Participants: Chris Holland
Series Code: IIWC
Program Code: IIWC201534A
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00:00 IIW-2015-34 - The Hope of Life
00:07 IIW-2015-34 - The Hope of Life 00:13 IIW-2015-34 - The Hope of Life 00:20 IIW-2015-34 - The Hope of Life 00:26 IIW-2015-34 - The Hope of Life 00:34 IIW-2015-34 - The Hope of Life 00:42 IIW-2015-34 - The Hope of Life 00:46 IIW-2015-34 - The Hope of Life 00:50 IIW-2015-34 - The Hope of Life 00:53 IIW-2015-34 - The Hope of Life 01:28 > 01:31 >>Announcer: It has stood the test of time. 01:35 God's book, The Bible 01:38 Still relevant in today's complex world 01:44 It Is Written 01:46 Sharing messages of hope around the world! 01:58 > 02:00 CHRIS: The gospel in Revelation. It is the story of God's relentless pursuit after 02:06 each and every one of us. The reality that Jesus made a choice to die for our sins, to 02:14 reconcile, to bring us back to God: that is the story of the Book of Revelation. We don't 02:22 need to be fearful of it. We don't need to wonder if we can understand it. It's not some 02:27 mystical book. But it is the story of One Who wants to be in relationship with you. In the 02:36 fourth part of this series, once again, I have joining me Pastor Jon-Ross Ennest. JON-ROSS: 02:43 Hey. CHRIS: Pastor Jon-Ross, so glad to have you here. JON-ROSS I'm really glad to be here. 02:46 CHRIS: Now, pastor Jon-Ross, we have been. and covered a lot of territory. We're going to get 02:53 right into it because we are finishing off this series. We could spend volumes and volumes 02:59 of time talking about the Book of Revelation and the relentless pursuit of God after us. The 03:06 last show, where we left off, is we talked about faith. Having faith in the promise that Christ 03:15 has done for us and guaranteed us a place in heaven through His sacrifice, through His life, and 03:24 that's really the story of the Book of Revelation. Now, one of the things we were not able to 03:29 get to - because, in the context of that faith, there's something happening - and we would be 03:35 remiss to just simply gloss over what was happening there in the Book of Revelation. So 03:40 Revelation chapter 20, we're going to go there, and let's talk about what was happening in 03:45 Revelation that referenced this faith. So Revelation chapter 20. And I believe we're going to go 03:52 to verses 12 and 13. Why don't you read those, and let's unpack that a little bit. JON-ROSS: 03:58 Yeah, although I'm going to start in verse 11, just for a little more context. 04:33 CHRIS: Okay. So Pastor Jon-Ross, I'm just being very straightforward. I speak on 04:38 prophecy all around the world. You've spoken on prophecy all around Canada and other places. 04:44 I will tell you without a question of a doubt, the greatest fear that I find among 04:50 people is this issue of judgment. JON-ROSS: Yeah. And I think this fear of judgment is 04:55 totally unnecessary. What we have going on here in this judgement, we see, obviously, 05:01 God is present, and the inhabitants of Earth are standing before him, arrayed in 05:05 a judgment scene. Here, what we see is, we've got - and we talked about it last time - is 05:11 Christ is our all. He is our sufficiency. He is our justification. He is the renewal 05:18 of that love relationship with God. And by putting our faith in Him, we can stand confidently. 05:28 And here's what I mean. 1st John 2:1 talks about Jesus as our advocate. Scripture is replete 05:31 with evidences of God Himself as judge. So we have Christ our Advocate; the Father the Judge; 05:37 well, where's the accuser? This is the question. CHRIS: Yes. JON-ROSS: And what we see going 05:42 on here is these people are standing before - and we'll get to the accuser thing in a moment 05:46 - but what I really want to draw out and touch on here is that these people, they're standing 05:51 before the throne, and they're judged according to their own works. CHRIS: Okay. Now, so 05:56 we've got a couple of words there that, in different contexts to different people, 06:00 are going to kind of create. because one of the things we've been trying to do in the last 06:05 several shows, is, the Book of Revelation often brings about it. or with it fear, 06:11 trepidation. We've been talking about, there's nothing to fear. This book is about a God Who 06:16 loves us, a God Who created this world who's now relentlessly pursuing a broken relationship. 06:22 Reconciliation. But we have this now, this word "judgment" which can kind of bring some angst and 06:30 some fear. And then we have "judged according to their works." And those who are 06:35 Christian or who have some Christian context are automatically saying, "Whoa, 06:39 whoa, whoa, you just talked about faith; now you have works." JON-ROSS: Yeah. CHRIS: 06:43 Do we have anything in the Bible that can kind of help us work through this a little bit? 06:46 Any writing that will help us? JON-ROSS: Absolutely. We can go to Romans, actually, Romans 06:50 chapter 8. In Romans 8, Paul is talking about these very subjects, and you know, as we've 06:55 mentioned, Paul was a person who had to come to his own terms with being able to accept God's 07:00 love for him after he had persecuted, killed Christians because of their faith in Jesus. 07:04 So he knew what it was like to wrestle through receiving God's grace as a gift. CHRIS: 07:10 Absolutely. JON-ROSS: So in particular, we can look at verses 31 and 32. CHRIS: Okay, 07:13 why don't you read those for us? JON-ROSS: Yeah. 07:21 JON-ROSS: And he's not asking a question, "Is God for us?" He's making an assertive statement: 07:24 God is for us. And I often say to people, you know, in the Gospels, Matthew in particular, 07:29 it says "Emmanuel, God with us." I say, "Exactly. God's not against us; God's with us. He's 07:35 on our side." 07:46 CHRIS: Okay. JON-ROSS: This is beautiful. CHRIS: Yes. JON-ROSS: God's on our side, 07:51 which we've already seen. It's been made abundantly clear. CHRIS: Abundant. JON-ROSS: 07:54 God did not spare His son, but gave him up for us all, so that we could graciously receive all 08:01 things. And what I'm talking about, we're not just talking about trivial, earthly things; 08:07 we're talking about something that's of great, great value, great importance: eternal life. 08:12 CHRIS: Yeah. And I think that's an important thing to point out, because a lot of times, we'll 08:19 hear preachers that will talk about the reception of the gospel, and somehow, someway, 08:22 you're going to receive all the riches of the Earth and prosperity and all this thing. 08:26 But what Paul gets at here that is very clear is that the assurance of eternal life, the 08:32 assurance that we have in Jesus, is that God is for us. JON-ROSS Yes. CHRIS: And this is what I 08:38 often say: Too often, what we preach or we talk about in Christianity is that God will 08:42 deliver us from trial. But the testimony of the Scripture is that God won't deliver us, but 08:48 God, rather, walks through those trials often with us because He's for us. JON-ROSS: 08:54 Absolutely. CHRIS: Now, this is. you know, God's poured out the power of heaven in His free 09:02 gift. What are some practical applications with this power of the gospel to save us? JON-ROSS: 09:10 Yeah, and verse 33 brings in this first very practical application. And it says: 09:20 JON-ROSS: So we've already established justification, just as if I never sinned. Who can 09:23 accuse me? By Christ, I'm made innocent. So how can you make an accusation against me? And this 09:33 is particularly important in light of eternity, in light of our future, in the imminent 09:37 Second Coming of Christ, is that we have an accuser. There is one who accuses us. But, Revelation 09:45 promises that we will stand innocent in light of this. Revelation 12, let's take a look 09:51 that. CHRIS: Now, we're going to go to Revelation 12. I want to pause for a moment, because 09:55 you mentioned a verse earlier, and I don't want to gloss over it, because while there is an 09:59 accuser, we have an advocate, someone who's on our behalf. JON-ROSS: That's right. CHRIS: 10:02 Now, we're seeing that this is Christ. But you mentioned the text, and I don't want our 10:06 viewer to miss it. First John 2:1. Now, I will tell you, I'm a little biased on this, because 10:11 if there is a favourite verse in the Bible, this one is my favorite verse. First John 10:16 chapter 2 and verse 1. Why don't we read that just to be very clear in the ears and the eyes 10:25 of the viewer that we have an Advocate? While there's an accuser, there is One Who is 10:30 advocating on our behalf. Why don't you read that? JON-ROSS Absolutely. 10:44 CHRIS: And so this is a beautiful thing. Now, we're going to talk about it, 'cause 10:48 there is one who accuses us. But here is the clarifying point throughout everything we've been 10:54 talking about. God is doing everything and has done everything to win us back, to be 11:02 in a reconnected, reconciled relationship with Him. And it says that Jesus is our advocate. 11:12 Now, I will tell people often, I used to explain that verse by saying "advocate" means our 11:16 attorney, our defence attorney. I will tell you, I had to testify in a trial - and this is 11:22 no offence to any defence attorneys out there - but I was waiting on the exterior of the 11:27 courtroom, and I saw the defence attorneys, and many of them were making these slick deals and all 11:35 of this. And I sat there and I said, "I've belittled the ministry of Jesus." This word 11:39 "advocate" is actually the same word used to describe the comforter of the Holy Spirit. 11:48 Being the comforter, Jesus is assuring us that His love is more powerful than anything 11:58 we've done or anything we could be accused of. But we need to mention, there is an accuser. 12:03 Who's the accuser? The Bible will talk about who this accuser is, what he's doing. JON-ROSS: 12:07 Revelation 12. And there, when we go to Revelation 12, we see in verses 10 and 11, John 12:19 records what he sees: 12:39 JON-ROSS: And in verse 9, makes it explicitly clear, names all of the names that Satan is known 12:42 by. It is Satan who is the accuser of the brothers and sisters, as John records. And 12:48 then it says in verse 11 - and this is beautiful and this fits in so well. This is part of the 12:53 theme. This makes up the fabric of the Book of Revelation. 13:05 JON-ROSS: It's beautiful. CHRIS: It is very beautiful. Now, we're not going to spend a 13:08 lot of time talking about the accuser, because frankly, the accuser doesn't deserve a lot of 13:11 time to be spoken of. JON-ROSS: That's right. CHRIS: I will tell the viewer, we did an 13:15 entire series, "Noah: The Real Story" where I talk about who is Satan, where did he come from, 13:20 what are his origins? You will be fascinated by this study to see that this is actually an 13:26 individual that was also relentlessly pursued by the love of God, but made a choice to 13:33 reject that love. But Pastor Jon-Ross, the issue at hand here is, we have an accuser. That 13:41 accuser is Satan the devil, the archenemy of God. But the key verse is verse 11. JON-ROSS: 13:50 Yes, absolutely. CHRIS: His accusations are overcome, and how are they overcome? JON-ROSS: 13:53 By the blood of the Lamb. CHRIS: And here's the key. When we look at the Book of 13:58 Revelation, we see this pattern emerging. For example, here, we have the lamb and we have the 14:06 dragon. And you know, in our own understanding of lamb and dragon, a dragon's going to win 14:14 every time. JON-ROSS: That's right. CHRIS: However, the promise of the Book of 14:17 Revelation and the gospel in Revelation is, the Lamb defeats the dragon through His blood and 14:26 through His sacrifice. And so we overcome the dragon. Actually, we don't overcome; God has 14:34 overcome the dragon, and we can have that same overcoming by placing - as we talked about 14:39 earlier - our faith in the life-giving sacrifice of Jesus Christ. JON-ROSS: That's 14:48 right. And we can tell that these people who overcome the accuser, it says that "and by 14:52 the word of their testimony." They had internalized, they had embraced the grace of God in 14:57 Jesus Christ, and they were sharing it with the world. They were unashamed of the Gospel. So 15:02 it's a really important point. They had internalized it; they had embraced it. CHRIS: Yes. So 15:07 let's go back to Romans, 'cause I know in Romans chapter 8, we left off in verse 33, but I know 15:14 in verse 34 - you and I had been talking - and in verse 34, there's a very important verse 15:18 there, and why don't you talk about that? Because right now, again, one of the great 15:25 difficulties we face is we say, "This is too good to be true. How is this even possible that 15:29 through Adam's sin, I deserve to die, because I've separated myself from God?" And some 15:37 people say, "Well, why should we die if we've separated from God?" Because when we understand 15:41 Who God is, God is the life-giving source of the entire universe. JON-ROSS: Yeah. 15:46 CHRIS: Let's read verse 34. Why don't you read that for us? JON-ROSS: Yeah. 16:01 CHRIS: Okay. So let's unpack this a little bit, because this has got some power in it. Talk 16:07 to me about what's happening here. Christ has died, Christ is seated at the right hand of the 16:12 Father, what's going on here? JON-ROSS: That's right. So here, Paul is saying, "Who can 16:17 condemn? Who can judge me as guilty, as unworthy? You can't. No one can because Christ Jesus, 16:28 my Saviour, He died for my sins." CHRIS: Okay, let's hit the pause button right there, 16:33 because I think this needs to be. because we live in a world where there is great 16:37 condemnation. We live in a world where there's condemnation coming from all over the place. 16:42 What you're telling me and what the Bible promises is, when I place my faith in Christ, no one 16:52 can make accusation against me because I've placed my full faith, my full trust in Him, and 16:58 His death and His blood covers me and reconciles me to Him. JON-ROSS: Yes, absolutely. 17:06 CHRIS: That is a powerful thing. But let's talk further, because it doesn't say He just. 17:10 because I think too often, our Christian message is, "Christ died for us." JON-ROSS: Mmhmm, 17:14 yeah. CHRIS: And we don't say anything else. JON-ROSS: That's right, but there's more. CHRIS: 17:17 There's more. What's more? JON-ROSS: Because you know, Paul was a student of the 17:20 Scriptures, and he wrote the Book of Romans. But the Scriptures that he said it was 17:24 not the New Testament - he was very familiar with the Old Testament - and when he invokes 17:29 this idea of interceding, he's drawing on this imagery of the priest from the Old Testament 17:34 sanctuary service. And it's beautiful. The Old Testament priest, he went into the 17:40 sanctuary, different compartments of the sanctuary at various times in the year, but 17:44 he did it on behalf of Israel, on behalf of the people. So when Paul says that, you know, "Who 17:50 can judge us? Christ died; more than that was raised and is at the right hand of God 17:55 interceding for us," he's saying, "Christ is there as our representative on behalf of us 18:03 before God, ministering on our behalf on our side there with Him." CHRIS: And that is 18:10 powerful because what this now defines for us very clearly is, the judgment is nothing to fear. 18:17 In fact, the judgment is something we can embrace because the judgment, the judgment in 18:23 and of itself, is good news, and the good news is. well, why don't you tell us? What is the 18:27 good news? JON-ROSS: The good news? Is I'm forgiven, I'm set free, and I can live with God 18:34 for eternity. CHRIS: And that is the ultimate good news. JON-ROSS: That is the ultimate 18:39 good news. There's. you know, the implication of what Paul brings out in verse 34, we can 18:45 find it in Revelation. CHRIS: Let's do it. JON-ROSS: Revelation 21. Revelation 21. 18:51 Last time, we were in Revelation 20. And in Revelation 21, what we find here, some beautiful 19:00 truth. Verses 3 to 7: 19:41 JON-ROSS: Let's pause there. That's beautiful. But we have to unpack it a little bit. We see 19:45 in verse 3, "Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man." The separation that sin 19:53 brought so long ago is gone, gone. There's no more separation. Sin has been 20:01 removed. CHRIS: Yes. The fascinating thing, it's very interesting, in the King James 20:05 Version, it says, "The tabernacle of God is with man." And it's very important for 20:08 people to understand that that's what. in the Old Testament, it says, "Let them build me a 20:13 sanctuary, that I may dwell with them." The tabernacle is all about a reunited relationship, 20:19 because God's desire is that He could be with us. JON-ROSS Yeah. And Jesus has already 20:24 affected that. He's already made it happen when He died at the cross, bearing my sins, dying 20:29 for me. He's already made provision for it; we're just waiting for it to happen. CHRIS: 20:35 That is a powerful, powerful thing. And you know. and I love the fact that it says, "Write 20:41 these things down because they are trustworthy." JON-ROSS Mmhmm. It's like John is saying, 20:44 "Remember it; it's coming; don't forget." CHRIS: Absolutely. Now, in the Book of Romans, back 20:51 in chapter 8, it talks about this promise even in a little bit more detail. Why don't we go 20:59 back to Romans for just a few moments, and let's look at that there. A couple of important 21:04 verses. Why don't you share with us? JON-ROSS: Absolutely. So Paul, then, again, continues 21:08 with asking his questions. He says: 21:25 JON-ROSS: There, in Paul's day, the Christians were facing intense persecution. It was not 21:29 uncommon to have someone kick in your door, drag you out of your home, and kill you because of 21:33 your faith in Christ. So there was real pressure that existed in. on the Christians of Paul's 21:39 day. But then he says: 22:03 JON-ROSS: Paul says, the love of Christ buoys us up, holds us strong, keeps us confident and 22:11 steadfast because it doesn't change, that regardless of what's happening around me, I 22:18 can be confident because I have a guarantee in heaven waiting for me. CHRIS: And that's 22:24 powerful because in most of our human relationships, whether they be friends, whether they be 22:29 family, we can often have those relationships change because of events in our life. But 22:35 Peter-Paul assures us that nothing will separate us. JON-ROSS: That's right. CHRIS: 22:41 Pastor Jon-Ross, we only have a couple minutes left, so let's land right at the end of the 22:44 Book of Revelation, Revelation chapter 22. Let's get right to the. because we began by talking 22:50 about the grace of Christ, the love of Christ, His relentless pursuit, right there in 22:58 Revelation 22. JON-ROSS: This is the Christian's hope, and it's the hope that we're just 23:02 simply waiting to take a hold of, because it's already been accomplished in Christ. Verses 4 23:05 and 5 of Revelation 22, it says: 23:35 CHRIS: This is amazing. And then the final words of the Book of Revelation. Why don't you 23:41 read those final words as we wrap this study up? JON-ROSS This captures the essence of 23:46 what John, I believe, is trying to communicate to us. He says: 23:54 JON-ROSS: John's experience of ministry with Christ, seeing the unveiling of God's love through 24:00 the Book of Revelation, he says, "Receive the gift of God's grace, because that's what's 24:06 going to sustain you and make salvation and eternity with God possible." CHRIS: The story of 24:11 Revelation is simple: A God relentlessly pursuing to mend a broken relationship, and the 24:20 question of whether or not we will receive the free gift He's given us. Let's have prayer. 24:26 JON-ROSS: Yeah. CHRIS: Heavenly Father, we are so grateful that You sent Your Son 24:30 Jesus. And my prayer is very simple right now, that all those that are hearing, all those that 24:35 are watching right now would receive the gift and be transformed. We pray this in 24:41 Jesus' name, amen. JON-ROSS: Amen. 25:15 > 25:17 Bev: Hi everyone. We've been focusing on the NEWSTART acronym, that's N, E, W, S, T, 25:23 A, R, T. And today we're looking at T = Trust in Divine Power. Changing our lifestyle is the 25:29 hardest thing many of us will ever try to do. It's difficult to change habits that we've 25:34 acquired, practiced and polished for years. That's why it's imperative that we trust in 25:40 Divine Power, because God is strong where we are weak. Let's just recap the NEWSTART 25:46 principles that we've learned. N is for Nutrition. We learned about carbohydrates, fats and 25:53 proteins. We learned that our bodies absolutely require carbohydrates. We learned to 25:58 stay away from too much fat, and how to incorporate more plant-based proteins in our 26:04 daily eating. E is for Exercise. It is such an essential part of a healthy lifestyle. And, we're 26:11 never too old to start! Be inspired by Hulda Crooks, who started mountain climbing at age 26:16 66. What a gal!! W is for Water. Are you getting enough? 6 to 10 cups per day is ideal, depending 26:25 on your size and activity level. S is for Sunshine. The kiss of the sun for vitamin D, and for 26:31 keeping our mood light and bright! T is for Temperance, an old-fashioned word for a 26:37 new-fangled notion called balance. It's important to have balance in all aspects of our 26:43 lives. Eat, exercise, and sleep just enough to enhance your health and keep your body 26:48 strong. A is for Air. Your body requires oxygen in order to function. Be sure that you are 26:56 living healthfully so that your trillions of cells can get all the oxygen they need. R is for 27:02 Rest. Are you getting 7 to 8 hours each night? Most of us aren't, and we suffer because of 27:07 it. T is for Trust in Divine Power. Philippians 4:13 tells us that we can do all things 27:15 through Christ who strengthens us. So, we know we can have a brand new start through Christ 27:20 who desires for us to have good health above all things. I love that! I hope you do too. If you 27:28 want additional information on how to experience a new start, visit our It Is Written website 27:34 at www.iiw.ca, go to the Live Healthy page, and you'll find links to great resources. Bye 27:41 for now! 27:48 > 27:50 CHRIS: The relentless pursuit of God, His love for us, and the sacrifice of His Son: that is 27:57 the Book of Revelation. It is the gospel of love, the gospel personified, Jesus dying and 28:06 wanting to reconcile with you. Dear friend, I want to offer you today the DVD series The Gospel 28:13 in Revelation. Here's the information you need for today's offer. 29:14 > 29:18 CHRIS: Pastor Jon-Ross, thank you so much for joining us today and thank you for such a 29:23 powerful series on the gospel in Revelation. JON-ROSS: Pastor Chris, thanks so much for having 29:28 me; I really appreciate it, and it's my hope that people are encouraged by this. CHRIS: Yes. 29:32 And friend, I do hope you've been encouraged. I hope you have found the grace of God in your 29:39 life. I want to encourage you to find additional resources for growth in your spiritual journey 29:44 at our website, itiswrittencanada.ca. Please join us again next week. Until 29:51 then, remember, it is written: "Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that 29:59 proceeds from the mouth of God." 30:03 $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$ |
Revised 2016-05-26