HopeLives365

Mark Finley: Our Creator will strengthen us for the journey. When life seems upside down, God can turn it right side up. We have a Creator who cares. Think of the power that it took to speak the worlds into existence. Think of the power it took to create gravitational force to keep our planet Earth in its rotation around the sun. What if God didn't have that power? Wouldn't those planets collide?

Think of the power it takes to keep the sun exactly 93 million miles in space from Earth. If the sun were a little closer to us, it would burn us up like a cinder. If the sun were a little farther away from us, we'd freeze to death. This God, Creator of all, who keeps the planets in their orbit, who says to the sun, "You stay there, don't come any further," this God who says to the tides, "You recede," and to the tides, "You come up here," this God is a God that is all-powerful because He is our Creator.

His power is available to us. Our Creator values us, cares for us, empowers us each moment of our lives as we place our faith in Him. This all-powerful God of creation, our all-powerful Creator, will sustain us and strengthen us in the days ahead. Jesus is the eternal God, our all-powerful Creator. And thirdly, the third picture you find in Revelation is He is our crucified Redeemer.

Revelation chapter 5. We're walking through the book of Revelation, having a picture of this Christ, who Satan hates, this Jesus, He is our eternal Lord. He is our all-powerful Creator. He is our crucified Redeemer. Revelation chapter 5, verse 11. Can you read it with me from the screen, please? They sang a new song. Can we sing a new song? He is our Redeemer. My Redeemer is faithful and true.

They sang a new song saying, "You are worthy to take the scroll, to open the seals, for You were slain and have redeemed us to God by Your blood out of every tribe and tongue and people and nation, and have made us kings and priests to God." You are worthy to take the scroll. Why? Because You have redeemed us by Your blood. You see, Revelation reveals a Jesus that has pardoned our sins, a Jesus who has released us from condemnation.

A Jesus who has delivered us from bondage, a Jesus who assures us a place in His kingdom. Throughout the book of Revelation, you read words like this: He washed us, He freed us, He redeemed us, He delivered us from the bondage of sin. Fanny Crosby was that blind hymn writer. She wrote 9,000 different hymns. That's amazing, isn't it?

Some of her well-known songs include "To God Be the Glory," "Safe in the Arms of Jesus," "All the Way My Savior Leads Me," "Jesus Keep Me Near the Cross," "Rescue the Perishing," and "Blessed Assurance." But she was asked one day, "What is the most beautiful song you have ever written about Jesus and about the grace of God?" She commented this way: "Redeemed, how I love to proclaim it! Redeemed by the blood of the Lamb. Redeemed through His infinite mercy, His child and forever I am."

Because of the blood shed on Calvary's cross, we need not bear guilt. We need not bear condemnation. We need not go through life wondering whether eternal life is ours. The book of Revelation reveals a Christ whose pardon is complete, a Christ whose mercy is abundant, a Christ that invites us to come and find that grace in Him. The book of Revelation reveals a Jesus who wants to save us more than we want to be saved.

He's made every provision for our salvation. A Jesus who frees us from the guilt and condemnation of sin. A Jesus who's done everything, absolutely everything, to save us. We are justified. We are being sanctified. We will be glorified. And then we will be satisfied. You see, this is the Jesus of Revelation. He justifies us. He is sanctifying us. He will glorify us. And then, in His presence, we will be satisfied.

In the troublesome days ahead, never forget this: the eternal Christ created you. You're not animated mud; you're created in the image of God. In the coming days ahead, remember this: the eternal Christ who created you has redeemed you. You are His child. Your sins, as you come and confess them, are forgiven. His grace covers you.

Grace not only pardons our past, but grace transforms our present. We come to Christ just as we are, but we don't remain as we are. The grace of Christ is justifying grace, but the grace of Christ also is sanctifying grace. Notice Revelation 1:6 and Revelation 5:10. Satan hates this divine truth because once you understand the sanctifying grace of God, you come to Christ and ask Him to help you to be obedient to His commands.

Satan hates the commands of God, and he hates the promises in Revelation that talk about a people that will keep the commandments of God and have the faith of Jesus. The same God that has begun a work in you will want to finish it. We come to Christ as we are, but there's still a work to be done in our hearts, a work to be done in our minds, a work to be done in the deepest recesses of our soul.

Revelation 1, verse 6, verse 5 talks about the fact that He loved us. He washed us from our sins in His own blood. Verse 6: "He has made us kings and priests to His God and Father, to Him be glory, dominion forever and ever." So not only has He done something for us, but He's making us kings, He's making us priests, He's changing us.

Revelation 5, verse 10: "He has made us kings and priests to our God, and we shall reign on earth." What does it mean He's made us kings? It means He takes us from the gutter-most to the utter-most. He takes us from our despair to delight. He takes us from our depth to discipleship. This Christ is doing something in us. Now the New Testament is filled with examples of the power of God to change lives.

Think about John, the Son of Thunder. John who couldn't control his temper. John who often got upset and angry. But through the grace of God, he is the last of the living apostles. He's changed by the grace of God, and he writes the book of Revelation. Think about Thomas. He is a doubter. But through the grace of God, he becomes a missionary evangelist, goes to India, and today we have Thomasite Christians south of Chennai.

Think of Peter. He's a coward. He's denied Jesus. But through the grace of Christ, he becomes the preacher at Pentecost who declares to persecuting authorities, "I'd rather serve God than men." Think of the demoniacs who are the terror of their community. But through the grace of God, they become mighty preachers and witness in Decapolis—Deca is 10, polis is cities—so they witness in that whole region.

Think of Paul, the persecutor of Christians, who through the grace of God becomes a powerful evangelist in the Mediterranean world. Probably the most sordid, the most defiled, the most deviant of all churches that Paul preached to was the church at Corinth. But look what the grace of God did. 1 Corinthians chapter 6. If the apostle Paul was changed, if Peter was changed, if Thomas was changed, if John was changed, God can change you. God can change me.

The power of God in the book of Revelation is the power of the transforming grace of Christ. 1 Corinthians chapter 6. I'm going to start with verse 9, and I'm going to read verse 9, 10, and 11. "Do you not know the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived. Neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor homosexuals, nor sodomites, nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners will inherit the kingdom of God."

Now verse 11 is amazing: "And such were some of you. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus by the Spirit of God." Does the Spirit of God have the power to transform men and women from the lowest depths of sin? Does He do that, according to scripture? And if God can do that for them, can He transform our lives too?

Can He help us who are intemperate to be temperate? Can God do that? Can He help us who are impatient to be patient? Can He help us who are selfish to be unselfish? The Christ of Revelation is a Christ who is not only the justifying Christ, but He is the sanctifying Christ. I love this statement in Testimonies Volume 4, page 16: "Our precious Savior has invited us to join ourselves to Him and unite our weakness with His strength, our ignorance with His wisdom, and our unworthiness with His merit."

We come to Christ and we are weak, but He is strong. The coming crisis will take a strength that we do not naturally have to survive. It will require something far beyond human power to resist the Antichrist coercion to worship at the shrine of the beast's power. But here is the incredibly good news: when we unite our weakness to His strength, our ignorance to His wisdom, and our unworthiness to His merit, in Christ we become invincible.

Christ was victorious over Satan in His life. He met Satan's temptations head-on. And through Jesus, we can beat Satan's temptations head-on and be victorious. Five pictures of Jesus. Jesus is the eternal Lord. Jesus is the all-powerful Creator. Jesus is our loving Redeemer. Jesus is our sanctifying Lord. Now in Revelation, Jesus is our righteous judge. We find that in Revelation chapter 5.

Why does Satan hate the truth about the judgment? Satan hates the truth about the judgment for this reason: if there is no judgment, there is no accountability. If I have no accountability, then there is no right and there is no wrong. So what the devil says is that we are largely products of our genetics. We're largely products of our heredity, largely products of our environment.

The devil says, "Look, you're a product of your heredity and environment. Therefore you are not responsible because your heredity makes you do it. It's something your father put down in your genetics." Oh, I get angry because my father got angry, but you should have seen his grandmother and you should have seen his great-great-great-great-grandfather. I can't control my appetite because neither could my mother, my sister, or my brother.

Once you go that direction and you say there is no judgment, then there is no accountability. The devil hates the idea of judgment. He hates the idea that we're accountable to God. Now there are two extremes in this idea of the judgment. I need to discuss them both. The first extreme in the idea of judgment is there is no judgment, and so therefore I'm not accountable.

The second extreme is this: that the judgment is so fearful that I have to live constantly in fear that when my name comes up, I'm not righteous enough and I'm going to be eternally lost. The devil doesn't care whether he gets you feeling that there is no judgment so you have no accountability, or that you fear the judgment so bad that you live in constant guilt and condemnation.

He doesn't care which it is, as long as you don't have the true salvation in Christ. So let's look at this. First, Revelation chapter 5. This is a picture of the judgment. John looks up in heaven and as he does, he sees a strong angel come forth, verse 2, proclaiming with a loud voice, "Who is worthy to open the scroll and loose its seals?" Who can open the scroll of judgment?

He says, "No one in heaven or on earth or under the earth was able to open the scroll and look at it." And he said, "I wept much because no one was found worthy to open the scroll and read the scroll or look at it." But one of the elders said, "Don't weep. The Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David"—that is Christ in His divinity and humanity—"has prevailed to open the scroll and to loose its seven seals."

And I looked and behold, in the midst of the throne and of the four living creatures and in the midst of the elders, stood a Lamb as though it had been slain, having seven horns—horns are a symbol of power, seven is perfect power—seven eyes—eyes are a symbol of wisdom, that is perfect wisdom. So Jesus has perfect power to open the scrolls of judgment and He has perfect wisdom when He applies the judgment to our case.

He is the Lamb slain, so we need not fear judgment because the Lamb of God that was slain for us will take us through the judgment. Why do we not have to fear the judgment? There are five reasons why we don't need to fear if we're in Christ. First, in the judgment, the universe will see that Christ has done everything He could to save all humanity.

As our names come up in judgment, Jesus looks out over the whole universe. Remember the Bible says the hour of God's judgment has come. Satan has claimed that God is unfair, God is unjust. So the judgment is the final consummation of the great controversy between good and evil that reveals how righteous, loving, and compassionate Christ is. When names come up in the judgment, Jesus steps forth and He says to the whole universe, "Could I have done anything else to save this person?

Could I have done anything else to save John or Mary or Harry or Barbara? I sent my Holy Spirit to them when they were born. My light of the Spirit is the light that comes to every person in the world. I've arranged providences in their life. I've done everything possible to save them. Could I have done anything else?" The universe says, "No, You did everything You could do." Jesus came and He died the death we should have died.

So why don't we need to fear the judgment? Because in the judgment, the universe will see, first, that Jesus has done everything He could to save humanity. Secondly, in the judgment, Satan will be exposed before the entire universe as a deceiver and a destroyer. Thirdly, in the judgment, all wrongs will have been righted. Does anybody ever treat you unfairly, unjustly, unkindly? Did you ever have something you didn't deserve?

In the judgment, every wrong will be righted. Fourthly, in the judgment, judgment will be passed in favor of the people of God. In the judgment, good triumphs over evil, and the kingdom of God is given to Christ our Lord. Turn to Daniel chapter 7. In Daniel chapter 7, you find powers rise and fall. There is the lion, the bear, the leopard, and the dragon—Babylon, Medo-Persia, Greece, and Rome. Then you have this little horn, the medieval church.

Then as Daniel looks, he looks away from the earth, the chaos, and the conflict among nations. He looks up into heaven and he sees thousands and thousands gathered around the throne of God. In Daniel 7, verse 9 and 10: "I watched till thrones were put in place, the Ancient of Days was seated. His garment was white as snow, and the hair of His head was like pure wool. His throne was like a fiery flame, its wheels like burning fire; a fiery stream issued and came forth from before Him. Thousand thousands ministered to Him; ten thousand times ten thousand stood before Him."

Here are all the cherubims and seraphims, and here are beings from unfallen worlds. The whole universe is interested because Jesus is going to reveal His righteousness in the judgment. The court is seated, the books are opened. In verse 13, Daniel looks up: "I watched in the night visions, and behold, one like the Son of Man came to the clouds of heaven." So Jesus comes to the Ancient of Days. "Then to Him was given dominion and glory and a kingdom."

What is going on in the judgment? Christ is shown to be worthy. He is worthy to receive the kingdom. But what happens to God's people? Verse 21 and 22: "I was watching, and the same horn was making war with the saints until the Ancient of Days came, and judgment was made in favor of the saints of the Most High." Don't you love that? Judgment is made in favor of the saints of the Most High.

So what is the prophetic picture? In the last days of earth's history, church and state unite. God's people are oppressed. The controversy between good and evil wages. The judgment takes place. And as the judgment takes place, Jesus is honored as King of kings, Lord of lords. He's honored as Redeemer. He's honored as the one who's done everything to save humanity. Judgment is passed in favor of the saints of God.

Probation closes, the time of trouble takes place in the seven last plagues. Jesus comes at the end of the plagues, the millennium takes place, and then the Holy City descends. Look, when evil seems to be triumphing just at the end of time, and wickedness winning, look up. There is a final judgment coming, and Christ will triumph over Satan and the kingdom of God will be restored to its rightful ruler.

In Revelation, Jesus Christ is our eternal God. Jesus Christ is our all-powerful Creator. Jesus Christ is our loving Redeemer. Jesus Christ is our sanctifying Lord. Jesus Christ is our righteous judge. And sixthly, Jesus Christ is our coming King. Revelation 1, verse 7. Throughout the book of Revelation, the prophecies of Revelation end in the same place: Jesus is coming again. He's coming soon to take us home.

"Behold, He is coming with clouds, and every eye will see Him, even they who pierced Him. And all the tribes of the earth will mourn because of Him. Even so, amen." Revelation chapter 1 begins with the announcement, "Christ is coming with clouds." Look at Revelation chapter 22. Three times in Revelation 22, we have an emphasis on the coming of Jesus. Now if you were Satan, what would you do to an end-time people?

You'd try to get them to settle down in comfortable convenience. You'd try to get them to say, "Well, Christ may never come in my lifetime." You'd try to get them to lose their sense of the coming of Christ. You would get them so engulfed in the things of this world, they would be—their spiritual life would be strangled. They wouldn't have enough time for prayer or Bible study because they were so involved in making a living and buying things and possessions that they would not have time to make a life for eternity.

Revelation 22, verse 7: "Behold, I am coming quickly! Blessed is he who keeps the words of the prophecy of this book." Verse 12 and 13: "And behold, I am coming quickly! And my reward is with me, to give everyone according to his work." Verse 20: "He who testifies to these things says, 'Surely I am coming quickly.'" Revelation begins with the coming of Christ.

The theme of the coming of Christ is all through Revelation, and it ends with the coming of Christ. Whatever challenges we face, whatever troubles lie ahead, whatever oppression comes, whatever persecution prevails, we have the assurance that Christ is coming again. We wait with the assurance that His word never fails. We wait with the certainty that His return is sure. And we wait with hope that that day is soon. Never, never let anyone rob you of the assurance that Jesus is coming soon.

I was preaching on the coming of Christ, and somebody said to me, "Pastor Mark, look, hasn't the church preached the coming of Christ for the last 2,000 years?" And I said, "Well, if they have, we're closer now than we were 2,000 years ago."