[Originally preached 18 April, 2004]
Revelation 22.7
Today, we come to the end of our study of the book of Revelation. I have found it a very interesting and an especially helpful study. I have also found the book to be very practical. I hope that you have been helped by it also. Out text brings the book to a close in the same way that the book began, with an offered blessing. [See Revelation 1.3.] Like all blessings of God, this one is conditional. Our receiving the blessing depends on what we do. According to our text, the blessing will be granted to those ‘who keep the words of the prophecy of this book’. We are again confronted with the practicality of the book. The blessing is for those who believe the message that Revelation presents. And this belief will show. Keeping the words of the prophecy will change how we live. This is a far cry from using the message of the book to speculate about the future.
One of the themes of another very practical book, Proverbs, is the foolishness of the simple. These are people who are without insight into life. They are naïve. Without this insight, this wisdom about the ways of life, the simple are easily led astray into death. The prophecy of Revelation is Jesus’ offer to the simple. It is His offer of discernment so that you might not be fooled and led into death. That’s the blessing and it is the possession of those who hear the message and grab onto it. These believe what Jesus has to say here and live accordingly.
Now, we’re ready for our first question. What is the message? What are you to grab hold of? One way to summarize at least part of the message is to say that things are not what they appear to be. We see the events of life unfold before our eyes. There are births and deaths, being hired and being fired, times of health and times of sickness. There is prosperity, struggle and stress. We can see all of this. What Jesus wants you to know is that there are unseen things that are also happening, and if you leave the unseen part out of the equation then you’re not going to properly understand the parts that you see. To impress this on us the book of Revelation uses striking images. We’re going to look at a few of the key images to summarize the point of the book. In this way I hope that you will be blessed as you keep the message.
Let’s start with the original recipients of the letter, the seven churches of Asia Minor. And what is the image associated with these? The seven lampstands. These seven churches are lights in a very dark world. These churches were called to shine brightly with the Gospel. How were they doing? How should we assess the state of these churches? Well, there was the church at Ephesus which stood solidly as a protector of orthodoxy. There was the Laodicean church that was obviously prospering. There was also the church at Sardis that had a reputation for being a lively church. It appeared that things were going well. And yet, things were not what they appeared to be. In reality, the seven churches were not doing at all well. Most were rebuked for failing in some way. In some cases, the failure was quite serious. Jesus threatened to remove some of them from being counted among His churches. Two of the churches that were commended without any rebuke, but one of them, the church at Smyrna, was about to enter a time of persecution. And about the other, the church at Philadelphia, Jesus said, ‘I know you have but little power.’ These seven churches weren’t any powerhouses, ready to bring about great change in the Roman Empire. What is obvious about these churches is their weakness. Even the faithful churches were weak, though not because of any fault of their own. So, what we have are seven little flickering lights in a very dark place. But it is this element of weakness that always is the starting point of great things for the kingdom. Jesus used weak, sinful and repenting churches to change an empire. And He didn’t do it by making them strong first, but by using their very weakness. ‘My power is made perfect in weakness.’ [2 Corinthians 12.9] There are important lessons for the modern church here.
That moves us to another image, the fierce dragon of chapter twelve. Here, we see Satan, along with his cohorts, with great power and authority. But then, as you read through the chapter, you see that he is thrown out of heaven. The authority that he once had has been taken from him. But this is not the end of our ancient foe. We hear the warning at the end of the chapter.
Then the dragon became furious with the woman and went off to make war on the rest of her offspring, on those who keep the commandments of God and hold to the testimony of Jesus. Revelation 12:17
This is a basic, unseen aspect of this life. You have an enemy. For most of you that is an odd thought. You are used to being liked by most and getting along adequately well with the people around you. When you read the psalmist praying about his enemies you’re not sure how to apply that. But Jesus warns us here. You have a sworn enemy who hates you and is determined to get you. And so, he is waging war against you. But life seems to be going along fairly well. There are some bumps in the road but who doesn’t have that. And your expectation is that life will continue to go fairly well, bumps and all. But things are not what they appear to be. In actuality, you are in the middle of a battlefield. The bullets are flying and the bombs are exploding. You are locked in battle with an enemy who will never give up, never surrender. He will keep at you for as long as he has breath. The dragon hates you. Don’t forget that. It may cost you your soul if you do.
This, then, leads to the next images. These are the agents that the dragon calls forth to fight his battles. It’s the beast, the false prophet and Babylon the prostitute. These are the means by which the dragon will wage his war against you. And remember that his goal is not to kill you. Rather, he is trying to recruit you. His goal is for you to conform to the rest of humanity, to give up your loyalty to Jesus and to join his rebellion. It doesn’t matter to the dragon if you still talk like a Christian and even make it look as if you are a Christian. All of that doesn’t matter to him as long your heart has been turned. You’ve given in to the pressure. It’s clear that Jesus is not Lord of your life.
So, first, there is the beast. This is the different institutions of our world that use power to get you conform. The beast might use the laws of the state or the rules of the guild. But it always uses power to confront you and pressure you to conform. Then there is the false prophet. He has the same goal as the beast but his methods are different. He doesn’t use brute force. Rather, he uses ideas to persuade someone to conform. The false prophet will try to get you to think about life in a certain way. If he is successful, then it will much easier to get you to yield to the threatening power of the beast. The false prophet is rather subtle but very persuasive. And he spends extra time on the children. Beware of the power of ideas. Then there is Babylon the prostitute. She uses neither brute force nor subtle thinking. Her weapon is pleasure and comfort in their different forms. She offers to make life is very enjoyable by means of the things of this age. Note who it was that wept when Babylon fell. ‘And the merchants of the earth weep and mourn for her, since no one buys their cargo anymore.’ [Revelation 18:11] Babylon offers a pleasant life to all who will conform, to all who will forget the Gospel and find their pleasures in this world.
Satan wages his war against you today. This is part of the unseen reality of this world. Do you see your enemy? Do you understand how he functions? Are you discerning how the beast, the false prophet and Babylon are working on you even now? Or are you among the simple? ‘Blessed are those who keep this message.’
It is here that we must recall another image. This is from chapter five.
And one of the elders said to me, "Weep no more; behold, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has conquered, so that he can open the scroll and its seven seals." And between the throne and the four living creatures and among the elders I saw a Lamb standing, as though it had been slain, with seven horns and with seven eyes, which are the seven spirits of God sent out into all the earth. Revelation 5:5-6
If it were a matter of a few weak churches trying to shine their puny candles in the face of the ferocious attacks of an enraged dragon along with its powerful agents, then we should all give up. There is no hope of winning such a war, and it’s silly to even try. But Revelation is careful to make it clear that that is not the situation. Things are not what they appear to be. Jesus, the Lion of Judah, reigns over all things from His Father’s throne. Whatever happens, good or evil, happens because Jesus wants it to happen. Do you remember the four horsemen chapter six? They represented war, social conflict, famine and death. Who sent them? They go forth at Jesus’ command. Who caused the hail and fire to fall on the earth and unleashed the devils from the bottomless pit? They were all sent at Jesus’ command. But who has caused the Church to be kept safe, sealed by baptism, protected from the dragon’s plots? The Church is sealed at Jesus’ command. Revelation makes clear the weakness of the Church and the rage and power of the dragon, and we need to take those things seriously. But it also makes clear that Jesus is Lord. He is the one who rules over this world. So, as you look at what can be seen, the events of every day, and then look further to see what cannot be seen as the beast, the false prophet and Babylon do their worst, you need to look still further. Jesus is at work. Everything is going according to plan. Jesus is Lord!
Having said all of that, it doesn’t take away from the fact that life for the saints is hard. Yes, the seal of God is upon us. We know that from our baptism. But that doesn’t mean that we will have an easy life. We won’t, not if we strive to be faithful. Life for the saints will be hard. That leads to our last image.
And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. Revelation 21:2
This image is here to remind us of some very important things. It reminds us that one day will be our wedding day. One day the Church will be complete, adorned in beauty for her husband, Jesus. One day the warfare of this life will be over. No longer will we have to deal with the beast, or the false prophet or Babylon. No longer will we face the rage of the dragon. No longer will we have to suffer with our own sin. One day there will be a new heavens and a new earth, ‘for the former things have passed away’. It may seem, at times, that life will go on like this forever. But remember that things are not what they appear to be. This image is intended to encourage us as we fight this war. Yes, it’s hard. Life feels like a non-stop battle. Yes, there are casualties and struggles and pain. But a day is coming when all the tears will be wiped away, the healing will begin. There will be the river of life flowing through the holy city that will satisfy our every longing. And the Church will no longer be the bride of Christ, but rather His wife. And that marriage will last forever. This is the hope presented to the people of God. This is what is promised to us, if we keep the message, if we grab hold of it and, by the grace of God, believe it with all we’ve got.
This is the message of Revelation. Are you keeping it? Do you believe this message? Do you believe the message of weakness and struggle and warfare; of the Lordship of Jesus; of the hope of the age to come? If you do, then you will be blessed.
Revelation 22.7
Today, we come to the end of our study of the book of Revelation. I have found it a very interesting and an especially helpful study. I have also found the book to be very practical. I hope that you have been helped by it also. Out text brings the book to a close in the same way that the book began, with an offered blessing. [See Revelation 1.3.] Like all blessings of God, this one is conditional. Our receiving the blessing depends on what we do. According to our text, the blessing will be granted to those ‘who keep the words of the prophecy of this book’. We are again confronted with the practicality of the book. The blessing is for those who believe the message that Revelation presents. And this belief will show. Keeping the words of the prophecy will change how we live. This is a far cry from using the message of the book to speculate about the future.
One of the themes of another very practical book, Proverbs, is the foolishness of the simple. These are people who are without insight into life. They are naïve. Without this insight, this wisdom about the ways of life, the simple are easily led astray into death. The prophecy of Revelation is Jesus’ offer to the simple. It is His offer of discernment so that you might not be fooled and led into death. That’s the blessing and it is the possession of those who hear the message and grab onto it. These believe what Jesus has to say here and live accordingly.
Now, we’re ready for our first question. What is the message? What are you to grab hold of? One way to summarize at least part of the message is to say that things are not what they appear to be. We see the events of life unfold before our eyes. There are births and deaths, being hired and being fired, times of health and times of sickness. There is prosperity, struggle and stress. We can see all of this. What Jesus wants you to know is that there are unseen things that are also happening, and if you leave the unseen part out of the equation then you’re not going to properly understand the parts that you see. To impress this on us the book of Revelation uses striking images. We’re going to look at a few of the key images to summarize the point of the book. In this way I hope that you will be blessed as you keep the message.
Let’s start with the original recipients of the letter, the seven churches of Asia Minor. And what is the image associated with these? The seven lampstands. These seven churches are lights in a very dark world. These churches were called to shine brightly with the Gospel. How were they doing? How should we assess the state of these churches? Well, there was the church at Ephesus which stood solidly as a protector of orthodoxy. There was the Laodicean church that was obviously prospering. There was also the church at Sardis that had a reputation for being a lively church. It appeared that things were going well. And yet, things were not what they appeared to be. In reality, the seven churches were not doing at all well. Most were rebuked for failing in some way. In some cases, the failure was quite serious. Jesus threatened to remove some of them from being counted among His churches. Two of the churches that were commended without any rebuke, but one of them, the church at Smyrna, was about to enter a time of persecution. And about the other, the church at Philadelphia, Jesus said, ‘I know you have but little power.’ These seven churches weren’t any powerhouses, ready to bring about great change in the Roman Empire. What is obvious about these churches is their weakness. Even the faithful churches were weak, though not because of any fault of their own. So, what we have are seven little flickering lights in a very dark place. But it is this element of weakness that always is the starting point of great things for the kingdom. Jesus used weak, sinful and repenting churches to change an empire. And He didn’t do it by making them strong first, but by using their very weakness. ‘My power is made perfect in weakness.’ [2 Corinthians 12.9] There are important lessons for the modern church here.
That moves us to another image, the fierce dragon of chapter twelve. Here, we see Satan, along with his cohorts, with great power and authority. But then, as you read through the chapter, you see that he is thrown out of heaven. The authority that he once had has been taken from him. But this is not the end of our ancient foe. We hear the warning at the end of the chapter.
Then the dragon became furious with the woman and went off to make war on the rest of her offspring, on those who keep the commandments of God and hold to the testimony of Jesus. Revelation 12:17
This is a basic, unseen aspect of this life. You have an enemy. For most of you that is an odd thought. You are used to being liked by most and getting along adequately well with the people around you. When you read the psalmist praying about his enemies you’re not sure how to apply that. But Jesus warns us here. You have a sworn enemy who hates you and is determined to get you. And so, he is waging war against you. But life seems to be going along fairly well. There are some bumps in the road but who doesn’t have that. And your expectation is that life will continue to go fairly well, bumps and all. But things are not what they appear to be. In actuality, you are in the middle of a battlefield. The bullets are flying and the bombs are exploding. You are locked in battle with an enemy who will never give up, never surrender. He will keep at you for as long as he has breath. The dragon hates you. Don’t forget that. It may cost you your soul if you do.
This, then, leads to the next images. These are the agents that the dragon calls forth to fight his battles. It’s the beast, the false prophet and Babylon the prostitute. These are the means by which the dragon will wage his war against you. And remember that his goal is not to kill you. Rather, he is trying to recruit you. His goal is for you to conform to the rest of humanity, to give up your loyalty to Jesus and to join his rebellion. It doesn’t matter to the dragon if you still talk like a Christian and even make it look as if you are a Christian. All of that doesn’t matter to him as long your heart has been turned. You’ve given in to the pressure. It’s clear that Jesus is not Lord of your life.
So, first, there is the beast. This is the different institutions of our world that use power to get you conform. The beast might use the laws of the state or the rules of the guild. But it always uses power to confront you and pressure you to conform. Then there is the false prophet. He has the same goal as the beast but his methods are different. He doesn’t use brute force. Rather, he uses ideas to persuade someone to conform. The false prophet will try to get you to think about life in a certain way. If he is successful, then it will much easier to get you to yield to the threatening power of the beast. The false prophet is rather subtle but very persuasive. And he spends extra time on the children. Beware of the power of ideas. Then there is Babylon the prostitute. She uses neither brute force nor subtle thinking. Her weapon is pleasure and comfort in their different forms. She offers to make life is very enjoyable by means of the things of this age. Note who it was that wept when Babylon fell. ‘And the merchants of the earth weep and mourn for her, since no one buys their cargo anymore.’ [Revelation 18:11] Babylon offers a pleasant life to all who will conform, to all who will forget the Gospel and find their pleasures in this world.
Satan wages his war against you today. This is part of the unseen reality of this world. Do you see your enemy? Do you understand how he functions? Are you discerning how the beast, the false prophet and Babylon are working on you even now? Or are you among the simple? ‘Blessed are those who keep this message.’
It is here that we must recall another image. This is from chapter five.
And one of the elders said to me, "Weep no more; behold, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has conquered, so that he can open the scroll and its seven seals." And between the throne and the four living creatures and among the elders I saw a Lamb standing, as though it had been slain, with seven horns and with seven eyes, which are the seven spirits of God sent out into all the earth. Revelation 5:5-6
If it were a matter of a few weak churches trying to shine their puny candles in the face of the ferocious attacks of an enraged dragon along with its powerful agents, then we should all give up. There is no hope of winning such a war, and it’s silly to even try. But Revelation is careful to make it clear that that is not the situation. Things are not what they appear to be. Jesus, the Lion of Judah, reigns over all things from His Father’s throne. Whatever happens, good or evil, happens because Jesus wants it to happen. Do you remember the four horsemen chapter six? They represented war, social conflict, famine and death. Who sent them? They go forth at Jesus’ command. Who caused the hail and fire to fall on the earth and unleashed the devils from the bottomless pit? They were all sent at Jesus’ command. But who has caused the Church to be kept safe, sealed by baptism, protected from the dragon’s plots? The Church is sealed at Jesus’ command. Revelation makes clear the weakness of the Church and the rage and power of the dragon, and we need to take those things seriously. But it also makes clear that Jesus is Lord. He is the one who rules over this world. So, as you look at what can be seen, the events of every day, and then look further to see what cannot be seen as the beast, the false prophet and Babylon do their worst, you need to look still further. Jesus is at work. Everything is going according to plan. Jesus is Lord!
Having said all of that, it doesn’t take away from the fact that life for the saints is hard. Yes, the seal of God is upon us. We know that from our baptism. But that doesn’t mean that we will have an easy life. We won’t, not if we strive to be faithful. Life for the saints will be hard. That leads to our last image.
And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. Revelation 21:2
This image is here to remind us of some very important things. It reminds us that one day will be our wedding day. One day the Church will be complete, adorned in beauty for her husband, Jesus. One day the warfare of this life will be over. No longer will we have to deal with the beast, or the false prophet or Babylon. No longer will we face the rage of the dragon. No longer will we have to suffer with our own sin. One day there will be a new heavens and a new earth, ‘for the former things have passed away’. It may seem, at times, that life will go on like this forever. But remember that things are not what they appear to be. This image is intended to encourage us as we fight this war. Yes, it’s hard. Life feels like a non-stop battle. Yes, there are casualties and struggles and pain. But a day is coming when all the tears will be wiped away, the healing will begin. There will be the river of life flowing through the holy city that will satisfy our every longing. And the Church will no longer be the bride of Christ, but rather His wife. And that marriage will last forever. This is the hope presented to the people of God. This is what is promised to us, if we keep the message, if we grab hold of it and, by the grace of God, believe it with all we’ve got.
This is the message of Revelation. Are you keeping it? Do you believe this message? Do you believe the message of weakness and struggle and warfare; of the Lordship of Jesus; of the hope of the age to come? If you do, then you will be blessed.
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