OPEN: Years ago I received a flyer for a Revival to be held in Richmond, Indiana.
The “Revivalist” was going to tell us about 2nd coming of Christ. His topics would include the “rapture”, the rebuilding of the Temple, and the battle to end all battles – Armageddon.
Part of his flyer bragged that he was working to bring about the 2nd coming of Christ. He said he had personally gone to Jerusalem and had tried to lay stones in the Temple area that he declared would be the beginning of the rebuilding of the new Temple. And he boasted that this action had caused a riot and several people had been hurt.
Now there were a couple of problems with that.
First was a theological problem.
According the theology this man embraced – before Christ could come again there needed to be a Temple built in Jerusalem where various animal sacrifices would be made to please God.
The problem?
God don’t need no temple.
YOU are God’s temple now. 1 Corinthians 3:16 tells us “Don’t you know that you yourselves are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit lives in you?”
And God don’t need no animal sacrifices. You know why?
Because Jesus was the ultimate sacrifice. Hebrews 9:12 tells Christ “did not enter by means of the blood of goats and calves; but he entered the Most Holy Place once for all by his own blood, having obtained eternal redemption.” There’s no longer any need for any other sacrifice. Jesus offered the best and there’s nothing to be added.
That’s the theological problem with this man’s claims… but there was also a psychological problem.
As I read the flyer for that Revival it occurred to me:
“This guy’s off his nut!
He’s crazy!
More than that – he’s dangerous.”
He believed that by creating that kind of conflict in Jerusalem he could usher in a war that would culminate in Armageddon and that this would bring about the return of Christ to earth. And he was so committed to his delusional theology that he bragged about creating a riot! He was excited about hurting people!
He was delusional.
But where did he get his delusional ideas?
Well, he probably got his ideas the same place I got mine when I was younger and bought into this kind of thinking.
ILLUS: Back when I was younger, there was a really popular book written by Hal Lindsey.
Does anyone remember what it was called?
That’s right: “The Late Great Planet Earth” (1970).
It was an exciting and fairly well-written book – that is, if you didn’t know much about Scripture.
The story was well crafted and his reasoning seemed so convincing.
And do you know what Lindsay taught?
He taught that Jesus would return by 1988 and that after a seven year period of tribulation, Jesus would visibly appear in 1995 and fight the final Battle of Armageddon and thus would begin His millennial reign on earth. (1000 yrs)
Well, just in case you didn’t get the paper that morning… that didn’t happen.
Then along came Jerry Falwell and Pat Robertson, and they believed Lindsay had missed things by just a few years. They predicted that by the year 2000 Russia would lead a vast horde of armies that would descend on Israel at a place called “Armageddon” and THAT would bring about the final battle.
That didn’t happen either!
You know after a while - after these folks have missed such crucial dates - you begin to realize that maybe these guys don’t have a clue what they’re talking about.
(PAUSE)
So, what is this about Armageddon?
Revelation 16:12-16 says “The sixth angel poured out his bowl on the great river Euphrates, and its water was dried up, to prepare the way for the kings from the east. And I saw, coming out of the mouth of the dragon and out of the mouth of the beast and out of the mouth of the false prophet, three unclean spirits like frogs. For they are demonic spirits, performing signs, who go abroad to the kings of the whole world, to assemble them for battle on the great day of God the Almighty.
“Behold, I am coming like a thief! Blessed is the one who stays awake, keeping his garments on, that he may not go about naked and be seen exposed!”
And they assembled them at the place that in Hebrew is called Armageddon.”
According to folks like Lindsay, Falwell and Robertson - Armageddon is a place otherwise known as Megiddo.
Armageddon is a compound word.
“Ar” means mountain, “mageddon” could be rendered Megiddo.
Megiddo was Biblical city that was built on a large hill in the northern part of Israel (just south of Nazareth). It overlooks a beautiful sprawling valley that’s been the site of numerous bloody battles during the days of Joshua, and the Judges and the Kings of Israel. In fact, the last known battle to have taken place there was during WWI when the Allies fought the Turks in 1918.
Megiddo’s location was strategically important in the days of ancient Israel. In fact Solomon used the city as a place to keep his horses and chariots. When you sent me to Israel… I got to go to Megiddo and this is a picture of me driving one of Solomon’s chariots
(We showed a picture of me “riding” in a chariot behind wrought iron horses at the site of Megiddo).
Now Megiddo is a cool place to visit, but we need to understand something.
There actually is no such place that is called “Armageddon”.
The ONLY time we ever read about the name Armageddon is in Revelation 16.
Other than that, there is no geological location named this.
Now, it’s true that the word Armageddon COULD be translated “Mountain of Megiddo”, but the problem is – Megiddo is located on a hill, not a mountain.
I’ve been there. There’s lots of mountains nearby. In fact, Israel is dominated by mountains.
But Megiddo is on a hill. There’s a big difference.
One Scholar named John Rushdoony states, "There are no mountains of Megiddo, only the Plains of Megiddo.”
Let me repeat - despite what you may have heard, there is NOT a place in Israel called Armageddon. The only reason anyone believes Armageddon is at Megiddo is because there was a bunch of guys that just decided that’s where it ought to be.
Now, why would God use the name of a place that doesn’t even exist?
Well, if it’s not the name of a PLACE, then it’s the NAME itself that must MEAN something to God. I’ve checked several places and I’ve found that Armageddon can be translated:
Mountain of Gathering
Mountain of Misery
Mountain of Sorrow
Basically, Armageddon represents the war between Good and Evil. Between God and Satan. The name creates an imagery of God gathering His enemies together for judgment. Gathered to experience misery and sorrow.
And despite what you may have heard, Revelation is NOT about Armageddon.
Armageddon is only mentioned once.
But Revelation is about one long story of war. The war to end all wars.
It begins in Chapter 6 we find God bringing pain and misery on His enemies.
He pours out bowls filled with judgment against those who have opposed Him.
He sounds trumpets to bring swift punishment upon evil.
Then when we get to chapter 14 (2 chapters before we read about Armageddon) we see this: “… the winepress was trodden outside the city, and blood flowed from the winepress, as high as a horse’s bridle, for 1,600 stadia.” Revelation 14:20
Then in the chapter after Armageddon we read this: “the ten horns that you saw are ten kings … These are of one mind and hand over their power and authority to the beast. They will make war on the Lamb, and the Lamb will conquer them, for he is Lord of lords and King of kings, and those with him are called and chosen and faithful.” Revelation 17:12-14
Two chapters later: “And I saw the beast and the kings of the earth with their armies gathered to make war against him who was sitting on the horse and against his army.
And the beast was captured, and with it the false prophet who in its presence had done the signs by which he deceived those who had received the mark of the beast and those who worshiped its image. These two were thrown alive into the lake of fire that burns with sulfur. And the rest were slain by the sword that came from the mouth of him who was sitting on the horse, and all the birds were gorged with their flesh.” Revelation 19:19-21
Revelation describes– one LONG war between good & evil.
The war to end all wars … and Armageddon is only one small part of it.
And this is not even a physical war of guns and tanks… or of bows & arrows.
Notice what that last passage said: “the rest were slain by the sword that came from the mouth of him who was sitting on the horse”.
Who’s sitting on the horse? (Jesus)
And where do we see the sword?
It’s coming out of his MOUTH!!!
This is not a description of a physical battle.
This is a spiritual battle with eternal consequences.
So, what does this mean to us?
1st – it means you and I are part of a war to end all wars.
And how we view that war will determine HOW we fight the war.
This week Scott (our Family Minister) and I talked about this and we concluded there are 2 ways churches “fight” this war.
The first group has a “fortress” model.
They have a “fortress mentality” … they are on the defensive.
People in this type of church seek to defend their territory.
The BAD people – the EVIL world - are out “there”. Outside the walls.
This church believes it wins its battle if they can keep their castle clean and undefiled.
And their purpose in life is to protect themselves and their agendas and their building.
Sometimes they’ll even go so far as to make sure that no one who has “really sinned” gets to come to “their church”. Outsiders are always suspect in these churches… and outsiders are people who have been at their church less than 10 years.
These people often approach the battle in fear.
Fear that their comfortable church and their comfortable worship might be threatened.
The 2nd kind of church has the “take the battle to the enemy” mentality.
They aren’t as focused on defending their personal church as much as they aim to make Satan defend his. Jesus said He would build His church, and “the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.” Matthew 16:18
The gates of hell????
Gates are not an offensive weapon.
Gates are built to protect a fortress.
So, yeah - Satan has a fortress.
And Jesus designed His church to beat down his doors of that fortress.
That’s our objective when we go to war.
Our goal is to ATTACK Satan’s fortress.
ILLUS: Years ago I had an email discussion with several atheists. They’d challenged me because they’d run across some of my sermon illustrations on our website that included a set of stories and quotes about Atheism.
But initially I didn’t want to answer them. They intimidated me. Then I realized WHY they intimidated me – they didn’t have anything (they thought) to defend. All they were concerned about was attacking my faith. From that day on I committed myself to being on the offense – to make them defend something.
And that’s what the church is called to do. We are called to attack the walls of Satan’s fortress. To take back the prisoners he has enslaved to his will.
That’s why II Corinthians 10:4-5 says “… the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh but have divine power to destroy strongholds. We destroy arguments and every lofty opinion raised against the knowledge of God, and take every thought captive to obey Christ.”
Thus, the church should be a place where all kinds of people are welcome - even people who haven’t always lived “churchy” kinds of lives. Even people who might feel be ashamed of how they’ve lived.
ILLUS: A friend of mine (who recently visited our building) paid you guys a high compliment. She was telling some of her friends that this was such a friendly congregation she could have “666 tattooed on her forehead… and she’d still be welcome here.”
That is the kind of Church Jesus died to create.
A church that refuses to be afraid of people who aren’t like them.
Rick Grover at the E. 91st St. Church in Indianapolis compared these 2 mindsets this way:
“A fortress is a place to keep all the good people in and keep all the bad people out.
A mission outpost is a place to train people in order to send them out to find the “bad” people.
A fortress is a place with high walls to protect it from the world
A mission outpost doesn’t have any walls – they aren’t on defense –they’re on offense.
A fortress focuses more on what’s going on INSIDE their walls.
A mission outpost focuses more on what’s going on outside their personal boundaries.
A fortress is a place where people complain about the food and how their needs/wants are not being met.
People in a mission outpost don’t have time to complain about the food or their wants, because they are on mission… and that mission is to take down the very gates of hell.”
Then Mr. Grover said this: “Guess what my prayer is for the American Church? You got it. Not that we get more money or better church programs or nicer padded pews... My prayer is that the Holy Spirit fans into flame our passion to serve as a mission outpost and forsake our fortress mentality.”
(http://www.east91st.org/blog/fortress-vs-mission-outpost/)
So the message of Revelation is – we are at war.
But war is not a pleasant business.
Next month there’s a movie coming out called “Hacksaw Ridge” which tells the true story of a man who loved Jesus so much that when he went to war in the Pacific he refused to carry a gun. But in the midst of some of the worst fighting on Okinawa he repeatedly went into the heart of battle to bring back wounded and dying comrades.
It’s a movie that shows us that war is harsh and faith is critical on the battlefront.
In the same way, our war with Satan will not be pleasant.
He has no intention of just rolling over and playing dead for us.
Satan intends to get in a few shots of his own.
He intends to hurt us.
Revelation 12:17 “Then the dragon (Satan) became furious … and went off to make war on the rest of her offspring, on those who keep the commandments of God and hold to the testimony of Jesus.”
ILLUS: I don’t know how many of you have paid attention to recent news, but there are some in our government who have decided that we need to allow men – who think they are women – to go into girl’s bathrooms and locker rooms.
How many of you think that’s a dumb idea?
Well, the state of North Carolina agrees with you. They think it’s a dumb idea too. In fact, they passed a law that said – this is dumb idea and we’re not going to let it happen.
But then the NCAA (The National Collegiate Athletic Association) declared that they were offended that North Carolina would have the audacity to say that men shouldn’t shower with girls and they declared war on that state. The NCAA would NEVER allow any of their special activities to be held in North Carolina.
Why?
Because the NCAA is not a Christian organization.
It’s not a Godly organization.
The NCAA is led by evil people who don’t have a clue of God’s kind of morality… to say nothing of common sense.
But North Carolina can’t do a thing about it.
The NCAA is too powerful and the nation’s politicians are too weak to turn this tide. Satan has done his best to undermine the morality of our nation.
And the same will true in your life. There will be times when Satan will unleash his worst on you and you won’t be able to do a thing about it. All you’ll be able to do is what God’s people have always done – to lean upon the good Shepherd who has promised to lead you even through the valley of the shadow of death.
So, Revelation is telling us we’re at war, AND it’s telling us that war is never pleasant.
But then I noticed something else as I was studying Revelation.
Revelation 19:19-21 says the oddest thing:
“And I saw the beast and the kings of the earth with their armies gathered to make war against him who was sitting on the horse and against his army. And the beast was captured, and with it the false prophet … These two were thrown alive into the lake of fire that burns with sulfur.
And the rest were slain by the sword that came from the mouth of him who was sitting on the horse, and all the birds were gorged with their flesh.”
Did you catch that?
Jesus comes against the enemy with an entire army.
But it doesn’t look like the army does ANYTHING!
It’s almost like (pause) it’s almost like Jesus is doing all the fighting.
The sword comes from HIS mouth and the army is just standing in the background.
It’s like Christ’s forces are nothing more than eye-candy.
What’s this all about?
Well, this is what this all about:
We win this battle ONLY when we follow Jesus.
It’s by HIS name and HIS name ALONE that we destroy Satan.
The sword from His mouth is the mark of our victory.
This is what we need to understand – Jesus is our champion.
We are nothing without Him.
But WITH Him we scale the very walls of hell.
With Him we tear down the gates of Satan’s kingdom.
CLOSE: Years ago I read a powerful article about this that I want to close with this morning.
“Jesus.
A little name.
A small word.
Say this little name in public, however (in a way other than an obscenity) and stand back and watch the fireworks. This little name is like a detonator that triggers a nuclear warhead.
You can say "God," and you won't get a squeak.
You can say "Our Father/Mother in Heaven," and few will flinch.
You can say "Great Spirit," and people will nod in approval.
You can say "Allah" and you will be deemed tolerant.
But say "Jesus" and just wait for the explosion.
Articles will appear in the paper.
Reprimands will be posted from the home office.
Lawsuits will be threatened by the Civil Liberties Union.
So don't say Jesus.
Jesus is divisive, and now is a time for unity.
Jesus is an extremist, and that must mean right wing.
Jesus is exclusive, so His name amounts to hate speech.
Keep His name to yourself.
Cloister it in your church.
Lock it in your prayer closet.
Close it between the covers of your Bible.
But for God's sake, don't voice it in the public square!
It's immodest.
It's immoral.
It's unloving.
Only one problem. Jesus is God.
Only one problem. Jesus alone brings salvation.
Only one problem. All other gods are nothing.
So speak His name aloud.
Shout it from the mountain.
Whisper it in the dark.
Write it in the sky.
Because the name of Jesus is not hate
It's hope.”
(Southeast Outlook 8/4/01)
INVITATION
