pastor joe davis

Have you ever seen or been part of a church conflict? A church with no conflict in fact isn’t a healthy church. But obviously if a church has too much conflict, that’s a sign a church isn’t healthy either. Often, Christians lack courage to deal with conflict. In fact, most chose to deal with it in anger, or just walk away. We prefer silent or slanderous judgement, we cut people off, avoid them, look right past them, or just leave the church. Others “courageously” confront, in anger or self-righteousness. They don’t want reconciliation, they want retribution. As a pastor, I’ve had a front row seat to conflict. I’ve seen it destroy lifelong friendships, families, even split churches. My wife & I have personally experienced consequences of conflict handled incorrectly. It’s costly & painful every time. When conflict is handled properly, its an incredible opportunity for love & unity, & brings a smile to God’s face. How a church handles conflicts provides a window into the spiritual maturity of a church’s leadership & its members. These are some of the reasons, dealing with conflict, protecting unity, is one of God’s highest priorities.

It’s a bit of a turn of providence that this passage comes the Sunday after election day, though I didn’t plan it. Also, many of you know I don’t like talking politics during sermons ever, but Revelation sort of demands it. It's full of encouragements and warnings about being too invested in this world, it's treasures, it's powers, it's system. Let me start today with some vulnerability about my personal political journey over the last decade. As recently as 8 years, I was too distracted by American politics. My obsession with our government could have become an idol. I had allowed my politics, who I voted for & policies I wanted to get conflated with my view of Kingdom work. Through others, God began to show me how political obsession was compromising my Kingdom loyalty. Passion & energy for the Great Commission was being sucked away by passion & energy for elections & headlines. I confused patriotism with Godliness. I made politics a frontline spiritual battle instead of the Great Commission. No matter your politics, don’t make the mistake of confusing politics with loyalty to the Kingdom of God. There is nothing wrong with loving America, political engagement, or working in government but you must keep it in it's place. Here’s why: while government is subject to God’s sovereign plan, NO government makes Gospel it's priority, except one. Today’s passage reveals a sober truth: every government since the fall of Adam & Eve is influenced by evil. Even ones you like.

Let’s set a visual scene here for you with a couple pics. This what Israeli wilderness looks like. Over 20 years ago, Laura and I were given with a trip to Israel. It was such a formative 14 days. One night, our guide arranged a wilderness camping experience in Bedouin tents, that looked just like this. Our tents were very comfortable. Our Bedouin hosts provided everything we needed, food, water, electricity. I remember our Bedouin hosts warned about 25 of us, “Don’t wander off in the wilderness alone, stay with the camp. There are dangerous animals that come out at night in the wilderness, along with deadly scorpions & snakes. At night, stay in your tents. You have everything you need until the morning when we come get you." I remember one 18-year-old kid didn’t stay in his tent, we heard a shriek right outside, our hosts sprinted to his aide. They killed this huge scorpion, apparently the deadliest species in Israel. When we heard, all 25 of us moved our cots into a 4 square foot area in the center, content to wait for morning.

Have you ever been embarrassed by someone making a loud, public accusation against you? Have you ever made a mistake and had someone who seemed to enjoy telling everyone about it? Has someone secretly, anonymously gone behind your back to make an accusation? That’s never fun is it? In my 1st full time job, I had a person like that, who seemed constantly joyful over carrying a torch for accusing me. I remember how they came after me aggressively, publicly, full of hypocritical self-righteousness, the reveled in it. I also remember when a mentor, in a very public meeting becoming my advocate. I still remember his words. “Joe came to me immediately when he realized his mistake, asked for forgiveness, & my help resolving it.” “We began the process weeks ago. Joe has done everything asked of him. The matter has been fully resolved." “Is there anything else?” My accuser kept going back. “We aren’t discussing that anymore, anything else?” I felt humbled & loved when my friend/mentor, my advocate stood up for me, & shut down my accuser. Today’s passage pulls back the cosmic veil on the failure of our greatest accuser. It’s a beautiful, uplifting passage.

So far, Revelation is full of symbolism around the suffering of God’s people in this period we’re in called the tribulation. Are you ever troubled or perplexed by the terrible things throughout human history, and even today? Do you get weary of a seemingly relentless struggle against evil? War, genocide, violence, famine, cultural decline? What about personally? Have you ever felt like no matter what you do, this struggle just keeps coming in waves? Do the realities of this existential battle with evil ever leave you discouraged, overwhelmed, depressed? Do you ever feel like you’re wandering in the wilderness, hoping for a sign, some sort of definitive direction? No doubt our struggle with evil is real. Its so bad sometimes Christians struggle with victimhood. That’s tribulation! Its especially difficult if we don’t understand why evil & the suffering it causes seems so loud, so strong, so ubiquitous. As followers of Jesus, it’s important to zoom out of the day to day, get our heads around the bigger picture. God knows we need that from time to time in this tribulation, so He gives us Aha passages, just like today’s. It kicks off a powerful 3-chapter section as a summary introduction to everything that’s about to be described.

In this Revelation series, I’ve made many references to government while not advocating for one political side or the other. It's clear one of the themes in Revelation is don’t put your hope in earthly government....that won’t end well. For Christians in America, I think that misplaced hope is more tempting & prevalent than Christians in other countries. America is an amazing country and I’m a proud American but even our nation is not worthy of our hope. As great as America is, we are flawed and depraved no matter who’s in power. I won’t go into the list. Can a nation ever be “righteous”? Should churches make transforming government part of our core mission? Israel had a direct, special, tangible relationship with God, manifested in so many ways, they couldn’t even do it! Of course, you can love your country, be patriotic, active politically, but the Kingdom of our God is our only true hope. Today’s passage, the 7th trumpet, gives us important insight into how God’s people should see earthly government, even ours.

We’ve preached through Genesis (twice), Philippians, 2 Cor, Psalm 119, 1,2, & 3 John. The Life of Joseph, Mark, Jonah, 1 & 2 Peter, and now we are slowly working our way through Revelation, within half a year, w/likely 20 more sermons to go. Recently someone new to our church asked me why we do such long series at GraceLife, months to months??? 90 minutes later (JK), I defined one of our core values, Biblical, meaning we let the bible dictate what I preach not the opposite. Being Biblical has many legitimate perspectives, but for us at GraceLife, it's one of our greatest passions, if not # 1. With so many new people coming, I thought it important to take a week to explain how we teach God’s Word at GL. This sermon will either get you all fired up or bore you to tears, but it's critical to understand this GL distinctive.

Have you ever seen a complicated mural telling a story? You have to interpret each image in order. This is a mural of the history of Mexico, to understand it, you would need guide who has studied it. That’s today. This passage is a verbal mural of the story of the church proclaiming the Gospel throughout church history. Last week at the end of ch11, John was commanded to eat the scroll & prophesy the bittersweet Gospel to nations. (REVELATION 10:11) I WAS TOLD, “YOU MUST AGAIN PROPHESY ABOUT MANY PEOPLES, NATIONS, LANGUAGES & KINGS.” The Gospel would be both sweet as honey, mercy & grace to those with ears to hear what the Spirit says. But it would also be bitter, with words of judgement & condemnation for those who don’t believe & repent. Proclaiming the unfiltered, bittersweet Gospel puts us at odds w/ a world that just doesn’t want to hear it. Today’s passage describes the entire age of the Gospel, the church… the past, present, and the not yet. This passage, at the very center of Revelation, is like a halftime pep talk, preparing us for what is to come. Its full of powerful symbolism of the Gospel’s power, blessings, &a consequences as it is proclaimed in a hostile word. It’s a mural telling our story as God’s witnesses throughout the age, lets uncover the mystery one at a time shall we?

Have I ever said anything in a sermon that made you cringe? Not a Joe Davis cringe, my wife knows that feeling well. I am talking something cringe-worthy in God’s Word, some kind of clear warning, correction, or judgement. The parts of God’s that taste bitter, seem to condemn, harsh, cutting to the heart, words that leave no wiggle room. Have you ever heard something, sweet, promising, encouraging from God’s Word? You like that? Me too! How do we know what to say, and when, and to who? It’s a hard job, and we need some guidance, right? Especially in a world that is primarily hostile to anything God’s Word says, particularly in the area of sin. That’s what Rev 10 is about. How the church has everything it needs to successfully, faithfully proclaim both the bitter and sweet words of the Gospel, no matter what happens in the world around us.

Do you remember the 1st time you ever saw pictures of Auschwitz and images of the Nazi’s 7 mill genocide of Jews? Do you remember when you first learned about Joseph Stalin killing 20-30 million people during His reign in Russia? Mao Zedong, killed an estimated 65million Chinese in his attempt to create a new socialist, communist China. Pol Pot killed 2million in His attempt to create a Communist society in Cambodia. These are just 20th century examples. This doesn’t even count WW1, WW2, and dozens of other wars fought by both “bad” countries, and “good” ones. Since the 1st century, we’ve seen an exponential rise in humanity’s ability to kill unlike any other period in history. If I could chart it for you, you would see a stark, steep line going up and up. Yet we have mostly normalized it. Today’s passage, the 6th trumpet explains this phenomenon of evil’s impact in the last days.

How do you feel about some of the insects we have in FL? Massive flying cockroaches, horse flies, prehistoric moths? Deep woods mosquitoes, hornet’s nests, I hate them, I run from them always, and if they are swarming? Child please! If anything, bigger than a small raisin flies around my head, I want to be out of that general area or I want it dead! Last week doing yardwork a massive bug chased me, w/the speed of an Olympian I dashed fully clothed into the pool. I have especially always despised the thought of locusts. Frightening! Flying, leaping, huge, massive swarms! If one landed on me now I would jump off stage, running, waving arms, like some of our Pentecostal brothers & sisters. I can’t even imagine being caught in a swarm! But there is a horrible spiritual reality that isn’t so funny. Today we will learn about the swarm of evil spiritual forces around us, what they’re capable of, and their limits. Also how followers of Jesus should view them, what we should do in response to them, where we go for safety.

2 years ago, I watched in person in our home stadium, my childhood team Bucs beat KC in the Super Bowl. Being there in person in the stadium during COVID was amazing. An elevated perspective watching it all play out! Surrounded by a multitude, watching, celebrating, cheering every act of judgement from the Bucs visited on the Chiefs. Driving home, I listened to the radio, thirsty for expert analysis of how thorough the judgement was on the field. I got home around midnight… immediately I turned on the tv to watch the recorded game. I wanted every detail up close from the field cameras of all the plays I cheered for, I cried tears of joy (don’t judge). I saw things on TV I couldn’t see in the stands, like the Chiefs futile attempts bring order back to the game, bitterness. I saw a repeated cycle, whenever they made a first down or something, BAM! More judgement from the Buccaneers! Closeups of the joyful Bucs sideline, celebrating a total victory, like being there all over, but from a different angle. This is how you read the cycles of judgements in Revelation, the same events from different angles and perspectives. Last week we saw the 7 trumpets come out of the 7th seal. Later the 7 bowls will come out of the 7 trumpets. This is a Jewish literary device within apocalyptic literature to describe the same events from a different perspective. This week we are only looking at 1-4 today, because 5 & 6 are so unique & descriptive we will study them separately.

Prayer is a fascinating human pastime. Prayer is a widely practiced spiritual discipline in America & across the world. According to Pew Research, 55% of Americans say they pray every day, 21% say they pray weekly or monthly, 20% of people who consider themselves unaffiliated with any religion say they pray daily. 65 and older are far more likely than adults under 30 to say they pray daily (65% vs. 41%). Prayer is easiest thing a follower of Jesus can do. It’s also the easiest thing to neglect, easy to abuse, or misunderstand. What things do you pray for most often? Healing, especially for friends & family are a big % of our prayers for sure. Are there types of prayers God loves more than others? Do you ever wonder if God likes or hears your prayers? Do you ever worry if you are praying the right way? Are there things we should be praying for that we don’t?

Last week part 1 of the answer is the church in battle on this earth, this week: “THE CHURCH IN VICTORY!" As a Christian, do you ever feel lament about the direction of America or the world? Do you ever get frustrated when it seems like evil always wins, injustice is rampant, culture & society seem depraved. Every human wants to celebrate victory over their perception of evil or injustice, long for some sort of win. That’s why people develop obsessions with politics, culture wars, social movements, hoping for a victory somewhere. Christians don’t need to hope in these things, for we know there is only one way evil will be defeated. Revelation is written to encourage Christians to look to Jesus but are you too obsessed w/this world to be encouraged? Yes, we wrestle w/darkness & evil, daily, yes, it’s hard, but there’s a great day coming, and the evidence is everywhere! Even when life seems as far removed from heaven as it can get, evidence of the Kingdom of Heaven is everywhere. If you’re struggling w/hope in the wrong kind of victory, to see the evidence, today’s passage can help!

Ever been in an argument, someone asks a hypothetical, accusatory question you’re supposed to be unable to answer? Laura asked me yesterday: “Did you change the air filter like you promised?” “Actually, yes” (Man that was so fun) That’s what Ch 7 is, an answer to a hypothetical question, “Well, actually this is the group that escapes judgement.” What are some of the most important things the Holy Spirit does for us as followers of Jesus? The Holy Spirit certainly at times prompts us to specific actions, words, or choices we otherwise wouldn’t engage in. Sometimes, the Holy Spirit provides intangible, experiential, spiritual moments prayer, prophesying, tongues, etc. Many different perspectives on frequency, purpose, and specifics, but certainly the Holy Spirit is active. These experiences can be powerful emotionally, spiritually, sometimes they are life changing. But there is something else the Holy Spirit does for each follower of Jesus, the first, most critical act for our survival. The Holy Spirit places a seal on us, marks us, so that we are preserved protected, given the ability to escape judgement.

When you preach systematically through scripture w/out skipping passages, you’ll have to preach judgement sermons. I’ve had to preach a few of these sermons, and I must tell you I don’t enjoy them. Yes, there is the Jesus who for us represents mercy, grace, & forgiveness. As comforting as His grace & mercy are, there’s also another the side of Jesus just as frightening. When I was younger in hard core fundamentalist circles, I heard men preach fiery sermons on God’s judgement. It almost seemed as though they found pleasure in preaching on judgement day, like they enjoyed it. They were emotional, dramatic, & effective in inciting emotional responses especially from younger people. How does it make you feel, know wrath is part of who Jesus is? That He’s not just the gentle Lamb of God? But what if a passage on the wrath of God isn’t intended to be scary at all? What if the wrath of the Lamb is intended to be encouragement, affirmation for those who follow Jesus?

Have you ever been frustrated with God? Why does God allow His children suffer at the hands of evil in this world? I’m not talking about suffering because of our own choices, that’s not suffering, that’s consequences. I am talking about paying a price for identifying with Jesus, the Gospel, and the Kingdom of Heaven. Globally, there are over 90,000 people killed each year because of their faith. Mostly in Africa, Asia, & the middle east. Paul says we should be joyful when we suffer because of Jesus or the Gospel (though Americans can’t really relate). This is one of those truths in scripture we all nod w/a serious face & say “Amen”, but secretly hope we are spared. Why can’t the prosperity Gospel be a real thing? Why can’t we just expect blessings to flow when we follow Jesus? And what is a proper response to real persecution? Just smile, remain stoic, strong, brave, act unphased? Why is this kind of suffering even necessary? Why doesn’t Jesus just come back and take care of evil already?

I hear many calls these crazy times! Covid, Trump, Biden, China, Inflation, Russia & Ukraine, Roe v Wade, etc. But are they really that crazy? Are they different from all the rest human history? I say its not even close. Many people suffer from what I call “Apocalyptic narcissism”, thinking we endure something unique in our day. Previous generations have endured “crazy times”, most of them far “crazier” than our times. For 6000’s years, human thirst for political, economic, cultural, military conquest caused suffering, pain, and death. Just the last 800 years in Europe, War of the Roses, 100 years war, Napoleonic wars, French/Indian war (1st real WW). From an American perspective, we had the civil war, WW1, WW2, the Cold War, Viet Nam, Korea, Afghanistan, Iraq. Human thirst for conquest has subjected humanity & all creation conflict, famine, disease, economic ruin, & death. How do we reconcile living by faith, as part of the Kingdom of Heaven, when the world we live in is like this? How can we place hope in the One who’s opened the scroll of redemption when humanity is permitted to be this way?

One of my favorite moments each Sunday is Megan’s prayer right before I come up to preach. Why do we do that? Is it just some sort of mystical activity we hope sprinkles good fortune into our service? Or is it something more? Why do we do things the way we do? Where does GraceLife get its liturgy, its order of service? It would be a lot less work & stress if it was just Megan on the keyboard, then me just preaching. But for some reason, music is a huge part of what we do on Sunday mornings, and not just here, almost every church. What we do on Sunday morning is the biggest portion of our budget and requires much time & effort every week. Why do we believe its so important to have skilled musicians, high quality sound, lights, projection? Why did we spend so much money and time getting this worship space right before our grand re-opening? From an earthly perspective, it sure seems like a waste of money… if you don’t understand the scriptures. There’s a deep, biblical reason we put so much effort & money into each Sunday, way beyond we just like good music.

What does the phrase “End of times” mean to you? Does it invoke anxiety? Feelings of reticence? Is it something you associate w/headlines some associate with the possible coming of the “anti-christ? Does it cause a mindset of Christians needing to hunker down for an onslaught of darkness? If are at all up to speed on our study, you know Revelation is about the already, right now, and not yet. What if I told you the “End of Times” is glorious, joyful… and the “right now” part of Revelation? The book of Revelation primarily is Not about warnings, but comfort. This is how it should be approached. Revelation is not about preparation for some sort of tribulation end times scenario, we know evil is here already. It’s the fulfillment of the plan of God for redemption and the relentless expansion of the Kingdom of Heaven! It explains the troubling mystery of our conflict between good & evil nobody understood until it was written!