Encouraged to Bear Our Testimony

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

Well, you might not remember, but close to the beginning of the series on Revelation, I spoke about the Book of Revelation like a big tapestry, one of those large wall hangings, and I mentioned some of the really large ones around the world that go from room to room to room. And sometimes, as we focus down on some of the details of a tapestry, we can lose sight of the whole thing, because the whole thing serves a purpose as one unit, right?

Well, as you step back and you look at the whole tapestry of the Book of Revelation, one of the things you notice is pictures that are very similar the whole way through. You know, similar themes that occur. I mentioned last week the theme of the sovereignty of God again, and you’ve heard me mention it several times because that’s one of the primary themes in the Book of Revelation. And one of the other primary themes in the Book of Revelation is the word of the testimony of the church of Jesus Christ, the church’s witness, its testimony in the world.

And the reason for that should be pretty obvious. The Church is persecuted, and it’s tempted to what? To close its mouth because we are oppressed when we testify to Christ. And so if I just give up testifying, everyone will leave me alone, right? And so the Book of Revelation is written to encourage the church of Jesus Christ to be bold in its witness. And this interlude in chapter 10 and 11 serves the same purpose.

You might remember that in the seals, when we had the 7 seals, between the 6th seal and the 7th seal, there was an intermission or an interlude, right? All of a sudden in chapter 7, we were snatched up into heaven and we saw the church triumphant, gathered together in glory, and we saw the sealing of the saints that gave us assurance and that interlude was primarily about the safety and the security of the church.

This interlude is a bit different. This interlude in chapter 10 and chapter 11, which you’ll notice in verse 15, brings us eventually to the final trumpet. This interlude is about the witness of the church of Jesus Christ. You see, in the trumpets, we saw the judgment of God as a warning to the world, didn’t we? We saw God laying judgments upon the world and this reality of people not repenting. And one of the temptations for the church would be to think, “Well, if people aren’t gonna repent under the judgment of God, then why bother witnessing? Why bother living as a testimony, especially if I suffer for it?”

And so now in chapter ten and eleven, as we look at the judgment of God falling upon an unrepentant world, God now encourages the church, in spite of judgment and in spite of a lack of repentance, to continue faithfully in their testimony, not to grow weary. And so we see 3 encouragements in our passage, 3 encouragements.

The first encouragement comes from an angel, an encouragement from an angel. Have a look at the first 3 verses.

“I saw another mighty angel coming down from heaven wrapped in a cloud with a rainbow over his head, and his face was like the sun and his legs like pillars of fire. He had a little scroll open in his hand and he set his right foot on the sea and his left foot on the land and called out with a loud voice like a lion roaring. When he called out, the 7 thunders sounded.”

I remember a mother once saying to me, “You know, it’s really frustrating that my children play up lots, and they’re really mischievous, and I tell my husband about it, and then he comes into the lounge, and my children act really good.” Like as soon as dad walks in the room, everything changes. It’s nice, but at the same time it would be great if they always acted like this. But it’s striking, isn’t it? The presence of a father in a home. He goes to work and things change when he comes home, when he walks in the door. The atmosphere changes, the way the children behave changes. You know, the presence of a person can make a great difference. When a person’s having a panic attack, a close friend, a loved spouse can make all the difference between life and death.

And for the Church of Jesus Christ, what we’re being given a vision of is the presence of an angel. But we need to ask, who is this angel? This angel has features which should bring back some memories for you. His face is like the sun. He comes from heaven. His legs are like fire. He speaks with a mighty voice. He himself is called mighty. And if you were to look back into Revelation in chapter one and other places, you would see these same descriptions used for the Lord Jesus Christ himself.

And so the question is, is this angel meant to be Jesus? And we can’t be dogmatic about it, but either the angel is meant to be Jesus as the head of the church, present with the church of Jesus Christ, or he is a representation of Jesus. He’s an angel who goes forth like the angel of the Lord in the Old Testament, who speaks for Yahweh. And it’s that type of a picture I think we’re being given. Whether it’s meant to be Jesus himself or not is probably of little matter, but the significance of seeing this, that this angel is definitely representing the living Christ, the Lord Jesus Christ.

And this angel is firstly present with his church in the wilderness. He’s present in the wilderness of this world. Now, I wonder if any Old Testament imagery came to your mind when you thought of a cloud and pillars of fire, and when you thought of sea and land. I wonder if what John’s seeing here is something akin to the Israelites leaving Egypt. You remember when they leave Egypt? As they come out, they come out from land, and they found that God was present with them in the land of Egypt, and then they were led out towards the sea, and they were led by what? A pillar of cloud by day and a pillar of fire by night.

And those pillars were to do 2 things. Firstly, they were a reminder of the presence of God among his people. But they were also a reminder of the judgment of God against his enemies. Because when they went through the sea, do you remember what happened when they went through the sea? Yeah, the seas came back down upon the Egyptians. But do you know why the people were not overtaken? Because the pillar of cloud and the pillar of fire stopped the Egyptians from being able to overtake the Israelites, enclosed them so that the sea folded back over them. So the very thing, God, that was present with his people for their good and their benefit was also an overwhelming power of judgment upon the enemy of God’s people.

And what we’re being given here is the picture for the church of the fact that the Lord himself is present among God’s people in this world. As we see his judgment falling down upon the godless and upon an abominable and wicked generation, God himself is with his people for their good. God himself is always with us. He never forsakes us. As we bear testimony and witness in this world, Christ himself walks with us.

And there’s this striking reference, I think it’s in either James or Jude, I forget now. It’s in one of those books, where the writer says that Jesus himself led the Israelites through the wilderness. Jesus led them through the wilderness. And you might say, “Well, yeah, but Jesus hadn’t been born yet.” And you’re right. But the second person of the Trinity was there, and Christ, the Son of God, the second person of the Trinity, he gently and graciously led his people through the wilderness.

But there were 2 ways that he led his people, weren’t there? There was a wicked generation that suffered under the judgment of the Son of God, and there was a faithful generation that received the promises of God. And it’s the same Christ, and it’s the same Son who does this work among his people in this world. And so the same hand that is for us is against our enemies.

And the second thing we see here is Christ’s power to help his people. He’s not just present, but he’s present with power to be able to help us. And so we get this picture of might. He’s a mighty angel, and he’s got the voice like a lion, and his face shines like the sun. You see, it’s wonderful to have someone present when you need someone. But if someone’s invading my house, Shanette being present with me is not particularly helpful, is it? I mean, what good is she gonna do? But if a 7-foot man is standing next to me, that’s gonna be a lot more helpful.

And what we’re given here is the picture of the almighty nature of the living Christ. You see, we can be tempted to think that in our witness and in our testimony, we’re kind of helpless. But brothers and sisters, we’re not helpless. We may be weak, but we’re not powerless, because the power of Christ, we’re told in 2 Corinthians, is made perfect in our weakness. And so while we live as testimonies and witnesses in this world, the living Christ is with us to work in power to achieve his ends, whether it be judgment or salvation. He will work and achieve his ends because he has the power to do so.

But there’s another picture we see here, and it’s one of limiting judgment, one of withholding punishment, withholding unmitigated wrath. He comes down with a rainbow over his head. Now, a rainbow can be a picture in the Book of Revelation of the presence of God at the throne, à la Revelation 4, but I think here a different picture is being given.

Now, we remember, don’t we, that the rainbow is the covenantal sign in Genesis 9, right? And why did God give the covenantal sign? He gave the covenantal sign as a reminder to whom? As a reminder to himself. Not that God needs reminding. It’s for our sake, not his sake. But it says that, “So that I would see it and remember my covenant and not destroy the world by a flood.”

Now, why is that imagery so important to this passage? Because God, in the 6 trumpets, is in the middle of heaping out judgment upon the nations. And Christ comes down to encourage the testimony of his people, and he does so by reminding them that the day has not come, and that he is withholding the outpouring of his wrath because there are still saints to be saved. There are still people to be gathered in.

This is one of the things I love about the fact that the LGBQT community, if you want to call them that, abomination is probably a more fitting term, uses the rainbow as their status symbol. It’s so fitting because they’re acting in abhorrent sin of the most wickedness, and they’re waving the sign to God that God has given humanity as a perpetual reminder that judgment has not yet come. And it is only the mercy and common grace of God towards the elect of God that means as they lift it up in rebellion, they are not wiped off the face of the planet.

Because let’s be honest, brothers and sisters, if it was you and I, what would we do? We would wipe the plate clean, wouldn’t we? To be frank, I would have no patience to endure what the living God endures from the wicked, and yet he does.

And so we’re encouraged here by the presence of Christ to be faithful in our testimony, that when we go into our workplaces, brothers and sisters, we don’t go into our workplaces alone, for Christ is with us. That when we gather together like this as the saints of God, we don’t do so alone, but he who stands on both land and sea is present with his people, present with them in power and present with them withholding the outpouring of God’s wrath until the appointed day.

I think that encourages us to do what Jesus said in Matthew 10, “Everyone who acknowledges me before man, I will acknowledge before my Father in heaven and the angels. But anyone who does not acknowledge me before man, I will be ashamed of in the presence of my Father.” And I think it’s a challenge for us this morning, isn’t it? Are we ashamed of Jesus? Are we ashamed to confess that Jesus is our Lord publicly and before people in our lunchrooms and in our homes and on buses and wherever we go? That given the opportunity, do we open our mouths or do we silence our testimonies because we’re afraid, because we forget that Christ stands with us?

We need to remember that like Paul when he’s in prison, you remember that moment in the Book of Acts, Paul’s in prison, and Jesus comes and stands at his side, and he says to him, “Paul, do not be afraid of them. I will not let you be given into their hands, for I am with you, and you must be a testimony of me to emperors and kings.”

Now, could you imagine what would happen if that happened to you tonight? You went to bed tonight, and you’re thinking about work tomorrow, and you’re hearing this sermon, and you think to yourself, “Okay, I want to do it, but I’m afraid. I want to do it. I want to tell my work colleagues, or I want to tell my friends, or I want to tell my family, but I’m scared. I’m nervous. What might happen?” And in the middle of the night, one o’clock in the morning, you wake up to someone jabbing you. And you wake up, and you look up, and Jesus is standing there. And he says to you, “Don’t be afraid. I’m gonna come with you. I’m gonna come into your work tomorrow, and I’ll hold your hand, and I’ll help you be a testimony of Christ. I’ll help you say the words. I’ll give you words to say. You can just copy me. Just say what I say.”

Would you not have huge confidence? Like, “Well, but Jesus is coming with me. This is not a problem at all. He’s got my back.” But brothers and sisters, isn’t that true tomorrow? That’s exactly what’s gonna happen. Yeah, I know you can’t see Him. Well, not with your physical eyes, but by faith you can see Him, can’t you? By faith, you know you have the Spirit of the living God inside of you, that He has poured out His Spirit upon you so that you might see and so that you might know and so that you might be a testimony. So be bold, be courageous, and acknowledge the Son in this world.

So our first encouragement is in the presence of this angel.

Our second encouragement comes from a decree, from a decree in verses 4 to 7. Have a look here with me.

“When he called out, the 7 thunders sounded,” verse 4, “And when the 7 thunders had sounded, I,” that is John, “was about to write, but I heard a voice from heaven saying, ‘Seal up what the 7 thunders have said and do not write it down.’ And the angel whom I saw standing on the sea and on the land raised his right hand to heaven and swore by him who lives forever and ever, who created heaven and what is in it, the earth and what is in it, the sea and what is in it, that there would be no more delay, but that in the days of the trumpet call to be sounded by the 7th angel the mystery of God would be fulfilled, just as he announced to his servants the prophets.”

I wonder if you’ve ever struggled with the doubt in your mind and heart which says, “It’s been a really long time. You know, it’s been two thousand years since Jesus came. What if we’re wrong? What if none of it was true, you know, and another thousand years goes on and another thousand years goes on and this is all there is?” It is a doubt sowed by the devil quite frequently, I think, in the hearts and minds of believers. It’s a challenge because from our perspective it feels like it’s just gonna carry on going and going, right?

And maybe John felt that way as he saw these visions. He saw 7 seals, and then he saw 7 trumpets, and what if there’s gonna be just 7 after 7? And then he gets 7 thunders, and maybe he’s thinking to himself, “Well, what happens if these sevens just go on indefinitely?” I mean, you’ve gotta remember for John it’s been a long life. He was in his mid to early thirties probably when Jesus was around physically. He’s now in his nineties probably, and all of his apostle friends are dead. What if they were wrong? What if, as their religious leaders said, Jesus was a phony? What if nothing’s ever gonna change?

Well, the temptation for us is to be despondent in such thoughts, isn’t it? Because if life’s just gonna carry on week after week, year after year, life after life, generation after generation, why bother? Why not just eat, drink, and be merry and die? It’s all just vanity, right? That’s the temptation. That’s the temptation for the church when it comes to a witness. Why live boldly for Christ if this is just gonna carry on forever? Just let everyone do their own thing. Just embrace postmodernity. Great fun.

Well, John hears another cycle of 7. John hears another cycle of 7. You and I don’t. It’s a bit odd, isn’t it? 7 seals in detail, 7 trumpets in detail, 7 thunders sealed up. Why? It’s interesting because we are gonna get another set of 7. Remember, in the first judgment, the judgment was poured out on a quarter of the world. The second judgment is poured out on a third of the world. The 4th set of 7 is poured out on everyone, that is the bowls of God’s wrath. I wonder what the thunders had intended to be. Was it a half maybe? You know, quarter, third, half. We don’t know.

Why? Because God said, “Enough is enough,” that’s why. God said, “Finished.” God said, “There will be no more delay. Seal it up,” He says. Now, this sealing up of God’s things comes from the Book of Daniel. It’s used twice, used differently. Once it’s used, “Seal it up,” because what’s going to happen is a long way away. The other way it’s used is towards the end of the book in chapter 12, “Seal it up,” because it’s definitely gonna happen. Here, it’s sort of like a mixture of those 2 things. Seal it up, don’t let it out, because we will not delay. It is surely going to happen. There is no doubt. Do not doubt any longer.

And so it’s explained in verse six and seven, “He swears that in the days of the trumpet call to be sounded, the mystery of God would be fulfilled.” In other words, we’re not gonna do another round of 7. We’re going directly to the 7th trumpet.

Why is that important? Why is that important for us, brothers and sisters? Because from our perspective, it feels like life just carries on going. And what we desperately need to hear is that the heart of God is for his church and for this world, and to bring about the fulfillment of his purposes.

You see, when we start to think and believe the doubt that life just is gonna carry on going on, what we’re beginning to call into question is the character of God, because God has promised that he is faithful and he will return. You remember the words of Jesus to his troubled disciples, “Don’t be troubled. If I go away to prepare a place for you, I will come to you again so that you may be with me.” And two thousand years later, we begin to doubt that, don’t we? We begin to think, “Well, that was fine for the disciples. Two thousand years later, he hasn’t come back yet.”

And what we’re being reminded here is that God’s continuing presence in the midst of everything and the ongoing timeline is not due to God’s negligence. It’s not due to God’s inability to bring his purposes to fruition. It’s a result of his patience. Do you remember the words in 2 Peter, where the Apostle Peter writes, “The Lord is not slow to fulfill his purposes, as some count slowness. But he is patient, not willing that any of his should perish”? The reason we’re here two thousand years later is because he didn’t want you to miss out, because he loved you too much to end the suffering that his church endures by its testimony.

And yet it is the suffering of God’s people throughout the generations that means that you’re sitting here today a believer, right? It is the testimony of the Church of Christ and the blood of its martyrs that means we’re still here as believers, and so we should be encouraged.

Do you know why? Because it means there’s still people to save. And maybe you’re tempted to think it’s too late for your family. Maybe you’re tempted to think it’s too late for your friends or your work colleagues. Well, the fact that Christ has not returned means it’s not too late, because there are still elect to gather in. And so we should be busy in our testimony, right? The fact that we’ve got the year 2026, however long we may have in it, is a living testimony of the promises of God that there are still people in this world to be saved, and so we should be busy. We should bear forth witness everywhere we go, because it might be that we witness to the last person. Wouldn’t that be amazing?

Could you imagine if one of the Gideons in the room gets a Bible and he gives it to someone and the person opens it up? Or maybe you go to your workplace and you speak with your friend over lunch, and he says to you, “What did you get up to over Easter? I went to the beach. I took a 5-day weekend. It was great.” He said, “What did you get up to?” And you said, “I went to church.” They said, “Eh? It’s a public holiday. What did you go to church for?” “I don’t know. I went 3 times.” “Now, 3 times? Are you insane? I mean, going to church once to be religious on Easter, I can understand, but 3 times? Why would you go to church?” You say, “Because I found someone. I found someone I love.” And if you’re single, they’re probably gonna say, “Oh, did you find a pretty lady?” You go, “No. I found a friend, oh, such a friend who loved me ere I knew Him. He drew me with the cords of love and tightly bound me to Him.” And they say, “What are you talking about?” And you say, “I found Jesus. He’s amazing. He’s such a loving person, that He laid down His life so that I might live. And so my heart delights in nothing more than to bow down and worship Him.”

And you imagine you share that with your friend or your work colleague, and they say, “I want to know this one.” And you say, “I can show you how. Believe in Jesus Christ,” and they believe in Jesus Christ, and the trumpet blasts. The time has come for His return because the last elect has been saved. That could be your privilege. That could be my privilege because we’re still here. There’s still work to be done.

The definiteness of the end makes it easier to run the race, right? I mean, could you imagine running a one thousand meter dash, one thousand meter race, a kilometer? But they say to you, “Look, it’s a kilometer, but the finishing line is on wheels, and we adjust it suitably as we desire.” You know, “Well, wait a sec. What do you mean by that?” They say, “Well, if we want the race to go on longer, we just carry on moving the finishing line.” “Well, how far do you move it?” “Oh, sometimes 7, 8 kilometers because the crowd’s really enjoying it. So we just keep moving it.” Now, unless you’re a masochist like some runners, well, you’re immediately like, “Nah, not keen.” I mean, if it’s a kilometer long, okay. That’s fine. If it’s 15 kilometers, I’m not keen.

And yet God, brothers and sisters, has already drawn a line in the sand. There is a date fixed in heaven for the return of Jesus Christ. Now, it might be today. It might be in eight thousand years from now. And there’s an element of me which wants to say, “Bring it on today.” There’s another element that wants to say, “Bring it on in eight thousand years,” because the longer it takes, the more saints we’re gonna get to know in glory. However, there is a definite date. Remember the words of Jesus: “No one knows when the Son will return. No one but the Father.” But it is a fixed date, and so it makes it easier for us to run our race knowing that a day is coming when He will return.

And so we’re encouraged from this decree to no longer allow the thunder.

But then we’re encouraged lastly from a meal. We’re encouraged from a meal in verse 8 to 11.

“The voice that I heard from heaven spoke to me again saying, ‘Go, take the scroll that is open in the hand of the angel who is standing on the sea and on the land.’ So I went to the angel and told him to give me the little scroll. And he said to me, ‘Take and eat it. It will make your stomach bitter, but in your mouth it will be sweet as honey.’ And I took the little scroll from the hand of the angel and ate it. It was sweet as honey in my mouth, and when I had eaten it, my stomach was made bitter. And I was told, ‘You must again prophesy about many peoples and nations and languages and kings.’”

You know, your meals this week have been a real blessing to us as a family. On Saturday in particular, Friday and Saturdays are my major sermon work days, which means I’m not around to help Josella very much at all. I’m just head down in the books as much as I can. And we were talking about what we were gonna do for dinner because we had to go out and try and juggle the sermon work and babies and getting out to get something for dinner, or maybe it was Friday. I can’t remember. This whole week’s a blur. One of the days it was anyway.

And I was trying to figure out what we were gonna do, and we weren’t sure, and then I get a message from someone saying, “Oh, by the way,” I didn’t realize this was happening, “By the way, we’re bringing a meal around for tonight.” And it was such a blessing to our heart, not just to be loved, but to all of a sudden look again and go, “Ah, okay, we can carry on keeping on.” We can carry on keeping on. And every meal was a joy for us to eat. And we’d talk about the fact that this, we’re eating the service of God’s people. We’re eating the love of God’s people, and it was such a blessing to us.

You know, the Apostle John gets given a meal. He gets given a meal. It’s an odd meal. First, he gets given a command: “Go up to the angel.” It’s quite interesting. This is sort of a turning point in the vision. Previously he’s been watching everything sort of in 3D. You know those 3D glasses they have at the movies? It’s been like he’s standing at a distance with 3D glasses watching. All of a sudden, he’s caught up in the vision, and now he’s acting in the vision. It starts getting very odd for John.

All of a sudden, he gets given a command, “Hey, John, go to the angel,” this mighty angel who is the representation of Christ, “Go to him and take the scroll.” Okay, so he goes up to the angel, and you imagine this enormous angel whose feet are on sea and land. He walks up to him and says, “Hi, could I have the scroll?” And the angel gives him the scroll and says, “Take, eat. Take, eat. It will be bitter in your stomach and sweet as honey. It will be bitter and yet sweet.”

It’s a strange meal. It’s an Ezekiel-like meal. That’s where it comes from. In the commissioning of Ezekiel in chapter two and three, he also is told to take a scroll and eat it. And for Ezekiel, it had a very specific meaning. For Ezekiel, it meant that the word which would be a delight for his own mouth, honey in the mouth, would be bitterness to his heart and stomach. Why? Because he would proclaim the Word of God, and no one would listen. He would proclaim judgment upon the people of Israel.

Well, brothers and sisters, this meaning for Ezekiel is a very similar meaning for us and for John. John was told to prophesy. We too, the Church, the Church is a prophetic organization. It proclaims the words of Christ into this world. And as it does so, it brings what we might call a bittersweet testimony, a bittersweet testimony.

But firstly, notice that the testimony is what? The Word of God, right? The testimony of the Church is a scroll. It’s the Word of God. It comes from the hand of Christ because our witness and our testimony is not based upon our cleverness, upon our ingenuity, but upon the living Christ’s living Word. And so your witness is not your ability to do apologetics. Your primary witness is the sharing of the Word of Jesus Christ.

But notice this bittersweet testimony. Firstly, it’s bittersweet for the speaker. Like Ezekiel, we delight in the Word of God, don’t we? I mean, you love the Word, don’t you? I bet that’s why you put up with 2 sermons every Sunday, because you love the Word of God, and you read it to your family, and you find joy in it when you read it. It always gladdens my heart when one of my children has been reading the Bible and say, “Hey, Dad, Dad, look what I found. Look, this is really interesting. Let me share this with you. Did you know?” And they come out with delight and joy. Or we read it around the table and during our family worship, and we talk about it around the table, and the children share in their joy of what they’re finding in the Word of God. It’s a delight to us, isn’t it? We love it.

And yet, the same Word that we delight in also brings us bitterness, doesn’t it? Because as the speaker, it brings upon us persecution. I remember Richard Wurmbrand making the comment that it was a bittersweet thing to convert people to Christ in communist Russia. You know why, right? Because the second a person got converted, you knew the likelihood was they were gonna be martyred or persecuted for their faith. They would be tortured and die horrible deaths. And so you converted a person and rejoiced with them with great joy for eternal life, and then at the same time, you realized this person was going to suffer horribly because they had to take up their cross and follow Jesus Christ. That’s the reality of the bitter sweetness of the gospel, isn’t it?

You take the word and you declare it, and you know that though you delight in it, other people don’t, and they will hate you for it. And so for the speaker, it’s bittersweet.

It’s also bittersweet as the speaker because of the fact that it’s bittersweet among hearers. It’s bittersweet among hearers. You see, because the same word brings both bitterness and sweetness among hearers, doesn’t it? Do you remember the words of the Apostle Paul in 2 Corinthians chapter 2, where he says that we are the aroma of the knowledge of God, the fragrance of Christ in this world, working life to life and death to death? And what he means by that is, as we preach the gospel, 2 things simultaneously happen in a group of hearers. Some of them are further hardened unto damnation. They hate the messenger, and they hate the message, and it pushes them to death while others go from life to life. The same word which kills them bears forth a righteous work, fruit of righteousness in their life, building them up to eternal life.

And brothers and sisters, this is exactly what will take place as you testify to the Lord Jesus Christ in your life, as we the church testify to the Lord Jesus Christ. And that’s bittersweet for us, isn’t it? We look at families divided by the Word of God, friendship circles divided by the Word of God, workplaces divided. This whole world is ultimately divided by Christ, isn’t it? There are those who are for Him, and there are those who are against Him. There is no third category.

And here’s the thing, our temptation is to do what? To blunt our testimony, to try and reduce the bitterness aspect. You know, we taste the word, and we see the effect, and we say, “I love the honey, but I don’t like the bitterness. What can I change so I don’t have the bitterness?”

Now, can you just think about the non-logical nature of that? Imagine I ate half a Carolina Reaper once whole. Now, if you haven’t had a Carolina Reaper, you probably don’t want to. They’re not particularly enjoyable. They’re very spicy. And Jerome and I ate half each, and it was like eating molten lava, would be a probably good illustration. Now, let’s say I said, “I really like Carolina Reapers, but I don’t like the spice. So you know what? I’m going to breed a Carolina Reaper that’s not spicy.” And so I started breeding and using plant skills. I’m not a horticulturalist, so you have to forgive me, Shona. And we’ve created a Carolina Reaper that wasn’t spicy. Well, you basically have a capsicum. Then just eat a capsicum if you don’t like Carolina Reapers, right? Things have a purpose. If you like spicy food, eat the Carolina Reaper. If you don’t like spicy food, eat the capsicum. But don’t try and cross-pollinate them to create something that’s not useful to anyone.

Don’t be lukewarm. We don’t want milk. Jesus is saying, “Let your testimony be sharp.” Brothers and sisters, don’t back off. Don’t back off because the message is offensive. Be rigid. Be pointy in your testimony. Because you know what? The only way you’re going to not cause bitterness for yourself and them is if you so destroy the word that it’s no longer the real thing anymore.

And we can see that in some churches, can’t we? You think about that’s effectively the doctrine of the liberal church. “Oh, you don’t like the resurrection of Christ? Oh, well, you don’t have to believe that. Oh, the miraculous birth is offensive to you? Yeah, you can throw that out. That’s fine. Oh, you don’t like a six thousand approximate age Earth? Well, just believe in evolution. That’s fine.” You just chuck everything out, and what are you left with? You’re left with man-made religion. You’re not left with the religion of Christ anymore. You’ve tossed Christ out.

So rather, hold firm to Christ, hold firm to the word of your testimony, and declare what you’re given.

You know, we are given encouragements here. We are given encouragements here because we need them, don’t we? And we’re gonna see more when we go into Revelation 11. We’re gonna get a reality check of the reality of what it’s like to be a testimony, to be a witness in the church of Jesus Christ. Why? Because sometimes if we don’t get a reality check, we can get really, really off-put.

I remember when Chloe got her ears pierced. The lady that was doing the piercing, you know, with the gun thing, Chloe said to her, “Does it hurt?” And she said, “No, not at all.” I thought to myself, “You liar. You know it hurts. Sure, it’s not very bad, but you’re sticking a hole in someone’s ear.” And she goes, “No, not at all.” So you can guess what happened, right? As soon as the needle touched Chloe’s ear, she freaked out, and she yanked her head away, and she ended up with a pin halfway through her ear. We had to pull it back out and reset it, and then you’ve got now a freaking out child who you’re having to do ear piercings for.

Now, maybe this is an instruction not to get ears pierced, I don’t know. But here’s the thing, with all the rest of the children, you know what I said to them? “It’s gonna hurt. It’s not really bad, but it will hurt, so be brave.” And every single one of them sat there still and got their ears pierced.

You know, brothers and sisters, Christ is straightforward with us, isn’t he? Do you remember he says to his disciples and to the crowd, to those who are wanting to be his disciples, he says to them, “You know, if a man is gonna build a tower, he thinks about whether he can afford to build the whole thing, lest he get halfway through and run out of resources and look like a moron.” Or if another country is coming to attack you, what do you do? You look at your army and you say, “Can I defeat him? And if I cannot defeat him, I immediately send for terms of peace.” Jesus says, “If you’re gonna be my disciple, do what? Take up your cross and follow me.” These are the conditions. He has litmus tests all the way through the Gospels. “Anyone who does not deny his father and mother is not worthy to be my disciple.” What is he doing? He’s saying, “This is the cost of discipleship.”

And that’s what we’re being given here in short form to be expanded on next week, that to follow Christ is to be a light in this world, a city on a hill, a salt on the earth. And as we do so, the darkness will seek to overthrow us, but just like Jesus Christ, the light shines in the darkness, but the darkness did not overcome it. And so we have confidence, brothers and sisters. The church militant, we, are a witnessing body. So let’s do it. Let’s bear our testimony.

We’ve been singing all week long, the children love it, This Little Light of Mine. They don’t know all the songs like our children know, but they’re getting to know this one. This little light of mine, you know, and I’m gonna let it shine. That’s all we’re called to do, right? Sing it to yourself every morning. Sing it while you drive to work. Sing it while you’re among your children, and be a testimony to Christ, and may God grant us to do so.

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