Levi Lusko - Left Foot, Right Path

This is the series of the wonderful cross part five. We’re talking about the different places on Jesus’s body where he bled while he hung on the cross: seven different places. As you look at the gospels, you see the wounds in his hands and the wounds on his back. We look at seven different places where he bled for us as he hung on the cross. Isaiah 53 says that there is healing for us in his wounds. So, we’re asking the question: What does Jesus long to heal in us? What victory, what peace, what strength is there for us in these wounds that came from his body as he died on what we can call the wonderful cross? Now, this week we come to his left leg, to his left leg.

Last week we talked about the right leg; the two weeks before that, the right and left hands. But this week, we focus on the left leg of Jesus. As we know, he had a nail go through his two feet, most likely through the heels as they would be stacked, and the nail would go through his heels, holding him to the cross. Every single time he spoke from the cross, as we know, he spoke seven different times as he hung bleeding. Each time he would have had to stand up. Think about it. He would have to stand up onto that nail. Because when you are hanging from the cross, your lungs can inhale but not exhale, because all of the muscles used in breathing-the intercostals and the pectorals-would be paralyzed by the dead weight on the nail wounds.

So, the only way for him to speak would be for him to stand up, aggravating his back once more. His back had been bloodied by the flagellum, by the whip, on the way up the cross, gasping, and finally, once he was up, he would be able to get the breath out and say, «Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they do.» John, «Behold your mother.» «Mother, behold your son, John. Take care of my mom.» Think about it. For him to be able to speak to the thief at his left hand and the thief at his right hand, hearing all these words. For him to be able to say, «I thirst.» For him to be able to say, «Father, why have you forsaken me?» as he stood painfully on his feet. We’re asking the question: What healing is there for us?

The title of this message is «Left Foot, Right Path.» Left foot. Someone say left foot! Right path! You know, the whole issue of getting the right foot forward is kind of tricky in life, right? Anybody love The Office? Remember when Charles Miner becomes the temporary general manager for a while, and Jim just cannot get this guy to like him? It’s just killing Jim because Jim is so likable. Everybody thinks Jim’s funny. Marsha, Marsha, Marsha! Everyone loves Jim, but not Charles. He’s wearing the tuxedo because it was a joke, but Jim tries to explain it, and he thinks he can win Charles over, but no matter how hard he tries, the further his foot goes into his mouth.

«I love football, Charles!» You know, just the whole thing — it just does not work right. You can’t get off on the wrong foot. When we go snowboarding, when we go surfing, we need to figure out which foot goes forward, which is the wrong foot, and which is the right foot, right? You go wakeboarding or wake surfing; you go skateboarding; you’ve got to figure out, «Okay, I’ve got the skateboard. Now, which foot goes in the front? Which foot goes in the back?» They actually have language around that. You know, if you ride with your left foot forward, they call that regular. And clearly, this other one was named by left foot forward people, because if you put your right foot forward while you’re skating, they call that goofy!

Ever think about that? Like, why did they call that goofy? Right? Because the right-handed people obviously named the left-handed southpaw, like, kind of like, but the left-footed people are picking on the right-foot forward people and calling that goofy. You ever wonder why they call it that? The year was 1937. Walt Disney had just released the animated short «Hawaiian Holiday.» It featured Mickey and Donald on the beach enjoying a luau-all the trappings of a Hawaiian vacation, right? The whole luau vibe, right? And in the short, you know, there’s one character who’s going to go surfing. It’s the same one who’s horrible at skiing, right? Who goes surfing? Tell me if you know. Yeah, it’s Goofy who goes surfing. And how does he surf? What’s his stance? It’s right foot forward.

Now, during this period of time, surfing is so new. Surfing is so brand new. So those who did surf were a smaller group of people, surf for the right foot forward. The majority-70% of people-are left foot forward when they get on a board. That means only 30% are going to be right foot forward. They looked at Goofy and said, «Oh, look at him! He’s so goofy! He doesn’t do it like that!» So that literally stuck, and because of this moment, those who surf or get on a board with their right foot forward are now, of course, goofy.

Now, show of hands, who’s left foot forward when you go surfing? Left foot forward when you go skateboarding or snowboarding?

Okay. Who’s the goofy ones? Come on, show us! Wow, that’s a very proud bunch right there! I like it! I like it! Now honestly, in church, who would say, «I don’t know; I actually am not sure.» All right, that’s okay. That’s fine. They say the best way to figure it out is to ask yourself the question: if you were going to run down the hallway on wooden floors-or, you know, back when I was growing up, it was linoleum- and you were going to slide on the floor in socked feet like it was Friday night, TGIF, and you didn’t want to miss anything and had to get some snacks during the commercial break, right?

Like when we stay in hotels, Lennox goes, «Why don’t you pause the show, Dad?» I’m like, «We can’t, honey! This is live TV! This is how it was when dinosaurs ruled the world, right? You can’t pause it! It just plays!» He’s like, «That’s terrible! Why would I want to do that?» You know, but when I was a kid, the shows would just run, and you didn’t want to miss it, and you knew there was no way to watch it afterward. So you would run during the commercial break as fast as you could- jump over the couch, get to the kitchen, and just slide your way to the fridge to get your drink and try and be back by the time it was on again.

So if you were imagining yourself in that situation, running to slide with socked feet on a slippery floor, which foot would you slide with? Well, it was rhetorical! That’s how you figure out if you’re goofy or regular! Without getting PTSD, because the other way is you ask someone to wait till your guard is down and push you from behind. Whatever foot you naturally jump in front of you with -well, I don’t need all that stress. You know, I’m trying to keep my heart settled down here.

So you’re like, «Levi, goofy or regular, why do we need to know all that?» Look, I just needed an opening illustration to get us into the conversation about Jesus’s left foot. All right? Give me some slack! I don’t really have any redemptive purpose for that, but like I said-left foot, right path.

Revelation chapter 10 is my text today. I want to read to you what’s going to feel like a lengthy passage, but I couldn’t really think of any way to consolidate it that would allow us what we need to get out of it.

So let’s just read a whole chapter of the book of Revelation. Is that what you came for today? Is that okay? Would that be all right? John speaking: «I saw still another mighty angel coming down from heaven, clothed with a cloud, and a rainbow was on his head. His face was like the sun and his feet like pillars of fire. He had a little book open in his hand, and he set his right foot on the sea and his left foot on the land and cried with a loud voice, as when a lion roars. When he cried out, seven thunders uttered their voices. Now, when the seven thunders uttered their voices, I was about to write; but I heard a voice from heaven saying to me, 'Seal up the things which the seven thunders uttered and do not write them.' The angel whom I saw standing on the sea and on the land raised up his hand to heaven and swore by him who lives forever and ever, who created heaven and the things that are in it, the earth and the things that are in it, and the sea and the things that are in it, that there should be no delay any longer.

Some translations will say, 'And there shall be no more time, ' but the best impact of that phrase would be, 'There’s no time left.' But in the days of the sounding of the seventh angel, when he is about to sound, the mystery of God would be finished as he declared to his servants the prophets. Then the voice which I heard from heaven spoke to me again and said, 'Go, take the little book which is open in the hand of the angel who stands on the sea and on the earth.' So I went to the angel and said to him, 'Give me the little book.' And he said to me, 'Take and eat it, and it will make your stomach bitter, but it will be as sweet as honey in your mouth.' Then I took the little book out of the angel’s hand, and I ate it. And it was as sweet as honey in my mouth, but when I had eaten it, my stomach became bitter. And he said to me, 'You must prophesy again about many peoples, nations, tongues, and kings.'

And Father, we pray. We ask humbly that you would help us to see what we need healed in our left foot and where we stand in the paths we walk on. Thank you for this glimpse of glory, for this brush with the transcendent, this angelic encounter that John was given the chance to witness while he was suffering in banishment in a prison colony; and the ways in which you helped him to see what can’t be known by the natural man: invisible, unseen, eternal truths-cosmic warfare, angels and demons, heaven and hell, the souls of men, and a mighty prevailing God. Help us, we pray, as we struggle with understanding what these words are saying to see Jesus, for that is the purpose of the book of Revelation-to unveil from our hearts and our eyes the glory and the splendor and the transcendence of your Son.

We ask this, Lord, humbly begging you, if there’s even one person listening to the sound of my voice, that you would draw them to yourself. Even as time passes, if I’m with you in heaven and this recording remains and someone is able to listen to these words, we just believe the gospel is contained in this message and that you would do what only you can do through your Spirit, working in a heart, that the person listening who needs you would see you right now in this moment and realize their need for you. And the person who even feels like this message is just going straight to them -life’s been hard, whatever’s been going on that has made you at a place where you’re perhaps more resonating with these spiritual truths-help them to see what a gift it is to hear from you and that they would call on you while there is time to be saved. We pray in Jesus' name, Amen.

The book of Revelation is the only book of the Bible that has a promised blessing simply for the preacher who’s willing to read it and the reader or listener who’s willing to hear it. And so in even reading these truths, we have a promised blessing. There’s a certain sense in which we get sobered up a little bit, right? When we think about the end times, when we think about history’s last chapter, when we think about the return of Jesus to this world. And the whole purpose of this Lenten journey, this movement toward Easter Sunday, would, of course, be to ask the question: Are we ready for His returning? Are we ready for His return? Would we be excited if today was that day?

And in this text, there are a lot of questions that we could ask, starting with the fact that we’re introduced in the very first verse to an angel. And some of us would be like, „Well, who’s that angel?“ Right? Is anybody else like, „Read the Bible? Like, who’s that guy?“ Which is the way I was taught to read the Bible. As you read, just ask a lot of questions! Like, „I don’t know how to read the Bible.“ Yeah, you do! The way a journalist would cover a news story-who, what, when, where, why-and it’s the weird one -it’s the left-foot question-right? How? So as you read your Scriptures, you should be peppering it with questions: Who is this person? Why is this happening? What’s being said here? Where did this take place? How did this all come about?

And so as we jump into this-which, by the way, is an interlude-an interlude is like a break, a rest-you know musicians? There might be a section, but then there’s a little space, a little brief pause. Like if you go to a play, there might be a matinée. Praise God for the matinée! It’s how I make it through anything like that! It’s like, „Oh yes! I can make it to the matinée!“ There’s a break coming. Only so much singing! You know? People are loving all the singing. It’s like, „I am ready for the matinée!“ All right!

This is a matinée! This is an interlude! This is a brief pause! In the Psalms, it’s „Selah!“ When you come to that word, that’s a rest between measures, right? Revelation is full of judgment-judgment being poured out against all unrighteousness. Now you might not love that. I don’t know about that, right? But you do! You love it! You love it! If your car gets broken into, you would long for justice. If something of value to you got stolen, you would want justice. Jenny and I interviewed this week for our podcast a friend whose wife was murdered in their home while he was out at the gym by people who broke in just to steal stuff-pregnant with their second child-also slain.

The human heart cries out for justice! I know we don’t love the notion of God judging sinners, but deep down, we crave every wrong to be made right. But that’s a double-edged sword, isn’t it? That I think what we mean is we want everyone’s wrong to be made right except for ours. But this book, the book of Revelation, describes a moment when God will look down upon this world and say, „Enough is enough!“ And He will put His foot down-He will put His foot down once and for all! And there will be wrath poured out, and there will be judgment poured out.

In fact, this book contains four horsemen of the apocalypse, seven sealed judgments that are opened up on the earth. It contains seven trumpet judgments, in the midst of which we are in Revelation 10, right in between the sixth and the seventh blast of the trumpet. And each judgment releases woes and tribulation on the earth such as has not ever been experienced! It culminates in what’s known as the bowl judgments. The seven bowls of judgment are poured out and then the end will come and then Christ will come, and then He will stand on the grapes of wrath; He’ll trod the fierce wrath, the fierceness of the wrath of Almighty God! You see, every time we cry out, „How long, O Lord! How will you let this happen? How will you let this happen? This happened in his home; how could you let this happen to these children? How long, O Lord?“ He collects every single prayer! Scripture says He collects them in bowls.

I believe, whether right or wrong, that when the bowl judgments are poured out, He’s finally answering every single prayer that’s ever been prayed for judgment and justice. And, of course, it’s all so unnecessary, because at the cross, Jesus Christ drank every single drop of the wrath of God necessary for every single sin that’s ever been committed! So why would this still happen? Because at the end of your life, you either accept what was paid for by Jesus, or you will have it taken from your account; you will experience the judgment which is, of course, what the Bible describes as a place called hell, which is for people who decided to stand on their own two feet and not allow what Jesus did hanging on the cross with a nail between His heels to be the payment for them.

Something can be paid for but not accepted. There is, in history, a pardon given to someone on death row who decided he didn’t want to accept it. They didn’t know what to do. No one had ever been pardoned but not accepted it. It went all the way to the Supreme Court, and it was ruled that a pardon is not given and accepted unless it is received. And so this person went to his own death and had no one to blame for it but himself. So it is with every single person who ends up in the last day experiencing God’s wrath: completely unnecessary because of what Jesus Christ did for us all!

Man, that’s a lot when you read Revelation! Woo! It’s a lot! I preached it one time; I did this series on Revelation. I talked about „Terrifying Tupperware,“ called that the bowl judgments, „A Radical Rodeo,“ the four horsemen of the apocalypse, and „A Shocking Symphony!“ That’s a sermon series only a 23-year-old could preach, right? I should have gone back to the drawing board, but I stand by it, all right? And when you go through all of it, I mean studying it, you’re reading it — there’s just a lot! And so God knows how much we can handle and gives us these breaks. John, who’s writing this all down, God gave him some breaks. Because after every time the sixth of something happens, there’s obviously the seventh.

Every time the sixth of the seals, the sixth of the trumpets, the sixth of the bowls happens before the seventh is unleashed, there’s a momentary interlude-a chance to catch one’s breath, a sort of get above the waves for a second, take some oxygen on board, right? And then you’re determined to go back in! And so it is when we read Revelation; we have these moments. And what is God trying to do in Revelation 10, which is the break we get in between the sixth and the seventh trumpet judgment poured out against all unrighteousness? We have just the reminder-it’s going to be okay!

I’ve just heard God speaking that so much as I read this passage and others like it. The break between the sixth and the seventh seal, the break between the sixth and the seventh bowl-God just saying, „It’s going to be okay! It’s going to be okay! It’s going to be okay!“ Why? It’s a reminder of His coming, of where we’re going, of where history is heading, of the way that all of time and eternity becomes a bullet train towards the throne of God, where Jesus Christ rules and reigns with a rod of iron and His servants shall serve Him.

And so that’s what we find here as this angel comes down. But because we’ve got our journalist hats on, we’re saying, „Who’s the angel?“ Now, we know of only three angels in Scripture by name. Interesting. Unless you count Jesus. That’s a hot take! Well, actually, all throughout the Old Testament, Jesus shows up periodically, and His title given is the angel of the Lord. So Jesus is not an angel; He was not created. All angels were created; He’s the creator. Yet He assumes the title of the angel of the Lord. A way to describe that would be the captain of all the angel armies. Think of it that way: the God of angel armies is always on my side-the one who the angels long to follow.

The one who, as He hung on the cross, they, with disbelief, said, „How are you letting this happen, God?“

„Say the word!“ Jesus said, „And 12 legions of angels would fly and let a couple off the chain!“ I think in that moment, right? I mean, in the Scriptures, there’s one angel that in a war God lets him go into battle, He taps in one. Just how many? He kills 185,000 enemy soldiers in one evening. And Jesus said 12 legions. A legion was 6,000 soldiers. And Jesus said there were 12 legions begging God to let him say the word so they could come in!

But Peter thought he was going to take care of things with his sword. Not so! You shall never get by Jesus! Like, „Put the sword down, buddy!“ Picks the ear up, blows it off, puts it back on. Okay, please take me! Right? Like, unbelievable!

What’s the point? The point is it wasn’t the nails that held Jesus to the cross. It was love! He’s the commander of angel armies. And the word „angel“ in the Greek is „angelos.“ It just means „messenger.“ Okay? So a messenger sends a message. So in that sense, Jesus takes the role of an angel on many occasions throughout Scripture delivering the message. Many believe it was to Samson’s parents that He would be this great judge or deliverer. When’s another time an angel shows up? The angel of the Lord to Joshua at Jericho. Joshua takes his sandals off just as Moses had because he realized he was not speaking to some random soldier-this was the angel of the Lord, right? And Joshua worshipped that angel there. No angel would ever receive worship; yet Jesus, the angel of the Lord, did many believe.

Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego had another in the fire, standing next to them, the angel of the Lord, bright like the sun, clothed like the Son of God; and yet interestingly enough, not hurt by the flames, nor were any of his friends.

So there are many times when Jesus is referred to as an angel, and many people, when you read commentaries or listen to Bible teachers or theologians, many people reading will say this angel in Revelation 10-who is he? On your journalist form, is Jesus? If you’re reading it and you’re thinking to yourself, „Crazily, I think so also!“ well, then you’re in good company, because homie wears clouds as clothing, His face looks like a rainbow, He has fiery shoes on, He speaks with a lion’s roar. You’re like, „That doesn’t sound like anybody I know.“ You’re like, „I’m not a smart man, Jenny, but that sounds a lot like Jesus!“

So you’re not crazy if this sounds a lot like Jesus. But we have a couple of problems with that. We have a couple of problems. One problem is the fact that this angel swears to God. Okay? Hebrews 6 tells us God only ever swears by Himself. So the language is slightly off in the way that you would swear on your-what’s a movie line? Mother’s grave? Stack of Bibles? Right? What are you trying to say? I’m trying to invoke the most holy thing I can, the most intense thing I can to show that I mean business. Hebrews 6 says, „What’s God supposed to do when He swears by something? There’s no higher name than His name, so He swears by Himself.“

This angel doesn’t seem to use that same formula. Hebrews 6 gives us about that dilemma of God choosing to swear an oath, and He swears by God who rules forever. So that’s one reason I don’t personally think this is Jesus. The second being that the first verse tells us, John writing, „Now I saw another angel.“ Another angel! You see, throughout the book, he’s been describing lots of different angels doing lots of different tasks. There are many different angels that show up in the book of Revelation.

And he says, „Now I saw another mighty angel.“ Some translations say „Another strong angel.“ Now it’s interesting-not all angels are referred to as strong, but this angel-like some of the others that he has been describing — did not skip leg day! Okay? No! This guy’s legs are fire! Literal fire! This angel is very strong. But „another“ is the word that piques my interest because it’s a key word. It’s a key word in Scripture. Paul says to the church of Galatia, „I can’t believe you’ve turned from the gospel to believe another gospel.“ He actually said, „I marvel! I marvel! I preached to you better than that! I cannot believe, having heard Jesus died on the cross, rose from the dead, ascended, Spirit given, that that’s all you could ever need! You’ve been adopted! You’re co- heirs with Christ! I preached better than you’re living!“

He said, „You’ve turned to something else.“ What’s the something else? Anything but that! Beware of anybody who makes the gospel sound like kindergarten! And what they got for you is like undergraduate, like ready for doctoral studies and these deeper mysteries! It’s going to be any number of things-astrology, „Oh, I’ve got to look at the stars for meanings,“ or this other new age way of thinking. It could be signs and days and keeping certain rules. It could be a return to some sort of locked-in keeping of the Sabbath or how you eat or what you do or how religious you get to perform.

Here’s the common denominator: Are you ready for it? The gospel makes Jesus the hero, and you and I are the damsel in distress tied up on the railroad tracks. Superman Jesus gets to fly in and save us! And we get to be like, „Thank you! You’re my brave hero!“ Every other form makes us the hero. „I’ve got to do something.“ „I’ve got to figure this out.“ „I know the code! I cracked it! I have secret knowledge!“

And Paul said, „I understand the appeal because it makes you feel like a big shot to have this new way of doing things. Oh yeah, the gospel is great to get you going, but no, we need this to really get to where we need to go.“ Paul says, „I marvel that you turned to another gospel.“

There are two primary words in the Greek you could say „another.“ We’re at a limitation because in the English we just have „another,“ right? Like, „another.“ We just have that one word. But in the Greek, there’s „allon“ and „heteron.“ Allos and heteros. And they both mean two different things, okay? Allon-stay with me! Some of your eyes are glazing over. Stay with me. Allon means „another of the exact same kind.“ Exact same kind in every single way! Heteron means „another,“ but not the exact same kind. It’s kind of different.

So, example: if I’m in a restaurant and a server comes over and says to me, „Sir, would you like a beverage?“ And I go, „I would! I would like a Diet Coke!“ And they say, „Excellent! We have Diet Coke! Here you go!“ And they set a Diet Coke in front of me. Use your imagination — I will too, because I’m not drinking them during this fast journey and I think about them all the time-so multiple fasts I have broken with a Diet Coke poured over ice! Okay?

And I listen to it fizz! Yes! Okay? So…the meal goes on, the server comes back and says, „Can I get you another?“ And I say, „I’m not driving, absolutely!“ And then they come back and they set in front of me a Diet Pepsi. Now did they give me another? Yeah, but „heteron,“ right? Another of the not-so-similar kind. It was another beverage! Yes! Technically in the beverage category, but it’s not the same thing! 'Cause ain’t nobody got time for a Diet Pepsi when you could be drinking a Diet Coke! Am I preaching good and shaming the devil on a Palm Sunday sermon with a sleepy church who ain’t giving me no love? That’s the difference between „allon“ and „heteron.“

And when Paul says, „You’ve turned to another gospel,“ he uses „heteron.“ It’s another, sure; it’s a beverage technically, but it’s not the same as the gospel that you were given originally that can save! Jesus used the word „allon“ when He described the Holy Spirit. Remember when the disciples were all sad that Jesus was leaving? No, He was a handy guy to have around! They’re hungry; He makes more food. It’s a very lovely situation. So they’re super sad that He’s leaving because they had their own personal Jesus.

But what did Jesus say? „Don’t worry! It’s to your advantage that I go, for if I go, I will send another helper.“ And He used „allon“ to describe the Holy Spirit! It’s a key verse when understanding the deity of God the Holy Spirit-that He’s not a JV Jesus! That in every way, in every sense of the word, the Holy Spirit is God just as the Son is God! But not just a son, not just a God who can be with you physically in one place at one time, but one who could live in me and live in you and live in you and go to work with you and go to school with you, and He’s in Cleveland and He’s in Iraq and you -He’s everywhere at all times in all of us!

To your advantage because I’ll send another „allon“ helper-the same exact God of God, but living inside each of us. So language matters! Can we agree? Yeah? Revelation 10, John says, „Now I saw an „allon“ angel, an „allon“ strong angel.»

So what does that mean to us Bible students? That means he’s saying, «I saw a strong angel exactly like every other angel that I’ve described thus far in every single way!» Okay? Well, you have all these angels -they’ve all been created by God-thus are not God-thus if we see an exact angel just like that, it cannot, by my definition, be the Son of God who created all the angels. Does that make sense? Not going to be on the test, just trying to show you it matters as we read the Bible! This is life and death here as we rightly divide the word of truth!

Amen? All right! Now the angel, as he splashes down, makes quite an impact on John-quite an impact! He says, «It’s like blinding, like the sun!» What’s the brightest thing you’ve ever seen that wasn’t the sun? For me, it was the day my friend Shane Kimbro was going to the International Space Station and invited us to come watch his rocket launch. And it was a nighttime launch! And I was excited about that, thinking, «What’s it going to be like when it’s pitch black?»

And then this rocket-well, I was worried for a little bit, «Would I even be able to see it?» Right? But then this is what happened. This is my little iPhone-captured video of that day.

Wow! Oh my God! Endeavor launches once again for astronauts from countries to the one and only International Space Station! Vehicle is pitching downrange! Engines of the first stage with 7 million pounds of thrust! And by the time the sound wave hit us-physically? Yeah! Emotional? We were miles away! Miles away! But the night was illuminated like the sun! And the sound of it hitting was unreal!

My kids didn’t get NASA clearance to be there at the Banana Creek viewing area where we were watching him take off from the same pad that Apollo 11 left from, right? But they were miles away, even further on the beach, Cocoa Beach there, and they got to watch with their grandpa, and they got to see it from a different angle!

And I have to show you so you can hear Lennox reacting. This was a couple of years ago now. Listen to his reaction when he got to see it.

«Look! I saw it with my eyes! Oh, I can see it! I can see fire!» Tell me that’s not Revelation 10! It’s like, «What do you see?» «I see fire with my own eyes!»

This angel touches down-left foot on the land, right foot on the sea! Now John immediately is like, «This being is wearing clouds for clothing! There are rainbow beams, prism beams shooting out of his face, fire shooting like pillars!» Some say that this hearkens back to the pillars of fire that led the children of Israel by day and by night, and the cloud by day, promising both protection and guidance that God has both for you-left foot, right foot-both!

Protection and He has guidance for you! But again, you’re like, «Levi, I hear what you’re saying about „Alan“ and „heteron,“ but that sounds a lot like Jesus!» Okay, let me just pause right there and say He looks the way He does because of who He spends so much time with. We tend to end up looking like who we spend the most time gazing at! He’s all day, all night until He gets sent to a job absorbing the glory!

I mean, Moses glowed in the dark for weeks just getting to spend time with God-like writing a list of things we shouldn’t do down! This angel, day and night, absorbs the glory of God with an unveiled face! Yes!

So forgive me for having a few clouds and rainbows still on me from the throne! Wow! But He also looks perfectly designed for the task in which He was created to perform. So everything about how He looks and His strength and all these things is because of what He was created to do and the atmosphere He was created to operate in.

And so it is for you! As the Scripture says, «You were fearfully and wonderfully made!» If you could only see yourself the way that God sees you, how God intends for you to grow up into your full glory! And to think about what that’s going to look like played out across the ages as you follow Jesus!

So who is this angel, Levi? Well, like I said, there are three named angels: Gabriel, Lucifer, and Michael-if we don’t count Jesus, the captain of the angel armies. Okay, so four-we get it! But you’re very spiritual -you’re like that guy. «Well, Jesus, okay, fine. We got it-three named angels and Jesus!» Right? There’s one in every crowd!

So Gabriel is the primary messenger angel. Okay? He’s the primary one showing up-he’s the Christmas angel! He’s shown up to Mary; He’s shown up to Joseph. He’s the one delivering news a lot! Then you have Lucifer -he’s the fallen angel. It could be that he was one of the most powerful, if not the most powerful angel. His unique build was for worship. There seems to be an ability to play sound built into his chest-some sort of Phantom of the Opera pipe organ situation that I don’t fully understand, but Ezekiel says is pretty dope!

And yet he has distorted that for his own purposes! He was created to cover God’s throne with praise but began to covet God’s throne and rushed the-it was an ultimate game of thrones. You think there’s anything new under the sun? This is all old stuff here!

And he was cast down like lightning. And who I personally think this angel is-only because of the identification Jude gives to him as the archangel -he’s a key angel. He seems to be this warrior angel.

There are scriptures where he’s sent specifically when someone has to fight Satan, Lucifer, the fallen angel: Michael gets that unique job. So this angel coming down is the most physically robust stacked angel that we get described in Scripture. I can’t prove it for sure; we can ask one day!

But what it’s worth-my take on it is probably Michael the Archangel! Okay? But he’s a very strong angel who comes down roaring like a lion, and his roar-I mean, the roar of an actual lion can be heard 5 miles away! And it stops you dead in your tracks when you hear one! It hits you some kind of way, right? Some part of you that goes back to hunter-gatherer days says, «Be afraid, be very afraid!» when a lion roars, and yet thunder’s even louder!

Thunder comes in at an astounding 130 dB! It can be heard from up to 15 miles away! And when this angel roars, somehow there’s a response from God of thunder! And what he hears-John’s like, «Well, that’s intriguing.» And he goes to write down what the seven thunders thunder, and the angel says, «Stop! Don’t include this. It’s too provocative! Too shocking for the book of Revelation!»

Look, I don’t know what the thunders were thundering about, but if Uncle Frank won’t let you watch it, it must be really bad! When it’s too scandalous for a book that includes battle scenes where blood flows up to the horse’s bridle, we are talking about some untwisted stuff here! Okay?

Be thankful he didn’t include it! Okay? But what we do know is John notices this angel is holding a little book-a little book! The exact same Greek word for the scroll from Revelation 5! Remember that one? We just spent some time thinking about unto the Lamb- The only one found worthy, the only one! That’s Revelation 5! When John saw God the Father with the scroll in His hand that no one can open, sealed with seven seals, each of these seals being opened will lead to judgments being poured out against both religious and commercial Babylon.

You’re like, «Help me, I don’t know what you mean by either of those things!» Okay? God gave a plan of salvation in the garden. It was the principle of substitution. Adam and Eve ate-the Adam bomb went off. Death rained on all. And it would have continued unchecked had the principle of substitution not been entered into.

God had a plan! Kill some lambs! The blood is shed. This is a temporary provision until the Lamb of God gets here! What’s Adam and Eve’s great glorious plan? They go vegan! They cover themselves in itchy fig leaves-the itchiest plant that exists! And you know God said, «Oh, oh no, I’ll make you some leather pants!»

That’s another plan! And it ain’t better! You know what I’m saying? Like, that’s a Diet Pepsi of clothing! And so the principle of substitution is: I will allow my Son, the Lamb of God, to die, paying your bill. That’s God’s plan!

That’s the gospel! You know what? Man wants to do: get their fig leaves out! «I’m good enough! I can do my own thing! I don’t need God! I don’t need someone else! I need some person who died 2 years ago helping me! I pull myself up by my own bootstraps!» Right? That’s religious Babylon as exemplified when God has given us the way to heaven, and man says, «You know what we should do? We should build a tower that reaches to heaven! We’ll climb up to God our own way! We don’t need some icky blood! We don’t need some slain Messiah! We don’t need Jesus! We can just think happy thoughts and we’ll get there! We’ll just keep climbing!» Babylon! It’s every approach religiously to get to God except for the gospel!

Then there’s commercial Babylon. Commercial Babylon is the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, the pride of life. It’s money! It’s banking! It’s commerce! I can have so much! I can guarantee power forever! I’ll fill the hole inside of me! I don’t need you! I can just buy stuff! It’ll be shiny stuff, expensive stuff-clothes and houses and designer things. And that-that’ll be-that’s what — commercial Babylon!

And the judgment is poured out in Revelation against every approach to wholeness and heaven that is not Jesus Christ hanging on the cross, crucified, dead, buried, risen, exalted-Lord of Lords forever! And the little book from Revelation 5 is when John cries, saying, «No one’s worthy to come fix the problem! No one’s-no one can come judge Babylon! No one can come save us! No one can come right the wrongs in this world!»

And then he sees the one who’s announced as a lion but shows up as a lamb slain, bleeding, dripping on heaven’s floor, who comes and takes the book and opens the scrolls! By Revelation 10, though we’re already seals are open, trumpets have blown-we’re on our way here! We’re halfway through this time called Jacob’s troubles, the 70th week of Daniel, the period that we think of as apocalypse, or Armageddon, or end time!

We’re halfway through that period! Things are moving very quickly, culminating in the return of Christ visibly, gloriously to rule and reign forever! And this little interlude is basically just saying everything’s still on track! This angel showing up and touching down is His way of saying it’s still happening!

I know it’s wild-all hell is literally and figuratively breaking loose -but it’s all going to be okay! Because look what’s in His hand! The angel is holding His hand-a little book! This big ol'-it seemed like a pretty big book when John was saying, «No one can open it! No one’s worthy!»

But now that Jesus has done it, it’s like, «Oh yeah, the angel had that little book in his hand!» Right? It’s like he’s acting as proxy for Jesus in this little, «Oh, this little thing! Hey! Eat it! Eat it! Eat it! Eat it!» Right? Maybe it’s just like not a big deal, all right?

So, what of -'cause we’re here for the left foot, right? Let’s go back to regular! The left foot’s on the land-the right foot’s in the -what does the sea represent in Revelation? Chaos? Death? Oh, I know! We love it! When we go on Airbnb, we’re like, «Be front! Yeah, give me some of that beachfront! I love the sea!»

Right? We love the ocean! We love all this nautical stuff! Go back 2,000 years, 'cause it’s who, what, when, where, why, right? So go back 20,000 years. What’s the sea? Death!

Oh, you’re going to venture out in the open ocean? You better have said goodbye! People braving the path to the New World- pre-Panama Canal, pre-the transcontinental railroad, pre-airplanes that can just take you -you go to Salt Lake City today, you be Charles de Gaulle tonight! They’re going to wake up in Utah, go sleep in Paris like it’s no big deal!

That was not normal for most of human history! Oh, sidebar! The book of Daniel says there will come a day when men will travel to and fro on the earth and knowledge will abound. In other words, now GPT, when is the best flight to Charles de Gaulle from you? See what I’m saying? Knowledge abounding, men running to and fro the earth!

But previously, the sea was scary, dark for boating; it claimed lives! Many people lost at sea! Well, in the book of Revelation, the sea is used in that way! And that’s why in Revelation 21, we are told, «Now I saw a new heaven and new earth, for the first earth had passed away. Also, there was no more sea.» That means there’s no ocean in heaven!

All the surfers are sad! Hold on! This is — sea is a metaphor, right? Sea is sorrow! Sea is law! Sea is chaos! So it’s this him saying there’s no more sea! It’s the same way as him saying, «Revelation 21:4, 'God will wipe away every tear from their eyes! There shall be no more death, no more sorrow, no more crying, not even any more pain, for the former things will have passed away! '»

Does anybody want to thank God for a day coming without sadness, without loss, without chaos? So His right foot-that foot of strength-because the biblical imagery always has the right side as that power-this angel, on behalf of Jesus, is saying, «Right foot is going on what you fear most!» You’re afraid of the sea! You’re afraid of death! You’re afraid of loss!

Yeah? Guess what? He ain’t! 'Cause He’s been there! He’s done it! He’s got the t-shirt! So His right foot is coming down one day to crush the sea-that which we can’t control! What about the land?

Well, His left foot that goes on the land would be sort of a metaphor then of what we can control-in the days coming when He will control both! But let’s now use that to talk about where we need His touch for our left foot. Let’s not focus today on what we can’t control, because there’s plenty in your life and in mine and in this world that we can’t control, but there is also some that we can!

There’s plenty that we can! And the way that we tap into agency is we ask the question: What is within my control? I’m going to give you four quick things. The first is that you have beautiful feet! You can control the beautifulness of your feet-how beautiful or how unbeautiful!

My wife, Jenny, on a date night once made me get a pedicure, and I hated it! I didn’t like it at all! It was tickly! It made me uncomfortable! I couldn’t wait for it to be over! It was the least fun I’ve ever had spending $50! And yet, I do, if I’m honest, need it because my feet are hideous! Sometimes I even see them-I’m like, «You have terrible feet!» And yet Romans chapter 10 says, «Regardless of the condition of our toenails, how then shall they call on Him who they have not believed in? How shall they believe in Him of whom they’ve not heard? And how shall they hear without a preacher? And how shall they preach unless they are sent? As it is written, 'How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the gospel of peace, who bring glad tidings of good things? '»

Every time you share the gospel, every time you tell someone about Jesus, every time you invite someone to church, every time you give financially that helps preaching go out into the world-guess what? Your feet become beautiful in God’s sight!

The bitterness of the book in his stomach, I believe, and the sweetness in his mouth was when he comprehended what heaven means for him. On his tongue, it was sweet! But when it hit his stomach, it made him realize every person John knew who did not know Jesus, and the thought of anybody ending up in hell-not heaven-and him, where does the text end? «Go to all peoples! Preach to all kings! Preach to all kingdoms! Oh, go into the whole world!»

Let’s keep our feet beautiful! When was the last time you shared the gospel with someone? Told someone what Jesus had done for you? Invited someone to sit with you in church? Had the whole experience of church? Of praying the whole dang time for that person to sit next to you because you brought them? This all means so much more when we have skin in the game! Let’s keep our feet beautiful!

You can’t control what happens next when you share the gospel! What happens next when you invite someone? But guess what? You can take that first effort and put your left foot on something you can control!

Secondly, let’s keep our feet clean! That’s really important to hygiene, right? Keep our feet clean! Jesus, fortunately, loves washing feet! According to John 13, He wants to always wash the things off our feet that happen in a dirty world!

Peter tried to refuse Him! He said, «No, you’ve got to let me clean you!» So Peter said, «All right, then clean me head to toe! Give me a whole sponge bath!» And Jesus said, «Just the feet will do!»

It’s a very funny moment! What is He saying? He’s saying, «You’re already clean because of the word that I spoke over you at salvation, but you’re walking in a dirty world! You accumulate things on your feet -that’s why we got to daily spend time with Jesus and weekly gather together and be in small groups! Why? It cleans the dirt off of our feet! It helps us to walk into holiness! It helps us to keep opening our heart again and again to that which can clean us! The washing of the water by the word!»

What’s what can we control? Beautiful feet, clean feet! We can also control the level at which we have nimble feet! Nimble feet, right? Feet that are nimble! The book of Habakkuk talks about having the blessing of God to where your feet are able to walk on high hills! High heels! Whenever I see my wife in heels or my daughters in heels, I go, «That is incredible that you can walk in those high heels!»

Well, God wants it to be where the things you’re walking on in life, people around you are like, «How can you walk in? That’s amazing that you have sure footing even though you’re walking on such hard things, treacherous things!»

What’s the secret to having nimble feet and not getting knocked down by every little trial that comes your way? How do we have strong ankles, strong feet, nimble feet for walking in uncertain days?

Well, the answer is in Ephesians chapter 6, when we’re given the different pieces of the armor of God. We’re given a shield and a helmet-yes! We’re given a breastplate -it’s amazing! And the sword! Oh, I love the sword! It’s two-edged! But there’s also the promise of God’s blessing for your feet-having feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace!

The sure-footedness in life comes from the reminder that the most important things have been taken care of by God! So regardless of what breaks out and what goes in the future, and how this all pans out, and next year, and the pretty soon we’re like sucking our thumb in the fetal position-we remind ourselves when our feet are shod, He’s got this! It’s all going to be okay!

If He took care of the most serious thing, He’s also going to take care of the other stuff too! And then all of a sudden, whoa-you’ve got sure footing for the trials of this life! Does that bless anybody today? The promise of nimble feet!

And you want your feet covered, 'cause man, uncovered feet -that’s no good! Jenny and I were at one of the prayer gatherings this week. The day before had been 60, so I took the top off my Jeep because it’s 60 degrees, right? And the next day it’s like 22, and I forgot the top was off!

She got in my car! I said, «I’ll drive!» And then I saw the roof, and I said, «Honey, you’re going to want a coat!» And she comes into this car! She’s got a parka on, she’s got mittens on, blankets on, and still, man, that drive was spicy even by my standards!

At one point, I said, «Babe, look! The stars are still out!» And she said, «I would love to see them, but my contacts froze to my eyeballs!» And we were uncovered!

Don’t let your feet be uncovered in this world! Remind yourself of what the gospel of peace means for you personally.

We’re done! Team, come on out here! We need victorious feet! And thanks be to God for the fact that we have the victory! Not might have, not could have! But if we walk with Jesus, y’all, we are on the winning team! That’s what the book of Revelation said! It might get crazy; it might get bad! It’s like watching a game that you’ve seen before when it gets replayed on TV at times, and someone’s not seen-like, oh my gosh, it’s all good! I know how this game ends!

That’s what we can say in Christ Jesus, who always leads us in victory and triumphs in us in every place! Well, come on! I wish I had a church who believed the battle belongs to the Lord! That the earth is the Lord’s and its fullness thereof! He has established it upon the seas! He’s got His right foot on the sea! He’s got His left foot on the land!

We can just walk with Him! We can just walk with Him! We can just keep stride with Him! We’re with Him! We’re with the Captain of angel armies! Oh, come on! He’s got this! He’s got you! He’s got it under control!

I want to close reading to you Romans chapter 16: «And the God of peace"-come on, someone-touch your left foot! «And the God of peace will crush Satan under your feet shortly!» Some of you are like, «I’m not coordinated enough for this illustration!»

«And the God of peace will crush Satan under your feet shortly!» We are no match for Satan, but Satan’s no match for God! And no matter what the future holds, we follow the One who holds the future! So what of this one far-off divine event towards which all history moves? When the Son of God will split the skies and He will return -let’s be ready!

Let’s be ready for His return! Let’s have nothing left undone! Let’s have nothing left unsaid! Let’s have no one in our lives that we have not shared the gospel with that God has put on our heart to! Let’s be ready for His return! That’s what we can control!

And so, Father, we pray it be so! Help us to see the ways that we’ve wandered from the path! Help us to see the ways that we’ve strayed from the straight and narrow! We’ve slid back! We’ve let the gas off! It’s so easy to get complacent because You bless us, and then we start to get a little comfortable.

I pray there would still be that scrappy fighting spirit with that turning in our stomach for the lost, until heaven is full and hell is empty! If you would say honestly in church, «There are some areas in my life where I’ve sort of a little bit left my first love.» Like Paul, like Jesus said to the church at Ephesus, «I’ve moved away from some of these things! Maybe my feet are a little dirty! My feet are a little uncovered!»

Just if you would say, «The Spirit of God’s touching me right now!» Just raise your hand up! Say, «I want to get back! I want to come back today!» I’m coming back, Jesus! Coming back to the heart of worship! Coming back to You!

Oh, thank You, Lord! Would You bless these for their honesty, their humility, their surrender? Everyone watching online who’s with us in this moment-same way! I just-I just touch them, God! Touch them, God! Help us to control what we can-left foot, right path! Left foot, right path! What we can control is walking with You-there’s no time left for anything else!

You can put your hands down. I want to now invite those who have not trusted Christ for salvation to do so-to make this your moment-to pass from death to life, from hell to heaven, from Babylon to Jesus’s kingdom!

And if you would say, «I’m going to turn from every other attempt to save myself, to fill the hole in my heart! I’m going to turn to Jesus!» In this moment, I believe the Spirit of God is moving right now in our midst and drawing people to Himself! No one can come to God just when they want to! We can only come in response as He initiates!

So if you sense and feel Him calling you, don’t take it for granted that that will ever happen again! Get right with God today! Pray this prayer with me! Pray with us, church!

Dear God, I can’t fix myself, but You can because of Jesus! Come into my life! Make it Yours! I give it to You! In Jesus' name!