Calvary Chapel Staten Island

Grace Craeber: What happens when faith and mental health meet for real? What's up? I'm Grace Craeber. Welcome to Breaking Through with Grace Craeber, a podcast for honest conversations about anxiety, trauma, healing, hope, and the God who never backs away when life gets heavy.

We are going to talk about everything mental health. No pretending, no perfect answers. Just real stories, real faith, and a reminder that you're not alone. Get ready, you're going to be absolutely obsessed. Breaking Through with Grace Craeber, available now wherever you get your podcasts.

Ally: Hello, and welcome to God in Our City, the daily edition. Your host and Bible teacher is Pastor Dave Watson. Pastor Dave has been the pastor of Calvary Chapel on Staten Island for 35 years. In addition, he is the co-founder and president of the New York Institute for Biblical Studies.

To receive a special downloadable gift from Pastor Dave, please go to calvarychapelsi.org/gioc. That's calvarychapelsi.org/gioc. Now here's Pastor Dave and our show.

Pastor Dave Watson: Welcome, everybody, to God in Our City, the daily edition. As Ally has said, I am Pastor Dave Watson, pastor of Calvary Chapel on Staten Island. I’ve had that privilege since January 1st, 1990. I'm also the president of the New York Institute for Biblical Studies, an institution that we were privileged to found in 2012, and the host of this program. What a privilege to be with you every day. It gives me a chance to share with you the word of God and encourage you regarding the word of God. In some ways, I'm your personal Bible teacher. I think that's an incredible privilege and I take that very seriously.

We have been studying—we're in our second week of studying the Book of Revelation. Like I said yesterday, if you have a friend or a family member who has questions about the Book of Revelation, tell them to tune in to God in Our City, 6:00 PM daily on WMCA 570, or through YouTube and Facebook @CalvaryChapelSI. You can also look at our archives. Wherever good podcasts are, God in Our City is, like Spotify, etc., or wmca.com houses our podcasts. Even better, oneplace.com has all of our stuff as well. Please take advantage of any and all of that to catch up or to listen going forward. We definitely want you to listen going forward.

Please take advantage of our resources, the downloadable study guides at calvarychapelsi.org/gioc. You can get our free study guides and the free Revelation Scripture Journal. It has the Book of Revelation on one side of the page with a blank page on the other, allowing you to walk through the entire Book of Revelation with places to write your questions and your observations. It’s a great tool to have and it's free. While you're there, consider making a donation to God in Our City. We would appreciate it. All gifts are appreciated and are tax-deductible.

If you can make a gift a reoccurring gift, it does help us plan and know what we can do going forward. When you make a gift, you're supporting our effort to reach our metropolitan New York area with the gospel of Jesus Christ. That's our goal. That's what we're trying to do. Because of the internet and the expansion of everything since COVID, we can be everywhere now with what we're sharing. You're actually seeing an incredible multiplication of your gift, not just here, but everywhere. People who listen and watch and check us out come from all over the globe. We have folks from Singapore, India, and South America. You're making an impact all around the world when you give.

Don't take money from your church or a missionary, even though we are missionary-oriented, but consider making a donation at calvarychapelsi.org/gioc. If any of that is a hassle for you, you can always call us. We take pride in the fact that we're here for you. We want to help if you have a prayer request. Just call us at 718-720-5390. You can call that number to request any of the items we've talked about, or someone will call you back and pray with you.

At this time, it's our time to read the scriptures together. We're going to read again John chapter 1, from verse 9 all the way to verse 20, and then we'll pray together. "I, John, your brother and partner in the tribulation and the kingdom and the patient endurance that are in Jesus, was on the island called Patmos on account of the word of God and the testimony of Jesus. I was in the spirit on the Lord's day, and I heard behind me a loud voice like a trumpet." Are you putting yourself in there right now, on an island because of your faith in exile, and you hear this voice that sounds like a trumpet?

The voice said, "Write what you see in the book and send it to the seven churches: to Ephesus, and to Smyrna, and to Pergamum, and to Thyatira, and to Sardis, and to Philadelphia, and to Laodicea." Then I turned to see the voice that was speaking to me, and on turning I saw seven golden lampstands, and in the midst of the lampstands, one like a Son of Man, clothed with a long robe with a golden sash around his chest. The hairs of his head were white, like white wool, like snow. His eyes were like a flame of fire. His feet were like the burnished bronze refined in a furnace, and his voice was like the roar of many waters. In his right hand, he had seven stars. From his mouth came a sharp two-edged sword, and his face was like the sun shining in full strength.

When I saw him, I fell at his feet as though dead. But he laid his right hand on me, saying, "Fear not, I am the first and the last, and the living one. I died, and behold, I live forevermore, and I have the keys of death and Hades. Write, therefore, the things that you have seen, those that are and those that are to take place after this. As for the mystery of the seven stars that you saw in my right hand and the seven golden lampstands, the seven stars are the angels of the seven churches, and the seven lampstands are the seven churches." May God bless the reading of His Word.

Father, thank You for what You have taught us and what You are teaching us. Thank You for giving us such an amazing book as the Bible, that from cover to cover it makes sense. One part agrees with the other part. Thank You that even as we study Revelation, we compare it to other scriptures and it fits together so well. Thank You for that. Lord, even as we're studying today, illuminate us. Illuminate our hearts so that we are both knowing what Your Word says and doing what Your Word says.

Help each person that's hearing my voice to be sure of their own personal salvation. May each one know for sure they have Christ as Lord and Savior. If they don't, please work deeply in them even as we speak today. Convict them of their need for Jesus, and help them to open their heart to Jesus. Touch us all, Lord, we pray now. Meet the needs that we have both physically, mentally, emotionally, and spiritually. In Jesus' name, amen.

We left off yesterday with the power of Jesus Christ for the church. We talked about the fact that in His right hand He had seven stars and from His mouth came a sharp two-edged sword. These seven stars are the angels who are the messengers to the church. His face is like the sun shining in full strength. We talked about that. Then we came to verse 17 where John falls and is motionless before Jesus. This is the first time we said yesterday he'd seen Him in 60 years. John gets some very clear direction.

There is an affirmation here. He laid His right hand on him saying, "Fear not. I am the first and the last and the living one. I died, and behold, I am alive forevermore, and I have the keys of death and Hades." Jesus has the keys. The comfort here is that He laid His right hand on him. He placed His hand on him and said, "Fear not." John was stupefied, absolutely overwhelmed. Then here's the reason why he ought to have peace. He says, "I am the first and the last. Fear not. I am." This brings our mind back to Exodus 3:14 where Moses has his encounter at the burning bush.

Moses asks, "Who shall I say that sent me?" and God tells him, "Tell them I am sent you." This concept of "I am" is found in scripture a number of times. It's found in Isaiah 48:12 and in Revelation 22:13, the last chapter of Revelation, when it says, "I am the Alpha and the Omega, the first and the last, the beginning and the end." He's the first one and the last one, the Protos and the Eschatos. Protos is the word for "first." We get our word "proton" from it. We get our word "eschatology," the study of last things, from Eschatos.

Jesus is saying here that He is first. He is preeminent and He is eternal. That verse in Exodus says, "God said to Moses, 'I AM WHO I AM.' And he said, 'Say this to the people of Israel: I AM has sent you.'" In Isaiah 48:12, we read, "Listen to me, O Jacob, and Israel, whom I called! I am he; I am the first, and I am the last." In John 8:58, Jesus said when they were asking Him and debating Him about when He was in reference to Abraham, "Before Abraham was, I am." Revelation 22:13 says, "I am the Alpha and the Omega, the first and the last, the beginning and the end." I am to be the preeminent one in the church and for my churches.

In the book of Colossians, Paul speaks of everything that Jesus did. He's the creator of the world, the sustainer of the world, the reconciler of all things, the head of the church, and in all things He might have the preeminence. He might have the preeminence. Who is the most important person in the church? The pastor? The head deacon? The head elder? No. The most important person in every church is Jesus, and He is to have preeminence. He is to have first place in every single way. It’s hard for us sometimes to put that into practice. We want so much to do what we want to do. We want recognition, but the text lets us know that Jesus is to be the first and the last. He's to be the Alpha and the Omega and every letter in between.

Jesus, when He's walking on the water, says to His disciples, "Take heart, I am." So Jesus is saying to John here, a familiar thing—John was there when He said, "Take heart, I am"—He's telling John, "Be courageous. I am." Not just that I'm here, but I am. I am the great I AM. He is the I AM who lives. He continually lives. He is the I AM who's the living one. His essential nature is life and life-giving. The same idea is used of the Father giving life. He was dead and behold, He says, "I'm alive for how long? Forevermore." He was in the past dead; it's a completed action. He was dead, but now He's living unto the ages of ages.

And here's the claim: "I have the keys of Hades and of death. I possess continually." The keys are an authoritative idea. "I have the keys belonging to Thanatos, death. I have the keys belonging to Hades, Ados." It's also a judgment idea. I have the keys and I can do what I want with them. Sometimes we forget how powerful Jesus is. Remember Jesus when He spoke those incredible words in the 16th chapter of the Book of Matthew? He said, "I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not prevail against it." I believe Jesus spoke those words in Caesarea Philippi because that's where it says He was. In Caesarea Philippi, there was a temple to the gods of the day, and there was what they thought was an opening to the underworld, the spirit world, Hades. Jesus, in Caesarea Philippi, maybe at that very temple, said, "I will build on this rock," maybe on the rock that that temple was built on, "my church, and the gates of Hades will not prevail against it."

John is then given an obligation. "Write, therefore," it says, "the things that you have seen, those that are and those that take place after this." Many people feel this is the outline of Revelation. Therefore, because of who Jesus is, write. It gives the outline of the book: what you saw (Revelation 1:9-20), this incredible picture of who Jesus is, the preeminent one; and which is (Revelation 2 and 3), the churches and the message to the churches, which by the way is always all about Jesus; which shall be after these things (Revelation 4 through 22), which is going to talk about Jesus and what He's going to do.

One writer, J. Vernon McGee, has said it this way: "Up to this point, what had John seen? He had seen the glorified Christ. Let me remind you that this is a Christocentric book. The glorified Christ is the subject. Don't get your eyes on the horsemen, or on the bowls of wrath, or on the beast. They are just passing through. Fix your eyes on the Lord Jesus Christ, He who is the one who was, who is, who will be. He is the same yesterday, today, and forever." John is to write the vision he has had of Him. The Book of Revelation is about Jesus. Don't go, "I got to learn more about the Antichrist." No. Don't fixate on the Antichrist, or one of the angels, or the little horn. Fix your eyes on whom? On Jesus. It's about Jesus in every way, shape, and form.

There is an explanation now. John wants us to understand something. Actually, the Lord wants us to understand something. "As for the mystery of the seven stars that you saw in the right hand and the seven golden lampstands, the seven stars are the angels of the seven churches, the seven lampstands are the seven churches." He explains the symbols, the mystery, the inner meaning of a symbol. These seven stars are the seven angels of the seven churches. The normal use of the word "angel" here is how I take it. Each church has an angel assigned to it. If you read Revelation 2:13, you'll see that Satan is in a town in Pergamum. That's where he is; it says that's where Satan has his throne. So there is a sense of territorial spirits.

There is a sense in which there are angelic beings assigned to churches. Do we know that each church has an angelic being assigned to it? I hope it has more than one angelic being assigned to it. The seven golden lampstands, He reminds us, are the seven churches. We are told we're to be light. It is normative for each church to see itself as a light, but it's also normative for each church to have an angel or angels assigned to it. Listen to just the words of 1 Timothy 5:21: "In the presence of God and of Christ Jesus and of the elect angels I charge you to keep these rules without prejudging, doing nothing from partiality." In other words, your church has an angel or angels; I'm charging them before you, I'm charging you before them, Paul says as he writes Ephesians. 1 Corinthians 11:10: "This is why a wife ought to have a symbol of authority on her head during worship services, because of the angels."

All that Jesus is is all now that the churches that He's going to address need. He addresses the seven churches: the cold church, the church at Ephesus; the crushed church, the church at Smyrna; the compromised church, the church of Pergamus; the corrupt church, the church at Thyatira; the corpse church, the church at Sardis; the consistent church, the church at Philadelphia; and the Christless church, the church of Laodicea. Again, all that the church needs is met by all that Jesus is. Jesus must become all that the church wants. Jesus must be restored to His rightful place of preeminence in the church. Jesus has been replaced in our theology, in our churches, by preaching, praising, people, programs, popularity, prosperity, and prestige.

What's this all going to mean to you and me? You're going to have to tune in tomorrow to figure all that out on the Friday edition. Let me just say right now, if Jesus is not your personal Savior, then everything that I'm saying right now doesn't mean a hill of beans. What matters is that you have Christ as your personal Lord and Savior. He died for you. He rose again. If you've not yet done so, give Him your heart.

Heavenly Father, please help each person who's hearing my voice to give their heart to Your Son, the Lord Jesus Christ. Help them, Lord, to recognize that they are sinners in need of a Savior, that Jesus died for them and rose again for them. He died in their place and rose again for them. May they turn their hearts over to Jesus even now. We pray this in His name, amen. Please go to calvarychapelsi.org/gioc to get your free study guide, to order your Revelation Scripture Journal, and to make a donation to God in Our City. Thank you for listening. Please join us again tomorrow for the Friday edition of the daily edition of God in Our City.

Ally: Thanks for listening to God in Our City with your host, Pastor Dave Watson. We hope the show was a blessing to you. Again, to receive a downloadable gift from Pastor Dave, go to calvarychapelsi.org/gioc. That's calvarychapelsi.org/gioc. Please check out Pastor Dave's blog at nycshepherd.com. That's nycshepherd.com. Please invite a friend and join us every weekday for another edition of God in Our City.

Grace Craeber: What happens when faith and mental health meet for real? What's up? I'm Grace Craeber. Welcome to Breaking Through with Grace Craeber, a podcast for honest conversations about anxiety, trauma, healing, hope, and the God who never backs away when life gets heavy.

We are going to talk about everything mental health. No pretending, no perfect answers. Just real stories, real faith, and a reminder that you're not alone. Get ready, you're going to be absolutely obsessed. Breaking Through with Grace Craeber, available now wherever you get your podcasts.