The Two Bold Witnesses

*The sermon manuscript below was generated from the recording by AI…

As we pick back up over the Easter period, after the Easter period. Prior to Easter, we were working our way through the 7 trumpets. If you remember rightly, there were the 7 churches with the 7 letters, and then there were the 7 seals, and between the sixth and the 7th seal, there was an interlude where we saw the security of the people of God. And then, having heard the 7th seal, we then launched into the 7 trumpets. And funnily enough, in between the sixth and the 7th trumpet, there was another interlude, where I said last time, we begin to look at the witness of the church in the midst of the chaos of this world, with all of the pressures associated with it. And so last time, we looked at chapter ten and considered the introduction to this witness, and now we look at the witness of the church in chapter 11 as well.

One of the great joys of consecutive reading of the scriptures, you know, reading from cover to cover, is seeing threads get connected together. You know, the first time you read through, you’re a little bit at a loss and confused and not sure what’s going on. The second time you read through, you go, “Oh, that was talking about that part.” And the third time you read through, you make more connections and with each reading, you notice similar themes and similar stories and similar references coming up over and over again.

You know, Revelation 11 is kind of like the centerpiece of one of those moments in the Book of Revelation. The Book of Revelation, as I’ve said to you before, is kind of like a big tapestry made with lots of different biblical threads. And I think it would be fair to say that in chapter 11, we have one of the most dense parts of the tapestry. It’s almost like the Creator has decided to jam-pack as much biblical reference, biblical thread into chapter 11 than anywhere else in the book. And so in chapter 11, you might look and read and have things come to your mind from the Book of Kings with Elijah or from the Book of Exodus with Moses or from Daniel or pictures from Zechariah. And as you read through it, you’re sort of like, “Oh, this is that part.” And then you go, “Oh, wait a second, it’s that part. Oh no, it’s that part. Oh, no.” And it’s because the author is weaving together a whole bunch of biblical material in order to describe and help us see a very important message.

And this message, this vision comes to us in what you might call 3 different movements. The first movement is from verse one to 2, where we see the measuring of the temple. The second movement goes from verse 3 through to verse 13, where we hear about these 2 witnesses. And then the last movement from verse 14 to 19 takes us to that 7th trumpet blast.

So let’s consider these movements and hear what God might have to say to us.

The first movement, as I say, is this temple measuring ceremony, you might call it. We remember that this is a vision, right? It’s a dream, and normally you watch dreams. Sometimes in the dream you’re acting, sometimes you’re watching on. In this moment, John is given a job to do in the vision. Normally, visions are watched in the Old Testament. Here, John gets involved. All of a sudden, a voice says to him, “Get up, get a measuring rod, a staff, and go and measure the temple. Measure the altar. Measure those that worship there, but don’t measure the outside of the temple.”

You’ve gotta ask yourself the question, of course, what is going on here? Now, if you’re not familiar with the Old Testament, it’s a reference to Ezekiel, to Ezekiel 40 through 48, where Ezekiel follows around an angel who measures the temple, and sometimes John is measuring, sometimes the angel is measuring. And the message at that time is a message for God’s people who are in exile. They’re in Babylon. They have no temple. The temple is not yet rebuilt, and everything in Ezekiel 40 to 48 is in the future. It’s God saying, “I will return. I will come back to you, and I will restore a temple. I will restore my temple upon the earth, and I will do it in a way that it will never be undone again.” And that was, of course, partially fulfilled, as we’ve been seeing in Ezra and Nehemiah. But the prophecy in Ezekiel 40 through 48 is far too grand to be fulfilled alone in the reality of the rebuilding of the temple in the Old Testament.

So what’s it about? Well, it’s interesting that the Ezekiel prophecy is forward-looking, but this story is present. It’s a present measuring. And so you’ve gotta ask yourself the question, what is the temple? What’s the temple he’s talking about? It’s a picture of something.

Now, you remember the words of Jesus in Matthew 12, “Something greater than the temple is here.” Speaking of himself, right? Something greater than the temple is here. And as Jesus comes on the scene, and as he prophesies, and as he dies, and as he is raised alive, and as he ascends, and he establishes his church, as we then flow into the New Testament age, what do we see the apostles saying? Well, the Apostle Paul to the Corinthians, he writes to them and he says to them, “You are the temple of God.” And the presence of God is no longer manifested in a building. It’s now manifested in the people of God by His Holy Spirit. Paul can write and say, “You as the temple.” Peter can write and say, “You are living stones, built up a royal priesthood.”

So what’s John seeing? Well, he’s seeing a vision of a temple, but it’s pointing to the Church of Jesus Christ. He’s saying, “Go and measure the church. Measure God’s present temple.” And so then you have to ask yourself the question, well, what does it mean to measure? Why is he measuring it?

I think this measuring points to 2 very important realities, and you’ll understand this if you own a property. If you own a property, you are reasonably concerned about where the edge of your property is, right? And normally, I don’t know if it’s still this way, but normally you would get a title deed, and in the title deed it has the measurements, and it says this, “These are your borders. You own everything up to this edge.” And so this is a picture of possession. It’s a picture of the fact of what is God’s, what is Christ’s, and the church is Christ’s. And what John is seeing is that everything that is church belongs to Jesus Christ, and he’s called to go and measure it.

But it’s also a picture of protection, because after you measure the boundaries of your property, you don’t then let your neighbor move his fence closer to your house, do you? You know, you imagine one day you’re sitting there and you look out your lounge window, and the neighbor is busy moving the fence 3 meters towards your house. And you go, “Oh, look at that. The neighbor’s doing some yard work. That’s lovely.” No, you wouldn’t say that, would you? You’d be out the door and saying, “What are you doing? That’s my property.” He’s like, “Well, I’ve decided I want a bigger lawn.” You say, “Well, that’s wonderful for you to decide, but the reality is it’s my property. Get off.”

Well, what we’re seeing here is the claim of Christ over his church. “This is my house. This is my temple. This is my people. I own it, and I will protect it. I will keep it secure. I will keep it safe. I will guard it.”

And then you’ve got to ask yourself the question, what’s going on with this inner and outer courtyard? He says, “Measure the temple, but don’t measure that outer court.” Now, if you’re not familiar with the construction of the temple, you won’t be aware that there was a special courtyard on the outside of the temple, the very outside, and it was called the Courtyard of the Gentiles. It was the Court of the Gentiles, and it was a place, it was the only place where Gentiles were allowed to come into the house of God. They couldn’t come into the next section. That was for the Jews. They couldn’t come into the next section because that was for the priests. And they couldn’t come into the next section because that was for the high priest once a year. They were allowed on the outer court.

But now what John sees is, “Don’t measure the outer court.” Why? Well, because we no longer need an outer court for the Gentiles, do we? Because the Gentiles are now permanently within the house of God. The Gentiles have been included in the church. Jew and Gentile alike, the dividing wall of the flesh has been removed, and so now they’re welcome in. There’s no need for an outer court.

The other reason is because the outer court, the place for the nations, is going to be trampled under the feet of the nations. That which was meant to be a welcoming doorstep for the nations is now a battle zone. And so we’re told in the text, “It is given over to the nations, and they will trample the holy city for 42 months.”

What is this trampling? What is this trampling that will happen on the outer courts? It’s the reality of the opposition of the nations to the Church of the Lord Jesus Christ, that though the church is interiorly safe and secure, externally she is oppressed and trampled, isn’t she? Though God preserves his church, that does not mean she is not trampled in this world. It does not mean that she does not face persecution, trial, tribulation. Have we not seen that throughout the world? In China, in North Korea, Nigeria, in the Middle East, we have seen the church sorely oppressed and yet consistently and constantly preserved.

So that unlike those who suffer in the fifth and sixth trumpet, where there are locusts going around causing harm and causing people to die, unlike them, the church will always be safe and secure in the arms of Christ. Though we may be trampled, though Psalm 2, the nations might rage and the peoples plot against the church, Christ will always keep them secure.

But then you have to ask yourself the question, what is this 42 months? Well, you might notice there’s also one thousand two hundred and sixty days. There’s also, in Daniel, which is what this is referring to, three and a half years, or a time, times, and half a time. A time is one year, times is 2 years, half a year after that, three and a half years. It’s all the same period of time, isn’t it? It’s a reference to the Book of Daniel, in which case it’s the reality of the work of God throughout the leaving and returning of Christ, that this is the reality that will always be at play until Christ returns.

However, you’ve got to ask yourself the question, why does he use different times then? Why does he say 42 months and then one thousand two hundred and sixty days and then at other points 3.5? I think one of the primary reasons is the way it feels when you hear it. 42 months doesn’t feel very long. But when someone says one thousand two hundred and sixty days, it feels like a long time, day after day after day. And so what we’re being presented here in these first 2 verses is that though the Church of Christ will be trampled in this world, yet she will be preserved by God. She will be divinely protected. And for the church and its experience, it’ll feel like just 42 months, just three and a half years. It’ll just blink by. And though we’ve suffered, very quickly we’ll close our eyes and wake up in peace. Though we may give forth our life and die, yet we will be secure in our Savior’s arm.

And I think this presents us with a wonderful picture in comparison to what we saw in the 9th chapter, doesn’t it? In the 9th chapter, we saw a world being harassed by the devil, harmed by evil spirits, persecuted by horses and by locusts, spiritually attacked and suffering to death. And yet here we see Christ defending his church. It’s Christ fulfilling his promise, isn’t it? “I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will never overthrow it.”

And so we can be encouraged that whatever the world might bring against the church, it’ll never win. Christ will maintain his bride.

And so we see John measuring the temple, the divine protection of the church.

And the second thing we see, the picture moves, and we see 2 witnesses in verses 3 to verse 13. It’s like one of those dreams where you’re dreaming one thing, and then next minute you’re in a completely different spot, and something completely different is happening, and you’re wondering how you got there. And with the shift of the dream, the threads of biblical scripture shift. We’re now no longer in Ezekiel 40 through 48. All of a sudden, we’re in the book of Zechariah. All of a sudden, we’re in Zechariah four, and we read these words: “I will grant,” verse 3, “I will grant authority to my 2 witnesses, and they will prophesy day after day after day, twelve hundred and sixty days, clothed in sackcloth.”

Now, you ask yourself the question, who are the 2 witnesses? One of my favorite commentators put it very well. He said, “The 2 witnesses, the 2 witnesses are the 2 olive trees and the 2 lampstands,” because that’s what the Bible says. It’s very easy. People say, “Who are they?” Well, verse 4 tells you, “These are the 2 olive trees and the 2 lampstands.” And of course, that’s very helpful. You know, well, what does it mean then? What is the 2 olive trees? What is the 2 lampstands?

And to understand that, you have to go to the book of Zechariah. In the book of Zechariah, we see 2 olive trees, and we see 2 lampstands. And the 2 olive trees are feeding the lampstands before the presence of God with a perpetual supply of oil. Of course, in those days, they didn’t have light switches, did they? And so if you wanted a light, what did you do? You had to fill up the oil lamp, and you had to deal with the wick, and you had to constantly maintain it. And once the oil ran out, you needed to refill it. And yet Zechariah got a picture of a lampstand perpetually fed by oil.

And what’s really fascinating is when you step back in the Book of Zechariah and look at the broader picture, you see almost the same identical thing we’re seeing right here. In the Book of Zechariah, in chapter one through 2, an angel is told to measure the temple. In chapter 3, the temple and what God is doing is opposed by the devil. He comes, and he attacks Joshua and accuses him before the presence of the Lord. And in the second half of chapter three and chapter 4, God defends His people, and He says, “Not by might nor by strength, but by my Spirit,” says the Lord. In other words, I will ensure that my work is accomplished.

And as you realize what’s happening in Zechariah and you then look at Revelation, what you begin to see is the reality of the testimony of the Church of Jesus Christ. These 2 witnesses, just like the temple in the first 2 verses, are a picture of the church, but it’s a picture of the church and its testimony in this world. And we get this picture of trees, olive trees and lampstands. The lampstands, of course, are the picture of the testimony burning brightly, being perpetually fed and fueled and flamed by the Spirit of God, so that no matter how much pressure comes their way, the church of Christ’s witness will never be extinguished.

It’s like that picture in Pilgrim’s Progress, where he’s in the interpreter’s house, and he sees a fire, and there’s a person chucking water on it constantly, but the fire never goes out. And then they look behind the fire, and there’s someone pouring oil on it. This is the picture of the church as it bears forth testimony into a dark world which hates it.

You have to realize everything in this world that is not of Christ aims at denying the testimony of the Lord Jesus Christ, that the government, the school systems, the medical infrastructures, everything which is apart from Christ seeks to silence the church of Jesus Christ. It may not be obvious, it may not always be explicit, but perpetually, this world has one mission: to put out the flame of the lampstand of the church of Jesus Christ.

And we’re being given a picture here in these first couple of verses that Christ, by His Spirit, will ensure that the lampstand is always burning brightly. Remember chapter one, the 7 lampstands? Who was walking in their midst? Jesus Christ, right? And what was He doing as a priest? He was trimming the wick, and He was adding fuel to it to keep it burning, and that’s what He’s doing in our midst too, brothers and sisters.

And so what we see is a Spirit-fueled witness. But we also get to see something of the nature of this witness as the picture begins to shift again, that the witness of the church of Christ, these 2 witnesses, firstly, is established with 2 people. Why 2? I mean, John could have just had one witness, right? Or the vision could have been just one witness, but it’s 2. Why? Well, do you remember in the Book of Deuteronomy how many witnesses were needed in order to establish a charge? And when Jesus was upon the earth, what did He say? He says you need 2 witnesses. And when the Apostle Paul speaks of bringing an accusation against an elder, how many witnesses must you have? 2. And when Jesus was raised from the dead, how many people went into the tomb? 2. Why? Because if it’s just one person, your witness kind of counts for nothing, right? If just one person says it, it’s like, well, he could just be making it up. But here we see 2 witnesses in which God is telling us that this is sure, it is verifiable, it is factual, it is trustworthy.

And these 2 witnesses come in the power and authority of Moses and Elijah. They, on one hand, are able to make the rain stop. Well, you might think that’s quite helpful today when you go back out to your car. But remember the story of Elijah in the Old Testament, where he goes to Ahab and he says, “For three and a half years, there will be no rain until I say.” It’s a striking claim to make, isn’t it? There’s the power to stop the rain, and they have the power, the power to have fire pour forth from their word and consume people. And the story in the Old Testament of Elijah with some 50 men come to him and says, “The king says come down.” And he says, “Well, if I’m a prophet, if I’m a man of God, let fire come down from heaven and consume you.” And fire came down from heaven and consumed them. It happened twice. Back to back. Fire consuming.

It is a little bit different. It comes from their mouth, which is important, as we’ll see in a second. They have the power to strike blood, to strike water and turn it into blood. Sounds like Moses, doesn’t it? Why is it important that it comes from their mouth? Because it’s the word that they speak. It’s the prophetic power of these witnesses that causes things to take place.

And I said, this is the church, right? The church’s testimony, the church’s witness is patterned off the prophetic ministry of the Old Testament. Why? Because the prophetic ministry of the Old Testament was both authoritative and powerful, effective. When a prophet said something, it happened, right? And what do you see when you get to the New Testament church with Ananias and Sapphira? Ananias comes in and says, “We sold it for this much money.” And Peter says to him, “You shall surely die.” Dead on the spot. Prophetic authority and power being displayed in the church of Jesus Christ.

And brothers and sisters, it’s still true today. The testimony of the church of Jesus Christ is powerful and effective to bring about the purposes of God. We’re not being told to call down fire upon people. We’re not being told to stop the rain. It’s a picture of what happens when Christ’s word comes forth from the mouth of the church into the world. What are we told? It never returns void. It’s like the Apostle Paul says in 2 Corinthians, “As the word goes forth, it either kills or it makes alive,” doesn’t it? Every single one of you, the word of Christ being preached in this moment is doing something. It’s never neutral. It’s either going to make you more a child of hell or more a child of God. It is never neutral. It never has no effect. It always does something.

And so we see this testimony, Spirit-fueled, is always effective in this world with the authority of God, patterned after the prophets, but it’s also patterned after the cross of the Lord Jesus Christ, isn’t it?

And so we see here in the text, verse 7, “When they’ve finished their testimony, the beast that rises from the bottomless pit will make war on them and conquer them and kill them. And their dead bodies will lie in the street of the great city” that symbolically is called Sodom and Egypt, where their Lord was crucified. “And for three and a half days, some from the peoples and tribes and languages and nations will gaze on their dead bodies and refuse to let them be placed in a tomb. And those who dwell on the earth will rejoice over them and make merry and exchange presents, because these 2 prophets had been a torment to those who dwell on the earth. But after the three and a half days, a breath of life from God entered them and they stood up on their feet, and great fear fell on those who saw them. Then they heard a loud voice from heaven saying to them, ‘Come up here.’ And they went up to heaven in a cloud, and their enemies watched them.”

What’s this a picture of? It’s a picture of the cruciform-shaped witness of the church. That though we bear testimony, like Christ, there will be times of suffering. There will be times when it appears as though the church is dead and her testimony is silenced.

Now, this could be referring to a particular time of suffering at the end of days, what some people call the Great Tribulation, and I think there’s an element of truth to that. But I think primarily what it’s referencing is the reality that as the world makes war upon the Church of Jesus Christ, at times she will suffer bitterly, and the testimony will be all but snuffed out.

And there’s places around the world like that, right? Think about North Korea. I can’t remember exactly, but it’s something like 0.1 percent of North Korea knows who Jesus Christ is, 0.1. And if you go to North Korea, you’ll see wonderful post boxes on corners, and if you put a person’s name in the post box and tell someone that this person’s a Christian, they vanish overnight. Well, that’s a hard place to bear testimony, isn’t it? In fact, it’s so terrifying that you must be careful if you even bear testimony to your children, because the children are so brainwashed they will report their parents to the government, and the parents will vanish.

And yet, the witness of Christ will never fully be extinguished in North Korea. We can pray that like the raising of the dead of these witnesses, the witness of the Church of Christ in North Korea would be raised up in power so that those who rejoiced over her downfall would be filled with fear.

And brothers and sisters, the church, the testimony of the Church of Jesus Christ in New Zealand isn’t that very great either, is it? There are cities and towns of New Zealand where there’s no church. And you drive through them, and you think to yourself, “There’s no witness of Christ here at all.” And what can we do? We can pray, “Lord, raise up a testimony, raise up a witness in this place.”

Notice how similarly they’re treated as to Christ. Like Christ, they die. Like Christ, they are raised up. Like Christ, they’re raised up into the heavens and the clouds to be with their Lord. Why? Because the ultimate pattern for everything the Church goes through is the Lord Jesus Christ, right? We take up our cross, and we follow Him. We take up the cruciform life as a church. Our victory is not through human schemes and man-made wisdom, but it is through suffering that we will advance the kingdom of God. It is by taking up our cross and following the Lord Jesus.

And so what we’re seeing is that as hard as the world might try to raise up victory over the Church, the world will never ultimately win, right? Though the Church is trampled, she is prophetically powerful in this world to accomplish the purposes of God, and that should greatly encourage us in our labor in New Zealand, because the Spirit of God is working in our midst. Paul says. He says, “I do not preach with worldly wisdom. I don’t preach with words of wisdom, but I preach by demonstration of power in the Spirit.”

It’s a striking thing, isn’t it, that a simple man can stand at the front of a building and speak, and people become children of God, and the darkness is pushed back, and the kingdom of light is advanced, and the nations are defeated. Why? Because it’s the power of Christ at work within us. It’s not because of RBC. It’s not because of our skills. It’s because of Christ.

And then the picture shifts again in the vision, and all of a sudden John writes down, “The second woe has passed. Behold, the third woe is soon to come,” and then a loud trumpet blast begins. Do you remember the eagle from a couple of weeks ago? There was an eagle that went through the sky crying out, “Woe, woe, woe.” There was the first woe. The second woe has just finished, and now the third woe has begun.

A trumpet crashes everything. It’s a little bit like that moment when the 7th trumpet blast sounds and the walls of Jericho fall down. You remember that? The walls crash down, and if you’re a person sitting inside of Jericho and you’re not Rahab, it is woe, right? Because Israel comes in and slaughters everybody, and that’s the picture we’re being given here. This is a woe.

Let’s be clear. What we’re about to see is not a woe for those of you who believe in Jesus Christ, but it is a woe for those outside of Christ.

And so as the church labors on through the first 2 parts of chapter 11, ultimately and finally, though trampled, though persecuted, though maligned, though harassed, a day is coming when the trumpet blast shall sound and everything will be different.

What shall change in the day of the 7th trumpet? Well, firstly, the kingdom of the world will be replaced with the kingdom of Christ. Or to use Old Testament imagery, everything will have holy written upon it. Everything will be temple. There will no longer be a corner of the world where you go and you think to yourself, “Christ’s kingdom really needs to come here,” because His kingdom will have come.

Remember, what do we pray? “Your kingdom come, Your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.” It’s accomplished. The kingdom which has advanced throughout the ages has finally been fully realized, and the kingdom of darkness is no more.

But notice who is here. They sing. They sing in verse 17, “We give thanks to you, Lord God Almighty, who is and who was.” Now, I wonder if you notice what’s missing in that statement. In earlier chapters, this same phrase has come up, but there’s been a third thing. It’s been, “Who is, and who was, and who is to come.” Notice what’s missing? There’s no longer who is to come. Why? Because He’s come, and so forevermore the song will be who is and who was, because there will never be a waiting any longer. He will be present with His people forever.

And what will He do on that day? Firstly, He will judge the wicked. Verse 18: “The nations raged, but Your wrath came, and the time for the dead to be judged.” And this is why it’s a woe. Because those who do not know Christ will face the Lord, not as rewarder, but as judge, and unless one can say, “I am innocent, I am righteous,” they will be cast into outer darkness, away from the presence of the Lord for all eternity. They will die in their sin and suffer in death for all eternity. Hell will be their only existence, and the flame will never be extinguished, and the worm shall never die, and they will grate their teeth and be filled with misery and terror. This is why it’s woe.

And yet, those who go there, go there willingly. Because Christ freely offers a way out, doesn’t He? Today is the day of salvation. He offers grace this side of glory through the testimony of the church, so that people might cast themselves upon Christ and be saved from the wrath of God. And all they must do is believe in the Lord Jesus Christ and confess with their mouth that Jesus is Lord.

And so let me ask you the question, have you done it? I’m not asking you the question, have you gotten yourself baptized? I’m not asking you the question, have you been born into a Christian family? I’m not asking you the question, have you tithed or have you done a certain number of good works? I’m asking you the question, have you put your trust in Jesus Christ to save you from the wrath of God? And have you publicly confessed that Jesus Christ is Lord? Because if you have not, why will you delay? Why will you die when Christ freely offers you salvation? Please, don’t die in your sin when you’re offered eternal life.

And for those of us who are the people of God, this will not be a day of woe, it will be a day of rewarding. Have a look at verse 18, “For the rewarding of your servants, the prophets and saints, for those who fear your name, both small and great.” That’s a lovely touch, isn’t it? Both small and great. Maybe you consider yourself to be very insignificant. You don’t have a large sphere of influence. You’re not one of the public figures. You’re not one of the important people. You’re not one of the beautiful people. You’re just a regular person living out your Christian life, maybe as a mother or as a father or as a worker, and you feel that your efforts are small. And the Lord tells us here, “The small will be rewarded.” Everyone who trusts in the Lord.

Remember the words of Jesus, just one little cup of water given to a saint. Maybe all you did was put out a table on Tuesday at the wedding out of love for your brother and sister, and the Lord says it will not be forgotten, but will be rewarded. It’s a day of joy for you and I, isn’t it?

Wow. The 7th trumpet blast, we look forward to, don’t we? We pray for it. Bring it on. I mean, we’re concerned for our family outside of Christ, we’re concerned for our friends that we want to be saved, but, oh, how we long for the day of the return of Jesus Christ when death and sin shall be no more.

That which is a woe for the world is a joy for us because though we are harassed, though we are trampled, though we are persecuted, ultimately the church will be victorious, won’t she? She will never be overcome. She will never be overthrown. She will never die because Christ holds her secure, and so we need not fear. We don’t need to panic when we see the nations raging. Why? Because He who sits in heaven laughs.

It’s a wonderful thought, isn’t it? I mean, from our perspective, we see the raging of the nations, and we’re tempted to shake in our boots. But if you were sitting in heaven listening to God laughing at them, you wouldn’t be very fearful, would you? It’s like a 2-year-old plotting against their father. You know, they sneak up behind them. You know, this used to happen. I’d be on my haunches, and my little children would sneak up behind me. Of course, they thought I couldn’t hear them. They walked like elephants. They still do, by the way, probably ’cause I do. But they’d sneak up behind me, and then they’d jump on me. And what would I do? I’d just grab them, stand up, turn them upside down. They were no threat.

Well, how much more the raging of the nations to God? They are nothing but a breath of wind to the Lord Jesus Christ. So do not fear the plotting and the scheming of this world, but look forward with confidence to the day of the victory of the Lord Jesus Christ.

“I cannot tell how He will win the nations,” the hymn says, “but I know it’s gonna happen.” Will it be this week, this month, this year, in ten years, or in a thousand years? I have no idea. But this I know, He will win. And it’s a wonderful thing to be on the winning side, isn’t it?

I mean, can you imagine that you sign up for a team sport? I mean, you pick the team sport, cricket or rugby or soccer. And you go to sign up, and they say to you, “Look, uh, I just — you need to know something when you sign up for this team.” You say, “What’s that?” They say, “Well, um, it’s actually guaranteed that we win every single game.” You say, “What do you mean guaranteed?” “Well, it’s just, it’s, that’s the rules of the sport we play. The rules are that this team always wins. Yeah, it might look really grim. We might get to the 75th minute of the match, and we might be 40 points down, but we always win.”

Well, wouldn’t you wanna be on that team? That sounds like a pretty good team to me. No matter how bad I play, the team’s gonna win anyway? No matter how many catches I fumble, no matter how many passes I miss, we still win? “Yeah, that’s the way it works.” Wouldn’t you run out onto the field with an incredible confidence?

Well, that’s what it’s like for the church of Jesus Christ. That’s why we march on victoriously into suffering and death. That’s why we walk to this stake singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs as the saints of old. Brothers and sisters, we have joined a team that we know will win, the church of Jesus Christ. She is divinely protected, she is prophetically powerful, and she is ultimately victorious.

Well, may God glorify His name by establishing this testimony here in RBC and here in Karaka in South Auckland so that we might see His work being fulfilled in our presence.

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