Live like a Champion

What’s the Big Idea?

We need Jesus to win in life.

Intro:

Good morning. Welcome to TRC. If you have your Bible/app, turn to Revelation 14.

If you’ve been with us for a while, you probably can tell from my illustrations that I love sports - specifically football. Growing up, I wanted to be a quarterback. Now, I’m short and slow, so not too promising there; but, I have a pretty good arm. I remember spending hours in my backyard throwing the football at tree trunks, poles, plants… trying to improve my accuracy. At the same time, I wished there was someone to play catch with - very rarely that was the case. Now, I’m living the dream because my son Kade is a receiver and all he wants to do is run routes and catch. I was telling Janelle last week that it hit me how good God is. How it brings joy to my heart to spend hours throwing the football to my son.

Even with Georgie. Now, Georgie will tell you himself, he doesn’t really like sports. He’s ridiculously creative and talented in producing music. But sports… not really his thing. That’s okay! At the same time, Georgie is a good runner and running is another one of my passions. We did a 5K a couple of months together and I loved it.

I LOVE being a dad who can play sports with my kids. I know… I left out Nole for now. He hasn’t figured out his interests yet, except for curtains. And mom doesn’t want us playing Ninja Warrior on the curtains, so Nole’s sport is still pending.

MY main sport growing up was basketball. And I grew up in the Jordan-era. Everyone knows who Michael Jordan is, right? I don’t care what anyone says, Michael Jordan is the greatest basketball player ever. He was completely dominant in his sport and there’s never been anyone like him. He was the epitome of a champion. And he has the championship rings to back it up.

Because he was the perfect example of a champion, I studied his every move. Now, I’m not a great natural athlete like him, but I tried to implement as much of his game into mine as I could. Specifically, his jump shot. I studied his jump shot for hours. I would practice his form in the mirror. My thinking was, “If I want to be a champion, then I should do what champions do.” Michael Jordan was a champion; therefore, he inspired my game.

Maybe you’re not into sports, but I bet you have goals in your life. And to achieve those goals, you look to someone who is a champion in that field as an example. Because champions inspire champions.

As we start , we see a picture of inspirational champions...

Revelation 14:1–5 ESV

Then I looked, and behold, on Mount Zion stood the Lamb, and with him 144,000 who had 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 loud 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. 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.

Exegesis:

Champions inspire champions (vv. 1-5).

Last week, we ended chapter 13 with John seeing a future vision of many people following the antichrist and taking his mark. As we will see, this is not the group you want inspiring your life. On the other hand, chapter 14 gives us a vision of the future champions.

John sees a vision of the Lamb (of Jesus) and the 144,000 standing victoriously on Mount Zion (the capital of the Kingdom of God). We don’t know for sure who the 144,000 are. Maybe they symbolically represent the church. Maybe they represent the church during the Great Tribulation. Maybe they represent the Jewish people who will put their faith in Jesus in the future. Whoever they are, they are God’s people standing victoriously with Jesus as future champions. They’re even singing a victory song.

And as I was studying this passage, the thought hit me: I want to be like them. I want to be standing in victory with Jesus. Champions inspire champions. So, what can I learn from them? Well, let’s look at how they are described...

In verse 4, they are described as, “these who have not defiled themselves with women, for they are virgins.” While it is possible to take this literally, it is more like this speaks of purity and commitment. Many times in Scripture, the phrase “defiling yourself with women” spoke about idolatry - like cheating on God. On the other hand, to be a “virgin” is to be faithful (completely committed) to God. Really, we are just talking about holiness. These 144,000 were holy. They were pure and set apart for God.

2 Timothy 2:3–4 ESV

Share in suffering as a good soldier of Christ Jesus. No soldier gets entangled in civilian pursuits, since his aim is to please the one who enlisted him.

2 Tim. 3:

We can take the phrase “virgin” to mean someone completely committed to Jesus. His focus is completely on the Lord. Really, we are just talking about holiness. These 144,000 were holy. They were pure and set apart for God.

Verse 4 also says, “they follow the Lamb wherever he goes.” I love this. I want my life to be described this way. Where ever Jesus goes, I want to be right next to Him!

They are also those “redeemed as the firstfruits.” The firstfruits were the best of the crop. It was offered to God as a thank you. But, the firstfruit also symbolized that there was more to come! I want my life to be known as firstfruits, a grateful life that points to the fact that God has more good things to come!

Finally verse 5 says they were truthful people - blameless in their lives. says “God can’t lie.” In the same way, these people were dedicated to the truth.

The 144,000 are a special group. If you will, they are champions. And if we want to live victoriously too, we should look to them as inspiration. Because let me mention this… if this 144,000 symbolically represents the church, then we already belong to this group. They represent who we are. It’s already part of our identity. Just as they are special, so are we! In fact, Peter says...

1 Peter 2:9 NKJV

But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people, that you may proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light;

If we are champions, then we should live like champions. Let the lives of the 144,000 inspire our lives.

Because here’s another reality of life: Someone or something will inspire us. says...

Proverbs 4:23 NCV

Be careful what you think, because your thoughts run your life.

Paul put it this way:

1 Corinthians 15:33 ESV

Do not be deceived: “Bad company ruins good morals.”

What we listen to influences us. What we watch changes us. Whoever inspires us impacts us. Therefore, we need to be careful who inspires us.

Be careful who inspires you (vv. 6-13).

We saw this last week. The antichrist will inspire the world with his lies and it has major consequences. It’s actually connected to what we read next...

Revelation 14:6–13 ESV

Then I saw another angel flying directly overhead, with an eternal gospel to proclaim to those who dwell on earth, to every nation and tribe and language and people. And he said with a loud voice, “Fear God and give him glory, because the hour of his judgment has come, and worship him who made heaven and earth, the sea and the springs of water.” Another angel, a second, followed, saying, “Fallen, fallen is Babylon the great, she who made all nations drink the wine of the passion of her sexual immorality.” And another angel, a third, followed them, saying with a loud voice, “If anyone worships the beast and its image and receives a mark on his forehead or on his hand, he also will drink the wine of God’s wrath, poured full strength into the cup of his anger, and he will be tormented with fire and sulfur in the presence of the holy angels and in the presence of the Lamb. And the smoke of their torment goes up forever and ever, and they have no rest, day or night, these worshipers of the beast and its image, and whoever receives the mark of its name.” Here is a call for the endurance of the saints, those who keep the commandments of God and their faith in Jesus. And I heard a voice from heaven saying, “Write this: Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord from now on.” “Blessed indeed,” says the Spirit, “that they may rest from their labors, for their deeds follow them!”

The point of this section is simple: Choose inspiration wisely.

The first angel flies overhead shouting, “Get right with God!”

The second angel shouts, “Babylon is fallen!” Babylon symbolizes the world order that in opposed to God. So, in other words, the angel is saying, “Don’t believe the antichrist and put your trust in his world order! They have already lost! It’s all a lie!”

The third angel adds to the message of the second, with really harsh language! Basically, “If you let the devil inspire your life, you’re going to end up in a place you don’t want to be! In Hell.” I know that’s harsh, but it’s supposed to be. It’s supposed to make us NOT want to go there!

So, choose your inspiration wisely!!!

Then, verses 12 & 13 say something interesting… There is a heavenly call for Christians to endure and keep their faith in Jesus. And then the Holy Spirit also gives the message his stamp of approval.

I believe the context for this message is persecution. Whether it was the original audience, a present audience, or those in the Great Tribulation, this message is to confidently assure Christians they have chosen wisely. Life may be ridiculously hard, but keep your faith in Jesus. He’s the champion and victory is found in Him.

But I see an additional application. If all of our lives are inspired by something, then we have to make sure we REMAIN a good inspiration through endurance. Like the 144,000, we have to be a godly inspiration of purity, faithfulness, hope, and truth. The world needs us to be the light Jesus called us to be. If we aren’t, the people in our community will only be influenced by the enemy’s voice. And we don’t want that to happen! Why?

Well, that leads us to the next idea...

Revelation 14:14–20 ESV

Then I looked, and behold, a white cloud, and seated on the cloud one like a son of man, with a golden crown on his head, and a sharp sickle in his hand. And another angel came out of the temple, calling with a loud voice to him who sat on the cloud, “Put in your sickle, and reap, for the hour to reap has come, for the harvest of the earth is fully ripe.” So he who sat on the cloud swung his sickle across the earth, and the earth was reaped. Then another angel came out of the temple in heaven, and he too had a sharp sickle. And another angel came out from the altar, the angel who has authority over the fire, and he called with a loud voice to the one who had the sharp sickle, “Put in your sickle and gather the clusters from the vine of the earth, for its grapes are ripe.” So the angel swung his sickle across the earth and gathered the grape harvest of the earth and threw it into the great winepress of the wrath of God. And the winepress was trodden outside the city, and blood flowed from the winepress, as high as a horse’s bridle, for 1,600 stadia.

What you do with your life matters (vv. 14-20).

In a nutshell, these verses describe a judgment that takes place. Although there is debate over who the “son of man” in this scene is, it’s very likely Jesus. And this first reaping likely describes Jesus coming for his people - his full harvest. However, the second harvest is everyone else who has rejected God. They are gathered to face eternal judgment. Again - very intense language is used - with the goal of helping us realize: This is serious!

God ain’t playin. No one wants to be a part of the second harvest!

Look, we don’t want to be a part of this second harvest. We don’t want ANYONE to be a part of this second harvest!!!

And the truth is, we are all going to face judgment.

Hebrews 9:27 ESV

And just as it is appointed for man to die once, and after that comes judgment,

God is the judge. And one day, He will judge our lives and determine if we’re in group one or two; which means: What we do with our lives matter. Therefore, it’s important that we carefully choose who inspires us. Inspiration and influence impacts allegiance. It’ll determine if we belong to Jesus or the devil.

John 8:42–44 ESV

Jesus said to them, “If God were your Father, you would love me, for I came from God and I am here. I came not of my own accord, but he sent me. Why do you not understand what I say? It is because you cannot bear to hear my word. You are of your father the devil, and your will is to do your father’s desires. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks out of his own character, for he is a liar and the father of lies.

And if we belong to the devil, we are destined for God’s wrath (group 2). And I’m going to keep emphasizing this. I know it’s taboo to talk about Hell, wrath, and judgment, but...

(1) it’s true; and...

(2) the purpose is not be offensive for the sake of being offensive, but to seriously warn people in love!

If a house is on fire, you don’t politely warn people to get out. We yell, “Get out or we are going to burn and die!”

I don’t like talking about hell. But what I don’t like even more, is the thought, possibility, or actuality of people going there! Amen? Therefore, I want to be faithful to Scripture and warn people about real consequence. I want to live a life that inspires people to follow Jesus. And I want us to take serious our lives, because what we do matters!

We aren’t born champions (ch. 15 & 16).

Now, in chapters 15 & 16, we are introduced to the final set of judgments: The bowl judgments. These are the final judgments before Jesus comes back. We aren’t going to read the entire chapters, but let me summarize them for you. You can go back and read them as homework.

Chapter 15 begins with seven angels sent to pour out the last 7 judgments. At the same time, another heavenly song breaks out proclaiming an important truth: As harsh as these judgements are, God is right (just) in pouring them out. The people who experience them deserve it.

And we see this truth as the bowl judgments are poured out...

Revelation 16:8–9 ESV

The fourth angel poured out his bowl on the sun, and it was allowed to scorch people with fire. They were scorched by the fierce heat, and they cursed the name of God who had power over these plagues. They did not repent and give him glory.

Think about this.... God has waited a long time to judge. He’s been super patient and given them a million chances, including sending angels flying through the air telling the world to “get right with God before it’s too late!” But people don’t.

In fact, verse 10-11 says...

Revelation 16:10–11 ESV

The fifth angel poured out his bowl on the throne of the beast, and its kingdom was plunged into darkness. People gnawed their tongues in anguish and cursed the God of heaven for their pain and sores. They did not repent of their deeds.

Revelation 16:11–12 ESV

and cursed the God of heaven for their pain and sores. They did not repent of their deeds. 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 verse 21 says...

And verse 21 says...

Revelation 16:21 ESV

And great hailstones, about one hundred pounds each, fell from heaven on people; and they cursed God for the plague of the hail, because the plague was so severe.

Not only are people unwilling to repent, but they step it up to cursing God. And not only do they deserve it, they are choosing it! It’s clear they do not want to change. Why? Because their heart is so hard that they hate God. They would rather choose eternity away from Him, then turn from their sins.

Which should serve as a reminder for us as Christians. A main theme of Revelation is urgency. Time is short; Jesus is coming back; Go preach the gospel. And though we may have heard it a thousand times, have we acted upon it a thousand times? Because the reality is, the more time passes, the harder the heart gets. It’s like playdoh left in the sun.

It’s like playdoh left in the sun. As Christians, we have an urgent mission to reach our community with the love of God, with the gospel of Jesus Christ. Because we don’t want anyone to experience the wrath of God. And we don’t want anyone getting to point where their heart is so hard that they hate God. By then, it’s too late.

As Christians, we have an urgent mission to reach our community with the love of God, with the gospel of Jesus Christ. Because we don’t want anyone to experience the wrath of God. And we don’t want anyone getting to point where they choose the wrath of God. Choose to lose out on the eternal love of God.

And here’s another thing to remember. We aren’t born champions. What I mean is that we aren’t standing on Mt. Zion with Jesus because we are born champions. The reality is we ALL deserve these judgments too. The only reason we’re champions is because of Jesus. It’s only because of Jesus paying for our sins on the cross that we don’t face God’s wrath.

The teams that played with Michael Jordan during those championship years, were only champions because of Michael Jordan. An honest examination of those rosters would reveal that none of those players had it in them to be champions apart from Jordan. It was only because a true champion inspired champions. Jordan made them champions. In the same way, the TRUE Champion - whose name is Jesus - is the only reason we are champions standing victoriously on Mt. Zion instead of facing the wrath of God.

Paul said… “by nature, we are children of wrath, like the rest of mankind. But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us - saved us!” It’s only because we let the Champion inspire us to change the direction of our lives. And NOW... the Champion is saying, “Go find others to be on our team!”

Ephesians 2:2 ESV

in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience—

not repent, curse God, hard heart, God has waited a long time and sent them warnings, including angels flying through the air telling them to get right with God before it’s too late.

Response:

As we close, I’m going to call the worship team up. And I want to leave us with this thought: We are all inspired by something in life. What inspires us influences us, and what influences us impacts the direction of our lives.

If we want to be champions, we need Jesus. If we want to live purpose-filled, victorious lives, we need to be influenced and transformed by Jesus. And I hope we all want to live as champions because our lives matter. One day we will be judged on what we do. And those not found in Jesus, will face the wrath of God.

If you realize that today you need to get right with God, do it. Don’t wait. The longer you wait, the harder your heart gets. You aren’t promised tomorrow. You also aren’t hearing this by accident. God wants you to get right today. Your life matters to God. He loves you and sent His Son to die for you, so you wouldn’t have to face His wrath. He’s reaching out to you! And if you will turn from your sins and put your faith in Jesus, He will forgive you and give you eternal life.

And for us Christians, remember our lives matter. God has called us to be a light. He wants us to inspire others to follow Jesus. Take your life serious. As people filled with God’s love, we shouldn’t want anyone to face God’s wrath. He doesn’t want it, we shouldn’t want it. So, go tell someone about Jesus. Pray - constantly for your neighbors. Invest your resources into the Kingdom of God.

Your life matters. What you do with your life matters! So, be a champion who inspires champions.

Let’s pray.