Higher Aim With Dr. Curt Dodd

Over the years, I have heard people use different excuses to justify why they are giving in a certain way, rather than doing what Scripture describes. This is a very personal and private thing. We give privately and yet collectively as the body of Christ. It is a personal decision and experience. We don't send bills to people; and we don't send notices that say you haven't been giving your tithe or offering. We don't send out letters like that. I know some congregations do that. I just want to teach you what the Bible says about your belongings, because this is part of the basics of living as a believer.

The word “Ekklesia” is the Koine ́ Greek word for church. It is a compound word, “ek” (the preposition, which means “out of”) and “kaleo” (to call). The word “ekklesia” literally means “called out of ones.” In other words, we, as God's children, have been called out of the world to live for Christ. This is interesting: 90% of the time that the word “ekklesia” is used in the New Testament, it refers to the local church. Only 10% of the time, it refers to the body of Christ worldwide, the spiritual body of Christ. We are going to take a look at this word more closely in today’s message as we understand the importance of fellowship and community in the local church, and we’ll answer the question “Why do we need brotherhood in the church?”

John wrote his three epistles so that you and I could know without a shadow of a doubt that we know Jesus, that we understand the gospel, and that we have a personal relationship with our Savior. If you read through first John, the author gives us seven questions to answer. The questions are there to challenge us but also to give us confidence that we really do belong to Christ as His followers.

There are a lot of people who have already given their life to Christ. They are suited up. Many Christians have been trained up, but there is a problem. Many believers today need to get up. I want you to feel a little uncomfortable if you are not getting up. I want to talk to you who have been benchwarmers. You know Christ and you have been following Him for some time. You know the plays, but you are sitting on the bench; and you are not completely engaged. I don't know what is happening in your life right now, but I know that God doesn't have any benchwarmers! He doesn't want us to be sitting on the bench on the sidelines, talking to each other. He wants us to be ready to go. He wants us to either be on the field, or He wants us to be ready to get onto the field the moment he sends us into the game.

Have you ever trained for something before? Maybe you trained to run a race, or to play a sport, or compete in an event. Whatever the case may be, the training most likely wasn’t easy. It was strenuous and difficult, possibly even painful. You had to push yourself further than you thought you could go for the sake of preparing your body and your mind for the upcoming challenge. As believers, we have training to do as well. We have to be prepared spiritually, mentally, and emotionally for all that we will face as we follow Christ. The Christian life is no cake walk. We will face difficulties and obstacles along the way, which is why we can’t skip out on training, learning, and becoming disciples if we want to walk out our faith well. There are several truths that apply to us as followers of Jesus when it comes to the tough times we will face in our lives, and I want us to look at a few of those today.

Some of my most vivid memories from my childhood come from when I played football. I remember being so excited when I finally got the chance to suit up in junior high to play tackle football. But before the season began, I had to make sure I had all of the right equipment. I had to get cleats, shoulder pads, a helmet, a mouth guard. Each piece of equipment was important for success and protection as I played football. In a lot of ways, suiting up to play football is similar to suiting up as believers. The Bible talks about how as followers of Jesus, we are always in the midst of a spiritual battle. We are fighting against unseen forces every day to further the Kingdom of God and push back against the enemy. If we are going to be successful in this battle, it is important that we suit up. And to suit up correctly and effectively, we have to understand where we fit on God’s team. Let’s take a look at three things that are true of us as members of God’s army.

Today, we wrap up our series on Revelation. The last chapter of the book of Revelation is about the final answer, God's final answer. It is His final invitation. So as we go through this final chapter today, I want to extend an invitation to you to respond to the Lordship of Jesus Christ. Let’s dive in one last time to this incredible book in Scripture.

As we continue to look at the Book of Revelation, we are coming to the end. This is the next to the last sermon on the Book of Revelation series, and today we’re going to keep going in our conversation about heaven and all of the things we have to look forward to in eternity. May this message and this portion of Scripture we’re studying give you hope as you think about what comes after our time on earth is over.

As we start to finish up our study of the book of Revelation, I want us to take a close look at the words in chapter 21. Our key passages in this message tell us about everything that will be made new. We’ve already covered the tribulation, the death, the hardship, and the turmoil that will take place in the last days. But now we get to switch over to talking about heaven, about the new things we will get to experience and enjoy as followers of Jesus as we enter into eternity. Let’s dive in.

Heaven will be an awesome place! As we look at this, it gives us hope. The next thing we should be looking for is what God will do. I really believe it will be the Rapture of the Church. I think we will have another great awakening where God will move across this country and across this globe, maybe one last movement before Jesus comes again. But if He chooses not to do it, (because of the evil that is so prevalent in our culture), God will finally say, “My children, that's enough, come on home.” He will bring us to heaven. We can learn so much about heaven from the last couple of chapters of Revelation. Specifically, there are three glimpses of heaven that John gives us in this book. Let’s look at the first one today.

At this moment in time as we read today’s Scripture passage, all sinful men, the devil, the antichrist, and the beast are all in the lake of fire. The only ones left are the angels of God, the Trinity (God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit), and all true believers in Christ. These are the only ones left, and there is a New Heaven and a New Earth. He chose our planet to show His great love with His Son. Now it is all gone. For us, He creates a New Heaven and a New Earth. We don't fully know what it will look like, but we will get a glimpse of the New Heaven in the days to come. That’s what we’re going to look at throughout today’s message.

Today, we are in Chapter 20 of the Book of Revelation, where we will start with verse 7. This is the end of the judgment of God. We have been spending time with the Great Tribulation, seven years after the rapture of the Church. During this period, the wrath of God is poured out on the planet. So in this message, we are going to look at the different aspects of the last judgment and see what Scripture has to say about this crucial time period.

As we continue in our study of Revelation, we are going to begin to break down the 20th chapter of this final book of the Bible. There are several images that are presented in this group of verses, and each one is important for us to take note of and learn about if we want to gain a better understanding of the end times. There’s a lot to unpack in this short passage of Scripture, so let’s dive in.

For the past few weeks, we have been focusing on Revelation chapter 5 because we need to be reminded that the King is coming back for you and me. With that knowledge, we need to be ready, waiting with hope and anticipation of His coming. That also means we need to have the right posture where we are right now. We can learn about what kind of posture we need by reading Revelation chapter 5. So as we close out this mini-series this week, may we take special note of what we can learn from what John describes seeing in heaven so that we may emulate the posture of those worshiping Jesus there while we are still on earth waiting for His return.

Many of us have tried to align God with where we want to go. Nothing will put you upside down in your life more than when you try to squeeze God into where you want to go. On the other hand, nothing is more powerful in your life than when you allow your life to be aligned with the Throne Room of God. That's why this chapter in Revelation is so critical. We have been spending much time in chapter five so that you can align with what is happening in heaven right now. We can experience God's will in our lives by lining up with what is happening in heaven right now. When we align with heaven, God will give us unbelievable peace in the midst of whatever storms we are going through. So let’s continue our study of Revelation chapter 5 and see what we need to do to align ourselves with the Throne Room of God.

We have been taking our time walking step-by-step through John chapter five, to see where John is focused. Today, we are going to talk specifically about how John is in the presence of the Father in the throne room of heaven and how he focused on a sacred sermon. Through this study of Scripture, we are going learn that we should never discount how God can use each of us personally to impact someone else’s life. You might have a sacred sermon God wants you to share, so why not share it and see how God works? Our job is solely to be the messenger, delivering the good news of Jesus Christ. We can trust God to take care of everything else.

What’s so cool about Revelation 5 is that it’s a picture of what is happening in heaven. If we could join heaven right now, we would probably be living different lives and have a different attitude and focus. But even though that’s true, we also need to focus right now on the fact that the King is coming! He is coming back for His people, and the reason He is coming is because He owns it all. He is coming for you who know Him, and that means He will not leave you in the situation where you are forever. God has a plan, not just for eternity, but for right now as well. So as you strive to live out that plan you need to realize that His timing is perfect. And although we might not understand it, we can trust it.

One of the greatest gifts we can pull from the book of Revelation is the picture we get of heaven. I truly believe we would be so much better off if we wouldn’t get so bogged down with everything that’s happening in the present and instead fix our eyes on eternity. If we would get our focus right, and get aligned with heaven, the living here would be a lot easier. There will be more peace, confidence, and stability in your life when you are aligned with heaven. Regardless of what happens around you, you will not be shaken. And isn’t that what we all want? So this week, we’re going to continue looking at Revelation chapter 5 and see what we can learn about heaven from the Word of God.

The fourth and fifth chapters of Revelation are really one unit. And so over the new few weeks, we’re going to focus on their contents in hopes of gaining a clearer picture of what heaven is going to be like. It’s one thing to listen to what other people say about heaven and what they think it will entail, but it’s another to dive into the Word of God and look at what God reveals to us about where we will spend eternity as His children. Specifically this week, we are going to take a look at the scroll that John talks about in today’s key passages and what we can learn from reading about this scroll.

Today’s key passage speaks of the battle of Armageddon. Taking a step back, John sees it all happening before him. These are the verses he uses to describe where the forces of the Antichrist and the False Prophet bring the entire world together in battle. They meet Jesus, the King of Kings and Lord of Lords who is coming to take back His throne. We’re going to continue studying what Scripture has to say about this battle in today’s message. We’ll review what we talked about last week, and we’ll cover some new topics as well.