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3:00To come into your place, to come into a relationship with you, that you have generously thrown open the door and invited all to come. So, Father, it is a joy this morning that we see your sovereignty, we see your goodness, and in this we delight, and in this we are drawn, and our soul finds comfort and rest and peace. Father, forgive us of our sins as we gather this morning to worship you. Forgive us of the wayward thoughts, the wayward words, the meditations of our heart that have been unclean and hostile against you. Father, we lay all that down this morning, asking for your forgiveness and asking for the power of your Holy Spirit to walk in the life that you have set before us. May you be exalted here in song, in word, in truth, in fellowship, and everything. Please, have your way here among us in Christ's name. Amen.

4:02Would you remain standing as we sing? Come now is the time to worship. Well, good morning. Please turn in your Bibles to Revelation chapter 13. Revelation chapter 13. Let me read verses 1 through 10. And the dragon stood on the sand of the sea shore. And then I saw a beast coming up out of the sea, having ten horns and seven heads, and on his horns were ten diadems, and on his heads were blasphemous names. And the beast which I saw was like a leopard, and his feet were like those of a bear, and his mouth like the mouth of a lion. And the dragon gave him his power, and his throne, and great authority. I saw one of his heads, as if it had been slain, and his fatal wound was healed. And the whole earth was amazed and followed after the beast. They worshipped the dragon, because he gave his authority to the beast. And they worshipped the beast, saying, Who is like the beast, and who is able to wage war with him? There was given to him a mouth speaking arrogant words and blasphemies, and authority to act for forty-two months was given to him. And he opened his mouth in blasphemies against God, to blaspheme his name and his tabernacle, that is those who dwell in heaven. It was also given to him to make war with the saints and to overcome them. And authority over every tribe and people and tongue and nation was given to him. All who dwell on the earth will worship him, everyone whose name has not been written from the foundation. Of the world in the book of life of the lamb who has been slain. If anyone has ear, let him hear. If anyone is destined for captivity, to captivity, he goes. If any kills with the sword, with the sword he must be killed. Here is the perseverance and the faith of the saints.

6:20You know, some things in life just have to be endured. Sometimes these things in life that we must endure are reasons of our own choosing. For instance, we want a job, so we endure the training. We go to school. We purposefully put hardship on us because there is a greater goal. Whether it's the world of sports, an athlete will endure certain training and the pain of a race because there is a goal that he has chosen or she has chosen to reach. This is true in many ways, whether it's in study or whether it's serving somebody in need or whether it's a restraint of some sort or some kind of perhaps diet. Sometimes we endure difficult times that we have chosen for ourselves. Sometimes we have to endure difficult times that we did not choose, that were forced upon us for some reason. I think we've all been there as well. Sometimes economic hardships on a micro level or on a macro level may influence us.

7:45Sometimes war is put upon a whole nation and we have to endure. Sometimes it's a hostile government. Sometimes it's the grief that accompanies loss. Sometimes it's a sickness, an illness. Sometimes it's a social pressure. Sometimes it's just anything less than an ideal situation that we are not masters over, and we are put in a less than ideal situation and we have to endure it. Live a little while and you know exactly what I'm talking about. But the question becomes: how do we endure such difficult times? How do we?

8:31You know, I'm fascinated with the way the ocean floor is, I guess, you know, discovered or researched. You know, they have to construct these submarines that can go down to a depth that we call or go be go down into the deep waters where they experience these crushing pressures. From the ocean, and they have to build these submarines that can view and analyze and study the ocean and the life without imploding under the pressure. But what's interesting is you're looking at these submarines that can go down, down deep, you'll see all kinds of little fish swimming around them and all kinds of life, sea life, that can withstand the pressure. In fact, they do fine in it. They do not implode under the great pressures of the deep because their bodies have developed an internal resisting presence and they're able to not only withstand the pressures, but actually do well and thrive in them.

9:58Well, one day, believers on planet Earth are going to be called to endure the most difficult time in human history. The most difficult time in human history to be a Christian. They are going to be forced into these times and they're going to have to endure these times and they will endure these times. And our text this morning describes the rise of the most sophisticated and evil. Government that has or ever will exist. It is a time of great rage against the followers of Christ. And it is the culminating expression. We've already seen this opposition to God and his Christ throughout history. Even the Tower of Babel, you see in the heart of humanity this desire to take his stand. Well, Revelation tells us about a future time where earth, in all of its sophistication, in all of its power, in all of its ingenuity, will take one final and mature stand against Christ, against God and against his Christ.

11:21Psalm 2 lays that out. I believe maybe you studied that this morning. Psalm 2, the standing against God and his anointed one. But it will be a time of great rage. And what we're studying this morning in this passage is some more background information on this great and final conflict. So far in Revelation, I know it's been a little bit since we've been there. I just want to give you a quick review. Where we have been, Revelation is. Organized very simply.

12:03Seals, trumpets, and bowls. Seals, trumpets, and bowls. And the first seal begins to tell us about this rise of this empire, this government, this worldwide power, anti-Christ government. And it comes together. And just let me back up and just say for just a moment, there are several approaches to Revelation. There are those who look at the details of Revelation and say, well, these events really aren't depicting anything historically, actually. And so there is more of a, this is just a metaphor for the great conflict between good and evil. There's another approach that sees, no, these are historical events, that what Revelation is depicting is historical events. And then once you make that decision, is this historical events or non-historical events? There's another decision. If it's historical events, are they events that have taken place in the past? Are they events that are taking place throughout church history? Or are they events taking place in the future? And there are many schools, those are the three major schools of thought within that. I, for one, as you know, I think all of Revelation is, or largely, is speaking about future events.

13:30And so, with this first seal opening up, there is a depiction of this rise of this anti-God mentality. And it begins coalescing into a worldwide government, empire. And accompanied with that, there's going to be wars and much bloodshed. Man isn't going to be able to govern himself. There's going to be wars and conflicts out of that. There's going to be a period of time of depression, and maybe they're overlapping times and giving rise to this empire and the one who will ultimately rule it. It'll also be a time of death and chaos, giving opportunity for a totalitarian regime to come to power and take hold. But it's also clear in the seals that it is a time of great martyrdom, that the fifth seal gives us an indication leading up that it's going to be a time of persecution by the great number of martyrs that the fifth seal depicts. And then the sixth seal depicts the cosmic disturbances announcing that the great day of the Lord has come. And so, as the scroll is opened up, it is depicting the day of the Lord, something that has been talked about throughout biblical history, the day of the Lord, the great day of the Lord. Lord, and it is a day of his wrath. And those on the inhabitants on the earth recognize it. And all that leads up to the opening of the scroll, the seventh seal. And with the opening of the seventh seal, seven trumpets appear, and then the seven trumpets are blown. The first trumpet is a depiction of God's judgment upon the vegetation of the earth. There is a second seal, a judgment upon the sea. There is a third seal called wormwood that impacts the waters, the potable waters. And then there are signs in the skies again, the luminaries diminishing by a third. And all these speak of God's movement towards the earth, kind of like in a siege that God is drawing, but he's not bringing a quick end to it because he is wanting people to come to repentance. And so as earth gets darker and darker, God amps up his ministry. He gets their attention. And he keeps getting their attention. And out of this comes a great multitude to salvation.

16:28The fifth Trumpet and the sixth trumpet depict God releasing a demonic, God allowing the demonic forces to run their course. The locust depicting an army of demonic forces. Then there is with the sixth trumpet the horsemen, the demonic cavalry. And it's very clear with the fifth and sixth trumpets, these destroy lots of humanity. There is no love with the demonic forces for humanity. They destroy. That's what they do. The only people they can't destroy are those who are sealed, those who belong to God.

17:16Yet they even kill their own. So there is no love in serving the God of this world. He doesn't love you. Can't love you. Hates. It's what he does. And then with the seventh trumpet, we get the announcement that the kingdom of God has come. And so the seventh trumpet sounds. And then in chapter 16, the bowls are actually going to start being poured out. And so what's happening between chapters 12 and 15 is background information to this final conflict so that we get an understanding. We've already looked. At this in Revelation chapter 12, we looked at this already. There, we saw the woman. In chapter 12, it's the dragon, a woman, and her child. And this sets the stage for the conflict, epic conflict that has raged since the beginning and will rage and set the stage for this final conflict. And then, when you come to chapter 13, which is where we are today, continue setting this backdrop, understanding this final conflict, and even introducing the major players to this scene, this worldwide scene and empire. This chapter 13 gives us the players behind the scene: the dragon, the beast from the sea, and the beast from the earth. Those are the terms that chapter 13 uses, and so those are the terms that we'll use. But what you will see emerge from this chapter 13 is what many theologians call the unholy Trinity. The unholy Trinity. And you'll see that as we go along.

19:19But in the midst of all this, regardless of what events you think these are depicting, something in the past, something in the present, Or something in the future, there is certainly application for the whole church at any time that they are alive. Because as the beast comes forth, it depicts some extremely difficult times. Difficult times that the body of Christ living at that time is going to have to face. And there are going to be those who overcome the pressure.

19:59And the secret to how they faithfully endure those times is laid out here in our text this morning. So, what I want to do this morning is I want to look at this beast that comes out of the sea, and then I want to look at the secret to faithfully enduring difficult times, whether those difficult times are then or difficult times that we face now. The secret's the same: how to faithfully endure the difficult times that you will face.

20:33So, that's where we're going. I want to talk about the beast of the sea. Look back at the last thought in chapter 12, verse 17. So, the dragon was enraged with the woman and went off to make war with the rest of her children who keep the commandments of God and hold to the testimony of Jesus. The dragon is in a rage. When you get to the end of chapter 12, The dragon is in a fierce rage. It's an emotional rage. It's not a thinking rage. He's been defeated in heaven. He's been cast out. Michael and his angels have soundly defeated him. He is being defeated upon the earth, even by those who will not bow down to him, who overcome him by the blood of the Lamb, by the word of their testimony, and not hating, not loving their lives even to the point of death. So he's being defeated in heaven and on earth. Then he seeks to try to destroy the woman, so he takes out his rage on the woman. But then that doesn't work. The earth helps the woman. And so the devil, the dragon, is in a rage. And so he goes off. He can't attack the child anymore who's on God's throne. He cannot attack the woman anymore, the nation Israel. She has been taken and cared for. So all he can do is turn his aggression upon anyone who names the name of Christ. That's the setting as we come in to chapter 13. So look, let's look at what takes place. Notice verse 1. And the dragon stood on the sand of the seashore.

22:34There he was. He took his stand, or was placed there. The dragon, having been thrown to the earth, now he has taken a place there at the sand by the seashore. Then I saw a beast coming up out of the sea, having ten horns and seven heads, and on his horns were ten diadems, and on his heads were blasphemous names. And the beast which I saw was like a leper, and his feet were like those of a bear, and his mouth the mouth of a lion. And the dragon gave him his power, and his throne, and great authority. So the beast from the sea is described here in these first two verses. Notice this word, and coming up, arising out of the sea. So if you think about what John is seeing here, he is describing, he sees the dragon standing by the sea and calling forth out of the sea, bringing forth this beast. And as the beast is rising, John is seeing first the horns, just as you would see this creature come out of the sea. First the horns, then the heads, then the body, then the feet. And he's going to describe these. The beast. Comes forth.

24:03First, you can kind of see, first he sees ten horns. I know that's a rack of a white toe, but I got, you know, how do you find something with ten horns? But just trying to give you some kind of images from the animal kingdom, what he's seen. He's seen something, he's seen ten horns. And he is seeing, it has the body of a leopard. It has feet like a bear. And it has a mouth like a lion. So you get this picture, it's a strange way to describe an empire, but that is what he's describing. And he uses some of the very same animals that are in Daniel 7. But even without going there, you get the horns are depicting rule.

25:01You'll see in a little bit, kings, authority. And in chapter 17, he'll go into more description about the horns. The leopard maybe speaks something about speed, agility, strength, fierceness. But certainly there's an element of speed, the feet of a bear, strong, tearing, powerful, crushing. So this empire. Swift, powerful, but it's the mouth that's going to capture the attention largely in chapter 13. The mouth, great bose, ferocious, fierce, ugly, scaring, that kind of. So there's the beast of the sea. Notice something else about this beast. In verse 3, I saw one of his heads as if it had been slain, and his fatal wound was healed. It's interesting. It's a striking feature about him.

26:18His heads, as if it had been slain. The same description is that of the lamb who was slain in chapter 5 and 6. Same word, the lamb who was slaughtered. And here, one of the heads, as if it had been slaughtered and had his fatal wound, was healed. And the whole earth was amazed and followed after the beast. I see, it's an interesting depiction here. The dragon, and this beast that comes out, there's this beast that resembles the dragon. You know, the dragon in chapter 12 had seven heads, ten horns, seven diadems. And then In chapter 13, you look at the beast, he has ten horns, seven heads, ten diadems. There is a striking similarity between the dragon and this beast.

27:14But then there's also this striking similarity between this one head on this beast. It had been slaughtered and yet raised to life. You get a striking similarity, a death and a resurrection, whether real or fake, the world believes it to be real. A death and a resurrection. And the whole earth becomes disciples of the character of this beast. And the whole earth was amazed and followed after this beast. Look at the earth's response in verse 4. And they worshiped the dragon because he gave his authority to the beast. And they worshiped the beast, saying, Who is like the beast, and who is able to wage war with him?

28:23The whole world pays homage. And this happens. hasn't happened in history. Even under Titus and Vespasian, they didn't worship. The whole world didn't go after. Oh, yeah, I think he would have. At that time, you started to get certain emperor worship happening, but even that develops later. But the land, the world did not go after, did not worship the dragon. Certainly, that has not happened or in any way that I've been able to, with authority, ascertain. They worshiped the dragon because he gave his authority to the beast. And they worshiped the beast. That is, they paid homage to the dragon. They paid homage to the beast. They took his government. They took his ways. They took his character. And they bowed down to it, bowed down, accepted his policies, accepted his thinking, accepted his ways, and they went after him.

29:34And they saying this, who is like the beast? Who is like him? Have we ever seen anything? Now, this is something. Have we ever seen anything like him? And who is able to wage war with him? Who can withstand this entity? Who can withstand this monster? Monster, this being, and to them, to this wonderful government, to this wonderful empire, who is able to stand. It's interesting to note that here the world is saying, who is like the beast?

30:21But in chapter 12, verse 7, there is an angel named Michael. And Michael's name literally means, who is like God? Who is like God? And it is Michael and his angels that have cast Satan out, decisively out of heaven. And so you have an expression very similar. But instead of who is like God, it's who is like the beast. And you can see the deception: who is like the beast. So on the one hand, you have earth thinking, who in the world is like the beast?

31:07And yet there is Michael who is like God. And it is these two mentalities that have a final conflict in the days ahead. The hearts of the people. On earth, emboldened by their empire status, the only superpower, there is no one who can stand, who is like the beast. So that's the beast from the sea. But then in verses five through eight, we get a glimpse into the difficult times that he ushers in. We see the difficult times that he ushers in.

32:02First of all, it will be a God-hating time. You can see the reviling character of the beast is seen there in verses five and six. There was given to him a mouth speaking arrogant words, blasphemies, and authority to act for 42 months was given to him. And he opened his mouth in blasphemies against God, so to blaspheme his name and his tabernacle, that is, those who dwell in heaven. And you can think about what's just happened in chapter 12. The dragon has just been kicked out of heaven. Heaven is rejoicing. So he's cast down to earth, takes his stand. Well, I'm going to have the world revile with me. And so he is reviling heaven and collecting those children of darkness to do this. Same, who will not turn away from their sin.

33:08But notice he's got this mouth speaking arrogant word, a great mouth, speaking blasphemies, slandering God, slandering his name, slandering his ways, making fun of his morality, making fun of him despisingly. Hatred. It's a time of vicious hatred, time of worldwide institutional hatred and slander and abusive speech against Creator God. It's not hard to imagine. We can see much of that going on in our day. We're not living in this time. But we can see how where humanity, given the ability, will go. It will take its final stand. It will mature in its rebellion and it will take its stand and it will give utterance to just how much it hates Creator God.

34:14They hate his word. They hate his created order. They hate his name. They hate his institutions. And they hate his people. That is the difficult time. It's a God-hating time. But it's also a time of war against Christians. Look at verse 7. This hostility of this beast is seen in 7. It was also given to him to make war with the saints and to overcome them. To overcome them. To conquer them. Now, this is speaking of not in a destroying their faith kind of sense, but in an overpowering them, crushing them to death. Or certainly the beast is going to have institutional authority over them, power over them. They're going to, in any way, they will be pushed back. Their influence will not spread. But the contrary, the beast is going to overpower them.

35:29His power to suppress them is going to be over their power to spread and to take over him. But that's not that he has power to destroy their faith. No, that's not what's power to overcome them and their influence and even their lives. But it's evident it's also. Going to be a time of global dictatorship. Look back at chapter 7. I mean, verse 7. It was given to him to make war with the saints and overcome them, and authority. It was also given to him authority. Authority over every tribe. Every people and tongue and nation was given to him. And all who dwell on the earth will worship him.

36:27Authority over every tribe, that is, over every family group, over every clan, over every people, that is, everybody who's joined together by common customs. And over every tongue, people who are joined together by a common language and nation, that is, every nation, every group of people that is joined together by a common political institution. All of them will worship him. The worship on earth is going to be very different from the worship in heaven at this time. It's going to be that moment when earth is in its greatest pinnacle of rebellion, organized institutional rebellion, and hatred and hostility. Against God, Creator, God. It will be Babel on steroids. That's what it will be. And it is still to come. And we can see, even now, all these, we can see these influences. We can see all that has to be is released and they can organize, come together.

37:49But there is one exception at this time. One exception to his worship. The whole world is going to go after him. The whole world is going to become his disciples, except for one people group. Look back at verse 8. All who will dwell on the earth will worship him. And then there's an exception. Everyone whose name has not been written from the foundation of the world in the book of the Lamb who has been slain. There's one group. One group.

38:27Those whose names are written in the Lamb's book of life. And by the way, you're invited to have your name written in that book, if you so would like. If you want him to be, if you want the king, the true king, to be your king, he invites you today, even to become one of his own. But the lamb has a book, it belongs to him. It's the lamb's book of life. Life. And its name, and that book includes the names of his people.

39:07People whose names were written there before the universe began. There is an interpretive issue here. You see the expression from the foundation. The question is: is this a reference to the timing of the writing, that is, the names of the individuals written from the foundation of the world? Or is it a reference to the timing of the slaying of the lamb? In other words, the lamb who has been slain from the foundation of the world. Is it a reference from the foundation of the world a reference to the writing of the names or the slaying of the lamb? Well, certainly there's implications for both.

39:57But grammatically speaking, it's connected to the writing. The parenthetical is the lamb who was slain from the foundation of the world. Yes, when God began this whole thing, he knew, and certainly the son was committed to laying down his life. And so, in that sense, yes, you could say he's slain before the foundation of the world. But the slaying of the lamb doesn't take place until history. The lamb himself. Becomes the Lamb when he takes upon the body of Christ, of Jesus the Nazarene, and then he lays that down at a point in time for his people.

40:46So the slaying happens actually in time, but the writing, plain meaning here, is from the foundation of the world, those who are written in his book. Now, I don't understand all the implications of that, but this much I can tell you: it is very important that your name be in his book. And there is an open invitation Scripture gives you for your name to be in that book. You can turn to him today, say, God, that's where I want my name. I can tell by the way I live, I can tell by the things that I've said and done that my name isn't there, and I want my name to be there, and he will welcome you in.

41:48And I realize that touches on things that I can't fully understand, but truths like this are given so that to bring us to the end of. Ourself so that we would be bankrupt and so that we would cry out. But an implication of all this is certainly God's enterprise of creation from the very foundation of the world, He had a purpose, and the cosmos itself seems to have come about because of those names who are written in the book of life. In other words, creation is about the people more than it is the cosmos. In fact, we understand that the cosmos is going to disappear, but the people are not. People, you and me here today, are more eternal than the very cosmos around us.

42:54But at the very beginning of creation, it's clear that when God began this enterprise of creation and making man in his image, the very enterprise itself demanded an attentive shepherd and a sacrificial heart. Creation itself, you and I, demand by our very being, we need a shepherding mind and a sacrificial heart. Looking out for us. And that's the God of Scripture who has revealed Himself. All of creation needed a sovereign servant for it to be good in the first place and for it to remain good at the end. And it is Christ. It is God's Son who has devoted his mind to sacrificially and his heart and mind and being to sacrificially shepherd and steward and guide humanity. That's the true King.

44:10And it is this King that is hated. So I've looked at the beast from the sea. We've looked at the difficult times that he ushers in. Now I want you to see the secret to enduring them, the secret to enduring these difficult times. And really, this brings me to the sermon. Yes, I'm going to preach it. But it's very important that we understand the secret to enduring difficult times so that we will always be faithful in the times and situations that we live.

44:51We're not living at this time depicted, but we are living. In our times. And each of us are called to face difficult circumstances, and many times not by our own choice. But look at verse 9. If anyone has ear, let him hear. Blessing of Revelation is heeding the exhortations. And here is a clear call to hear, a clear called to heed. Look at what he says in verse 10. If anyone is destined for captivity, to captivity he goes. If anyone kills with the sword, with the sword, he must be killed.

45:44There is an unalterable destiny of this time speaking in the future. There's no way around it. If someone's destined to captivity, that's where they go. I agree with the reading of the ESV here that says, if anyone is to be slain with the sword, with the sword, he must be slain. There is a question grammatically there. But either way, the point is: if anyone kills with the sword, with the sword he must be killed, or if anyone decides to be slain with the sword or die a violent death, that's what's going to happen. The point here is that there's a destiny that's fixed.

46:30What's going to come about is going to come about. Look at what it says, second part of verse 10. Here, here, in this truth, in these principles, is the perseverance and the faith of the saints, the patience of the saints, the endurance of the saints, the steadfastness of the saints. They understand. They understand what is to come. It's going to come. And what the saints of this era, what they do is they embrace several principles that enable them not to implode under the pressure.

47:23Under the great pressures of the Antichrist empire and all that's set against him, they do not implode. And there are two reasons. Two reasons. First of all, they know that God is sovereign. They know that God is sovereign over the difficult circumstances they find themselves in. Over the dragon, over the forces, he's already been cast out of heaven. They know God is sovereign over the dragon and all the forces of evil, over the forces. Over the whole realm of humanity. Already seen, God has judged and power over the environment.

48:09God is sovereign over their difficult times. Notice back four times, four times, the expression, it was given. It was given. It was given to him. It was given to him. It was given, the very mouth that this beast has was given to him. The timeframe, the 42 months were given to him. His authority, his power to wage war and overcome the saints, it was given to him. It was given to him by God. God allowed it. God is sovereign even over the difficult times, even if they don't fully understand why or what's going on. They understand that God is sovereign and that he can be trusted. But also, they understand that God is sovereign over salvation. God is the one who knows how to deliver. Sometimes we're called to patiently wait. There's the book of life, he holds his own.

49:13Those who endure this time know that God is sovereign. Second, they understand their call. They understand their call. You see, these that are going to face these times understand they're not. Called to overthrow the beast. They're not called to overthrow their difficult times, but to endure them. It's interesting, these people are very different from the dragon. Their character is very different. The dragon, when he couldn't get his way in heaven, guess what? He throws a tantrum, he flies into a rage.

49:58These people patiently wait. They wait for God's salvation. That's a very different kind of people, characteristically different from the dragon. Let me ask you: when you don't get your way, do you fly into a rage? Let me tell you who your master is. They understand their call. They understand their call in their difficult circumstances. Their call is to witness to Christ, to be a faithful witness and the surpassing greatness of his ways and his kingdom. They understand their call. It is to be a witness to Christ. Second, they understand that they are called into a fellowship with Christ, including his sufferings. They are to suffer with Christ here in this world, completing, filling up.

51:01The sufferings of Christ. But they also understand that they are called into fellowship with Christ in His glory. We are called, in whatever difficult circumstances we face, we are called to witness to Christ. We are called to fellowship with Christ. And we are called to wait for God's salvation. You see, life is about remaining true to Christ in all circumstances. And sometimes we don't understand why God allows certain things into life. I don't fully understand why God, why human history has to end this way, but this is the way it does.

51:55And so, even if I don't fully understand, I understand that whatever circumstances I'm in, I am to witness to Christ, to fellowship with Christ, and to wait patiently for Him to act. It was interesting yesterday, so I was getting, it's been a very busy week. I know I've been out of the pulpit for a couple of weeks, but I tell you, I have felt really busy. And one of the things, I was getting ready for a wedding yesterday. Many of you were there, Langston's wedding, and Jillian's wedding. I thought, well, you know, I'm going to go ride my bike a little bit. So as I go riding, just clearing the mind, getting out, riding, I thought, after a little while, I'm thirsty, so I get the bottle of water, put it on my mouth to drink, and I didn't see what it was, but it was either a spider, a bee, or a wasp. Something was on my tip of my water bottle, and I put it in my mouth and sprayed. And all of a sudden, bang, I got a fierce sting on my tongue. Of course, I spit it out before I even realized what it was, and then I feel my tongue, boom, boom, boom, and getting bigger and bigger. And I'm sitting there thinking, now how am I going to do this wedding?

53:30And I don't know what my tongue's going to do. I don't know if I'm supposed to call somebody in and take my place. I almost called Matthew Jones, thinking, you know, maybe Matthew, I thought, well, that wouldn't be a very loving thing to him. So, but then all of a sudden, my mind goes theological. God, was there something I was saying or that I was thinking about saying that you didn't want me to say? So now you've sent this hornet. But then on the other hand, I could get this thought, or maybe this is satanic opposition because what I was going to say was going to be. So good.

54:02Which is it? Is God disciplining me, or is this satanic opposition? I don't know. But I do know that I'm called to witness to Christ. I'm not necessarily even called to sort all that out. I am called to humble myself, to witness to Christ, to fellowship with Him, wait for Him. And then this morning, I wake up. It's interesting. You guys heard the storm last night? Okay, so I kid you not, about 11:30, I wake up and I hear this huge crash, and I kid you not, all the lights came on in the house. I've never had that happen before. I don't know the, I've got this low-voltage, unique wiring system in our house, and but the lights came on in the house. And I like woke up and I heard a big crash, and I'm like, Nancy, what happened? She's like, and the lights, then they just forgot, what was that all about? And so I got up this morning, and if you've been at my house, there's a big oak tree in my backyard. It was struck by lightning, and it was flat down on the ground. And so I'm thinking, well, I was going to spend my time on the sermon this way, and I could not drive out, could not get out. I mean, it blocked out. Everything. So there I am having another one of these theological moments. Do I call somebody else to preach? I call Matt. Do I call Russell? Do I, I thought that wouldn't be very loving. So I'll get out there and chainsaw this thing out and get my way out. But then I didn't get to put the final touches on my sermon. And so, but then I'm standing out there, okay, Lord, was there something in my sermon that you didn't want me to preach? Or was it so awesome that this is satanic opposition?

56:03Hell no. We are, I guarantee it's not so awesome. That I guarantee you. But I can say this: we're not always called to understand the difficult times we're facing, but we are called to seek to witness to Christ, fellowship with Him, and wait for God's salvation in all situations. And to that, we're called, even if we don't understand, we're called. And that's this morning. He calls us, He calls you. Learn the lesson, heed what's going on. Learn. We can learn even from these difficult times that are yet to come. Let's pray. Heavenly Father, we thank you for your word, your goodness, the truth, and the implications that your word has for all. Generations and for all time, ever since it was written. And so, Father, help us today as we stand here in our unique place and unique time and seek to be faithful to what you've called us to do and called us to be and to overcome the challenges that are placed before us.

57:24We desire to witness faithfully, praise your name, walk with you, suffer with you, reign with you in glory. Father, all because you're worthy. You're worthy. In Jesus' name, amen. You would please stand.