What would you die for? It a very important question, because Jesus
said that a person could not be His disciple unless they were willing to die
for Him (Luke 9:23-24). It’s also an important question because, like
Dr. Martin Luther King said, unless a person has found something they would die
for, they are not truly fit to live.
When one surveys the church in America today, it seems that very few
people have found something worth dying for.
Musician John Fischer said these words in the mid-80’s that still ring
true today: “Point a gun at each of the
60 million people who according to Mr. Gallup’s poll, are born-again
Christians. Tell them to renounce Christ
or have their heads blown off, and then take a recount. I think George, like Gideon, would find his
troops dwindling. Actually, the price
probably wouldn’t have to be so extreme today.
Threatening to confiscate their TV sets might just produce the same
results. When faith is cheap, it is
easily pawned.”[1]
If we are going to be prepared for the end of the
world, we are going to have to be prepared to embrace suffering for Christ’s
sake. Last time we were together, we
began looking at Revelation 6:1-17, where
John recorded the opening of the first six seals to prepare God’s people for
what was to come. We are reminded here
that we as believers need to be prepared for how God is going to bring history
to its close. This chapter gives us
three truths that help prepare us for the end of the world.
[9] When he opened the fifth seal, I saw
under the altar the souls of those who had been slain for the word of God and
for the witness they had borne. [10] They cried out with a loud voice, “O
Sovereign Lord, holy and true, how long before you will judge and avenge our
blood on those who dwell on the earth?” [11] Then they were each given a
white robe and told to rest a little longer, until the number of their fellow
servants and their brothers should be complete, who were to be killed as they
themselves had been.
[12] When
he opened the sixth seal, I looked, and behold, there was a great earthquake,
and the sun became black as sackcloth, the full moon became like blood,
[13] and the stars of the sky fell to the earth as the fig tree sheds its
winter fruit when shaken by a gale. [14] The sky vanished like a scroll
that is being rolled up, and every mountain and island was removed from its
place. [15] Then the kings of the earth and the great ones and the generals
and the rich and the powerful, and everyone, slave and free, hid themselves in
the caves and among the rocks of the mountains, [16] calling to the
mountains and rocks, “Fall on us and hide us from the face of him who is seated
on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb, [17] for the great day of
their wrath has come, and who can stand?” (Revelation 6:1-17 ESV)
- We
Must Never Forget that We Live in a World that is Passing Away (6:1-8)
Last time we basically pointed out that the first
four seals correspond to “Four Horsemen” who are called forth the to carry out
God’s indirect, preliminary judgments of
allowing the natural progression of human
wickedness to bring our world to an end.
These horsemen have an Old Testament background as patrolmen of the earth in Zechariah
1:8-17, 6:1-8 and there are significant parallels
between the events in Revelation 6:1-17 and Jesus’ Olivet discourse on the way
history would end (Matthew 24:3-14).
So
again, these first four seals are indirect,
preliminary judgments that take place throughout the history of the church,
but that also have an ever-increasing intensity
and frequency (like a pregnant
woman’s contractions) as we approach the end of history. These four seals remind us that we live in a
world that is passing away.
- We
Must Never Forget that We are Called to Embrace Suffering to Reach a World
that is Passing Away (6:9-11)
With the opening of the sixth seal, there is a
shift in the pattern. Instead of being
introduced to another horseman, we are introduced to a group of characters that
are under heaven’s altar. We first see their identity: they are “the souls of those who had been slain for
the word of God and for the witness that they had borne” (9). They are martyrs who have been slaughtered
because of their faithful gospel witness.
We then hear their
cry: they cry out for both God’s and their vindication. They ask, “how long” before God will “judge and avenge” their “blood” on “those who dwell on the earth” (10). I want to make three points about this
cry. First, I called this not only a cry
for their vindication, but also for God’s.
One of the things that God answering this prayer will accomplish is proving
to the nations that He is the one true God.
Second, this is a valid prayer for justice. It’s not wrong to pray for justice when
injustice has occurred. As a matter of
fact, asking “how long” is employing
an Old Testament formula that God’s people would use to ask God for justice
against their persecutors (Psalm 94:3, Habakkuk
1:2). Consider Psalm 79:5-10: [5] How
long, O LORD? Will you be angry forever? Will your jealousy burn like fire? [6] Pour
out your anger on the nations that do not know you, and on the kingdoms that do
not call upon your name! [7] For they have devoured Jacob and laid waste
his habitation. [8] Do not remember against us our former iniquities; let
your compassion come speedily to meet us, for we are brought very low. [9] Help
us, O God of our salvation, for the glory of your name; deliver us, and atone
for our sins, for your name's sake! [10] Why should the nations say, “Where
is their God?” Let the avenging of the outpoured blood of your servants be
known among the nations before our eyes! (Psalm 79:5-10 ESV)
Also, notice that this is a prayer of faith. They begin by recognizing the sovereignty, holiness, and truth of
God and His ways: “O Sovereign Lord, holy
and true…” (10). They do not ask
“if” God will vindicate His people, but “when.”
They are genuinely concerned over the bloodshed of God’s people, but recognize
that vengeance ultimately belongs to God (Romans
12:19).
Finally, we see their comfort. Each of the martyrs are given a “white robe” and told to “rest a little longer” (11). Again, white robes are the attire of heaven
in Revelation and the fact that they are told to rest longer than what they
have been implies that they have been “at
rest” under the altar. They are
comforted with an answer to their prayers.
They have asked, “how long,”
and they are told to wait “until the
number of their fellow servants and brothers” is “complete” (11). This first
means that God is not ready to pour out His wrath on the world just yet because
there are more people who are to be saved. But notice also that these are not only
people who are to be saved, but are also people who are to be killed. These fellow
servants and siblings “are to be killed”
just as these martyrs have been. If we
put these two ideas together, I believe that it becomes clear that what is
being communicated is first the same thing that Jesus said in John 10:16, that there are more sheep
that must be brought into the fold and second that more sheep will suffer in order to bring more sheep into
the fold.
That doesn’t sound like a comforting answer, does
it? It does once you ponder the answer a
little further. This is the answer to “how long?”
So what is implies is that once
the full number of fellow servants and siblings is complete, GOD WILL judge and
avenge their blood and His name.
What I want to drill home for you is simply the
reality that the reason the fullness of God’s wrath is on hold is because there
are more people that are to be saved. This
means that our mission is clear: to
be used of God to bring the remaining sheep into the fold. Jesus said that the gospel must be preached
among all nations before the end will come (Matthew
24:14). But recognize that a great price will be paid to accomplish this mission. Many sheep will lose their lives bringing
other sheep in. But that is a cost that
the church must be willing to count. We
must be willing to embrace suffering and risk it all if we are to reach a world
that is passing away.
Are you ready to embrace suffering in order to
reach the world with the gospel? How do
we prepare ourselves to embrace suffering?
How do you prepare for martyrdom?
You could do what Richard Wurmbrand, who endured fourteen years of
prison and torture for His faith in Romania, did. “I
remember my last Confirmation class before I left Romania. I took a group of ten to fifteen boys and
girls on a Sunday morning, not to a church, but to the zoo. Before the cage of lions I told them, ‘Your
forefathers in faith were thrown before such wild beasts for their faith. Know that you also will have to suffer. You will not be thrown before lions, but you
will have to do with men who would be much worse than lions. Decide her and now if you wish to pledge
allegiance to Christ.’ They had tears in
their eyes when they said yes.”[2]
I believe that people prepare themselves for
martyrdom by living like they have found something worth dying for and then
acting like they are prepared to die for it.
How would you read your Bible if you knew it was the last time you would
ever get to? How would you pray if you
were on death row for your faith? How
would you treat your spouse if you knew tomorrow that one of you might get
killed for your faith? How would that
change the time you spent with your children?
When God’s people embrace suffering, even martyrdom, for His sake, they
are telling the world that God is better than life and testifying to the
supreme value of knowing Him.
- We
Must Never Forget that the Day of God’s Wrath is Certain (6:12-17)
The opening of the sixth seal ushers in “the great day” of God’s “wrath” (17). This is also the answer the martyrs prayers
in verses 9-11, i.e. the judgment upon those who dwell on the earth. First we see that this is a time when creation is shaken (12-14). When the sixth seal is opened, the following catastrophic events take place: “there was a great earthquake, and the sun
became black as sackcloth, the full moon became like blood, and the stars of
the sky fell to the earth as the fig tree sheds it winter fruit when shaken by
a gale. The sky vanished like a scroll
that is being rolled up, and every mountain and island was removed from its
place.” These are events that
accompany the great day of God’s wrath in verse 17. This is consistent with Old Testament imagery
from the prophets to describe “the day of
the LORD” (Isaiah 34:3-4, Joel 2:10,
30-31). Jesus also used similar
imagery to describe the coming of the Son of man: [29] “Immediately after the tribulation of those days the sun will
be darkened, and the moon will not give its light, and the stars will fall from
heaven, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken. [30] Then will
appear in heaven the sign of the Son of Man, and then all the tribes of the
earth will mourn, and they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of
heaven with power and great glory. [31] And he will send out his angels
with a loud trumpet call, and they will gather his elect from the four winds,
from one end of heaven to the other. (Matthew 24:29-31 ESV)
Not only is creation shaken on this great day of
God’s wrath, humanity is also shaken (15-17). Six different groups of those who dwell on
the earth are given here: “kings of the
earth and great ones and the generals and the rich and the powerful, and everyone,
slave and free.” Notice how the
great day of God’s wrath levels the playing field. They all
run with their tail between their legs to hide from the face of Him who sits on
the throne and from the wrath of the Lamb.
The most prominent people in the world act like terrified roaches in a
room where the lights have just been turned on.
In a suicidal craze they beg mountains and rocks to fall upon them and
crush them so that they can be hidden from God’s wrath. Ironically, they fail to understand that by
dying, they will only solidify the certainty of their eternal judgment: an eternal experience of the very wrath
that they are trying to run and hide from.
“Everything
people sell their souls to gain fails them when the great day comes. Politicians sacrifice their integrity to get
elected, but their office won’t help them when Jesus comes. The rich trade life for money, the powerful
exchange loving relationships to gain influence, and people everywhere prefer enhancing
their image to building character and learning truth. But when God knocks the mountains off their
roots and yanks the earth’s surface flat, when he rolls up the scroll of the
sky, nothing that people forsook him to gain will protect them from His wrath.”[3]
Who can stand before the throne of God? Who can stand before the wrath of the Lamb? Prominence will not help you stand before the
wrath of God. Kings, great ones, and
generals all run and hide here. Money
will not help you stand before the wrath of God either. Neither will power. Revelation
7:9-14 tells us who can stand before the wrath of God: those who have been
washed by the blood of the Lamb. It is
only the blood of the Lamb that can save us from the wrath of the Lamb, because
in His being slaughtered, He bore the wrath that we all deserve.
The great day of His wrath is certain. Please don’t take this lightly. We’re going to read about the same groups of
people in Revelation 19:17-18. There the birds of the air have gathered to
eat the flesh of their rotten corpses after they fall to the wrath of the
Lamb. Don’t be like these people we read
about here. Don’t run and hide today
from the reality of God’s coming wrath.
Humanity has been doing that since the Garden of Eden. God desires that you step out into the light,
repent, throw yourself upon His mercy (like a criminal surrendering), and by
faith be washed by the blood of the Lamb so that you can be saved from the
wrath of the Lamb. This is the only way
that you can truly be prepared for the end of the world. This is also the only way the other peoples
of the world can be prepared as well: if they hear the good news of how they
can stand on the great day of God’s wrath.
May you and I choose to embrace whatever it may cost to see it so.
No comments:
Post a Comment