Revelation 14, 15 July 12, 2009
Summer Sermon Series on
The Revelation of Jesus Christ, Part 7
“You Have To Choose.”
Rev. Meagan M. Boozer
If you want to get to know Jesus, reading the Gospels (Matthew, Mark, Luke, & John) is a great place to start. The writers of these books tell us things Jesus said, things Jesus did, and how regular people like you and me reacted to what he said and did.
In the books of the Bible that follow the Gospels – letters written to congregations or to individuals (called Epistles) – we get to watch our brothers and sisters in the faith in the earliest days of the church. As we read, we see how people reacted to the early Christians, we learn of brave, yet heart-wrenching moments, like when Stephen was stoned for testifying about Jesus, or Paul and Silas were thrown into prison because they just couldn’t stop telling people about the Savior.
What we have in the Gospels and in the Epistles is a history of the New Testament Church, our history, our heritage; a history that instructs us, encourages us, challenges us, and inspires us. What could be more encouraging than Philippians 4:13, “I can do all things through Christ, who strengthens me!” Or how about Colossians 3:12, “As God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience. Bear with one another and, if anyone has a complaint against another, forgive each other; just as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive. Above all, clothe yourselves with love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony.”
Revelation doesn’t sound like that, does it? But that’s not to say that in the books that precede the Revelation of Jesus Christ that there are not words that sound like what we’ve been reading this summer as we move through the Revelation. Many times in the Gospels, Jesus gave end time warnings. In Matthew 13:40 we read Jesus’ words, “Just as the weeds are collected and burned up with fire, so will it be at the end of the age. The Son of Man will send his angels, and they will collect out of his kingdom all causes of sin and all evildoers, and they will throw them into the furnace of fire, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.” That sounds more like the steady diet we have heard this summer, doesn’t it?
In Revelation so far, we have read about destructions of whole parts of the earth and sea, the preliminary judgments, and the calls to repentance. It has been difficult – and there is more ahead. But let’s not forget that we have also read the words of the beautiful songs of Revelation that exalt the Lamb who was slain and the One who sits upon the throne. This book of Revelation is not like the Gospels and the Epistles – those books give us the foundation of how to be the Church. Revelation is a book written to the Church – calling us to persevere in our mission, and endure with faith and courage any trial that we might encounter on the road to the glories of Heaven.
Let us pray: Thank you, Creator of all things seen and unseen, for your irrevocable call upon our lives. Thank you for the strength you give us to endure. Thank for the gift of faith. Thank you for the eyes to see you, ears to hear your truth, and hearts to love you. Teach us now in these few minutes what we need to know from Revelation 14 & 15. In Jesus’ name, Amen.
Revelation 14
1Then I looked, and there was the Lamb, standing on Mount Zion! And with him were one hundred forty-four thousand who had his name and his Father’s name written on their foreheads. 2And I heard a voice from heaven like the sound of many waters and like the sound of loud thunder; the voice I heard was like the sound of harpists playing on their harps, 3and they sing a new song before the throne and before the four living creatures and before the elders. No one could learn that song except the one hundred forty-four thousand who have been redeemed from the earth. 4It is these who have not defiled themselves with women, for they are virgins; these follow the Lamb wherever he goes. They have been redeemed from humankind as first fruits for God and the Lamb, 5and in their mouth no lie was found; they are blameless.
6Then I saw another angel flying in midheaven, with an eternal gospel to proclaim to those who live on the earth—to every nation and tribe and language and people. 7He said in a loud voice, “Fear God and give him glory, for the hour of his judgment has come; and worship him who made heaven and earth, the sea and the springs of water.”
8Then another angel, a second, followed, saying, “Fallen, fallen is Babylon the great! She has made all nations drink of the wine of the wrath of her fornication.”
9Then another angel, a third, followed them, crying with a loud voice, “Those who worship the beast and its image, and receive a mark on their foreheads or on their hands, 10they will also drink the wine of God’s wrath, poured unmixed into the cup of his anger, and they will be tormented with fire and sulfur in the presence of the holy angels and in the presence of the Lamb. 11And the smoke of their torment goes up forever and ever. There is no rest day or night for those who worship the beast and its image and for anyone who receives the mark of its name.”
12Here is a call for the endurance of the saints, those who keep the commandments of God and hold fast to the faith of Jesus.
13And I heard a voice from heaven saying, “Write this: Blessed are the dead who from now on die in the Lord.” “Yes,” says the Spirit, “they will rest from their labors, for their deeds follow them.”
14Then I looked, and there was a white cloud, and seated on the cloud was one like the Son of Man, with a golden crown on his head, and a sharp sickle in his hand! 15Another angel came out of the temple, calling with a loud voice to the one who sat on the cloud, “Use your sickle and reap, for the hour to reap has come, because the harvest of the earth is fully ripe.” 16So the one who sat on the cloud swung his sickle over the earth, and the earth was reaped.
17Then another angel came out of the temple in heaven, and he too had a sharp sickle. 18Then another angel came out from the altar, the angel who has authority over fire, and he called with a loud voice to him who had the sharp sickle, “Use your sharp sickle and gather the clusters of the vine of the earth, for its grapes are ripe.” 19So the angel swung his sickle over the earth and gathered the vintage of the earth, and he threw it into the great wine press of the wrath of God. 20And the wine press was trodden outside the city, and blood flowed from the wine press, as high as a horse’s bridle, for a distance of about two hundred miles.
Revelation 15
1Then I saw another portent in heaven, great and amazing: seven angels with seven plagues, which are the last, for with them the wrath of God is ended.
2And I saw what appeared to be a sea of glass mixed with fire, and those who had conquered the beast and its image and the number of its name, standing beside the sea of glass with harps of God in their hands. 3And they sing the song of Moses, the servant of God, and the song of the Lamb:
“Great and amazing are your deeds, Lord God the Almighty!
Just and true are your ways, King of the nations! Lord, who will not fear and glorify your name? For you alone are holy. All nations will come and worship before you, for your judgments have been revealed.”
After this I looked, and the temple of the tent of witness in heaven was opened, and out of the temple came the seven angels with the seven plagues, robed in pure bright linen, with golden sashes across their chests. Then one of the four living creatures gave the seven angels seven golden bowls full of the wrath of God, who lives forever and ever; and the temple was filled with smoke from the glory of God and from his power, and no one could enter the temple until the seven plagues of the seven angels were ended.
There are several things that really stood out to me as I read and re-read these chapters. First, the continued references throughout the entire book to sexual sin. The description in verse 4 of the 144,000 as those who have not defiled themselves with women, for they are virgins – is sort of a difficult passage, wouldn’t you say? I remember one of my classmates in seminary stomped out of a classroom and quit seminary because of all the difficult references throughout the Scripture to sexual imageries. But folks, let’s face it: these are imageries we can relate to. God is very clear from the very beginning of the Bible that he wants his people to be sexually pure because sexual purity has to do with the health of the whole person – body, mind, and spirit – and God continually compares our sexual purity to our spiritual purity. When the nation of Israel was continually worshipping false gods, God called the nation of Israel a whore – one who turned away from her first love, her Maker, her Redeemer, her Provider and Protector. Why? To find temporary satisfaction in something finite made out of stone or wood. Listen to these words in Jeremiah 3: The LORD said to me in the days of King Josiah: Have you seen what she did, that faithless one, Israel, how she went up on every high hill and under every green tree, and played the whore there? And I thought, “After she has done all this she will return to me”; but she did not return, and her false sister Judah saw it. She saw that for all the adulteries of that faithless one, Israel, I had sent her away with a decree of divorce; yet her false sister Judah did not fear, but she too went and played the whore. Because she took her whoredom so lightly, she polluted the land, committing adultery with stone and tree.
In verse 4 of Revelation 14, we find something to offend everyone – not just women, but also men (married men in particular) – anyone who has not taken a vow of lifelong celibacy. But let’s take a step back: First of all, when we first encountered the 144,000 in chapter 7, we learned this number was made up of 12,000 each from the 12 tribes of the sons of Israel – in other words, we knew the full 144,000 were male. Throughout most of history, only men have comprised the nations’ armies. We read in Deut. 23:9,10 and 1 Sam. 21:5, that ritual sexual purity was a necessary qualification for men going into battle – and certainly they were in the greatest spiritual battle ever. (Remember when King David had gotten Bathsheba pregnant, he called for her husband Uriah to come home from battle so that he might lie with his wife and never be the wiser that she had committed adultery while he was away. But Uriah would not sleep with his wife in the middle of battle – putting ole David in quite a mess.)
We must remember that the book of Revelation was written to 7 specific congregations for its first reading, congregations who needed to be warned against sexual immorality as well as idolatry. Certainly, God is not reducing the beauty of marriage here and calling everyone to literal, lifelong celibacy. Marriage is a positive image for salvation in this book – but the ideal of virginity or celibacy in a spiritual sense is essential to grasp in order to understand what God is saying here. Listen to these words from the second Epistle to the Corinthians 11:2, “I feel a divine jealousy for you, for I promised you in marriage to one husband, to present you as a chaste virgin to Christ. (This is spiritual, not physical talk.) But (the apostle Paul writes), I am afraid that as the serpent deceived Eve by its cunning, your thoughts will be led astray from a sincere and pure devotion to Christ. For if someone comes and proclaims another Jesus than the one we proclaimed, or if you receive a different spirit from the one you received, or a different gospel from the one you accepted, you submit to it readily enough.”
It is not the most popular teaching today – but of infinite value: We are called to sexual purity – giving our bodies away to one another only in the context of marriage between one man and one woman. We are also called to spiritual purity – worshipping God alone and following his commandments. This is for the sake of the fullness of health for our whole self – body, mind, and spirit.
The second theme that jumped out at me, in these and previous chapters is the depth and the reality of God’s mercy. Even in the midst of the judgments, God is still calling people to turn from their wicked ways and give glory to their Creator. Our God is a merciful God. He is merciful in holding back his wrath until the final judgment; he is merciful to get our attention in a myriad of ways instead of just turning away from us in frustration & disgust; he is merciful in his forgiveness. Morning by morning new mercies I see. Mercy is:
1. kindness or forgiveness shown to an offender or to somebody a person has power over
2. a disposition to be compassionate or forgiving of others
3. a welcome event or situation that provides relief or prevents something unpleasant from happening
4. the easing of distress or pain
How many here have known the mercy of God? I remember a moment of God’s mercy one day, nearly 20 years ago. It’s when we lived on a property that had about 3 acres to mow. We had a Wheel Horse riding mower, my dad’s favorite brand. One day, the grass clogged up in the mowing deck, and I don’t know where my mind was (I’m sure I was in a hurry), instead of turning the mower off, I started to lean down to see if I could unclog it. What was I thinking? At the last second, I came to my senses and pulled my hand back. I could have easily lost my fingers that day. How many times have we cursed the day, instead of thanking God for his mercies? Our God is merciful. He is perfectly merciful. And so, until the very last second, he will continue to cry out the words of salvation to every nation and tribe and language and people. Let’s just pause right now, and consider God’s gift of mercy – his kindness & forgiveness, his compassion, the relief we receive when we don’t think we can’t take it anymore, the way he eases our pain and erases our worry when we give everything to him – our past, our present, our future.
The other thing that really struck me in these chapters is the eternal-ness of both heaven and hell. Somehow over the years, I had come to believe that people who are granted eternal life in heaven live in God’s presence forever in perfect peace and joy, but those who never repent and who literally go to hell are burned in a lake of fire and that’s that. Maybe you have the same thoughts as I did. In chapter 14 we read something different than that. And the smoke of their torment goes up forever and ever. There is no rest day or night for those who worship the beast and its image and for anyone who receives the mark of its name.”
That is beyond awful. I shiver when I think about it. And the fact is, we don’t like to think about it – and so we try not to - but how does that match being clothed with love as we read from Colossians? The truth about eternal heaven and eternal hell must not be glossed over. We must not just go about our lives, driving here and driving there, watching our TV programs, and saying our prayers as if that is all we have to do. People’s eternal destiny should be on the forefront of our minds. This is a huge part of our missional call as a church: We have to do our part to save people from eternal torment.
I guess, for me – it comes down to this statement: You have to choose in two ways.
You have to choose for yourself whom or what you will serve, or glorify, or dwell upon in your mind. God demands that we serve him, glorify him, dwell upon him. He demands it, because he made us to be most joyful when He is our focus – and he wants us to be filled with joy! Each one of us has to choose what/who gets the number one priority in our lives. We have a tendency to make things our priority (We don’t give back to God 10% of our first fruits. We want more stuff – and God gets the leftovers.) We have a tendency to make fear a priority and we serve it. We do not give back to God our full first fruits out of fear that we will not have enough, disbelieving his promise to provide for us when we do as he commands. We make people our priorities (like girlfriends, boyfriends, spouses, parents, children, grandchildren, bosses, friends). We make the decision time and again to do something that will please another person, even though we know that that thing will not please God. Over and over we put ourselves in first place – we do what we want, we go where we want – we want to be popular rather than faithful. We choose substances to numb our pain instead of choosing Jesus to heal it. We stare at the TV and eat whatever our hands find to eat instead of feeding on the Word that always satisfies. Jesus comes and offers us forgiveness for everything – forgiveness for past sexual impurity, forgiveness for spiritual adultery, forgiveness for everything; he brings us peace, purpose, and eternity in a place called Heaven. We have to choose whether we want what he offers enough to make changes in our lives. And I struggle so much with those who say they are Christians, but have no time for Christ and his Church. What am I to say at your funeral if that is your level of commitment? More importantly, what will God say on the day of judgment? We are called to bear fruit – fruit that will last. In Craig Keener’s Commentary on Revelation (no relation to the local Keeners!), he writes the following, Many today avoid trying to “scare” people into the kingdom. In a culture in revolt against authority and skeptical of threats, emphasizing God’s loving invitation may be a more strategic approach. But John had no such scruples against “scaring” people, and as long as we speak the truth and are able to reason with people, there remain occasions when this approach is appropriate. A young atheist chose to consider the claims of Christ immediately rather than deferring the decision because the doctrine of hell made the stakes too high to ignore. Twenty-four years later that former atheist remains a committed Christian – and is writing this commentary.
Secondly, if we choose to receive the gift of salvation and the challenge of living as Jesus’ disciple, we have another choice that comes through clearly in Revelation. We have to choose whether we are going to close up and/or fold up our tents when things get tough on us because of our faith, or whether we are going to endure by staying on the offensive in the battle that rages against us. Remember, the devil intends to keep the lost out of Heaven by attacking the church and making the church completely irrelevant.
To endure means to carry on – not give up – keep the faith. To endure means to take the torch – like the Olympic torch – and keep it visible to all, no matter what is trying to knock us down or blow out our light.
Did you hear the news just a couple of days ago about the “God and Country Festival” in Idaho? Here’s the news clip: “An Idaho community had secured an Air Force flyover for its local festival every year for more than 40 years, organizers say, but this year, the Air Force turned the request down over the festival's religious focus. The God and Country Family Festival in Nampa, Idaho, applied to the Pentagon for the flyover but was denied in an e-mail, board member Patti Syme told KTBV. Syme said the e-mail from a defense official informed her the Pentagon prohibited support of special interest groups. "I called him immediately and just said, you know hey we've been doing this for 42 years, we've had flyovers, what is the problem?" "And he said, well we have looked up your Web site and everything on your Web site seemed to focus on Christianity and ministry booths. And he said, in fact, it would be great to go to, in fact, if I personally, could come I would, but we can't endorse such an endeavor, so they couldn't do the flyover." A defense department official reported that the Air Force denied the request because it violates a Pentagon policy against supporting any event "that provides a selective benefit to any individual, group, or organization, including any religious or sectarian organization, ideological movement, political campaign or organization, or commercial enterprise, to include a shopping mall or motion picture promotion." At Penn State football games, we have flyovers all the time. Doesn’t that provide a benefit to Penn State? What’s really happening here?
Last month when our missionary Nicole Parker was deported from Great Britain because she was going into London as a church worker, there was no cover-up at all. They basically said, “Christian workers not wanted here” – yet London was primed and ready to host 50 Michael Jackson concerts called the “This Is It” Tour.
This is it, all right. This is the reality in which we live. Christian values are laughed at, ignored, and/or judged as narrow minded or intolerant. We have seen the Christian principles that have guided our nation’s leaders for many years fade into nothingness. How much longer the Church will be able to minister freely is unclear. Did you hear about the neighborhood Bible study in Norfolk? Here’s that newsclip:
The Rev. David Jones said a county code enforcement officer gave him a citation that said he needed a permit to host weekly Bible study meetings. According to the couple’s lawyer, the county official asked them: “Do you have a regular meeting in your home? Do you say amen? Do you pray? Do you say praise the Lord?” When the wife said, ‘Yes,” the official then threatened the couple with escalating fines if they continued to hold Bible studies in their home, saying the gatherings (which averaged about 15 guests) was in violation of county regulation.
The County said visitors who drive to those meetings are affecting traffic in the neighborhood and that the couple would need to obtain a Major Use Permit from the county, a permit that often involves traffic and environmental studies, compliance with parking and sidewalk regulations and costs that top tens of thousands of dollars. The couple claims enforcement of the regulation violates their First Amendment rights to freely exercise their religion.
This is it. We have to choose.
Amen.
Summer Sermon Series on
The Revelation of Jesus Christ, Part 7
“You Have To Choose.”
Rev. Meagan M. Boozer
If you want to get to know Jesus, reading the Gospels (Matthew, Mark, Luke, & John) is a great place to start. The writers of these books tell us things Jesus said, things Jesus did, and how regular people like you and me reacted to what he said and did.
In the books of the Bible that follow the Gospels – letters written to congregations or to individuals (called Epistles) – we get to watch our brothers and sisters in the faith in the earliest days of the church. As we read, we see how people reacted to the early Christians, we learn of brave, yet heart-wrenching moments, like when Stephen was stoned for testifying about Jesus, or Paul and Silas were thrown into prison because they just couldn’t stop telling people about the Savior.
What we have in the Gospels and in the Epistles is a history of the New Testament Church, our history, our heritage; a history that instructs us, encourages us, challenges us, and inspires us. What could be more encouraging than Philippians 4:13, “I can do all things through Christ, who strengthens me!” Or how about Colossians 3:12, “As God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience. Bear with one another and, if anyone has a complaint against another, forgive each other; just as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive. Above all, clothe yourselves with love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony.”
Revelation doesn’t sound like that, does it? But that’s not to say that in the books that precede the Revelation of Jesus Christ that there are not words that sound like what we’ve been reading this summer as we move through the Revelation. Many times in the Gospels, Jesus gave end time warnings. In Matthew 13:40 we read Jesus’ words, “Just as the weeds are collected and burned up with fire, so will it be at the end of the age. The Son of Man will send his angels, and they will collect out of his kingdom all causes of sin and all evildoers, and they will throw them into the furnace of fire, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.” That sounds more like the steady diet we have heard this summer, doesn’t it?
In Revelation so far, we have read about destructions of whole parts of the earth and sea, the preliminary judgments, and the calls to repentance. It has been difficult – and there is more ahead. But let’s not forget that we have also read the words of the beautiful songs of Revelation that exalt the Lamb who was slain and the One who sits upon the throne. This book of Revelation is not like the Gospels and the Epistles – those books give us the foundation of how to be the Church. Revelation is a book written to the Church – calling us to persevere in our mission, and endure with faith and courage any trial that we might encounter on the road to the glories of Heaven.
Let us pray: Thank you, Creator of all things seen and unseen, for your irrevocable call upon our lives. Thank you for the strength you give us to endure. Thank for the gift of faith. Thank you for the eyes to see you, ears to hear your truth, and hearts to love you. Teach us now in these few minutes what we need to know from Revelation 14 & 15. In Jesus’ name, Amen.
Revelation 14
1Then I looked, and there was the Lamb, standing on Mount Zion! And with him were one hundred forty-four thousand who had his name and his Father’s name written on their foreheads. 2And I heard a voice from heaven like the sound of many waters and like the sound of loud thunder; the voice I heard was like the sound of harpists playing on their harps, 3and they sing a new song before the throne and before the four living creatures and before the elders. No one could learn that song except the one hundred forty-four thousand who have been redeemed from the earth. 4It is these who have not defiled themselves with women, for they are virgins; these follow the Lamb wherever he goes. They have been redeemed from humankind as first fruits for God and the Lamb, 5and in their mouth no lie was found; they are blameless.
6Then I saw another angel flying in midheaven, with an eternal gospel to proclaim to those who live on the earth—to every nation and tribe and language and people. 7He said in a loud voice, “Fear God and give him glory, for the hour of his judgment has come; and worship him who made heaven and earth, the sea and the springs of water.”
8Then another angel, a second, followed, saying, “Fallen, fallen is Babylon the great! She has made all nations drink of the wine of the wrath of her fornication.”
9Then another angel, a third, followed them, crying with a loud voice, “Those who worship the beast and its image, and receive a mark on their foreheads or on their hands, 10they will also drink the wine of God’s wrath, poured unmixed into the cup of his anger, and they will be tormented with fire and sulfur in the presence of the holy angels and in the presence of the Lamb. 11And the smoke of their torment goes up forever and ever. There is no rest day or night for those who worship the beast and its image and for anyone who receives the mark of its name.”
12Here is a call for the endurance of the saints, those who keep the commandments of God and hold fast to the faith of Jesus.
13And I heard a voice from heaven saying, “Write this: Blessed are the dead who from now on die in the Lord.” “Yes,” says the Spirit, “they will rest from their labors, for their deeds follow them.”
14Then I looked, and there was a white cloud, and seated on the cloud was one like the Son of Man, with a golden crown on his head, and a sharp sickle in his hand! 15Another angel came out of the temple, calling with a loud voice to the one who sat on the cloud, “Use your sickle and reap, for the hour to reap has come, because the harvest of the earth is fully ripe.” 16So the one who sat on the cloud swung his sickle over the earth, and the earth was reaped.
17Then another angel came out of the temple in heaven, and he too had a sharp sickle. 18Then another angel came out from the altar, the angel who has authority over fire, and he called with a loud voice to him who had the sharp sickle, “Use your sharp sickle and gather the clusters of the vine of the earth, for its grapes are ripe.” 19So the angel swung his sickle over the earth and gathered the vintage of the earth, and he threw it into the great wine press of the wrath of God. 20And the wine press was trodden outside the city, and blood flowed from the wine press, as high as a horse’s bridle, for a distance of about two hundred miles.
Revelation 15
1Then I saw another portent in heaven, great and amazing: seven angels with seven plagues, which are the last, for with them the wrath of God is ended.
2And I saw what appeared to be a sea of glass mixed with fire, and those who had conquered the beast and its image and the number of its name, standing beside the sea of glass with harps of God in their hands. 3And they sing the song of Moses, the servant of God, and the song of the Lamb:
“Great and amazing are your deeds, Lord God the Almighty!
Just and true are your ways, King of the nations! Lord, who will not fear and glorify your name? For you alone are holy. All nations will come and worship before you, for your judgments have been revealed.”
After this I looked, and the temple of the tent of witness in heaven was opened, and out of the temple came the seven angels with the seven plagues, robed in pure bright linen, with golden sashes across their chests. Then one of the four living creatures gave the seven angels seven golden bowls full of the wrath of God, who lives forever and ever; and the temple was filled with smoke from the glory of God and from his power, and no one could enter the temple until the seven plagues of the seven angels were ended.
There are several things that really stood out to me as I read and re-read these chapters. First, the continued references throughout the entire book to sexual sin. The description in verse 4 of the 144,000 as those who have not defiled themselves with women, for they are virgins – is sort of a difficult passage, wouldn’t you say? I remember one of my classmates in seminary stomped out of a classroom and quit seminary because of all the difficult references throughout the Scripture to sexual imageries. But folks, let’s face it: these are imageries we can relate to. God is very clear from the very beginning of the Bible that he wants his people to be sexually pure because sexual purity has to do with the health of the whole person – body, mind, and spirit – and God continually compares our sexual purity to our spiritual purity. When the nation of Israel was continually worshipping false gods, God called the nation of Israel a whore – one who turned away from her first love, her Maker, her Redeemer, her Provider and Protector. Why? To find temporary satisfaction in something finite made out of stone or wood. Listen to these words in Jeremiah 3: The LORD said to me in the days of King Josiah: Have you seen what she did, that faithless one, Israel, how she went up on every high hill and under every green tree, and played the whore there? And I thought, “After she has done all this she will return to me”; but she did not return, and her false sister Judah saw it. She saw that for all the adulteries of that faithless one, Israel, I had sent her away with a decree of divorce; yet her false sister Judah did not fear, but she too went and played the whore. Because she took her whoredom so lightly, she polluted the land, committing adultery with stone and tree.
In verse 4 of Revelation 14, we find something to offend everyone – not just women, but also men (married men in particular) – anyone who has not taken a vow of lifelong celibacy. But let’s take a step back: First of all, when we first encountered the 144,000 in chapter 7, we learned this number was made up of 12,000 each from the 12 tribes of the sons of Israel – in other words, we knew the full 144,000 were male. Throughout most of history, only men have comprised the nations’ armies. We read in Deut. 23:9,10 and 1 Sam. 21:5, that ritual sexual purity was a necessary qualification for men going into battle – and certainly they were in the greatest spiritual battle ever. (Remember when King David had gotten Bathsheba pregnant, he called for her husband Uriah to come home from battle so that he might lie with his wife and never be the wiser that she had committed adultery while he was away. But Uriah would not sleep with his wife in the middle of battle – putting ole David in quite a mess.)
We must remember that the book of Revelation was written to 7 specific congregations for its first reading, congregations who needed to be warned against sexual immorality as well as idolatry. Certainly, God is not reducing the beauty of marriage here and calling everyone to literal, lifelong celibacy. Marriage is a positive image for salvation in this book – but the ideal of virginity or celibacy in a spiritual sense is essential to grasp in order to understand what God is saying here. Listen to these words from the second Epistle to the Corinthians 11:2, “I feel a divine jealousy for you, for I promised you in marriage to one husband, to present you as a chaste virgin to Christ. (This is spiritual, not physical talk.) But (the apostle Paul writes), I am afraid that as the serpent deceived Eve by its cunning, your thoughts will be led astray from a sincere and pure devotion to Christ. For if someone comes and proclaims another Jesus than the one we proclaimed, or if you receive a different spirit from the one you received, or a different gospel from the one you accepted, you submit to it readily enough.”
It is not the most popular teaching today – but of infinite value: We are called to sexual purity – giving our bodies away to one another only in the context of marriage between one man and one woman. We are also called to spiritual purity – worshipping God alone and following his commandments. This is for the sake of the fullness of health for our whole self – body, mind, and spirit.
The second theme that jumped out at me, in these and previous chapters is the depth and the reality of God’s mercy. Even in the midst of the judgments, God is still calling people to turn from their wicked ways and give glory to their Creator. Our God is a merciful God. He is merciful in holding back his wrath until the final judgment; he is merciful to get our attention in a myriad of ways instead of just turning away from us in frustration & disgust; he is merciful in his forgiveness. Morning by morning new mercies I see. Mercy is:
1. kindness or forgiveness shown to an offender or to somebody a person has power over
2. a disposition to be compassionate or forgiving of others
3. a welcome event or situation that provides relief or prevents something unpleasant from happening
4. the easing of distress or pain
How many here have known the mercy of God? I remember a moment of God’s mercy one day, nearly 20 years ago. It’s when we lived on a property that had about 3 acres to mow. We had a Wheel Horse riding mower, my dad’s favorite brand. One day, the grass clogged up in the mowing deck, and I don’t know where my mind was (I’m sure I was in a hurry), instead of turning the mower off, I started to lean down to see if I could unclog it. What was I thinking? At the last second, I came to my senses and pulled my hand back. I could have easily lost my fingers that day. How many times have we cursed the day, instead of thanking God for his mercies? Our God is merciful. He is perfectly merciful. And so, until the very last second, he will continue to cry out the words of salvation to every nation and tribe and language and people. Let’s just pause right now, and consider God’s gift of mercy – his kindness & forgiveness, his compassion, the relief we receive when we don’t think we can’t take it anymore, the way he eases our pain and erases our worry when we give everything to him – our past, our present, our future.
The other thing that really struck me in these chapters is the eternal-ness of both heaven and hell. Somehow over the years, I had come to believe that people who are granted eternal life in heaven live in God’s presence forever in perfect peace and joy, but those who never repent and who literally go to hell are burned in a lake of fire and that’s that. Maybe you have the same thoughts as I did. In chapter 14 we read something different than that. And the smoke of their torment goes up forever and ever. There is no rest day or night for those who worship the beast and its image and for anyone who receives the mark of its name.”
That is beyond awful. I shiver when I think about it. And the fact is, we don’t like to think about it – and so we try not to - but how does that match being clothed with love as we read from Colossians? The truth about eternal heaven and eternal hell must not be glossed over. We must not just go about our lives, driving here and driving there, watching our TV programs, and saying our prayers as if that is all we have to do. People’s eternal destiny should be on the forefront of our minds. This is a huge part of our missional call as a church: We have to do our part to save people from eternal torment.
I guess, for me – it comes down to this statement: You have to choose in two ways.
You have to choose for yourself whom or what you will serve, or glorify, or dwell upon in your mind. God demands that we serve him, glorify him, dwell upon him. He demands it, because he made us to be most joyful when He is our focus – and he wants us to be filled with joy! Each one of us has to choose what/who gets the number one priority in our lives. We have a tendency to make things our priority (We don’t give back to God 10% of our first fruits. We want more stuff – and God gets the leftovers.) We have a tendency to make fear a priority and we serve it. We do not give back to God our full first fruits out of fear that we will not have enough, disbelieving his promise to provide for us when we do as he commands. We make people our priorities (like girlfriends, boyfriends, spouses, parents, children, grandchildren, bosses, friends). We make the decision time and again to do something that will please another person, even though we know that that thing will not please God. Over and over we put ourselves in first place – we do what we want, we go where we want – we want to be popular rather than faithful. We choose substances to numb our pain instead of choosing Jesus to heal it. We stare at the TV and eat whatever our hands find to eat instead of feeding on the Word that always satisfies. Jesus comes and offers us forgiveness for everything – forgiveness for past sexual impurity, forgiveness for spiritual adultery, forgiveness for everything; he brings us peace, purpose, and eternity in a place called Heaven. We have to choose whether we want what he offers enough to make changes in our lives. And I struggle so much with those who say they are Christians, but have no time for Christ and his Church. What am I to say at your funeral if that is your level of commitment? More importantly, what will God say on the day of judgment? We are called to bear fruit – fruit that will last. In Craig Keener’s Commentary on Revelation (no relation to the local Keeners!), he writes the following, Many today avoid trying to “scare” people into the kingdom. In a culture in revolt against authority and skeptical of threats, emphasizing God’s loving invitation may be a more strategic approach. But John had no such scruples against “scaring” people, and as long as we speak the truth and are able to reason with people, there remain occasions when this approach is appropriate. A young atheist chose to consider the claims of Christ immediately rather than deferring the decision because the doctrine of hell made the stakes too high to ignore. Twenty-four years later that former atheist remains a committed Christian – and is writing this commentary.
Secondly, if we choose to receive the gift of salvation and the challenge of living as Jesus’ disciple, we have another choice that comes through clearly in Revelation. We have to choose whether we are going to close up and/or fold up our tents when things get tough on us because of our faith, or whether we are going to endure by staying on the offensive in the battle that rages against us. Remember, the devil intends to keep the lost out of Heaven by attacking the church and making the church completely irrelevant.
To endure means to carry on – not give up – keep the faith. To endure means to take the torch – like the Olympic torch – and keep it visible to all, no matter what is trying to knock us down or blow out our light.
Did you hear the news just a couple of days ago about the “God and Country Festival” in Idaho? Here’s the news clip: “An Idaho community had secured an Air Force flyover for its local festival every year for more than 40 years, organizers say, but this year, the Air Force turned the request down over the festival's religious focus. The God and Country Family Festival in Nampa, Idaho, applied to the Pentagon for the flyover but was denied in an e-mail, board member Patti Syme told KTBV. Syme said the e-mail from a defense official informed her the Pentagon prohibited support of special interest groups. "I called him immediately and just said, you know hey we've been doing this for 42 years, we've had flyovers, what is the problem?" "And he said, well we have looked up your Web site and everything on your Web site seemed to focus on Christianity and ministry booths. And he said, in fact, it would be great to go to, in fact, if I personally, could come I would, but we can't endorse such an endeavor, so they couldn't do the flyover." A defense department official reported that the Air Force denied the request because it violates a Pentagon policy against supporting any event "that provides a selective benefit to any individual, group, or organization, including any religious or sectarian organization, ideological movement, political campaign or organization, or commercial enterprise, to include a shopping mall or motion picture promotion." At Penn State football games, we have flyovers all the time. Doesn’t that provide a benefit to Penn State? What’s really happening here?
Last month when our missionary Nicole Parker was deported from Great Britain because she was going into London as a church worker, there was no cover-up at all. They basically said, “Christian workers not wanted here” – yet London was primed and ready to host 50 Michael Jackson concerts called the “This Is It” Tour.
This is it, all right. This is the reality in which we live. Christian values are laughed at, ignored, and/or judged as narrow minded or intolerant. We have seen the Christian principles that have guided our nation’s leaders for many years fade into nothingness. How much longer the Church will be able to minister freely is unclear. Did you hear about the neighborhood Bible study in Norfolk? Here’s that newsclip:
The Rev. David Jones said a county code enforcement officer gave him a citation that said he needed a permit to host weekly Bible study meetings. According to the couple’s lawyer, the county official asked them: “Do you have a regular meeting in your home? Do you say amen? Do you pray? Do you say praise the Lord?” When the wife said, ‘Yes,” the official then threatened the couple with escalating fines if they continued to hold Bible studies in their home, saying the gatherings (which averaged about 15 guests) was in violation of county regulation.
The County said visitors who drive to those meetings are affecting traffic in the neighborhood and that the couple would need to obtain a Major Use Permit from the county, a permit that often involves traffic and environmental studies, compliance with parking and sidewalk regulations and costs that top tens of thousands of dollars. The couple claims enforcement of the regulation violates their First Amendment rights to freely exercise their religion.
This is it. We have to choose.
Amen.
