Turn on Timer! [Slide 1] We are in a middle of a series entitled, Revelation: Unveiling Reality. [Slide 2] Today s sermon is entitled, Responding to the Beasts. The events of this week, the killing of two black men by police officers, and five police officers by a black man, preoccupied my mind as I was preparing this sermon. I think God has something to say through this passage about what we are going through. Let s pray before we start. There may be a lot of things that God may be saying to us through different parts of the Bible, but since we are looking at Revelation, I want to see what God has to tell us through the passage that we are digging through. [Slide 3] I believe it makes three points: the reality and implications of spiritual warfare against the beast, and how to respond to the beasts, in other words, two weapons of spiritual warfare: worship and proclaiming the gospel. [Slide 4] I. First of all, we need to look at the reality and implications of spiritual warfare behind what is going on. Chapters12 and 13 unveiled the reality of the spiritual warfare behind the stories of Jesus. We saw that through birth, life, death, resurrection and ascension of Jesus, the Dragon, which is Satan, has been defeated, yet, in his last thralls, he is angry and is pursuing the followers of Jesus. He wants to demolish the church. He doesn t work alone. He works through two puppet powers, the beast from the sea and the beast from the earth. Last Sunday, we saw that the beast from the sea is dragon-manipulated political power and institutions, and the beast from the earth is dragon-manipulated religious power and institutions. It is not saying that all political and religious power and institutions are satanic or controlled by Satan. But, it is saying that they can be. It s not just individuals who can be possessed or influenced by demonic forces; systems and religions can also be as well. At the time of the writing, the first beast stood for the Roman Empire who coerced people to worship itself and the second beast stood for the pagan religion that deceived people to worship the Empire and the Emperor. The two 1
beasts are still working to wreck havoc through infiltrating into political and religious systems. So, chapters 12-13 show us the reality that the followers of Jesus will find themselves in midst of cosmic battle. The outcome of the battle is certain. The dragon has already been defeated. At the cross, Jesus Christ has already defeated Satan. It s just that Satan will not concede defeat. And the dragon is doing his diabolical best to wreak as much havoc as he can. [Slide 5] This whole vision gets to what Paul told us in Ephesians 6:12: 12 For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. Revelation unveils a picture of how this is carried out by Satan. What is the implication of the reality of spiritual warfare in what has been going on this week? First, we can t just focus on individuals and their racism or their mistakes. We have to pull back from the scene, like chapters 12-14 does, and see the reality behind what we see, and see that there is a spiritual warfare going on even at the level of the system and institutions. The Dragon and the first beast are very interested in covering up their work in the systemic evil; and in fact, the second beast helps them to cover up by focusing so much on the individual that we don t see the work of Satan in systems and institutions. The reality is both/and. They work in individuals and systems. So, it is legitimate to ask the question: what s going on at the personal level and the systemic level that create this kind of racism and hatred. Second, it is important to note that our enemy is not flesh and blood. It is the unholy trinity of the Dragon and the two beasts. It is Satan working through the power of coercion and deception in political and religious spheres. I know that it is easy to hate the police officers involved in the shootings. It is easy to hate the person who shot the police officers in Dallas. What happened is horrific and I pray for justice. They must be brought to justice, and they will be on earth or on the Day of Judgment. But, Revelation unveils something deeper happening here. There is a spiritual force of evil working 2
through people and systems. Our call is to fight the systemic evil, but love people, even those we think are our enemies. So, let s pray for even those who killed. We are not condoning what they did, but we are saying that they need God s love and grace as much as anyone else. Jesus died for them and loves them; we are called to love them as well. Third, if our ultimate enemy is in the cosmic realm, we need to find a cosmic battle plan and not just a worldly one. This does not mean that we don t seek to make changes that prevent racism and hate from proliferating. But, we have to realize that you can t destroy this enemy by the violence. You can t eradicate fear, racism, and hatred with war, violence or vengeance. The way of the Lamb is not the way of violence, but the way of sacrificial love and grace. I shared this quote from [Slide 6] Eugene Peterson with you last Sunday and I want to do it again: Killing the opposition is the sea beast s way of solving its problems. It is not ours. Ours is endurance and faith. Now, the church is not just in a defensive posture against principalities and powers of Satan. There is something going on behind the scene that effectively battles against Satan. That s what chapter 14 unveils to us. We are going to look at two visions that show us two ways to respond to the beasts. II. [Slide 7] Worship The first vision is of worshipping the lamb. Revelation 4: [Slide 8] 1 Then I looked, and there before me was the Lamb, standing on Mount Zion, and with him 144,000 who had his name and his Father s name written on their foreheads. What does it mean that the Lamb is standing on Mount Zion? This reference comes from Psalm 2:6 I have installed my king on Zion, my holy mountain. Mount Zion is therefore the place where God installs his king over the nations. And, we see again here that God has installed the Lamb who was slain, not a roaring lion, as the king over the nations. Remember the ultimate plot twist? This is at the heart of our understanding of Revelation. It is always the Lamb who was slain who is at the throne. God didn t win over the nations with superior power, by conquering them with a superior 3
army. God didn t win over the nations by legislating laws that mandate them to follow him. God won the victory through the cross, through surrendering himself to all that forces could muster against him and rendering the forces powerless. This is clear: it is the lamb, the one who died for us, this one who gave himself for us, who is standing at Mount Zion. Again, he has 144,000 who had his name and his Father s name written on their foreheads. Remember, we talked about this. 144,000 is not a literal number. In chapter 7, John heard 144,000 but saw a great multitude that no one could count from all nations. So, 144,000 is a symbol of the church, the Kingdom of God, God s people, that has been sealed or marked with the deposit of the Holy Spirit. So, can you visualize this? Lamb standing in Mount Zion with all of God s people. Now, it is important to note that Mount Zion is on earth. God s people are on earth. The Lamb is with us as the ruler. Jesus wants us to know that God is in control. It may look like the world is in chaos, and it is, but behind the scene, God is in control. The Lamb is standing with all of us. [Slide 9] 2 And I heard a sound from heaven like the roar of rushing waters and like a loud peal of thunder. The sound I heard was like that of harpists playing their harps. 3 And they sang a new song before the throne and before the four living creatures and the elders. No one could learn the song except the 144,000 who had been redeemed from the earth. A sound comes from heaven, and it sounds like the roar of rushing waters, peals of thunder, and yet so gentle like harp. And they can hear new songs sung in heaven to the throne (and who is on the throne from chapter 5? The Lamb. The Lamb is in the heaven and on earth with God s people). They can hear new songs sung in heaven to the Lamb. They can hear the glory of all creation sing, all of God s people sing. Heaven is interacting with the people of the earth. 4
It s interesting that only the 144,000, God s people, can learn the new song from heaven. Why? Because it says that they have been redeemed from the earth. Heaven is singing songs of redemption and grace, and only God s people who have experienced the redemption through the blood of the Lamb can sing this. [Slide 10] 4 These are those who did not defile themselves with women, for they remained virgins. They follow the Lamb wherever he goes. They were purchased from among mankind and offered as firstfruits to God and the Lamb. 5 No lie was found in their mouths; they are blameless. When it says that they are those who didn t defile themselves with women and remained virgins, it means this not literally but spiritually. In the Old Testament, sexual intimacy is used as an analogy of our relationship with God. OT often refers to idolatry serving other gods as adultery. They follow the Lamb wherever he goes. It is where the Lamb goes. It is not where the powers go, fame go, rich go, pleasure go. It is where the Lamb goes, which is the way of sacrificial love and grace. They were purchased from among mankind. This means that we didn t earn the privilege of being a part of the Kingdom of God. We were purchased. We were redeemed by the blood of the Lamb, and offered as firstfruits to God and the Lamb. We didn t just get redeemed, we were made into an offering. That s what the firstfruit means. In the Old Testament, firstfruit was given to the Lord as an offering. Lord, you bought me and redeemed me. Now, I am yours. I am completely and utterly yours. I surrender my life to you. I am a sacrifice to you. I live to follow you. Then, the passage says that they were blameless. There was no lie. God is developing his character in us. This doesn t mean that we don t sin anymore. It means we live with integrity. If we sin, we acknowledge it and repent, seeking forgiveness. We live in light of his redemption and grace. 5
Now, let s go back and look at this entire passage and see what it means in terms of how to respond to the beasts. We respond in worship. Heaven is worshipping and the church is learning to worship. [Slide 11] Eugene Peterson said: Worship is our response to the lamb s action among us, the action that redeems us from our plight. When we worship, we let go of our idols. We let go on the deception of the beasts. We don t worship the state. We don t worship the government and the law as the solution. We worship the Lamb. We don t worship money or riches. We worship the Lamb. We don t worship guns and power. We worship the Lamb. We don t worship human goodness. No we worship the Lamb. We don t worship success. We worship the Lamb. We don t even worship our families. We worship the Lamb! Worship puts into focus who our God is, who is the only one deserved to be worshipped, and who is not. That s why worship is important. As I think about what happened this week Alton Sterling, Philando Castilo, the five police officers, I have been thinking about how we are called to respond. And I think the first and most important thing to do is to worship the Lamb, and learn to sing the songs of heaven that worships the Lamb. To worship the Lamb means to put our hopes in the Lamb, to get life from the Lamb, to surrender our allegiance to the Lamb. Before any action, we must soak ourselves in the presence of God and worship him. I do think that we can put too much hope in legislations, in government to do something about this. And they should. But, that s not going to solve our problems. It is a problem of human heart and human systems and institutions. It is caused by the Satanic influenced heart of humanity and Satanic manipulated systems and institutions, and civil religious powers that upholds those systems. We oppose the powers through worship, acknowledging that the Lamb is on the throne, and follow him, and live in him. Let no one tell you to compromise on your attendance at the worship gatherings. Don t come late. Come and worship the Lord and join the choruses in heaven and worship the Lamb. 6
Focus on him, make a decision to follow him and him only. Worship the Lamb, and not a false god of violence and vengeance or even what the government can do the change the world. [Slide 12]II. Proclaiming the Gospel The second vision tells us to preach the gospel. [Slide 13] 6 Then I saw another angel flying in midair, and he had the eternal gospel to proclaim to those who live on the earth to every nation, tribe, language and people. 7 He said in a loud voice, Fear God and give him glory, because the hour of his judgment has come. Worship him who made the heavens, the earth, the sea and the springs of water. The first angel is proclaiming the eternal gospel to those who live on earth, to every nation, tribe, people, and language. The part of the gospel that is in here is the therefore of the gospel. The Lamb sacrificed himself for you and liberated you from bondage of Satan, therefore, revere God and give him glory. The hour has come. The Kingdom is coming. Then, he calls people to worship God. Call to worship is the therefore of the gospel. It is so good to see that all people on earth get to hear the gospel somehow. But, the choice is always the peoples. [Slide 14] 8 A second angel followed and said, Fallen! Fallen is Babylon the Great, x which made all the nations drink the maddening wine of her adulteries. The second angel proclaims the gospel, the good news that Babylon the Great has fallen. Babylon here does not refer to the great empire of Babylon. It refers to Satan manipulated empires, the first beast. In John s day, Babylon was Rome. It is not just talking about Rome. Ultimately, all political systems of the world as manipulated by Satan will fail. All systemic evil will fail. Remember, the gospel of the Kingdom of God tells us that Jesus didn t come to inaugurate a worldly kingdom. He didn t come to take over the power of the world government and make things right. He came to inaugurate a whole new kind of Kingdom, a Kingdom of Jews and Gentiles, Blacks, Latinos, Asians, and Whites. He came to inaugurate a community, a family, a Kingdom that breaks down 7
walls by the power of the Lamb, the power of grace, love, and listening to one another, and getting to know one another. He established the church and said that you are to build an expression of the Kingdom of God in every city and neighborhood in every nation, tribe and people. This does not mean that we withdraw from society and not seek social justice. We do but that is not our ultimate hope. Changing laws is not our ultimate hope. Changing hearts and people and institution through the gospel of Jesus is our ultimate hope. Babylon will fall. Rome will fall. I feel so unpatriotic in saying this, but it is true: even United States will fail. Look, we are only 200 years old. No one thought that Rome could fall. At the time of writing, it had been established for over 600 years, and continued for another 500 or so years. Only the Kingdom of God will survive. We are called into the Kingdom now and called to manifest the character of the Lamb now. [Slide 15] 9 A third angel followed them and said in a loud voice: If anyone worships the beast and its image and receives its mark on their forehead or on their hand, 10 they, too, will drink the wine of God s fury, which has been poured full strength into the cup of his wrath. They will be tormented with burning sulfur in the presence of the holy angels and of the Lamb. 11 And the smoke of their torment will rise for ever and ever. There will be no rest day or night for those who worship the beast and its image, or for anyone who receives the mark of its name. Now, remember in chapter 13 that if you didn t get the mark of the beast, the passage told us that you are going to suffer economically. But, here, it tells us that those who do receive the mark of the beast suffer. That s the unveiled reality. The sulfur and smoke and torment forever are again not literal. They are telling us that there will be judgment. In essence, if you don t have the seal of the Holy Spirit, you have mark of the beast. If you don t live by the ways of the Lamb, you live by the ways of the beast. It seems more practical and expedient to follow the ways of the world, the ways of violence, ways of pride, ways of power-over, ways of vengeance, ways of hate, but if you do, you will be outside of the Kingdom. And ultimately, anything outside of the Kingdom is what is called hell. 8
[Slide 16] 12 This calls for patient endurance on the part of the people of God who keep his commands and remain faithful to Jesus. 13 Then I heard a voice from heaven say, Write this: Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord from now on. Yes, says the Spirit, they will rest from their labor, for their deeds will follow them. The reason that this calls of patient endurance is because it is tough to follow the Lamb. It is going to cost us economically to not go along with the program of the world. In fact, it might even kill us. The world might kill us for not going with the program. That s why the voice from heaven comforts us: Blessed are the dead who died in the Lord from now on. They will rest from their labor. I find the phrase their deeds will follow them curious. It is not saying that they are saved by their deeds. It is saying that the character developed as followers of the Lamb on earth will follow them to into the Kingdom. Now, let s go back to the whole of the second vision and see what it tells us regarding how to respond to the work of the beasts. It tells us to proclaim the gospel. Our call is to proclaim the gospel that the Lamb rules, Babylon falls, and it is time to make a choice. Will you follow the Lamb or follow the power of Babylon? The way to battle the beasts is to proclaim the gospel of the Kingdom of God. It is to expose the work of the beasts and Satan behind the beast and call people to make a choice as to who to worship. I think this means to expose the work of systemic injustice in the political and religious systems. Our real enemy is not people. It is Satan the two beasts who war against us through fear and deception. So, while we fight for a more just society and better laws, our real hope is in the Kingdom of God. We live in that nuanced place where we prophetically speak out against racism and fear that make people, including police officers racially profile and prematurely pull the trigger. But, we don t put our hopes in the law to make everything okay. We don t put our hopes in the government to make 9
things all right. We put our hope in the Kingdom of God. We engage in breaking down barriers and wall and ridding ourselves of racism and prejudices and fear against one another and build a community that truly reflects the Kingdom of God that is worshipping God and preaching the gospel and living by the gospel of grace and of the Lamb. We seek to bring the light of the Kingdom to this world by the way we love one another. We seek to bring the light of the Kingdom to this world by the way we break down barriers. The way we dispel fear. The way we include one another. The way we live by God s holy commands. That s why what we do at New City is so important. The diversity of this community is critical. We have hope because we are part of something God is doing. This is the spiritual warfare that will beast systemic injustice. Worshipping together, loving one another, including one another, come to the Mosaic Project and learn to love one another. That s breaking down barriers and building the Kingdom of God through love. Let s pray. Invite Prayer team. 10