill into this little river that's still there today, and sometimes a year it would steam up. and that hole in the mountain, that cave, they thought it was the portal to the underworld where the demons and devils and Satan would enter and exit our world. It was called the gates of hell.

And Jesus looks at the disciples, and he goes, who do people say that I am? And they're like, all kinds of stuff, religious guy. He's like, all right, most important question you'll ever deal with. What about you? Who do you say that I am? And you know, there's a question

who's going to talk first and most, Peter. He's like, who, I got words. and he nails it. You say enough stuff, you know, even a blind squirrel will find his an acorn every once in a while, right? And he nails it, man. You are the Christ, the son of the living God.

And then Jesus is like, winter, winter, chicken dinner, bro. You nailed it, all right? This comes from God, not you. And then he changes his name to Peter, which means the rock, Rocky. And he's like, all right, Rocky, listen up. I'm going to change your name to the rock. And upon this rock, I will build my church.

And the rock there is not the person to Peter. the rock is the public declaration of the gospel that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the Living God. And upon this rock, I will build my church and then, imagine he points. See the hole down there? And the gates of hell will not prevail against it. So it's not like a gate in your yard,

but you're like, and walk in, not that kind of gate. It's like a portal of demonic activity. He's like, we have an enemy, and the enemy is going to try to take us out. And the church will prevail over the demonic activity. Imagine if you were in one of the local, You're just one of 12 guys like, hey boss, we got nothing.

And this is a huge city. People come from all over the world to come here and do shady stuff. We don't even have enough money to pay our taxes. We gotta go fishing and you catch a fish with gold in his mouth. I don't know how you do that, but you do it for us to pay our taxes. Nobody's gonna listen to us. And yet, and yet, because of their testimony,

the word that he is, that he is the Christ, the Son of the Son of the a living God has now traveled all over the world. And 2,000 years later, if you go to Cessaria Philippi there, now, guess what's not there? The city of Cessaria Philippi. There's nothing but rubble there. This big, powerful city is nothing but rubble. And guess who goes to see this place? People from every tribe, tongue, and nation that claim Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior.

It was a fulfillment of that prophecy. And so how is the church going to prevail? I'll tell you how the church is going to prevail. Number one, by the blood of the lamb. Now, if you've been around church for a while, that makes sense to you. Okay, the blood of the lamb is another way to say the gospel. And if you're new to Bible study, if you're new to church, you may ask the question, what is the deal?

Does God hate lambs? I mean, they're just dead everywhere. What's going on here? All right. Let me explain. Genesis chapter 3, or 1, 2, and 3, God creates humankind. He creates Adam and Eve. They're in the garden.

Adam and Eve reject God through rebellion and religion. God comes chasing after them, but they're running and hiding from God. You see, pre-s sin, they were naked and unashamed. Now they are hiding and they're ashamed. And they've rejected God. They say, forget you, we do what we want. I'll eat what I want with who I won't, when I want.

That's rejection. They also reject God with religion. Where do you get that? You see, God is coming to them, offering them grace, and they say, forget you, God, we don't need you. By the work of our own hands, we are going to make coverings for our sins. and shame and the first religion was born.

And so because God is holy and just, all sin must be paid for. This is something we don't understand as Americans. That if God overlooks sin, it would make him an unjust judge. And so he punishes them for their sin, kicks them out of the garden of Eden. But in so doing, he curses the man, he curses the woman, he curses the ground that we walk on. all right we live in an imperfect world that's why that referee made that bad call against us against the Bengals all right we'd be busy this weekend if it wasn't for that center all right you understand what I'm saying now and he says to the woman he says I'm going to put enmity between

your offspring and this ancient serpent there will come a day when a male child will come from your line and this enemy is going to try to kill him and in so doing is going to get his head crushed. It's called the proto-evanglion, Genesis 3.15. And then right after that, as God judges at him and even kicks him out of the garden, the Bible says he makes coverings for them of animal skins, which means for the very first time, blood was shed for the covering of sin. And you say, why does blood have to be shed? Okay. The Bible says this in Hebrews 922. Indeed, under the law, almost everything is purified with blood without the shedding of blood, there is no forgiveness of sin.

And you're like, yeah, but why? It seems random. Here's the thing. The reason it seems random to us is because we don't understand the severity of sin. Like, we kind of joke about it, right? We don't even think it's that big a deal. In fact, I don't know this. Christians don't even sin anymore.

They struggle. You ever notice that? When's the last time you were in disciple group and said, pray for me, I'm sinning? No, we just be like, I just have a struggle. Can you pray for my struggle? Look, darling, that's called a sin. And in a struggle. You struggle with the truth.

We sin. And sin has consequences, deadly eternal consequences. And every sin is against an almighty sovereign king, and when you sin against a sovereign king, it requires an everlasting judgment. This is a big deal. A really big deal. And every time we sin, big sin or small sin, as if there are such a thing, then it creates a death debt that we owe God. And so in the Old Testament, in the book of Leviticus,

I'm sure you read it this morning, God sets up this sacrificial system, and all throughout the year there would be all kind of sacrifices. But the biggie, the biggie in Leviticus 16 is called the Day of Atonement. The word Atonement means payment. That every single year, God says there's going to be a payment for your death death. and everybody that believed in Yahweh, the God of Israel, would bring a perfect spotless lamb, the priest would shed the blood of the lamb, go into the Holy of Holies, this little room inside a room,

inside the room inside the temple where the presence of God was and the law of God was, and he would take the blood of the lamb and sprinkle it over the broken law of God. And he would make a pronouncement. Your sin has been covered by the blood of a lamb until next year on the day of atonement. and they did this year after year after year and it was foreshadowing what was to come. And then about 2,000 years ago, 30 years after Christmas,

Jesus of Nazareth, who nobody really knew who he was except a couple of his close family members. He shows up on the scene and there's this guy named John the baptizer, weird guy, crazy hair, big beard, like a Jedi robe, homeschooled. He's out there screaming at people, all right?

And he's saying, repent and be baptized prepare you the way of the Lord. And then one day, his second cousin, Jesus, shows up on the scene. And he says, behold, the Lamb of God who's come to take away the son of the world. Let me tell you why, that's a big deal in light of Leviticus 16.

Not another Lamb of God that's going to cover over the sin of the Jewish people until next year this time. But the Lamb of God who's come to take away the sin of the entire world for anyone who would believe. And then Jesus begins his teaching me. ministry, but primarily what he taught is this. That's me. I am the way the truth in the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. I don't show you the way. I am the way. And then he lives a perfect life. He fulfills every promise and prophecy of the old covenant,

of the Hebrew Bible, and he's arrested and he's tried, and he goes to the cross. And the blood of the lamb is shed to take away the sin of anyone who would believe. And he pushes up on his nail pierce feet and he says, to tell us die. We translate it, it is finished. What is finished? The blood death debt has been paid for you and me. Literally it means paid in full. And then he's resurrected to the right hand of God, the Father,

and we see in Revelation 13 that the lamb that was slain is the lion of Judah and sits on the throne of eternity right now. So when the Bible says the blood of the lamb, that's what it's talking about. It's talking about the gospel. that the power of the church, the power of the believer, the power of God to change life is the gospel. Here he calls it the blood of the land,

that Jesus came to put sin to death and to reestablish his kingdom, his church, to advance that kingdom. And so how is the church going to prevail? Number one, the blood of the land. Number two, by the word of their testimony. That's right. It's pretty incredible that in the same sentence,

sentence only separated by a comma is Christ's finished work on the cross and your participation in it. By the word of their testimony that God is writing your story, man. Why is this so important? I'll tell you why. I'm just going to read. You got to listen faster though. We're a little bit behind. Romans 10, 9, the apostle Paul again. He says this. He's going to lay out the gospel. Because if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. Let me ask you, have you ever done that? Have you ever believed when Jesus died on the cross,

that counted for you? And if you're like, uh-huh, then do you confess, Jesus, I surrender my life to you. That's why we do that at the end of services. That's what that is. For, a little commentary, for with the heart one believes and is justified and with the mouth one confesses and is saved.

For the scripture says, everyone who believes in him will not be put to shame. For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek. here's what this means in our current context. Whether you grew up in church or not, you can be saved. For the same Lord as Lord of all bestowing his riches on all who call on him. I love this verse. For everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be safe.

Last weekend at all of our services, 89 people called on the name of the Lord to be safe. Praise God for that. Let me just go ahead and warn you. In about 15 minutes, I'm going to give you an opportunity to call on the name of the Lord to be safe. Get ready. Now, now he's going to ask some questions about that. It is all about the finished work of Christ on the cross.

Then he says, how then will they call on him in whom they have not believed? The answer is, they won't. More questions. How are they to believe in him of whom they have not heard? Same answer. They won't. How are they to hear without someone preaching? They can't.

How are they to preach unless they are sent? They can't. As it is written, how beautiful are the feet of those who preach the good news? How are we going to overcome? by the blood of a lamb, and the word of your testimony. There's this dumb quote that gets thrown around all the time as an excuse for not preaching. It's attributed to St. Francis of Assisi,

I don't think he ever said it because he was smart and he didn't say dumb stuff like this. Here's what it is. You've heard it before. Preach the gospel at all times. Use words only when necessary. All right, cupcake, they're always necessary. You can't just be nice.

You should be nice. You should be kind, but you can't just do a nice thing for somebody. I'm going to leave a little extra tip for you, darling. And she looked at that and be like, I need a Savior. That's not how it works. Colossians 1. Here's what Paul says. This will throw you off if you pay attention.

Now I rejoice in my sufferings for your sake. And in my flesh, here's what Paul says he's doing. Paul says, I am filling up what is lacking in Christ's affliction for the sake of the body. You're like, what? What was lacking at the cross? there was something lacking. He'll explain. What was lacking was not the finished work of cross

to purchase for a salvation. What was lacking is taking that message to people who have not heard it yet. That's the only thing that was lacking. That is the church of which I became a minister according to the stewardship from God that was given to me for you to make the word of God fully known.

The mystery hidden for ages and generations but now revealed to the saints. To them, God chose to make known how great among the Gentiles are the riches of the glory of this mercy, which is Christ in you. If you were a believer in Jesus Christ, Christ lives in you. And the unfinished work of the church is taking that message to the people that don't believe yet, starting with your one more next to you tomorrow at work,

all the way to the unreached people groups all over the world. That's what he's talking about. So how are we going to overcome by the blood of the land and by sharing the word of your testimony? Don't believe me? The Great Commission, kind of a big deal. Matthew chapter 28. And Jesus came and says to them,

all authority in heaven and earth has been given to me. Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you to the ends of the age. In Acts 1-8, he says it this way, and you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you, and you will be my witnesses.

in Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, to the ends of the earth. What he's saying is not enough to just you bring them to hear me, but you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you. Now listen, when I don't, the order there matters a bunch. We want a bunch of spirit-empowered testimony shared. Because sometimes, man, you get all geared up and you just attack Al's pizza right after church and run everybody off, okay?

That's not what we're doing here. That you and I begin to pray for an opportunity, God, because of the blood of the lamb, would you give me an opportunity to open my mouth and tell my firsthand experience about you? And if you're like, well, I don't know how to do that. Next week, next week, okay? It's going to be like lab. We're going to go through it.

I'm going to teach you how to do that. It matters a bunch. So that's two. How are we going to overcome? How are we going to conquer by the blood of the land? By the word of our testimony. And then there's an attitude that you've got to have. Listen to this attitude.

For they love not their lives even unto death. Here's what it takes for the church to prevail. The finished work of Christ on the cross, the gospel. The unfinished work of God's people to preach the good news, to take the gospel, again, from neighbors to nations, and the attitude of the believer. Pastor Vinkie, he's probably the smartest guy on our staff, which doesn't take that much, quite honestly.

So, but he's, he taught me something this week or reminded me of something this week. The word in Greek for witness or testimony is the same root word as the word martyr, which means to give your life for. It's martyria, which sounds like margarita, doesn't it? So the next time you order a margarita, pray for your one more, all right? So if you did that, revival would break out in this place. Just be honest. You see, because the understanding in the first century is that as they were a witness with their mouth,

the world was going to hate them. They understood that there was an enemy. It's crazy, man. Like, all throughout church history, it's an anomaly to associate following Jesus with comfort. You realize that? I mean, Jesus himself said, they hated me, they're going to hate you.

In this world, you will face troubles of many kinds. I mean, can you imagine if, like, the first game of the jack season next year, the offense comes off the field, I was like, coach, I can't go back out there. Why not, son? They're trying to hurt us. Fool, what do you think we're doing here?

We're trying to hurt them too. You understand what I'm saying? What have you signed up for? Do you realize the moment you confess Jesus Christ is your Lord and Savior? You have signed up for war, but the good news is we're not fighting for victory. We're fighting from victory. Because the dragon has already been thrown down, man. For they love not their lives even unto death.

You know what? the American church loves, comfort and convenience. Do you know where revival is breaking out in the world right now? Places like Afghanistan. Did you know the underground church is thriving in Afghanistan? I mean, seriously, man, there are conversations that are happening this morning in Afghanistan. We're going to church today and we might die. And there's conversations in Jacksonville go, we're going to go to church, but if it gets long, we'll probably get out early. Now, we're not even talking about the same game anymore, man. You know what they love? They love their lives. not their lives even unto death.

As John is writing this, he has been put on the Isle of Patmos to die. When he has written this, martyrdom for the name of Jesus has already been happened. Stephen has been stolen, Peter's been crucified upside down. All of the apostles have been killed, not because of what they believe,

but because of what they have seen and heard, and they will not recant their faith in Jesus. In fact, the only reason that John is still alive is because he won't die. They put him in boiling oil multiple times, and the brother just won't die. Now, total conjecture on my part. Say, Bible's way over there,

but here's why I think he can't die. You know why? Because on the cross, Jesus was like, hey, bro, will you take care of my mama? He was like, mm-hmm. And I think if you take care of Jesus' mama, they can't kill you until you're done. You know what I mean?

I think that's what's going on. We'll check when we get there and see if that's how it went down. But he's in exile, okay? And history tells us that during this time, Christians were being burned alive. Nero and Demetian, the Roman Caesars, they were gathering up Christians

and burning them alive. They would light parties with the burning bodies of believers. Think about that. Can you imagine going to a party? They didn't have floodlights, so they lit Christians on fire. That's a sick party. And I don't mean like sick.

I don't mean like that. I mean like, this is terrible, man. They would take Christians into the Coliseum and feed them to the lions, saw them in two. They would wrap animal skins around them and cut them loose and watch the wolves and lions eat them to death. That's what was going on, and they love not their lives even unto death. Yeah, man.

If you want a life of just ease and luxury, don't follow Jesus. Sell ice cream or something. I don't know what to tell you. You see, history tells us, man, that it's never stopped. Polycarp, 155 AD. He was the disciple of a disciple of John. He was arrested. The pro-counsel comes to him and says, swear, and I will set you at liberty,

reproach Christ, and I will set you free. And Pollycarp declared, 80 and six years I have served him, and never did he meet any injury. How then can I blaspheme my king and my savior? You threaten me with fire, which burns for one hour, and after a little is extinguished, but are ignorant of the fire of the coming judgment and of eternal punishment, reserved for the ungodly, but why do you wait? Bring forth what you will, and they burned them alive. During the Reformation, Hugh Latterman and Nicholas Ridley were burned at the stake

because they did not believe in the doctrine of the day. You know what they did believe in? They believed in Sola Scriptora, that the word of God was our authority, not some man with a funny hat on. that they believe in Solafide, that it's by faith alone, through grace alone, that we are saved in Christ alone, not by any good works that the church tells you you have to do. And so they burned these men alive. And at the stake, it's recorded that Latimer and Ridley, they're tied to the stake, they lit

the fire under their feet. And Hugh Latimer famously says to Nicholas Ridley, be of good comfort, Mr. Ridley, and play the man. We shall this day light a candle by God. grace in England that I trust will never be put out. And the good news of the gospel began to spread like crazy. In recent days, 1996, January 8th, this is very famous martyr, Jim Elliott, he and a bunch of guys, a bunch of young men, they were taking the gospel down a river in Ecuador. Literally the place is called Palm Beach.

And they were trying to reach an unreached people group for the first time in history with the good news of the gospel of Jesus Christ, and they were stabbed to death when they got out of the boats. And when the news hit the world of the death of these young men, it was called a tragic nightmare. And Elizabeth, his wife, writes an article, and it's printed all over the world in the newspaper. And she says the world did not recognize the truth

of the second clause in Jim Elliott's Crito. Jim Elliott's Crito is a very famous line. He says this. He said it when he was alive, obviously. He is no fool. who gives what he cannot gain, gives up what he cannot gain, to gain what he cannot lose. And the modern day church spends all kind of time

to have talents and efforts trying to grab on the things that we can never ever keep. A few years later, you wanna talk about loving, not your life even under death? His wife takes her and her children back to the very shores where her husband was martyred and shares the gospel with the group of people that murdered her husband. And revival breaks out in that place.

Why? Because of her talent, no, man. She stood on the blood of the lamb, the word of her testimony, and she loved not her life even unto death. One of Jill Melliot's murderers became a pastor that started a church in that spot in Ecuador, which is still there today. Today, an estimated 360 million Christians

in over 70 countries face high levels of persecution. Honestly, it is not too far-fetched that in my lifetime, there could be a day where somebody tries to come in this door and put me in handcuffs because of the things that I say that come for this word. And then we'll see, church. I mean, come on, man, it's comfortable in here, isn't it? Isn't it sweet? AC's perfect? Kids all checked in. Everybody's got their own seat.

We work really, really hard to make sure. I mean, some of you really suffered for Jesus in that a parking public. today, off-site parking with a shuttle all the way here. We're trying, man, we're trying to just get, you know. And you know what we love? Comfort and convenience. That's what we love. We want the world to just revolve around us.

We don't wanna do hard things. You know what we're afraid of? What people will think, right? Like if I, I mean, I don't wanna be one of those crazy people. If I go public and talk about Jesus, and talk about what he's done in my life, what will people think? Or we're afraid of an awkward conversation or a little bit of ridicule. Or we're afraid, am I allowed to do this?

It was illegal to share the gospel in the first century, and they fed them the lions. Didn't stop them. And the church can get shut down with just a little bit of pressure right now. Maybe the saddest one of all, the reason that we don't stand on the blood of a lamb and share the testimony, it's because we don't even think about it because we've been lulled to sleep by the comforts and conveniences of this world.

So how about you? How about you? Now, again, what I'm trying to get us to do here is see the eternal life. We are living in a cosmic eternal battle that has already been won. And if you have been won over by the grace of Jesus Christ, I promise you, you can't help but open your mouth, stand on the blood

of the lamb, share the word of your testimony, and may we, compelled by the love of Christ, love our lives, not even unto death. And here's what's amazing, man. This is very, very personal. This is very personal. I'm sitting with my friend Charles Martin, we're working on the next book that will come out later this year, doing edits. And we're talking about this verse. And he says, you know what I think? He says, I think that verse, it's a very famous verse, Revelation 1211, he said, what if it's not only about the advancement of the kingdom of God and the prevailing church? What if it's also the moment of salvation? I was like, what do you mean?

He goes, well, think about it. We will overcome, we will conquer by the blood of the land, by what Jesus has done on the cross. And by the word of your testimony, you know what your very first testimony is? I surrender my life to the Lordship of Jesus Christ. All who call on the name of the Lord will be saved. And I love not my life, even unto death. You know what it means to be a Christian? It means that you surrender your life to the Lordship of Christ.

That you say, I am crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. Jesus says, you want to find your life, you got to lose it. You want to be a follower of mine? You've got to die to yourself daily and be crucified. And then it hit me. the thing that God wants to do through you, first and foremost, he wants to do it to you.

You get that? I mean, that's what a witness is. You can't witness about a thing that you didn't witness. You can't give testimony to a thing that you don't have firsthand experience of. But the thing he wants to do through the church to take the good news of the gospel of Jesus Christ to every tribe, tongue, and nation,

first and foremost, he wants to do in. you. By the blood of the lamb, have you gotten to the place in your life where you realize that Jesus came on a rescue mission for you and he didn't simply die for you? He died instead of you. And on the cross when he pushed up on his nail pierced feet and says, it is finished that you believe that somehow that counted for me. And maybe today for the very first time, you believe it. Well, cool. Then let's do Romans 10.9 and call on the name of the Lord. Confess him as your Lord and Savior, and the Bible says when you do that, you become a part of the family. You become one of the brethren, that you are saved, sanctified, redeemed, and adopted into

the family of God forever and ever and ever. And then, for those of us that are saved, that we walk out from this place as conquerors, how, by the blood of the land, by the word of our testimony, and may we love not our life even unto death. So if you've never taken that personally, I want to give you the opportunity to do it right now. Would you bow your heads? Would you close your eyes? And if you are ready to admit it, I get it, okay? I'm a sinner.

I need a Savior. My way ain't working. And I believe that Jesus came on a rescue mission for me. And when he died on the cross, when he said to tell us die, paid in full, a part of what he meant is that my sin debt was paid. And in this moment, you are ready to confess Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior, to surrender. render your life to him, then what I want you to do is lift your hand high in the air and call on the name of the Lord, and the Bible says that you will be saved. Our good and gracious Heavenly Father, God, we love you, we praise you, we thank you, God,

I thank you for these hands in the air. It's not hands in the air that save anybody. It's your finished work on the cross that does. And so, Lord, we thank you that even right now you were still calling men and women under yourself as sons and daughters. And Holy Spirit, I pray that you would fall in a supernatural way. on this movement and that we would stand

on the blood of the lamb, we would know it's not our works, it's the blood of the lamb that saves. God, you would empower us with a courage to share our testimony, what you have done in our life. God, that we would love not our lives, even unto death.

That we would lay down our comforts, we would lay down our preferences, we would lay down our fear for the sake of the God, good news of the gospel going out and overcoming the enemy. God, we thank you that we're fighting a battle that you have already won. We pray this in Jesus' name. Amen. Church, would you please stand? We respond to the gospel. It's what we do. We're going to sing. We're going to sing the good news of the gospel of Jesus Christ. We're going to bring our ties and our offerings, our first in our best,

as an act of worship, and we are going to pray. And so maybe you need to pray for courage to be able to do these things. Stand on the blood of the Lord of the Lord. lamb and be courageous with your testimony. And maybe you would ask God to give you eyes to see because you're in love with the temporary things of this world. And you want to be the kind of believer that loves not your life even unto death. And I would invite you to come and pray.

So let's sing, let's bring, let's pray. Let's respond. I grew up in South Louisiana, a small town right outside of New Orleans. A pretty poverty-stricken area. A lot of violence, drugs, shootings, things like that. or normal occurrence. As a young man, the way that I thought about Jesus was nothing but rules. I have to perform at this level in order for Jesus to love me because that's the love

relationship that I knew because of my parents. I just thought Jesus is a ruler and if I mess up, I failed. I knew I had to make ends meet. I had to buy school clothes and pay bills and do things that adults were doing. And the one way I knew how to do it was sell drugs. It got out of hand really fast, really fast. At 17, I was living in Houston part-time, running a complete drug operation in South Louisiana

from my cell phone. And I never had a plan of making it out. I never did, never thought that I would. The amount of anxiety and stress that came along with, me feeling like someone was always hunting me, because that's what it was. I was hunted by people that wanted to take what I had and by law enforcement.

I knew at some point, if I didn't quit, death or jail was the end. My middle sister, Gwen, has always been there for me. She's never made me feel condemned every single time I talk to her. Like, I love you, I'm praying for you, I'm here for you. I was sitting in a jail cell and she was like, what are you gonna do when you get out?

and I was like, I don't know, like, probably go back to the same thing. And she was like, why don't you move to Georgia with me? I think that's when, like, God started working on me. I remember being in the shower and just having this breaking point of, like, me feeling God's grace and his love and his presence. There was simultaneously this shift where the things that I did, they don't define me. What defines me is the Bible and what Jesus says about me. I believe that I'm his.

I'm loved. I didn't want to waste any more of my life. Like, I wanted to live it for Jesus. I remember saying to myself, God, I'm quitting. And if I end up dead because I quit, I'm okay with it, because I'm going to start doing the right thing. I went to my boss in the drug business and told him I want it out. I want to move to Georgia and start a life, and I don't want to do this anymore.

and his exact words were, hey man, the money you owe me keep it and start a life. I expected to be hunted, literally looking up and being like, thank you, Jesus. I'm free. I moved here to Georgia and got connected with the Church of 1122, and it's been home ever since. Got my feet planted, I got baptized. I didn't know what God had for me at that point in time, but I knew that coming here and experience and people just loving me unconditionally, I wanted that.

Like, I wanted that love that I had never felt, and I felt it through people who were obedient, but ultimately it was Jesus. And I went from hopeless, death, addict, broken, to I'm a blood-bought son of Christ, and I'm sold out. I can't ask for anything more. for anything more.