"The Two Witnesses" Sermon: Revelation 11:1-14 (video)

 "The Two Witnesses" Sermon: Revelation 11:1-14 (video) (youtube.com)

"The Two Witnesses" Sermon: Revelation 11:1-14 (manuscript)

 

“The Two Witnesses”

Revelation 11:1-14

May 19, 2024 YouTube

          As we begin chapter eleven of Revelation, let’s remember that the book of Revelation is a book of comfort and hope to the Christians suffering persecution at that time and for all Christians throughout time and space. Let’s remember that the book of Revelation is written in symbols that the first century Christians would have understood. And let us remember that Jesus didn’t say anything about rebuilding the Temple after its destruction in 70 A.D.  The Temple was for the offering up of animal sacrifices for sin.  Now, the blood of Jesus covers the sin of believers.

In the nineth chapter of Revelation, we are told that in the first woe Satan and his angels are released from the bottomless pit for five months, and the four demons bound at the Euphrates River are freed and given permission to kill one third of the unbelieving mankind.

In this morning’s reading, we are told about the second woe.

And we see, first, the new temple is made up of all the believers in which God dwells.

“Then I was given a measuring rod like a staff, and I was told, ‘Rise and measure the temple of God and the altar and those who worship there, but do not measure the court outside the temple; leave that out, for it is given over to the nations, and they will trample the holy city for forty-two months. And I will grant authority to my two witnesses, and they will prophesy for 1,260 days, clothed in sackcloth.’”

John is told to measure the temple of God – remember the physical Temple was destroyed in 70 A.D. – there is no physical temple at the time John is writing.  Yet, there is a distinction:  John is told not to measure the outer court, but only the temple and the altar and those who worship there. Who are those who worship only in the temple and the altar?  Who are the temple who worship their God and Savior?

Paul tells us, “For through him we both have access in one Spirit to the Father. So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the cornerstone, in whom the whole structure, being joined together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord. In him you also are being built together into a dwelling place for God by the Spirit” (Ephesians 2:18-22, ESV).

Peter, likewise, reminds us, “you yourselves like living stones are being built up as a spiritual house, to be a holy priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ” (I Peter 2:5, ESV).

True believers are in the inner court – in the temple – worshipping Jesus, the Savior, offering up spiritual sacrifices.

Those left in the outer court are nominal Christian and blatant unbelievers.  Jesus says of these, “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. On that day many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?’ And then will I declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness’” (Matthew 7:21-23, ESV).

Jesus distinguishes between those who believe in the true Jesus and a fake Jesus. There are churches – which are not churches – who have all the trappings of a church, but the Jesus they preach, and worship is not the real Jesus.

At this time, there is violent persecution against believing Jews and Gentiles – Christians. (Throughout all of history, there has been violent persecution against Christians somewhere.) John is told that the temple – now – is built by Jesus of true believers, and all Christians find their security in the temple where Jesus is the Corner Stone.

Paul writes of the persecution of Christian even to death, “Do you not know that you are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit dwells in you? If anyone destroys God’s temple, God will destroy him. For God’s temple is holy, and you are that temple” (I Corinthians 3:16-17, ESV).

Again, “What agreement has the temple of God with idols? For we are the temple of the living God;” (II Corinthians 6:16a, ESV).

We are told that those of the outer court – those who have not been marked on their heads with the indwelling of God the Holy Spirit – will engage in violent persecution of believers and trample the Holy City, Jerusalem – those of the inner court – all believers.

Then we read, “and they will trample the holy city for forty-two months. And I will grant authority to my two witnesses, and they will prophesy for 1,260 days, clothed in sackcloth.’

The unbelievers will trample the Holy City – the Church – for forty-two months.  Jesus will give the two witnesses the authority to prophesy for 1,260 days, clothed in sackcloth – symbolic of repentance and mourning.

How do we understand these numbers?

They tell us that the period of what is going to happen is specific and limited. It is the period from Jesus’ Ascension to His Second Coming.  It is the time of the tribulation.

We will see in our text this morning that the two witnesses have remained dead for three and a half days.

All of these numbers can be stated in approximate factors of forty-two. We also read that Israel was in the desert for forty-two years.  There were forty-two camps, forty-two months with no rain, forty-two months from when Antiochus Epiphanes set the abomination of desolation in the Temple to the Second Coming, and there are more (Philips, Revelation, 313).

These are all times of intense persecution, but Christians understand that no matter what happens to us at the hands of the wicked, as we go through this tribulation, we are to have hope and be comforted in knowing that we have been marked by God, we are indwelled by the Holy Spirit, we are the temple of God, build on the Word of God with Jesus as our Cornerstone.

In the new temple, all we who believe throughout time and space are secure in our salvation and off up spiritual sacrifices.

Second, God sends two witnesses with the authority to prophesy for 1,260 days (42), and they are dressed in sackcloth to indicate that their prophecies are not of good news, but of bad news.

          “These are the two olive trees and the two lampstands that stand before the Lord of the earth. And if anyone would harm them, fire pours from their mouth and consumes their foes. If anyone would harm them, this is how he is doomed to be killed. They have the power to shut the sky, that no rain may fall during the days of their prophesying, and they have power over the waters to turn them into blood and to strike the earth with every kind of plague, as often as they desire.”

          Who are the two olive trees?

          Zechariah records: “Then I said to him, ‘What are these two olive trees on the right and the left of the lampstand?’ And a second time I answered and said to him, ‘What are these two branches of the olive trees, which are beside the two golden pipes from which the golden oil is poured out?’ He said to me, ’Do you not know what these are?’ I said, ‘No, my lord.’ Then he said, ‘These are the two anointed ones who stand by the Lord of the whole earth.” (Zechariah 4:11-14, ESV).

          The two olive trees are the two witnesses. There are two witnesses because God requires at least two witnesses to confirm a statement in court.

          And we know from the first chapter of Revelation that the two candlesticks are churches.  Why are there only two churches?  Again, two churches confirm who the false churches are.

          The two witnesses are all of the prophets and their message of woe. Symbolically, we will remember that Moses and Elijah met with Jesus during the transfiguration.  So we can say that the two witnesses are like Moses and Elijah or come in the power and authority of Moses and Elijah.

          They are given the authority and power to pour out fire on those who try to harm them. 

          Notice the miracles that God has authorized them to do if someone tries to harm them.  They are allowed to withhold rain, like Elijah did. They were allowed to turn water into blood and to cause other plaques to occur, like Moses did. They come in the power of Moses and Elijah.

          God sends these two witnesses to proclaim a woe of disaster on the wicked.

          Third, the beast believes he has defeated the Church – the believers who are the temple of God.

“And when they have finished their testimony, the beast that rises from the bottomless pit will make war on them and conquer them and kill them, and their dead bodies will lie in the street of the great city that symbolically is called Sodom and Egypt, where their Lord was crucified. For three and a half days some from the peoples and tribes and languages and nations will gaze at their dead bodies and refuse to let them be placed in a tomb, and those who dwell on the earth will rejoice over them and make merry and exchange presents, because these two prophets had been a torment to those who dwell on the earth.”

After the two witnesses have delivered their woe against the wicked, the beast from the bottomless pit – remember we have already seen that this is Satan – he conquers and kills the two witnesses and throws their bodies in the streets of Sodom and Egypt – the place where the Lord was crucified – Jerusalem. Jerusalem is called Sodom and Egypt and Jerusalem – and we will see later, Babylon – signifying places where the true people of God suffered intense persecution.

          For three and a half days (42) the wicked from all of the earth – peoples, tribes, languages, and nations. And they will joyously come together to celebrate and have a party.  They and the beast believe that they have conquered the Church.  They leave the bodies out and refuse to let them be buried signifying that they cannot be buried in consecrated ground because they were perceived as tormentors rather than those calling the wicked to repentance.

          With the two witnesses dead, they rejoice, make merry, and exchange presents in this abomination to the murder of the two witnesses.

          Fourth, Satan and his demons cannot conquer the Church, no matter the tribulation he is allow to bring on her.

          “But after the three and a half days a breath of life from God entered them, and they stood up on their feet, and great fear fell on those who saw them. Then they heard a loud voice from heaven saying to them, ‘Come up here!’ And they went up to heaven in a cloud, and their enemies watched them. And at that hour there was a great earthquake, and a tenth of the city fell. Seven thousand people were killed in the earthquake, and the rest were terrified and gave glory to the God of heaven.”

          Daniel writes, “As I looked, this horn made war with the saints and prevailed over them, until the Ancient of Days came, and judgment was given for the saints of the Most High, and the time came when the saints possessed the kingdom” (Daniel 7:21-22, ESV).

          The Church cannot be defeated.  She is the Bride of Christ, and through the tribulation, she will come through triumphant.

          God gave the beath of life to the two witnesses and they stood up and terrified those who had been rejoicing.  A great fear fell upon them, and they didn’t know how to react.

          The initial reaction of the disciples at Jesus’ resurrection was fear, “And he said to them, ‘Do not be alarmed. You seek Jesus of Nazareth, who was crucified. He has risen; he is not here. See the place where they laid him. But go, tell his disciples and Peter that he is going before you to Galilee. There you will see him, just as he told you.’ And they went out and fled from the tomb, for trembling and astonishment had seized them, and they said nothing to anyone, for they were afraid” (Mark 16:6-8, ESV).

          How much more the fear of the wicked at the resurrection of these two – as well as the resurrection of Jesus – causes them to tremble and fall down in fear.

          Symbolic of the truth, we see that in the two witnesses and in Jesus, the Church shares in the death, resurrection, and exaltation of Jesus at His ascension, as we are united with Jesus.

          As the wicked tremble before their resurrection, a voice from heaven calls them, “Come up!” and they ascend, just as Jesus had ascended. And as they went out of sight, God sent a massive earthquake which killed ten percent of the inhabitants of Jerusalem.  7,000 people died.

          And we are reminded of what happened at the last breath of Jesus on the cross: “And Jesus cried out again with a loud voice and yielded up his spirit. And behold, the curtain of the temple was torn in two, from top to bottom. And the earth shook, and the rocks were split. The tombs also were opened. And many bodies of the saints who had fallen asleep were raised, and coming out of the tombs after his resurrection they went into the holy city and appeared to many.  When the centurion and those who were with him, keeping watch over Jesus, saw the earthquake and what took place, they were filled with awe and said, ‘Truly this was the Son of God!’” (Matthew 27:50-54, ESV).

          In the terror of the wicked who rejoiced in the death of the two witnesses, “they gave glory to God.” This was a response out of fear, not of faith, not of belief.  We have heard the expression, “There are no atheists in foxholes.” Likewise, they gave God glory not because they believed He deserved glory, but in fear and in the hopes that they would escape the Wrath of God by mouthing the words.

“The second woe has passed; behold, the third woe is soon to come.”

The two witnesses have come among us in the whole Word of God.  Hear the Good News and turn from sin.  Know that whatever pain you suffer, and the Church at large is attacked, the Church is victorious through Jesus.

Let us remember that the Church is potent in the world not by money, political influence, worldly gimmics, not worldly strategy but through the proclamation of Jesus Christ Who lived, died, rose, and ascended to the Glory of the Father. (Philips, Revelation).

Let us pray:

Almighty God, we believe that You are Absolutely Sovereign, and still we fear the tribulation brought by the devil and his demons. Help us to trust that the Church is victorious through You Son and let us look to Your Word to find hope and comfort until the day of Christ Jesus.  In Jesus’ Name, Amen.

Reformed Wisdom

 "Preach the Gospel, die, and be forgotten." Count Nicolaus Von Zinzendorf

"What Does Baptism Do?" Sermon: Matthew 3:13-17 (video)

 "What Does Baptism Do?" Sermon: Matthew 3:13-17 (video) (youtube.com)

"What Does Baptism Do?" Sermon: Matthew 3:13-17 (manuscript)

 

“What Does Baptism Do?”

[Matthew 3:13-17]

May 5, 2024, YouTube/ Second Reformed Church

            This Sunday, we remember the baptism of our Lord.  Jesus is about thirty years old when He goes to John the Baptist at the Jordan and asks John to baptize Him.

            Just prior to Jesus ascending back to His throne at the Right Hand of the Father, we read, “Now the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain to which Jesus had directed them. And when they saw him they worshiped him, but some doubted. And Jesus came and said to them, ‘All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age’” (Matthew 28:16-20, ESV).

            Why did Jesus instruct them – and all believers – to baptize and be baptized?  Does baptism do something?

            I wonder what answers we would hear if we went around the congregation.

            People have said, “We baptize our children because it’s kind of like we’re dedicating them to the Lord, like Samuel, so He will care for them.”

            “We baptize our children because it is a way to get the church to see them and teach them how to be moral – how to be good people – by the time we come back to church for them around their thirteenth birthday.”

            “We baptize our children because that’s how God saves them.”

            No.

            Baptism does one thing relative to the infant who never savingly believes in Jesus Alone, and it does two things relative to the infant who does savingly believe in Jesus Alone.

            In the past, we saw Paul comfort the Thessalonians by saying if you believe the Gospel – Who Jesus is and what He did to accomplish salvation – you are one of the people given to Jesus for salvation, you are one of the elect, you are really and truly, forever the property of Jesus.

            So, what does baptism do?

            Let’s begin by asking what John the Baptist was doing.

            John the Baptist was baptizing repentant people for the forgiveness of their sins.

            Matthew tells us in the text just prior to the one we read this morning:

[John the Baptist said,]  “I baptize you with water for repentance, but he who is coming after me is mightier than I, whose sandals I am not worthy to carry. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. His winnowing fork is in his hand, and he will clear his threshing floor and gather his wheat into the barn, but the chaff he will burn with unquenchable fire” (Matthew 3:11-12, ESV).

John says he baptizes those who come to him repenting of their sins.  John explains that just as water washes away dirt, the waters of baptism symbolize – they are a sign – that forgiveness – salvation – is only found through confession and repentance of your sins to God.

Baptism is a sign of the Gospel.  Baptism symbolizes that all humans are sinners and in need of forgiveness – of being made clean.  It symbolizes that forgiveness of our sins is not something we can do – we must go to Someone Else Who is sinless to have our sins washed away.  We must go to the One Savior that God has provided to repent of our sins – to ask for forgiveness and promise to turn around – to not commit those sins again – and that Savior – Who we know is Jesus – and He Alone – grants us forgiveness through His work, His Merit, His Authority, His death, and His resurrection.

This is what baptism does for every person who is baptized – even the person who never savingly believes – baptism puts the sign on them and before all those who witness it – that you cannot forgive your own sins – you cannot make yourself clean.  Someone Else has to cleanse you of your sins.  And no one who has received this sign can remove it.

But, you can bear the sign and not believe.  Being baptized does not cause you to believe in Jesus savingly.

Now, we turn back to this morning’s Scripture, as we notice that John the Baptist doesn’t think it is right for Jesus to be baptized by him:

“Then Jesus came from Galilee to the Jordan to John, to be baptized by him. John would have prevented him, saying, ‘I need to be baptized by you, and do you come to me?’ But Jesus answered him, ‘Let it be so now, for thus it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness.’ Then he consented.  And when Jesus was baptized, immediately he went up from the water, and behold, the heavens were opened to him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and coming to rest on him; and behold, a voice from heaven said, ‘This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased’.”

John’s baptism is a baptism for sinners who recognize that they are sinners and repent of their sin and want to be forgiven and know they need to look outside of themselves for forgiveness.

So, Jesus comes to His cousin, John, and asks John to baptize Him.  Jesus comes to John, who was filled with the Holy Spirit in the womb and jumped up and down in the womb in pure joy at recognizing Jesus, the Savior, in the womb of Mary.

This is John who exclaims and explains:

“The next day he saw Jesus coming toward him, and said, ‘Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world! This is he of whom I said, “After me comes a man who ranks before me, because he was before me.” I myself did not know him, but for this purpose I came baptizing with water, that he might be revealed to Israel.’ And John bore witness: ‘I saw the Spirit descend from heaven like a dove, and it remained on him. I myself did not know him, but he who sent me to baptize with water said to me, “He on whom you see the Spirit descend and remain, this is he who baptizes with the Holy Spirit.” And I have seen and have borne witness that this is the Son of God’” (John 1:29-34, ESV).

John certainly understood more after Jesus’ baptism, but he understands enough that when Jesus comes to him and asks him to baptize Him, John says, “You are the only One Who doesn’t need to be baptized – You have no sins to forgive – I need You to baptize me.”

How does Jesus respond?

“Let it be so now, for thus it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness.”

What does that mean?

What is “righteousness”?

Righteousness is being morally perfect, sinless, having kept all of God’s Law.

How does being baptized by John help Jesus to be morally perfect, sinless, having kept all of God’s Law – remembering that Jesus is sinless, and baptism is only for sinners?

It may help to remember that we read earlier that Jesus said that we are to go out, preaching the Gospel, baptizing in the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.

John Calvin explains that there are at least four things happening in Jesus’ baptism – in His fulfilling all righteousness:

First, in being baptized, Jesus fully obeys His Father.

We remember from our study of the Gospel of John that Jesus did not come to do His own will but the Will of the Father.  Jesus came to save the people the Father gave Him by obeying and submitting to everything the Father commands.

Jesus says, “but I do as the Father has commanded me, so that the world may know that I love the Father. …” (John 14:31a-b, ESV).

Even to the end, Jesus prays, “My Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as you will” (Matthew 26:39b, ESV).

Second, in being baptized, Jesus submits to God’s Law.

As we have already seen, Jesus says we are to be baptized.  Since Jesus has to be like us in every way – excepting sin – to be our Substitute, He also is baptized.

Third, in being baptized, Jesus consecrates and institutes baptism as a sacrament.

This we see in the Great Commission.

And fourth, in being baptized, Jesus makes baptism a seal of the believer’s salvation.

Paul writes, “Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death?  We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life” (Romans 6:3-4, ESV).

And now we understand the two things that baptism does for the believer:  first, baptism is a sign on and to the believer that Jesus lived a righteous life and died to pay for our sins, and second, baptism is a seal of that salvation of and to the believer.

The Heidelberg Catechism explains what the sacraments are:

66. Q.  What are the sacraments?

A. The sacraments are holy, visible signs and seals.

They were instituted by God

so that by their use

he might the more fully declare and seal to us

the promise of the gospel.

And this is the promise:

that God graciously grants us

forgiveness of sins and everlasting life

because of the one sacrifice of Christ

accomplished on the cross. (http://www.heidelberg-catechism.com/en/lords-days/25.html).

When Martin Luther was feeling accosted by the devil with temptation, he would respond, “I have been baptized.  I am a Christian.” (https://yinkahdinay.wordpress.com/2017/01/26/luther-baptizatus-sum-i-am-baptized/)

In other words, I have been baptized – I bear the sign of the work of Christ that justifies and makes righteous all those who believe in Him.  And I am a Christian – and that baptism is a seal of my salvation because I am a believer in Jesus Christ Alone for salvation.

What does baptism do?

For everyone who is baptized, it is a sign of what Jesus did – that He lived a perfect life under God’s Law, died for the sins of everyone who would ever believe, and physically rose from the dead, and ascended back to His throne.

And for the believer, baptism is that sign as well, but it is also a seal – a confirmation – an assurance – of that salvation.  So we can look back on our baptism and remember, as Paul says in Romans 6, that we who believe savingly in Jesus have been buried with Him through baptism and have now been raised to new life, which can never be lost or stolen away from us.

So let us pray:

Almighty God, we thank You for the sacrament of baptism that Your Son instituted while He was on earth.  We thank You that baptism is a visual representation of the Gospel – it is a sign that says what Jesus did to save His people.  We thank You that it is also a seal of the Gospel – that all we who have believed savingly in Jesus can look back on our baptism and what it symbolizes and be assured of our eternal salvation through the work of You Son.  And we thank You for sending God the Holy Spirit that He would cause us to believe in Jesus Alone for salvation.  For it is in Jesus’ Name we pray, Amen.

 

"The Little Scroll" Sermon: Revelation 10:1-11 (video)

 "The Little Scroll" Sermon: Revelation 10:1-11 (video) (youtube.com)

"The Little Scroll" Sermon: Revelation 10:1-11 (manuscript)

 

“The Little Scroll”

Revelation 10:1-11

April 28, 2024 YouTube

In chapter 9 of Revelation, we saw the sounding of the fifth and sixth trumpets. We saw that God allows the devil and his demons to attack all those who do not have the mark of God on their forehead – which is the indwelling of God the Holy Spirit.  We saw that the horrible things prophesied in chapter 9 – the fifth and sixth trumpets with affect those who never believe savingly in Jesus, but not those God has chosen to have His mark on them.  Be comforted and filled with hope – you who believe in Jesus savingly and bear His mark on your forehead – Gid will not allow these terrors to harm His people.

After John writes about the fifth and sixth trumpets, we have a break before the seventh trumpet. Just as we saw a break in the revealing between the sixth and seventh seals, now we have a break between the sixth and seventh trumpets. John – and the readers and hearers of Revelation – are given a moment to catch their breath and remember that the book of Revelation is a book of comfort and hope for all those who believe savingly in Jesus.  It is a book that prepares us for what God will do and allow, and in our thanks, we ought to be spurred on by this warning to proclaim the Gospel to everyone we can – calling them to faith and repentance that they might avoid the things we are being told.

In our text this morning, we hear about the seven thunders and the little scroll.

          “Then I saw another mighty angel coming down from heaven, wrapped in a cloud, with a rainbow over his head, and his face was like the sun, and his legs like pillars of fire.”

          Who is this angel? We need to remember that the word that is translated “angel” can also be translated “messenger” – which would include a person or being that proclaims.

          This mighty angel is said to come down from heaven wrapped in a cloud. 

          We read at Jesus’ ascension: “And while they were gazing into heaven as he went, behold, two men stood by them in white robes, and said, ‘Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking into heaven? This Jesus, who was taken up from you into heaven, will come in the same way as you saw him go into heaven’” (Acts 1:10-11, ESV).

The mighty angel has a rainbow over His head.

After the waters receded and Noah’s family came out of the Ark, Noah offered a sacrifice, and God answers the sacrifice:

“’I establish my covenant with you, that never again shall all flesh be cut off by the waters of the flood, and never again shall there be a flood to destroy the earth.’ And God said, ‘This is the sign of the covenant that I make between me and you and every living creature that is with you, for all future generations: I have set my bow in the cloud, and it shall be a sign of the covenant between me and the earth. When I bring clouds over the earth and the bow is seen in the clouds, I will remember my covenant that is between me and you and every living creature of all flesh. And the waters shall never again become a flood to destroy all flesh. When the bow is in the clouds, I will see it and remember the everlasting covenant between God and every living creature of all flesh that is on the earth.’ God said to Noah, ‘This is the sign of the covenant that I have established between me and all flesh that is on the earth’” (Genesis, 9:11-17, ESV).

And the angel has a face like the sun and legs like pillars of fire.

And we remember these words at the beginning of Revelation:

“Then I turned to see the voice that was speaking to me, and on turning I saw seven golden lampstands, and in the midst of the lampstands one like a son of man, clothed with a long robe and with a golden sash around his chest. The hairs of his head were white, like white wool, like snow. His eyes were like a flame of fire, his feet were like burnished bronze, refined in a furnace, and his voice was like the roar of many waters. In his right hand he held seven stars, from his mouth came a sharp two-edged sword, and his face was like the sun shining in full strength” (Revelation 1:12-16, ESV).

We have every good reason to understand the mighty angel to be Jesus.

“He had a little scroll open in his hand. And he set his right foot on the sea, and his left foot on the land, and called out with a loud voice, like a lion roaring. When he called out, the seven thunders sounded.”

Jesus is holding a little scroll in His hand.  And He sets His right foot on the sea and His left foot on the land. The word “foot” can mean “conquest” and “possession,” so, here we see that Jesus is Sovereign over the land and over the sea, the movements and powers of humanity, everything in all of Creation are under His authority and submit to His Will.  Everything that is happening today is under His Sovereign control. He is the roaring lion, the Lion of Judah.

Paul writes:

“and what is the immeasurable greatness of [God’s] power toward us who believe, according to the working of his great might that he worked in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly places, far above all rule and authority and power and dominion, and above every name that is named, not only in this age but also in the one to come. And he put all things under his feet and gave him as head over all things to the church, which is his body, the fullness of him who fills all in all” (Ephesians 1:19-23, ESV).

Be comforted, Church, no matter what happens and no matter how things might seem, Jesus sovereignly rules over every molecule in all of existence.

“And when the seven thunders had sounded, I was about to write, but I heard a voice from heaven saying, ‘Seal up what the seven thunders have said, and do not write it down.’”

There are seven seals and seven trumpets, and seven bowls, and also seven thunders, but God tells John not to write down what he heard in the seven thunders. God forbids John to write down what he hears.  Why?

No clear reason is given, but the commentators give some potential reasons.  Derek Thomas says that first, there are some things that God does not tell us so we will learn to be dependent on God. Second, Deuteronomy 29:29 says the secret things belong to the Lord. Third, it may be something the Church has no business knowing.  And fourth, it may be that the thunders told about a delay in God’s judgment (Let’s Study Revelation, 84-85).  It may be one of these reasons, or perhaps another.

We turn back to the mighty angel.

“And the angel whom I saw standing on the sea and on the land raised his right hand to heaven and swore by him who lives forever and ever, who created heaven and what is in it, the earth and what is in it, and the sea and what is in it, that there would be no more delay, but that in the days of the trumpet call to be sounded by the seventh angel, the mystery of God would be fulfilled, just as he announced to his servants the prophets.”

The question is raised about how God (the mighty angel/Jesus) could swear by God (the Father)?

There are three things to remember:

First, there is One God Who is Three Persons.  God is One in Being.  There are not three gods, but One God in Three Persons.  The Father is not the Son, nor the Holy Spirit. The Son is not the Father, nor the Holy Spirit.  The Holy Spirit is not the Father, nor the Son. There is a distinction among the Three Persons of the Trinity, yet each Person is the same One God. (We need to leave further examination of the Trinity to another sermon.  Just try to grasp what we have just described.)

Second, Jesus prayed to the Father.  We remember on Maundy Thursday:

“Then Jesus went with them to a place called Gethsemane, and he said to his disciples, ‘Sit here, while I go over there and pray.’ And taking with him Peter and the two sons of Zebedee, he began to be sorrowful and troubled. Then he said to them, ‘My soul is very sorrowful, even to death; remain here, and watch with me.’ And going a little farther he fell on his face and prayed, saying, ‘My Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as you will’” (Matthew 26:36-39, ESV).

Jesus, Who is the same One God as the Father, prayed to the Father, Who is the same One God as the Son, but they are different Persons.

And third, we see elsewhere in the Bible where God swore by Godself, because there is no one higher for God to swear by:

          When God told Abraham that He would bless him and give great blessings to his descendants, Abraham asked how he would be sure that what God is saying to him will come to pass.

“[And God] said to him, ‘Bring me a heifer three years old, a female goat three years old, a ram three years old, a turtledove, and a young pigeon.’ And he brought him all these, cut them in half, and laid each half over against the other. But he did not cut the birds in half” (Genesis, 15:9-10, ESV).

God tells Abraham that his descendants would not receive the land and other blessings immediately due to their sin.  They would spend four hundred years in slavery, and then God would deliver them and bring them to the land for their possession.

And then God swore by Himself, since there was nothing and no one higher for Him to swear by, that all these things that God promised will come to pass.

“When the sun had gone down and it was dark, behold, a smoking fire pot and a flaming torch passed between these pieces. On that day the LORD made a covenant with Abram, saying, ‘To your offspring I give this land, from the river of Egypt to the great river, the river Euphrates, the land of the Kenites, the Kenizzites, the Kadmonites, the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Rephaim, the Amorites, the Canaanites, the Girgashites and the Jebusites” (Genesis 15:17-21, ESV).

Then the angel says, “that there would be no more delay, but that in the days of the trumpet call to be sounded by the seventh angel [that is, the final trumpet], the mystery of God would be fulfilled, just as he announced to his servants the prophets.”

What is the “mystery of God” that would be fulfilled?

To understand this, we need to understand that the word “mystery” can mean more than one thing.  We normally think of a mystery as something hidden or unknowable.  Mystery can also refer to something that has been revealed or used to mean something that is known or revealed which had been kept secret.

“Then the voice that I had heard from heaven spoke to me again, saying, ‘Go, take the scroll that is open in the hand of the angel who is standing on the sea and on the land.’ So I went to the angel and told him to give me the little scroll. And he said to me, ‘Take and eat it; it will make your stomach bitter, but in your mouth it will be sweet as honey.’”

          What is the little scroll?

          In ancient times, a scroll was a rolled-up text – think of the scroll in the Jewish synagogue today.  The books of the Tanakh are written on a single piece of paper – or a number of pages fashioned together into one.  The Tanakh is taken out and rolled open to the text in question.  Think of Jesus at the beginning of His ministry when He went into the Temple, and the scroll was opened to the book of Isaiah, and Jesus spoke on the text.  John is given what is a small scroll compared with others.

`        John is told to eat the scroll which will be sweet in his mouth and bitter in his stomach.  We may remember that this is not unique – and John would have remembered this.  As we read in Ezekiel:

“’But you, son of man, hear what I say to you. Be not rebellious like that rebellious house; open your mouth and eat what I give you.’ And when I looked, behold, a hand was stretched out to me, and behold, a scroll of a book was in it. And he spread it before me. And it had writing on the front and on the back, and there were written on it words of lamentation and mourning and woe. And he said to me, ‘Son of man, eat whatever you find here. Eat this scroll, and go, speak to the house of Israel.’ So I opened my mouth, and he gave me this scroll to eat. And he said to me, ‘Son of man, feed your belly with this scroll that I give you and fill your stomach with it.’ Then I ate it, and it was in my mouth as sweet as honey” (Ezekiel 2:8-10; 3:1-3, ESV).

After this, God tells Ezekial to prophesy warning and judgement against Israel.

So, what is the little scroll?

Based on what Ezekiel is told, and what John is told, we can understand the little scroll to be the Whole Word of God – God’s Word telling all of what God requires for life and salvation – and specifically the Gospel. Like the little scroll, the Gospel received in the mouth and spoke forth is like honey – there is nothing sweeter and more enjoyable than understanding Who Jesus is and what He has done for His people.  However, when this sweet great and glorious news is rejected, it is bitter in our stomachs – we are mournful and dismayed by their refusal of the Only Way to salvation.

          “And I took the little scroll from the hand of the angel and ate it. It was sweet as honey in my mouth, but when I had eaten it my stomach was made bitter. And I was told, ‘You must again prophesy about many peoples and nations and languages and kings.’”

          John confirms, after eating the scroll, that this is the Word of God – the Gospel – spoken of and now revealed to be Jesus, the Incarnate God.  This is a scroll that we must digest into our innermost being.  To be obedient to God and His call on our life, we are to know all that God has said about life and salvation for our sakes and for those we speak to – whether they receive the Gospel or send us away.

          And John is recommissioned – even on the Island of Patmos – to proclaim the Word of God to peoples and nations and languages and kings.  That is, everyone.

          As so we are commissioned to proclaim the Word of God to every type of people and every nation of the world, and in the language of every people on earth, and to all people of every status.

          We may better remember this commission as it came for the mouth of Jesus to the eleven:

          “Now the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain to which Jesus had directed them. And when they saw him they worshiped him, but some doubted. And Jesus came and said to them, ‘All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age’” (Matthew 28:16-20, ESV).

          Jesus, the Sovereign God, has revealed Himself and the salvation He gives to all the people He died for.  Still, Jesus has not revealed everything to us yet.

          Jesus has given us the Gospel that we would know it in our innermost being in all its sweetness and proclaim it to every person, understanding that there will be a bitterness in our gut when Jesus is rejected.

          Jesus and the Father have sent the Holy Spirit to indwell us, and we have been commission to proclaim the words on the little scroll. Let us go forth in the power of the Holy Spirit.

          Let us pray:

          Almighty God, You have given us the Truth of the Gospel and told us to proclaim it to all.  Keep us from fear and keep the honey of Your Word in our mouths as we go forth. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.

"The Beginning of God's Punishment on the Impenitent" Sermon: Revelation 9:1-21 (video)

"The Beginning of God's Punishment on the Impenitent" Sermon: Revelation 9:1-21 (video) - YouTube

"The Beginning of God's Punishment On the Impenitent" Sermon: Revelation 9:1-21 (manuscript)

 

“The Beginning of God’s Punishment on the Impenitent”

Revelation 9:1-21

April 14, 2024 YouTube

          As we open the book of Revelation, again, let us remember, Revelation was written to be a book of comfort and hope to the Christians suffering under the persecution of Rome.  And the hope and comfort that it gives is for all Christians throughout time and space as we have been promised by Jesus that we will be persecuted – we will suffer varying degrees of persecution.

We mentioned the overlapping of the seals, the trumpets, and the woes.  We saw the seventh seal open the first trumpet, and after the fourth trumpet blasts, three woes are associated with them:   the fifth trumpet is the first woe, the sixth trumpet is the second woe, and the seventh trumpet is the third woe.  At the end of the fourth trumpet – the end of chapter eight, we read:

          “Then I looked, and I heard an eagle crying with a loud voice as it flew directly overhead, ‘Woe, woe, woe to those who dwell on the earth, at the blasts of the other trumpets that the three angels are about to blow!’” (Revelation: ESV).

          As we look at chapter nine – the fifth and sixth trumpet and first and second woe, again, remember that this is a book of comfort and hope.  Don’t hear the images and panic.  Notice that verses four, twenty, and twenty-one say that the woes are against those who never receive the mark of God on their heads – the indwelling of God the Holy Spirit Who is received through salvation in Jesus Alone. True believers will know what is happening – and see it – but the woes are against those who never repent and believe savingly in Jesus.

          As we look at the fifth trumpet which is the first woe, let us understand that the devil, Satan, Lucifer, and all the damned angels – the demons – are not able or authorized to do anything except what God commands or allows. The demonic forces are impotent except when God commands them or allows them to act.

          Paul explains, using the imagery of the Roman centurion armor, how to fight against the demonic forces, when God commands them or allows them to engage us – true believers – those with the mark of God on their foreheads.  Paul writes:

“For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places. Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand firm” (Ephesians 6:12-13, ESV).

Again, this wrestling is only to the extent that God commands and allows.  We will remember that Satan had to come to God to get permission to take things away from Job and to tempt him to sin.  Satan does not have the authority or ability to do what he wants on his own – God limits what he does.  As we read:

“And the LORD said to Satan, ‘Behold, all that he has is in your hand. Only against him do not stretch out your hand.’ So Satan went out from the presence of the LORD” (Job 1:12, ESV).

With this in mind, we turn to our text:

          “And the fifth angel blew his trumpet, and I saw a star fallen from heaven to earth, and he was given the key to the shaft of the bottomless pit.”

          A “star” fell from heaven to earth.  We saw in chapter one of Revelation that a star refers to a minister or an angel. Here, it refers to a specific angel.  The pronoun that is used in the text for him indicates a being – not a force.

          And we are told who this is:

“How you are fallen from heaven, O Day Star, son of Dawn! How you are cut down to the ground, you who laid the nations low! You said in your heart, ‘I will ascend to heaven; above the stars of God I will set my throne on high; I will sit on the mount of assembly in the far reaches of the north; I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will make myself like the Most High.’ But you are brought down to Sheol, to the far reaches of the pit” (Isaiah 14:12-15, ESV).

          And Jude tells us that those who followed Lucifer – who sought to be greater than God – and was punished by being thrown to earth – the demons are under restraint – except as God commands or permits.

“And the angels who did not stay within their own position of authority, but left their proper dwelling, he has kept in eternal chains under gloomy darkness until the judgment of the great day—" (Jude 6, ESV).

God gave Satan the key to the bottomless pit (for a specific time and purpose).

“He opened the shaft of the bottomless pit, and from the shaft rose smoke like the smoke of a great furnace, and the sun and the air were darkened with the smoke from the shaft.”

In opening the bottomless pit, all of the demons are released.  And we are given a terrifying picture of them – but remember, if you have the mark of God on your forehead, you will not be harmed.

“Then from the smoke came locusts on the earth, and they were given power like the power of scorpions of the earth. They were told not to harm the grass of the earth or any green plant or any tree, but only those people who do not have the seal of God on their foreheads. They were allowed to torment them for five months, but not to kill them, and their torment was like the torment of a scorpion when it stings someone. And in those days people will seek death and will not find it. They will long to die, but death will flee from them.”

The demons are like locusts with the power of scorpions.  God says they are not to harm the Creation or the people with the mark of God on their head – only those who do not have the mark of God on their head.  They are allowed to torture them for five months, but not to kill them.

Why five months?  Because the average lifespan of a locust is five months – they would have known that then.

Those being tortured will want to die, but they will not be allowed to die.  They will suffer horrific pain, but God will not allow them to die.

“In appearance the locusts were like horses prepared for battle: on their heads were what looked like crowns of gold; their faces were like human faces, their hair like women’s hair, and their teeth like lions’ teeth; they had breastplates like breastplates of iron, and the noise of their wings was like the noise of many chariots with horses rushing into battle. They have tails and stings like scorpions, and their power to hurt people for five months is in their tails. They have as king over them the angel of the bottomless pit. His name in Hebrew is Abaddon, and in Greek he is called Apollyon.”

The bottomless pit is the place where the demons and those who die without the mark of God on their foreheads stay until the resurrection to the last day and the final judgment.  It is a horrific place and the place before eternal condemnation in Hell.

We see that even the demons don’t want to be in the bottomless pit due to the suffering that is experienced there:

“When Jesus had stepped out on land, there met him a man from the city who had demons. For a long time he had worn no clothes, and he had not lived in a house but among the tombs. When he saw Jesus, he cried out and fell down before him and said with a loud voice, ‘What have you to do with me, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? I beg you, do not torment me.’  For he had commanded the unclean spirit to come out of the man. (For many a time it had seized him. He was kept under guard and bound with chains and shackles, but he would break the bonds and be driven by the demon into the desert.) Jesus then asked him, ‘What is your name?’ And he said, ‘Legion,’ for many demons had entered him. And they begged him not to command them to depart into the abyss. Now a large herd of pigs was feeding there on the hillside, and they begged him to let them enter these. So he gave them permission. Then the demons came out of the man and entered the pigs, and the herd rushed down the steep bank into the lake and drowned” (Luke 8:27-33, ESV).

          These demons are described as a cross between soldiers and chariots and locusts and scorpions.  They are hideous and terrifying.  The king over them, the fallen star, the angel of the bottomless pit is called “Abaddon” and “Apollyon.”  Both names mean “Destroyer.”

          The “woes” are due to the unforgiven sin of those who have never believed.  And their sin has granted them to be found – at God’s instruction and with His permission – under the torture of the Deastroyer.

“The first woe has passed; behold, two woes are still to come.”

“Then the sixth angel blew his trumpet, and I heard a voice from the four horns of the golden altar before God, saying to the sixth angel who had the trumpet, ‘Release the four angels who are bound at the great river Euphrates.’”

The altar in the Temple had four golden horns on it – one on each corner of the altar.  If someone was being sought after for a true or false crime, that person could grab one of the horns of the altar and be granted asylum.

Here, the horns that are for the giving of asylum have a voice from them calling out for the end of asylum for any who do not bear the mark of God on their forehead. And the voice tells the sixth angel with the second woe to “release the four angels who are bound at the great river Euphrates.” We have seen that the number four can refer to completion, the whole, all that is – of course, it can also refer to the number four.

The four angels are, of course, demons. The Euphrates River is the boundary of Israel against the Arab nations.  The four angels have been restrained up to this point to keep them from letting loose military conflicts against Israel that will affect the whole world.

The reason we think that four demons refer to more than four demons is this:

“So the four angels, who had been prepared for the hour, the day, the month, and the year, were released to kill a third of mankind. The number of mounted troops was twice ten thousand times ten thousand; I heard their number.”

The four demons had been prepared for “the hour, the day, the month, and the year, [to be] released to kill a third of mankind." These demons, according to the Sovereign Will and purpose of God, carry out our Sovereign God’s divine judgements against one third of those who do not have the mark of God on their foreheads. God prepared these demons to go forth in military conflicts when and according to the Will of God and to the extent that God allows them.  The evil demons would have killed everyone, including all those who have the mark of God on their forehead if God did not put restrictions on how many of those who did not have the mark of God on their heads they could kill.  They can do nothing except what God commands and permits.

The four demons are (or command) troops of two hundred million horsemen. Which represents the monstrous ugliness of war.  There is no place on earth where a two hundred million horse army could stand. Rather, it represents the incredible evil of war.

We will remember that the tension and evil in the Middle East is the product of the sin of Abraham.  He had his first son, Ishmael, outside of the covenant of God, but God did not forget him.  God said, “As for Ishmael, I have heard you; behold, I have blessed him and will make him fruitful and multiply him greatly. He shall father twelve princes, and I will make him into a great nation” (Genesis 17:20, ESV).  And later we see that the twelve princes of Ishmael become the Arab nations that surround Israel, and Jacob – whose name God changes to Israel – is the father of those who become the twelve tribes of Israel.

“And this is how I saw the horses in my vision and those who rode them: they wore breastplates the color of fire and of sapphire and of sulfur, and the heads of the horses were like lions’ heads, and fire and smoke and sulfur came out of their mouths. By these three plagues a third of mankind was killed, by the fire and smoke and sulfur coming out of their mouths. For the power of the horses is in their mouths and in their tails, for their tails are like serpents with heads, and by means of them they wound.”

We remember the horsemen, do we not?

The first horse, commanded by Jesus and leading the other three horses according to His Will.  The second horse – who is given the power to take peace from the earth so the people of the earth will kill each other.  The third horse – who upsets the world, and all that God has given – causing inflation in the prices of all things on earth.  And the fourth horse – with Death and Hades – to whom are given authority to kill with the sword in war, to kill with famine, and pestilence, and by the wild beasts of the earth.  (Revelation 6:1-9).

After experiencing the greatest horrors of war, the attack of demons, and massive death on earth, we read:

“The rest of mankind, who were not killed by these plagues, did not repent of the works of their hands nor give up worshiping demons and idols of gold and silver and bronze and stone and wood, which cannot see or hear or walk, nor did they repent of their murders or their sorceries or their sexual immorality or their thefts.”

Those who lived through the greatest horrors seen on earth as of that time were unimpressed.  They did not repent.  They continued to worship demons and idols.  They continue to commit murder and take part in witchcraft, and sexual acts that God has forbidden, and in theft.  All these things that God brought down upon them didn’t faze them. They remained impenitent and, on the way, to be cast into the bottomless pit – and eventually the lake of fire.

Nothing will cause the wicked to repent and believe except for God’s intervention.

For all those who have the mark of God on our forehead, for we who have believed savingly in Jesus and have received the indwelling of God the Holy Spirit, there continues to be good news and comfort for us.  We belong to Jesus, and He is bringing us into Paradise to be with Him forever.

Let us pray:

Almighty God, we thank You for causing us to believe savingly in Jesus, for indwelling us with God the Holy Spirit, and giving us the mark of God on our foreheads.  Thank You for the vision of the first two woes and the horrifying truth that some will never believe, even once they experience God’s divine judgment. Help us to be thankful and cause us to pray for all those who do not believe that we would tell them Who Jesus is and what He has done, and that You would be pleased to send the Holy Spirit to bring many to faith and repentance.  For it is in Jesus’ Name we pray, Amen.