Matt Chandler - Cosmic Battle

If you have your Bibles, I would love for you to grab them. I’m going to be highlighting things from this chapter beyond what we just read, and I want you to be able to see it and get a sense of what’s happening here. Last weekend, there was a massive conference that went out around the world called IF. Jenny Allen, who is like an older sister to me—she’s probably going to be offended by that, but it’s okay—is a dear friend. She received a vision from the Lord for this ministry to call women into serious discipleship and serious worship of Jesus Christ, and Lauren and I have been in that orbit since it began. I’m one of the few men at the IF gathering down in Dallas, and the Lord has placed a lot of favor on Jenny, opening doors for her to interview the leader of the house church movement in Iran. If you’re unaware, the largest revival in the world right now is actually taking place in Iran, and it’s epic. Dreams, visions, and supernatural events—it’s just crazy what’s going on in Iran right now. The guy leading that movement, that revival, was interviewed by Jenny, and it provided a fascinating look at what it means to be a persecuted church, rather than what we typically refer to. If you want to see that, you can go to YouTube or the website «Sheep Among Wolves.» I would just warn you that you probably don’t want to pop a bag of popcorn and sit down with your four-year-old to watch it. It is intense and painful to see, but it paints a picture of what it looks like to serve Jesus, echoing that passage we just read about not loving one’s life even unto death.

In the interview with this man, who was heavily disguised to protect his identity, they discussed the church in the Western world. Normally, my guard goes up because I think the Western world gets criticized in ways that aren’t fair, though sometimes our portrayal is justified. When asked about the church in the West, this man, who has had friends killed, family members imprisoned, and people he loves persecuted, said this: «It’s like the West is under some sort of satanic lullaby.» He continued, «It’s like the whole thing with Jesus is as if someone is saying, ‘Shhh, go back to sleep, ’ covering us with a blanket.» As someone who has pastored in the West for over 20 years, that resonated with me.

The heart of Revelation for me is to be an alarm that says, «Hey, can we wake up? Can we wake up to what’s actually happening here?» Internally, there are a lot of people on staff asking, «Hey, why don’t we do Romans?» I love Romans; it is the Mount Everest of theological books. However, in my spirit, while randomly reading this chapter, I felt a pull to sound the alarm. By the grace of God, I want to convey that there is a reason why we are facing significant struggles, and if you wake up, we might see something remarkable in our day. If not, we will witness something gut-wrenching, and I’m simply here to sound the alarm regarding this passage.

So, keep in mind, we are in Window Three. Revelation is not linear; it’s not about what happens next, but rather what John sees next. This is Window Three. Window One was the throne room, which centered around worship in that convergent space, and we saw ultimate reality: Christ enthroned. It was unbelievable, and we are there now, in that convergent space. Scene Two, or Window Two, involved the opening of the seals and the blowing of the trumpets. Now, between the trumpets and the bowls, we have an intermission, which is the window we are in this week and next. These two weeks form one window where we will see the cosmic battle unfold. This week, we will witness the two beasts emerge from the sea and how the dragon makes war against the people of God. That’s what you can expect over the next two weeks, and I hope you’re getting excited about it!

Now we have two signs and a scheme; that’s Chapter 12. Two signs and a scheme—it’s important to note that a sign points to something else. The sign is not the point; rather, it points to something greater. The first sign in our passage, found in the first two verses, is this woman. If you were to draw her, she would be quite odd. She has stars around her head, the moon at her feet—this is just a weird image. But remember why we have apocalyptic imagery; it’s meant to stir up our spirit in ways that are beyond ordinary comprehension.