Robert Lowery

Dr. Lowery closed out the Seminary’s spring chapel sermon series with this message entitled, “Culmination: Our New Home.” His text was Revelation 2.

Audio (MP3) link to Lincoln Christian University

This piece by David Brooks, “Who is John Stott,” appeared in the November 30, 2004, edition of The New York Times. John Stott has been one of the most influential people in my life, even though from a distance. The first book I read by him was Basic Christianity, and I believe I have read every publication of his since the mid 1960s. I have heard him speak and briefly met him many years ago. He is a disciple of Jesus who models servant-leadership. May God raise up more men like him.

1. The STORY of the Bible is the STORY about warfare: God is a warrior (Exod. 15:3), and from Old Testament to New Testament times up to the present, God has called upon his people to be a warring people (Eph. 6:10ff.).
2. As a Story, Revelation develops this theme of war from the first chapter to the last (Rev. 1:5b-6,8; 2:7, 11,17,26; 3:5,12,21; 5:5; 17:14; 19:15, etc.).
3. God is commander-in-chief, and through the centuries, God’s people make up his army.
4. On the other hand, Satan is the commander-in-chief of the forces of evil. His army is made up of individuals, institutions, and different kinds of structures (e.g., economic, etc.).
5. God is commander-in-chief who is both for and against his people, depending upon their own faithfulness or lack of loyalty.
6. Jesus was a divine warrior, opposing and defeating the forces of evil (Matt. 3:11-12; 10:34; Col. 2:13-15; Eph. 4:8).
7. The Church, the Body of Christ, is to be the Church of warriors, confronting the forces of evil and bringing liberation to prisoners-of-war.
8. Consider the make-up of the armies, the strategies, the weapons, the outcome, the battlers, the defeats and the victories, etc.
9. Though Satan has been defeated, he is still able to make war. The period between the cross and the final coming is the time between the battle that secured the ultimate victory and the final defeat and cessation of hostility.
10. In the meantime the battle continues, and the church is called upon to wage war against God’s enemies just as Israel was God’s army in the Old Testament. In the Old Testament, God and his people fight against flesh and blood enemies. In the New Testament, Jesus directs the church in a battle against the spiritual forces of evil while it also anticipates the climactic war that takes place at the end of history.
11. Like Yahweh who rode clouds into battle on behalf of his people (Ps. 68:4; Dan. 7:13; Nahum 1:3), Jesus will return as a warrior (Rev. 1:7; see also 19:11-17; 20:7ff.). And yet, there is NO BATTLE! In the words of Martin Luther, “One little word shall fell him” (the “him” being Satan).
12. “The safest place to be is on the battlefield with Christ.” Eugene Peterson, Reversed Thunder: The Revelation of John and the Praying Imagination, p. 160.

1. A witness is someone who “testifies” to the truth he or she holds. As God’s people, we are to witness to the covenant that exists between God and us, and we are called to invite others to enter into that covenant relationship as well.
2. The Greek word for “witness” is “martyr.” Such witness may mean martyrdom. The witnesses who testify to the saving death of Jesus may seal that testimony with their own death (Rev. 6:9; 12:11; 17:6; 20:4-6).
3. God’s people are called to be a standing “witness” to the covenant (Isa. 43:12; 44:8; 55:4). In the New Testament we read of John the Baptist bearing witness to Christ (John 1:15,19,32-34). We who benefit from the work of Christ become witnesses because we are filled with the Spirit (John 15:26-27; Acts 1:22; 10:41; 22:15).
4. The Christian life is a life of imitation of Christ: as he was the faithful witness (Rev. 1:5b-6), so we are to be faithful witnesses (Rev. 2:13; 11:3; 17:6; 20:4). The witness theme is found in the first chapter (1:6,12) and in the last chapter (22:17).
5. In John’s day, the terms “witness” or “to testify/witness” were legal terms. The world was bringing witness against Christians, and Christians were bringing witness against the world by the way they lived and by what they called upon people to do. Christians may be on trial; but ultimately the world is on trial. God will render the verdict of “Guilty” or “Not guilty” on the basis of their response to the witness concerning Christ, a witness proclaimed by the Church.
6. There are two kinds of witnessing emphasized in Revelation: lifestyle and verbal.
7. Christians must speak the Gospel truth in good times and in bad times.
8. Sometimes speaking the truth can get you into trouble; sometimes it can get you killed.
9. Christians who witness will be vindicated by Jesus (12:10; 20:4-6).
10. Witnesses throughout the Bible are roundly criticized by God if they fail to tell the truth, the whole truth and noting but the truth. Of course, they may well stand condemned by the world for telling “the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth.”
11. In commenting on the rejection of the Church in Revelation 11, one author wrote: “The passage shows that the Church has something more important to do than simply to survive. It is set in the world to bear witness to men, even when the witness is resisted with force. The darker the hour, the more need for the Churches to be what they are: lamps, through which Christ’s light shines. Witnesses may be crushed, and lamps put out, but in the end both witness and light achieve their desired object: men give glory to God.” George Beasley-Murray, The Book of Revelation, p. 181.