The Joshua Victor Theory

Grace, mercy, and peace to you from God our Father and from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, Amen. Last week we met the Risen Lord Jesus, portrayed in Revelation 1. He’s introduced, and takes front and center position as the revealer of this vision and mystery, and as the central character. His resurrection victory promises His victory to extend to all believers. In Revelation chapters 4-5, we see one of the most exalted worship scenes in all the Bible unfolding. The scene takes place at the throne of God in heaven, surrounded by four angelic, living creatures, and 24 elders, or honored saints, who worship and praise God. God, exalted in all His glory, and surrounded by worship, holds in His right hand, a special scroll, sealed with seven seals. This scroll contains a message that is vital for the church on earth to learn—but no one is found anywhere in heaven or on earth, or under the earth, who is worthy to open it, and access its message. No one, until one of the elders announ...

Grace, mercy, and peace to you, from God our Father, and from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, Amen. Despite signs that you might see, while driving to and around Lahaina, that say, “We are NOT in the end times,” Jesus told us that “ no one knows the day or the hour ”, and to always be ready for His return. The book of Revelation was written for times just such as ours—times just like the first century of Christianity, the times after Jesus’ resurrection from the dead. In the decades after Jesus’ resurrection, while the apostles of our Lord Jesus were busy witnessing to all the world about Him—they encountered resistance. Resistance to the Good News, resistance to hearing that Jesus Christ had conquered the grave. This resistance often became hostile persecution. Sometimes imprisonment, sometimes loss of livelihood, sometimes loss of life. St. John the apostle, who writes the book of Revelation, writes it while he, probably in his old age, was exiled to the island of Patmos, fo...

In the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, Amen. A blessed All Saints’ Day to you, dear saints and children of God! Yes, you also are saints! Not because any of us “have what it takes” to be considered “saints,” but because Christ Jesus has washed and cleansed us by His blood, and we’re “holy ones” or saints in His eyes. Today we remember the saints that have gone before us in Jesus’ name, and we look at the passage from Revelation to see a heavenly vision, and answer the question, “Who are the Saints?” Grace, mercy, and peace to you from God our Father and from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen. The first answer our reading gives to the question of “who are the saints?” is that the saints are believers from every nation, tribe, people and language. The beauty of a diverse and colorful heaven is portrayed, with believers from every nation represented. Considering this was written almost 2,000 years ago, it’s a pretty remarkable statement against racial pre...

In the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, Amen. This third part in the Lenten series on “Questions about Jesus they don’t want answered” is based on Matthew 21:14-17, and the question the Jews raise to Jesus is: “Do you hear what these are saying?” This exchange takes place in the Temple, shortly after Jesus has made His Palm Sunday entrance into Jerusalem. He’d been greeted by crowds waving palms and shouting, “Hosanna to the Son of David! Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord!” That same cry of praise, “Hosanna to the Son of David” is criticized here. Only this isn’t in the streets of Jerusalem, but in the courts of the Temple, right after Jesus had just cleansed the Temple of moneychangers and merchants. Today we’ll consider how Jesus responded to this cry of praise. Grace, mercy, and peace to you from God our Father and from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen. It must have been a chaotic day in Jerusalem, with all the buzz and stir that was h...

In the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, Amen. The sermon text is from Revelation, chapters 21 and 22, St. John’s vision of the New Jerusalem. Grace, mercy, and peace to you from God our Father and from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen. In today’s reading, we experience the visual feast that God revealed to John. The vision of the New Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God. We peer into the future in this text that is overflowing with vivid and colorful images that express the vibrancy of heaven. Heaven will not be dull or drab or boring, as so many wrongly assume, but will be a paradise greater than Adam and Eve knew in Eden. In Revelation we encounter a spectacular vision of the new heavens and new earth, and all the images of this paradise spill over each other like a sparkling, tumbling, rushing waterfall, pouring over the reader with cool, life-giving freshness. Much like a glimpse into a kaleidoscope provides a rush of colors and moving ima...