OBEY: 1984, and the Mark of the Beast

6 · Supports the already-and-not-yet eschatological framework by citing John's teaching that many antichrists have already come even as the Antichrist is still coming, reinforcing that the beast pattern is present throughout the church age

The Apostle John warned in one of his letters, "Children, it is the last hour." And as you have heard that Antichrist is coming, so now many antichrists have come. Therefore, we know that it is the last hour. What is John saying? John is saying, listen, that there are already people arrayed against Christ that are antichrist, and they will continue. So this beast arrives between the time of Jesus' ascension and return, first in Nero, but in kind of imaged in every evil government since then, and then probably culminating in one final evil government.

7 · Exegetes the mortal wound imagery as warning that evil government seems to suffer death blows only to rise again — each defeated tyrant (Nero, Hitler) is replaced by another, creating false hope of final victory over evil government within history

But, but there's one detail of the beast that is compelling and interesting and incredibly important: the mortal wound. What does that mean? Now, well, some of it is that it's the beast and the second— the first and second beast have aspects that are like Jesus in order to deceive people. But there's another, I think, thing going on with the mortal wound. Many scholars place the writing of Revelation after the death of Nero. And in many ways, the church breathed a sigh of relief, like, oh, thank goodness. Nero's gone. We'll never have another evil government like that again, right? But in a sense, Revelation is warning, no, it may seem as though evil government has been dealt a death blow, only for it to rise again, right? Death blow, rise again. Nero dead, someone takes his place. Hitler dead, With the death of Hitler, has the world finally gotten rid of evil dictator rulers? No, right? Mortal wound but keeps living. Each time they're defeated, they rise again.

8 · Synthesizes the exegetical work into a doctrinal claim about the beast's function — it represents governmental hard power arrayed against the church through persecution, a reality already present in Revelation 2-3 and in the martyrdom of the apostles

And look at what he does to the church. It says the beast will persecute the church. Now, some of this is explicit in Revelation 2 and 3, as you've been studying in your community groups. Revelation 2 and 3, there were several churches experiencing active persecution. Some of the believers were in jail. All probably of the apostles of the 12 in Acts 2 have been killed except for John by this time. So if you wanna think of it this way in terms of geopolitics, this beast represents the hard power, the attack power, the governmental control. Power arrayed against the church.

9 · Applies the beast's persecution to the American context by distinguishing between advocating for godly government (which does not constitute persecution when rejected) and government forcing Christians to deny their faith (which does) — correcting a false understanding of persecution common among American Christians

Now, I want to clarify something for us in America, because we're already like, "Yeah, we don't like the government either. We started our country getting rid of one government." And so how does this relate to us? Well, obviously, for us as Christians, there's some distinctions between the first century and today. Uniquely in world history, really, we have some part in the governance of our country. And so there are good Bible verses helping us to see how a government should function. And we should, in whatever ways we can, seek to argue for and push for government that is godly in accordance with Scripture. But what happens is this: sometimes Christians will— there'll be Christians over here and the government will be over here, and Christians will be like, "Government, you should do this." And the government will say, No, I'm not gonna do that. And then Christians will say, we're being persecuted, right? That's not Romans 13. This is Romans 13. The government over here says, you must do this or die or jail or whatever. And over here, Christians must say, no, we will not. Now there's other parts, again, Romans 13, other sections that govern how Christians should advocate that their government operate. Romans 13 is about the government forcing Christians to do things, and especially in view is denying their faith in Jesus, right?

10 · Pastoral aside naming global persecution as the norm for Christians (China, India, Africa, Middle East) and reframing American religious freedom as the historical aberration rather than the norm, preparing the congregation for potential future persecution

This sadly is the norm for many Christians in countries around the world. Pastors in China, jailed, that disappear. Pastors in parts of India attacked under and endorsed by the local governments. Pastors in Africa beheaded. Pastors in the Middle East persecuted or killed. And this is not, I don't think, the predominant type of attack against the church in America right now. I think there's another one, which is the second one. But we must be prepared for this. Revelation, I think, lays out that the norm for Christians is that government will often be opposed to them and their faith. What we have enjoyed in America is an aberration, not the norm.

11 · Direct application calling Christians to prepare themselves and their children to lose money, freedom, jobs, and lives for their faith — not because imminent persecution is predicted but because this should be a functional category for American Christians who often assume governmental opposition means they are doing something wrong

And so what we have to do is we have to, as Christians, we have to be prepared. We must be prepared to lose our money, to lose our freedom, to lose our jobs, to lose our lives. We must prepare our kids for the same. And you may be thinking, okay, does Ricky have some inside information, something coming down the pike? I know we got some government people here. No, I don't think we're on the verge of being rounded up and detained in the desert. But I do think often as Christians, this isn't even a functional category for me. It's almost like, what, man, if the government's telling me to do this and it's against my faith, then I must be doing something wrong. And Revelation says, no, cling to your faith in Jesus. This will be a pattern.

12 · Exegetes Revelation 13:9-10 to identify the text's explicit call to endurance in faith even unto death, connecting this to Revelation 11's witnesses and establishing the theological pattern that the church conquers through suffering as the Lamb conquered through his slaying

What should our response be? Well, the call is explicit. It says, verse 9, if anyone has an ear, let him hear. If anyone is to be taken captive, to captivity he goes. If anyone is to be slain with the sword, with the sword he must be slain. And here's the call. Here is a call for the endurance and faith of the saints. The call, as we see the beast, as we see the attack, is this: endure in faith in Christ. This is what we saw in Revelation 11 with the witnesses. The pattern is this: we follow the Lamb who conquers by his slaying. The church follows the Lamb and conquers even in their slaying. We must endure at times even deadly attack.

13 · Personal story of the pastor's grandfather's calloused hands serving as an analogy for the kind of faith American Christians need to develop — hands calloused through hard work and repeated injury rather than soft hands unaccustomed to strain, applied to gripping Christ through suffering

Look, this is the way I think about it, right? For us in America, my granddad was— he was a general contractor. He did all kinds of things. He was always working with his hands. But if you shook my granddad's hand or if he— I remember as a kid, he'd hold my hand and kind of lead me somewhere. Okay, Scooter, we're going in the backyard. He would call me Scooter 'cause he was from the South and they just make up crazy names. And so, Scooter, we're going to the South. And his hand felt different than other people. His hand had calluses on it, you know what I'm saying? Like these were hands that had been worked and cracked and repaired over and over and over again, torn up and split and healed over. And so when he gripped your hand, and he had quite a grip too, It felt different. This is, if I could sum up in a picture what I think this is calling us to do as Americans, we as Americans need to get more calloused hands when it comes to following Jesus. In our grip on Christ, we're often like, the rope starts to pull a little bit, we're like, ah, I'm getting a rope burn. Ah-ha, the government, I don't think they like me, right? And Revelation 13 is like, look, man, expect it. Don't be surprised by it. And the way you prepare for it is by tightening your grip on Jesus and saying, whatever, Lord, your will be done. If my money goes, if my job goes, if my freedom goes, if whatever goes, my grip on you is here. And when things get hard in life, that's when you develop the calloused hand of faith. That's when you say over and over again, Jesus is my life.

14 · Theological claim establishing the security of believers grounded in election — though the beast's grip on the world seems secure, the Lamb's grip on his people (whose names are written in the Book of Life before the foundation of the world) is far more secure

And there is hope though. There is hope because it feels like the beast is inevitable and unstoppable. But the people of the Lamb, it says in verse 8b, "Everyone whose name has not been written before the foundation of the world in the Book of Life of the Lamb who was slain." So what does that mean? It means that there are people of the Lamb who have their names written before the foundation of the world. In the Book of Life. And that means this, that the beast's reign seems secure. His grip on the world seems secure, but the Lamb's grip on his people is far more secure. The people who hold tightly to the Lamb look up to find that it is the Lamb holding tightly to them.

15 · Full reading of Revelation 13:11-17, introducing the second beast that looks like a lamb but speaks like a dragon, exercises the first beast's authority to compel worship, performs deceptive signs, and marks people on hand and forehead so they cannot buy or sell without the mark

That's the first beast. Second beast, deception. Verse 11, "Then I saw another beast rising out of the earth. It had two horns like a lamb." Aw. "And it spoke like a dragon. It exercises all the authority of the first beast in its presence and makes the earth and its inhabitants worship the first beast." whose mortal wound was healed. It performs great signs, even making fire come down from heaven to earth in front of people. And by the signs that it is allowed to work in the presence of the beast, it deceives those who dwell on the earth, telling them to make an image for the beast that was wounded by the sword and yet lived. And it was allowed to give breath to the image of the beast so that the image of the beast might even speak and might cause those who would not worship the image of the beast to be slain. And also it causes all, both small and great, both rich and poor, both slave, free and slave, to be marked on the right hand and on the forehead, so that no one can buy or sell unless he has the mark, that is the name of the beast or the number of its name.

16 · Exegetes the second beast as distinct from the first through its appearance (lamb-like but dragon-voiced), identifying it as a beast of deception that compels worship through social and economic pressure rather than force, connecting this to the imperial cult in Asia Minor where participation was socially enforced rather than legally mandated

All right, guys, we're into it now. This is the stuff. Now this beast, what do we see here? This beast is different from the first. We see immediately in its introduction— I pause there— that it looked kind of like a lamb. It looked almost a little bit like Jesus. It looked kind. It looked harmless. But come close and you hear from within it the voice of a dragon. This is a beast of deception. This is a, in some sense, a religious beast. It's actions point people to worship the first beast. And it can do amazing things with demonic power. And if the original audience were reading this, they would have been thinking, that sounds familiar. It sounds like the imperial cult. Because in Asia Minor, the Roman— sort of celebrating the Roman government and Roman rule was a big thing. The cities in Asia Minor would compete for who could build a work to the new emperor. There was a worship cult around the emperor that perhaps wasn't exactly explicit that everybody had to participate in worshiping the emperor, but they worked the cities so that if you weren't there worshiping the emperor, you stood out. So that if you weren't there, well, maybe next week nobody wants to buy goods from you. Maybe next week the social invitations dry. Up. In other words, nobody's holding a sword to your throat saying, "Go worship the beast." This beast is like, "Come on, everyone's doing it. Everyone's here." And you're like, "Oh, that little lamb looks so sweet. Let's follow it," right? That's this beast.

17 · Defines idolatry in heart terms (putting anything in God's place as source of affection, joy, hope, obedience) and synthesizes the two beasts' complementary strategies — the first beast wields hard power (stick), the second wields soft power (carrot) through worship, influence, and social pressure that doesn't look like attack

Now, in the original day, there would be literal idol statues, but scripture sees that idolatry is really anytime we put something or someone in the place of God in our heart. When we make something the source of our affection and joy and hope and future, when we obey it absolutely and fully. So you see the push and pull of this, the carrot and the stick. The first beast is the stick, smack, smack, you know, get over there, smack. The second beast is, oh, but it's so nice over here. Don't you wanna be over here? Everyone's over here. We're just all hanging out, having a good time worshiping the beast, right? This is how they work together. If the first beast is sort of the hard power of the state, the second beast is soft power of worship, influence, economic and social pressure. Its attack doesn't even always look like an attack.

18 · Exegetes the marking on head and hand as symbolic inversion of Deuteronomy 6's command for God's word to be near his people at all times — the beast's mark parodies God's mark, showing that those marked by the beast are owned by the beast rather than by God

Now, you're probably wondering here, okay, well, tell us about the marking of the head and the hand. This is revelation, this is apocalyptic literature, this is symbolic. And if you know your Bible, you're saying, "That sounds familiar. Didn't God in Deuteronomy 6 cause his people to be marked by the head and the hand, that God's word should be that near to them at all times?" Yes. What it's doing is it's flipping Deuteronomy 6 and saying, okay, instead of being marked by the Lord, these people and people who follow it are marked by the beast. Now, here the beast cultural war results in the worshiping of the beast, the first beast, and worshiping of the dragon.

19 · Exegetes 666 as symbolic of sinful humanity to the ultimate degree (6 = day of man's creation, never reaching 7 = God's completion), arguing that the mark of the beast is not a future event to await but a present reality already on anyone who exalts humanity above God and rejects divine authority over their life

And then that's coupled with the 666 reference, right? Verse 18, "This calls for wisdom. Let the one who has understanding calculate the number of the beast, for it is the number of a man, and his number is 666." All right, what's up with that? I have always wondered what's up with the 666 beast. Now, here's the deal. If you read— mostly when you read the Bible, you read 10 commentators, there's like 2 options, okay? It's either this or this. This 666 thing, I'm telling you, you read 10 commentators, you get 12 opinions, 'cause you're like, it could be this, it could be that, right? Some people have said, well, according to this particular numerology of the day, it could spell Nero Caesar. That's one option. Or it could spell beast. It's just reinforcing what is this? Well, I'm going to give you what I think is the most straightforward answer and the one that lines up with the markings. Okay. In the Bible, the number 7 references God and completion. Number 6 is the day man was created. Right. So this, in a sense, is man to the third power. But never reaching 7, its completion in God. So the number 6 references sinful humanity, and it's 6 to the 3rd power. This is humanity kind of to the ultimate degree. It's everyone on earth who says man is ultimate, humanity is ultimate, I worship myself, no one can tell me how to live my life. That is the mark of the beast. And here's the terrifying truth: we're not waiting for the mark of the beast. The mark of the beast is here already. The mark of the beast is symbolically on anyone who says, "God's not going to tell me how to live my life. I tell me how to live my life." That is what? Antichrist. As John said, that's going to be Everywhere.

20 · Hypothetical narrative illustrating the second beast's deception by constructing a culturally ubiquitous story (girl breaks free from conformity to be true to herself) and tracing its voice back to Genesis 3's serpent questioning God's word and promising self-deification, revealing the dragon's voice beneath lamb-like messaging about self-actualization

Now, you're probably wondering, okay, well, what does it sound and look like, this deception? Well, I want to tell you a story we hear over and over in our culture and see if you recognize any of it, okay? What does it sound like for it to look like a lamb but have the voice of a dragon that results in the exaltation of humanity and the beast instead of God? Well, maybe this. Once upon a time, There was a young girl. Her family and/or her culture always made her do things and conform, but she was special. She was different. And one day, she decided to trust herself, to be true to herself, to listen to the voice down deep inside her. No one could tell her what to do. She had to decide for herself. For herself. She broke free. She escaped. She made her own wrong and right. And eventually, everyone saw just how special she was, and she found a community that loved and accepted and celebrated her. And now she is beautiful. Now she is strong. Now she is happy. No right, no wrong, no rules for me. I'm free, let it go. Now, there are some true and beautiful things in there. God did make everyone with unique dignity and worth. And it's true that some cultural norms should be rejected, that they're just not lining up with God's word. But behind that, here's what I think you hear behind that. In Genesis 3, Adam and Eve are there, there's the fruit. What does the serpent, the dragon, say? He says, "Why don't you eat some of that?" And Eve says, "Oh, no, no, we're not supposed to even touch it." And the dragon says, "Did God really say?" So it's questioning the word of God. And then the dragon says, "God doesn't want you to do that because he knows when you eat it, you will be like him." Him. Do you hear the voice? Then you'll be strong, then you'll be beautiful, then you'll decide what's right and wrong for you, then you'll be true to your truest self. This, I think, is an example of the appearance of a lamb but the voice of a dragon. Be true to yourself, the old rules just hold you back.

21 · Applies the dragon's deception to concrete moral choices (sexual ethics, gender identity, divorce) and religious choices (Buddhism, prosperity gospel, church-shopping), exposing the deadly lie that these feel-based decisions are autonomous when in reality they constitute following the dragon to doom — the dragon hates the image of God and laughs as people embrace destruction while thinking it's self-actualization

And here's what happens, we internalize that, we worship the self, We break free of parental rules and hook up with our boyfriend or girlfriend because it feels right. We decide that same-sex relationships are right because they feel right to us. We decide two genders are too limiting, so we choose or create another. We decide our husband or wife is holding us back, so we break free in divorce. And then here's the reality, that this second beast, this religious beast, is happy to provide a flavor of religion to suit and support this rebellion. Maybe a welcoming, nonjudgmental, every truth is your truth Buddhism. Or maybe a church that calls itself a Christian church that exalts you and health and wealth and tells you that you're amazing and beautiful, you just listen to the voice down deep inside and do whatever it says. And so we leave churches that teach things that don't quote unquote feel right to us. That feel out of step with the rest of the culture. And here is what is so deadly. In the end, we think it's our idea, where Revelation 13 says, "No, you are being led by the dragon to your doom." Here's the reality. The dragon hates the image of God. He's not leading you along, "Oh, come over here. You'll find fulfillment and peace and satisfaction over here. Come here, come here, come here." But inwardly he's going, he's laughing. Inwardly, he's rejoicing as we walk like lemmings to our doom. We think being true to ourselves is true to ourselves, when in reality, we're just listening to the voice of the dragon say, "Did God really say? Did God really say?"

22 · Catalogs four specific cultural idols (money, state, sex, identity) showing how each uses lamb-like appearance (grain of truth about goodness) to mask the dragon's voice commanding obedience, connecting back to Shepard Fairey's 'This is your god' campaign and revealing how cultural messaging around each idol ultimately says 'obey

Here are a few ways that this can play out. I'm just going to very briefly tick through these. One, the idol of money. In America, we feel a constant pull of defining ourselves by our financial metrics. We worship money. And what it can buy us, comfort, security, luxury, pleasure. Really, behind all the advertising, behind all the stuff around us, behind the social pressure is the word obey. Buy more now. Shepard Fairey, the artist behind the Obey campaign, did this famous thing where he sent 800 $1 bills around the country, regular dollar bill with the word, with an image on it, and he called the camp, the obey image on it, and he called the campaign 'This is your god.' He could see it. There's also the idol of state. This is explicitly here. We as Americans are in view here as well. We begin to believe that our country, our party, our favorite political leader, this branch of government, they will save us. They will give us security and peace and prosperity and hope. And when they win, we're elated, and when they lose, we're crushed. Or the idol of sex. Since Freud's influence, we often see everything in life as relating to sexual desires and biological urges. The message everywhere is, it's essential, it's normal, it's natural, it's beautiful. What do you hear behind that? Obey, obey, obey, conform. Which is why later, as we'll see, the people of God explicitly push back on this. Or last, as we mentioned, the idol of identity. I think this is many times the idol underneath all idols. We worship ourselves. We look for our truth. We wanna be true to ourselves. Really what we hear is obey. And the challenge is there's often a grain of truth in each of these idols. Like resources that God provides are good. Having things that are nice can be good. The state can be used for good. Sexuality was a good gift. Our identity is precious and unique. But just as the two beasts look like God, so do these idols. They look just a little bit like him, but behind them is the voice of the dragon.

23 · Applies Revelation 13:18's call to wisdom by arguing that biblical wisdom is the only means of seeing through cultural deception, making an urgent plea for Christians to immerse themselves in Scripture (church, community, personal reading) because they are at war and cannot expect to be shaped by God's word when consuming it minimally while consuming cultural messaging constantly

So what is the call for the church here? Verse 18. This calls for wisdom. This call is for wisdom, not just about the number 666, but about all of life. It takes biblical wisdom to see through the deceptions around us. The book of Revelation is a call to wisdom and seeing through deception around us. How then do we see? How can we see, okay, that looks like a lamb, but its voice is kind of low, you know? How do we see the dragon? How do we hear the voice of the dragon? With this, with this. This is what helps us. Look, if any of the stuff I just mentioned is a struggle for you, or like, I don't know, I don't think same-sex, you know, relationships are wrong, or I don't think this gender stuff is wrong. I think it's fine. I just want to urge you, brother or sister, look through the lens of the Bible. And rather than going, what feels right, go, what does the Lord say is right? Christianity is following Jesus and beginning to conform our thinking more and more and our feelings even more and more to the truth of the word. So let me ask you the question, who are you listening to the most? What voices shape you? Everything is telling you to obey, everything. The songs you nod your head to, the Netflix show you're binging, the news sites you soak up, you take it in constantly. So let me ask you, brother, sister, how much do you take in God's word? How much do you hear his voice? How often are you in church under the word of God? How often are you sitting across from people with your Bible open? How often is your Bible open, personally. This is a call for wisdom. Look, two raging beasts are roaring across the face of the earth. And many times Christians just get up and have a coffee and listen to a song and go to work like nothing's going on. We are at war. And we are in danger of either compromise Or buckling under pressure. We must, must, must— let me plead with you— must be in the Word of God. Look, if you are on news sites for your favorite political party or preference more than in the Word of God, you will be shaped more by them. You cannot take in God's Word a tiny drip at a time and expect it to transform your thinking as you listen constantly to the messages of of obey, obey, obey, obey. Hear the voice of the Lord.

24 · Structural transition signaling the shift from the beasts to the Lamb, acknowledging sermon length and setting expectation for the final movement

All right, last and brief. Oh man, this is too long. The Lamb. We gotta end with the Lamb.

25 · Full reading of Revelation 14:1-5, introducing the contrasting vision of the Lamb standing on Mount Zion with the 144,000 who bear his name and his Father's name on their foreheads, singing a unique song, characterized as undefiled virgins who follow the Lamb wherever he goes

Revelation 14, verse 1, this is our hope. Then I looked, and behold, on Mount Zion stood the Lamb and with him 144,000 who had— listen— his name and his Father's name written on their foreheads. And I heard a voice from heaven like the roar of many waters and like the sound of thunder. The voice I heard was like the sound of harpists playing on their harps, and they were singing a new song before the throne and before the four living creatures and before the elders. And no one could learn that song except the 144,000 who had been redeemed from the earth. It is these who have not defiled themselves with women, for they are virgins. It is these who follow the Lamb wherever he goes. These have been redeemed from mankind as firstfruits for God and the Lamb. And in their mouth no lie was found, for they are blameless.

26 · Exegetes the geographic imagery of Mount Zion as representing a different plane of reality above the earthly chaos where the beasts operate, establishing that the Lamb and his people are secure on an entirely different level — the church is not in danger of the beasts winning because the Lamb's position is fundamentally superior

Oh, church, look at— notice the geographic imagery here. Think of it this way. On this level, on the earth, They're just flooded with evil. This beast is smacking people with a stick saying, "Obey or else." This other beast is offering a carrot saying, "Come over here, obey. It's so much better. It's so much nicer. Everyone is doing it." And all of this is awash with evil, but above it all stands Mount Zion overlooking it all with the Lamb there and his people secured. Look, we are not— the church is not in danger of like, "Oh no, what if the beasts win?" No, the Lamb is on an entirely different level. And standing with him are the 144,000. We've covered that this symbolically represents God's people for all time from every tribe and language and nation and people. And they are before the throne of God. They are in the inmost place of God's throne room.

27 · Exegetes the song of the redeemed as a roar that will drown out the dragon's song, connecting it to the congregation's worship experience moments earlier as a glimpse of Mount Zion's roar, and establishing the song's uniqueness — only the redeemed can sing it because it is the song of redemption

And while below the worship song is to the beast and the dragon, There is a different song coming from Mount Zion, church. This song, listen, this song is like a roar with thunder, with beauty indescribable. Oh, church, and man, we were singing that second song and the band dropped out and the church sang out. You could hear a glimpse of the roar coming from Mount Zion that will eventually drown out and destroy the song of the dragon. And the song is unique. The redeemed have a song that the angels in heaven don't have, the elders in heaven don't have. Why? Because it is unique to the song of the redeemed.

28 · Exegetes the virginity and blamelessness language of Revelation 14:4-5 as symbolic rather than literal — representing those who resisted the beast's sexual immorality and whose purity and blamelessness is a status conferred by redemption rather than moral perfection achieved

And look, verses 4 and 5, you're like, "Okay, wait, what's with the literal virgins and the people that never say a lie?" I think that is symbolic, meaning these are people who have not given themselves over to the sexual immorality of the world. Despite the enticements of the beast. These aren't people who have never said a lie. These are people who try to conform their speech to the Lamb's and are now in status pure and blameless because of that word redeemed.

29 · Synthesizes the soteriological distinction between those marked by the beast and those standing with the Lamb — all are number 6 (sinners), but the redeemed are justified by grace through redemption in Christ, brought to Mount Zion not by moral achievement but by the Lamb's joy in covering their sins

Romans 3:23 says this: For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. All are, if you could say it this, number 6. That's where we're stuck. But are justified by his grace as a gift through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus. What's the difference between the people down below and the people above on Mount Zion? It is not that these people got, were so good they climbed the ladder of Mother Teresa goodness and finally summited Mount Zion. No, these are people who said, "I have fallen short of the glory of God. Oh Lamb, will you take my sins? Oh Lamb, will you cover me?" And it is the Lamb's joy to bring them to Mount Zion.

30 · Evangelistic application exposing the false neutrality of claiming to be on no team — everyone is marked by either the dragon or the Lamb, and the dragon delights in the illusion of autonomy — followed by gospel offer that the Lamb's sacrifice purchases purity and the Lamb's victory is inevitable despite the beasts' apparent power

Look, this, friend, if you're listening and you don't know Christ, here is the reality: everyone is either marked by the dragon or the Lamb. You might think, "No, no, no, I'm not on either team. I'm just on my team." Well, sure, that's what the dragon wants you to think. Dragon's like, "Good, got 'em." But, church, the offer of the Lamb stands. He says, "I will buy you with my blood. My sacrifice in your place will bring you to a place of purity." The beasts may rage. It may seem— they may seem inevitable. But it is a Lamb who is inevitable.

31 · Climactic application identifying the posture that enables endurance under the first beast's attack and resistance to the second beast's deception — 'I will follow the Lamb wherever he goes' — using Vince and Christy's move to Prague as concrete example while arguing this radical availability should be the default Christian posture, not the aberration

Here then is the application: they follow the Lamb wherever he goes. What gives us power to endure the attacks of the first beast? What gives us the strength to resist the deception and temptations of the second beast? It is knowing that we have been redeemed and bought and secured, and flowing from that, there is in our hearts this phrase, "I will follow the Lamb wherever he goes." Like, I'm so grateful that we got to announce Vince and Christy moving to Prague. I respect them so much because as long as I've known them, this has been their attitude. Going to Prague the first time and coming back to the US and coming to our church and returning back, their attitude has been, I will follow you wherever you go. Church, Revelation 14 says that should not be the norm, the aberration. It's like, wow, those people are crazy. They actually are moving across the world for Jesus. Wow. No, Revelation is like, that's the default for Christians. Every Christian, every day, asking, Lord, where do you want me to go? I will follow you wherever you go.

32 · Closing prayer synthesizing the sermon's movements — gratitude for redemption from the dragon-filled world to security on Mount Zion, petition for discernment to recognize the beast's voice, petition for calloused hands of endurance, and final submission to Jesus' leading

Would you stand and let's pray? Lord, I pray that as we end here, Lord, this would be our heart. Lord, that seeing the danger, in a sense, that you have pulled us away from, that you have brought us from this swirling, kind of tumultuous, dragon-filled world to be secure on Mount Zion, Lord, I pray that he would be filled with gratefulness, Lord, that he would be amazed yet again that you have redeemed us, that even though we all fall short of the glory of God, we can be justified and redeemed and saved by the Lamb. And I pray then that our heart would be, "I will follow you wherever you lead." I pray that you would help us as a church, God, to be be discerning, we would understand when we hear the beast and need to run. That we'd also have calloused hands of endurance to grip you tightly through any storm and trial. And we say, Jesus, lead on. Amen.