10-26-14 Are you a Diotrephes or a Demetrius?!

3 John

 

Luther's song how it is - how it might have been originally

 

A mighty fortress is out God                 A bulwark never failing

Hey buddies, let’s all go to the bar.       And I will drink you under the table

 

------------------

How many think we should have never gotten away from the King James bible?

How many think we should have never gotten away from hymns?

How many think we should never have gotten away from church on Sunday morning, Sunday night and Wednesday night?

How many of you think Jesus read from the King James Bible?  How many of you think Jesus sang the hymns you love so much?  How many of you think Jesus went to 3 major religious services a week?

How many of you know that Martin Luther was Catholic?

How many of you know that Martin Luther loved the Catholic church?

How many of you know that Martin Luther wanted to make the Catholic Church more accessible to the common man?  He wanted people to know that biblically, salvation comes by faith through God’s grace and not by works or through buying your way into heaven.  He wanted the bible in the people’s language so they could read it for themselves.  He wanted the music of the church to match the secular music culture of his day so people who were inside and outside the faith could relate to it.

Do you know who hated Martin Luther? The leadership in the Church; but many people in the church as well.  Many others in the church loved him and millions of people who were outside the church then and now owe their knowledge of salvation to Martin Luther, because the ideas that got him excommunicated and the ideas that formed the Lutheran church are still carried out by many today, unfortunately, many Lutheran churches stopped with what happened in Luther’s day and missed the point.  The gospel never changes but the translation of faith through grace; of scripture; of music…never stops changing.  The church used to have to change its methods and modes of worship very slowly as society changed very slowly.  Today, not only do we have to change more often but as soon as we begin to change the change we are changing for is moving away from us and by the time we get there, something new is already before us.  Do not think that being a pastor in the new millennium is an easy job.  We have to never compromise on the gospel and  honoring the heritage of the older saints while never stop changing for the sake of the lost. This is compounded for pastors in churches who have people not willing to change – but moreso with people who are unwilling to see the need for change – CHANGE = TRANSFORMATION – or as it was called in Luther’s day – REFORMATION.  What is a reformation? A reforming of how things are done.  It is not making something totally new – it is reforming that which has been.  The gospel is constant = the way it is related too and delivered is always changing. If it is not, then the gospel will remain hidden.  I care more that the gospel be presented to the generations of people who do not know Jesus then those of us who do and those who are less likely to come to faith in Jesus.  An overwhelming majority of people who come to faith do so before their 21^st birthday.  Why do you think I plug away at technology – because I like it or have a natural gift for it?  NO WAY.  Why do you never hear me complaining about what style of music we do? Because I like it? Some, yes – but I love hymns and more than anything, I love the Christian music of the 70’s and early 80’s, the music we almost NEVER do.

KIETH GREEN

Swallowed into earth's dark womb / Death has triumphed / That's what they say
But tried to hold Him in the tomb / The Son of Life / Rose on the third day

Just look / The gates of hell / They're falling / Crumbling from the inside out
He's bursting through / The walls with laughter (Hah!) / Listen to the Angels shout

IMPERIALS

Sail on / When the water gets high  /  Sail on / When the wind starts to die
Sail on / It's just a matter of minutes / Till His ship comes to get us / And we'll all get in it

It seems that we have always had a battle in the church from the hardline traditionalist on one end and the anything goes non traditionalist on the other end.  Here is the truth – it is not about me. It was about me almost 40 years ago when I heard the gospel – and I will tell you more about that next week.

Luther lived (1483 – 1546) and was a Augustinian German friar (monk) of theology and central figure of the 16th-century movement in Christianity known later as the Protestant Reformation. He strongly disputed the claim that freedom from God's punishment for sin could be purchased. He confronted the indulgence system – buying trinkets for forgiveness of sin, with his Ninety-Five Theses in 1517. His refusal to retract all of his writings at the demand of Pope Leo X in 1520 and the Holy Roman Emperor Charles V at the Diet of Worms in 1521 resulted in his excommunication by the Pope and condemnation as an outlaw by the Emperor.

          In light of all of that, let’s look at our text for today: 3^rd John, written by John, the disciple whim Jesus loved and the author of 1 & 2 John the Gospel of John and Revelation. He was encouragement to believers to stay strong against false teachings.  We will look at that in detail next week with 2^nd John. For now, let us hear what he wrote in this 3^rd letter to the believers.

3^rd John:  The elder, To my dear friend Gaius, whom I love in the truth.

 Dear friend, I pray that you may enjoy good health and that all may go well with you, even as your soul is getting along well. It gave me great joy when some believers came and testified about your faithfulness to the truth, telling how you continue to walk in it. I have no greater joy than to hear that my children (likely led to the Lord by John) are walking in the truth. 5 Dear friend, you are faithful in what you are doing for the brothers and sisters, even though they are strangers to you.  They have told the church about your love. Please send them on their way in a manner that honors God.  It was for the sake of the Name that they went out, receiving no help from the pagans.  We ought therefore to show hospitality to such people so that we may work together for the truth.  (No one way of sharing Christ is best – there are many ways and always new ways-we should support one another in those efforts)

9 I wrote to the church, but Diotrephes, who loves to be first, will not welcome us. So when I come, I will call attention to what he is doing, spreading malicious nonsense about us. Not satisfied with that, he even refuses to welcome other believers. He also stops those who want to do so and puts them out of the church.

11 Dear friend, do not imitate what is evil but what is good. Anyone who does what is good is from God. Anyone who does what is evil has not seen God.  (We now know what happened when the Catholic Church put Martin Luther out of the church – imagine what the Catholic church might be today if they had listened to and worked with Luther)

(Do we have an example of good among these believers?) 12 Demetrius is well spoken of by everyone—and even by the truth itself. We also speak well of him, and you know that our testimony is true.  (We have Demetrius and Gaius – more good examples than bad in the church.  I believe that to be true of the church today.  The bad ones just tend to be more vocal. Which are you, a Diotrephes or a Demetrius?  Pry that the Demetrius will stand tall and the Diotrephes will have a change of heart and become a demetrius)

13 I have much to write you, but I do not want to do so with pen and ink. I hope to see you soon, and we will talk face to face. Peace to you. The friends here send their greetings. Greet the friends there by name. (Greet one another by name)

CONCLUSION

Remember John is writing to encourage the believers of his day to stand strong in the face of false teachings. Content is always first.  To fight for methodology is ludicrous if we don’t get the content right. Know that any time I talk about change – it is because I want to get the good news of the gospel to people who won’t hear it by the methods that worked for me or you = or at least by the same style that worked for me or you.  Don’t hold methods and programs as sacred – they will always come and go and more quickly than ever before.  With the content correct – Faith through Grace in Jesus alone is the way to heaven – let us always be a Demetrius church looking for the best ways to reach lost people. Remember that new wine requires new wine skins – otherwise attempting to put new wine in old wine skins will make the skins burst and all will be lost.  That is why “A mighty fortress is our God” is far from the only Christian song that borrows style from the world – there is our decision song that comes from an 8^th c poem.  To be heard by new wine, it had to be put in a new wine skin – the poem was set to an Irish folk tune in 1919called “Slane”, and you love it as one of the great hymns of the faith that you assumed had been around for centuries in the church – not so – let us sing it as a commitment to have our only vision be that of Jesus Christ –

High King of Heaven, my victory won, May I reach Heaven’s joys, O bright Heaven’s Sun!  Heart of my own heart, whatever befall, Still be my Vision, O Ruler of all.

 

10-19-14 THE END…?

Revelation 22:1-20

Scene 7        The City’s source of Life           (22:1-5)

                              The River and the Tree of Life

Then the angel showed me the river of the water of life, as clear as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb down the middle of the great street of the city. On each side of the river stood the tree of life, bearing twelve crops of fruit, yielding its fruit every month. And the leaves of the tree are for the healing of the nations. No longer will there be any curse. The throne of God and of the Lamb will be in the city, and his servants will serve him. They will see his face, and his name will be on their foreheads. There will be no more night. They will not need the light of a lamp or the light of the sun, for the Lord God will give them light. And they will reign for ever and ever.

          And now the final curtain comes down at the end of the play and we would normally have a curtain call where the actors would appear and take a bow while the audience applauded.  In Roman theatre, at the close of the play, the chief actor called out "Valete et plaudite!", and the audience, guided by an unofficial choregus, chanted their applause antiphonally. This was often organized and paid for. Similarly, a claque (French for "clapping") was an organized body of professional applauders in French theatres and opera houses who were paid by the performer(s) to create the illusion of an increased level of approval by the audience.  In Christianity, customs of the theatre were adopted by the churches. Eusebius says that Paul of Samosata encouraged the congregation to applaud his preaching by waving linen cloths (οθοναις), and in the 4th and 5th centuries applause of the rhetoric of popular preachers had become an established custom.

This drama is different - at this point God is the audience and we rise from our seats and come to the stage and take a bow before God, the King of kings.

          Scene 7 obviously takes us back to Genesis and the garden where there was also a river and the tree of life. Adam and Eve, because of sin were blocked from getting to the tree of life.  Now is a new day when sin is no more and in the new heaven we are given full access to the tree of life.   God ALWAYS intended for us to live forever. (That was not a concept developed at Calvary - but a condition. The price for our sin had to be paid and only Jesus - the sinless/spotless lamb of God could meet that condition.

          As we are bowed we hear the voice of an angel speaking to John and we stay bowed and listen.

Epilogue                22:6-15

The angel said to me, "These words are trustworthy and true. The Lord, the God of the spirits of the prophets, sent his angel to show his servants the things that must soon take place." (We realize that at this moment though we are in heaven before the throne and before god, that we are still in our pew in the church on Sunday morning.  God has given us a gift to be able to see the future while living in the present.  To know that he is the warrior conquering KING who wins in the end! Even as we imagine being in heaven -we know the reality of where we are physically and spiritually and we then hear the promise of Jesus! 5 words) "Behold, I am coming soon! Blessed is he who keeps the words of the prophecy in this book." (The we look over to the podium from where John, the author and Narrator has remained.) I, John, am the one who heard and saw these things. And when I had heard and seen them, I fell down to worship at the feet of the angel who had been showing them to me. But he said to me, "Do not do it! I am a fellow servant with you and with your brothers the prophets and of all who keep the words of this book. Worship God!"  Then he told me, "Do not seal up the words of the prophecy of this book, because the time is near. Let him who does wrong continue to do wrong; let him who is vile continue to be vile; let him who does right continue to do right; and let him who is holy continue to be holy." (In this epilogue the angel is interrupted by Jesus repeating himself  5 words)  "Behold, I am coming soon! My reward is with me, and I will give to everyone according to what he has done. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last, the Beginning and the End."  (3 X’s ‘I am the book end of Life’ There is no life outside of or beyond me!)  (Then, a final word of confirmation, blessing and instruction)  Blessed are those who wash their robes, that they may have the right to the tree of life and may go through the gates into the city. Outside are the dogs, those who practice magic arts, the sexually immoral, the murderers, the idolaters and everyone who loves and practices falsehood.

Jesus’ Declaration of the Book            (22:16-20)

"I, Jesus, have sent my angel to give you this testimony for the churches. I am the Root and the Offspring of David, and the bright Morning Star."  The Spirit and the bride (Church) say, "Come!" And let him who hears (Church) say, "Come!" Whoever is thirsty, let him come; and whoever wishes, let him take the free gift of the water of life.  I warn everyone who hears the words of the prophecy of this book: If anyone adds anything to them, God will add to him the plagues described in this book.  And if anyone takes words away from this book of prophecy, God will take away from him his share in the tree of life and in the holy city, which are described in this book.   He who testifies to these things says, 5 words "Yes, I am coming soon." Amen. Come, Lord Jesus.  The grace of the Lord Jesus be with God's people. Amen.

            Romans 8:31-39

What, then, shall we say in response to this? If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all — how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things? Who will bring any charge against those whom God has chosen? It is God who justifies. Who is he that condemns? Christ Jesus, who died — more than that, who was raised to life — is at the right hand of God and is also interceding for us

Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword? As it is written: "For your sake we face death all day long; we are considered as sheep to be slaughtered."  No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. -- For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

WORSHIP AND SING:

Soon and very soon

Victory Chant

Revelation Song

10-12-14 It's time for a New Thing!

Vision of the Church in the Millennium

Consummation of God’s Purpose                  (20:4-6; 20:11 - 22:5)

Stage Setting: The Church enthroned with Christ  (20:4-6)

I saw thrones on which were seated those who had been given authority to judge. And I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded because of their testimony for Jesus and because of the word of God. They had not worshiped the beast or his image and had not received his mark on their foreheads or their hands. They came to life and reigned with Christ a thousand years. (The rest of the dead did not come to life until the thousand years were ended.) This is the first resurrection. Blessed and holy are those who have part in the first resurrection. The second death has no power over them, but they will be priests of God and of Christ and will reign with him for a thousand years.

Luke 22:28-30     You are those who have stood by me in my trials. And I confer on you a kingdom, just as my Father conferred one on me, so that you may eat and drink at my table in my kingdom and sit on thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel.

This thousand years is a time that was prophesied by Paul:

1 Cor 15:25     For he must reign until he has put all his enemies under his feet.

          1 Cor 15:24    Then the end will come, when he hands over the kingdom to God the Father after he has destroyed all dominion, authority and power.

The fulfillment of God’s Sevenfold plan   (20:11-22:5)

Scene 1        The Old Heaven and the Old Earth disappear          (20:11)

Then I saw a great white throne and him who was seated on it. Earth and sky fled from his presence, and there was no place for them.

Old heaven and old earth are condemned and done away with.  They are judged as not worthy because they were places where sin and evil dwelt.  Satan sinned in heaven and as we have seen the battles of earth have been taking place in heaven at the same time.  Eph 6:12  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.

Scene 2        The Last Judgment (20:12-15)

And I saw the dead, great and small, standing before the throne, and books were opened. Another book was opened, which is the book of life. The dead were judged according to what they had done as recorded in the books. The sea gave up the dead that were in it, and death and Hades gave up the dead that were in them, and each person was judged according to what he had done. Then death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. (Death and Hades will be no more!) The lake of fire is the second death. If anyone's name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire. (Two books - one based on works and one based on grace - Ps 62:12  Surely you will reward each person according to what he has done. Ps 69:28   May they be blotted out of the book of life and not be listed with the righteous.  Mark 8:38   If anyone is ashamed of me and my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, the Son of Man will be ashamed of him when he comes in his Father's glory with the holy angels.")

(John 5:28-30   "Do not be amazed at this, for a time is coming when all who are in their graves will hear his voice and come out — those who have done good will rise to live, and those who have done evil will rise to be condemned.  John 5:24-25    "I tell you the truth, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life and will not be condemned; he has crossed over from death to life.)

Scene 3        The New Heaven and the New Earth             (21:1)

Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and there was no longer any sea.

(Isa 43:19   See, I am doing a new thing!  Now it springs up; do you not perceive it?  I am making a way in the desert and streams in the wasteland.)

Scene 4        The New Jerusalem         (21:2-8)

I saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, "Now the dwelling of God is with men, and he will live with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God. He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away." He who was seated on the throne said, "I am making everything new!" Then he said, "Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true." He said to me: "It is done. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End. To him who is thirsty I will give to drink without cost from the spring of the water of life. He who overcomes will inherit all this, and I will be his God and he will be my son. But the cowardly, the unbelieving, the vile, the murderers, the sexually immoral, those who practice magic arts, the idolaters and all liars — their place will be in the fiery lake of burning sulfur. This is the second death."  (prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband - how is she dressed? In her white wedding gown, looking more beautiful than on any other day of her life where everyone’s eye is on her - She is dressed in love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness

and self-control - When the bride shows up, God’s purpose in creation is complete.  He has presented the perfect bride to Himself.)

Scene 5        Displaying and Measuring the New Jerusalem         (21:9-21)

One of the seven angels who had the seven bowls full of the seven last plagues came and said to me, "Come, I will show you the bride, the wife of the Lamb." And he carried me away in the Spirit to a mountain great and high, and showed me the Holy City, Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God. It shone with the glory of God, and its brilliance was like that of a very precious jewel, like a jasper, clear as crystal. It had a great, high wall with twelve gates, and with twelve angels at the gates. On the gates were written the names of the twelve tribes of Israel. There were three gates on the east, three on the north, three on the south and three on the west. The wall of the city had twelve foundations, and on them were the names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb.

          The angel who talked with me had a measuring rod of gold to measure the city, its gates and its walls. The city was laid out like a square, as long as it was wide. He measured the city with the rod and found it to be 12,000 stadia in length, and as wide and high as it is long. He measured its wall and it was 144 cubits thick, by man's measurement, which the angel was using. The wall was made of jasper, and the city of pure gold, as pure as glass. The foundations of the city walls were decorated with every kind of precious stone. The first foundation was jasper, the second sapphire, the third chalcedony, the fourth emerald, the fifth sardonyx, the sixth carnelian, the seventh chrysolite, the eighth beryl, the ninth topaz, the tenth chrysoprase, the eleventh jacinth, and the twelfth amethyst.   The twelve gates were twelve pearls, each gate made of a single pearl. The great street of the city was of pure gold, like transparent glass.

          (Compared to the New heaven and new earth 100% of everything about the old heaven and the old earth were considered unworthy and cast into the eternal lake of fire - except that which was saved from destruction for whom this glorious new heaven is prepared = THE CHURCH!!! Not you individually - us collectively - the church)

Scene 6        The City’s Illumination    (21:22-27)

                              The Splendor of God and of the Lamb

I did not see a temple in the city, because the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are its temple. The city does not need the sun or the moon to shine on it, for the glory of God gives it light, and the Lamb is its lamp. The nations will walk by its light, and the kings of the earth will bring their splendor into it. On no day will its gates ever be shut, for there will be no night there. The glory and honor of the nations will be brought into it. Nothing impure will ever enter it, nor will anyone who does what is shameful or deceitful, but only those whose names are written in the Lamb's book of life.

          Come closer - the temple is gone - those around the throne are not mentioned - God’s full revealed presence is all that is seen - by who? Those in the book of life = THE CHURCH

10-5-14 Act 6: The 7 Plagues v 2.0

Revelation 17:1-20:3, 7-10

Act 6:   Vision of Babylon’s Overthrow

The drama of Judgment   17:1-20:3, 7-10

Stage Setting: One of the angels of the Seven Plagues issuing form the sanctuary17:1-2

One of the seven angels who had the seven bowls came and said to me, "Come, I will show you the punishment of the great prostitute, who sits on many waters. With her the kings of the earth committed adultery and the inhabitants of the earth were intoxicated with the wine of her adulteries."

The unfolding of the seven plagues

Scene 1        The Woman on the Scarlet Beast   (17:3-5)

Then the angel carried me away in the Spirit into a desert. There I saw a woman sitting on a scarlet beast that was covered with blasphemous names and had seven heads and ten horns. (Back in Act 4 there was a woman “Mary” and a red dragon with 7 heads and 10 horns) The woman was dressed in purple and scarlet, and was glittering with gold, precious stones and pearls. She held a golden cup in her hand, filled with abominable things and the filth of her adulteries. This title was written on her forehead:

MYSTERY

BABYLON THE GREAT

THE MOTHER OF PROSTITUTES

AND OF THE ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH.

Who is Babylon? The Roman Empire! Tacitus, describes Rome as the place "where all the horrible and shameful things in the world congregate and find a home"  Rome is called Babylon because her forces, like those of Babylon at an earlier time, destroyed the temple and Jerusalem.  The Babylonians had destroyed Jerusalem and the temple in the 580s B.C. and sent its people into captivity (2 Kings 25; Jeremiah 52). The Roman Empire did essentially the same thing in A.D. 66-70. Thus, Rome was Babylon all over again. It is goes beyond John’s day” Babylon the Great, stands for a world system more universal than the old Roman Empire. Robert W. Wall says, she is: "The ‘global village’ of godless power, which determines daily life for every person at any time in human history" Leon Morris said of Babylon the Great, "It is civilized man, mankind organized apart from God. It has its embodiment in every age" It is a symbol that stands for all the ungodly religious-political-social-economic systems that humans have created. As John might put it in his letters, Babylon is simply "the world". The world system depicted under this symbol would be that one that does not reflect God’s nature of love, and which in turn enslaves mankind.

 Scene 2        The Beast at war with the Woman   (17:6-18)

I saw that the woman was drunk with the blood of the saints, the blood of those who bore testimony to Jesus.

When I saw her, I was greatly astonished. Then the angel said to me: "Why are you astonished? I will explain to you the mystery of the woman and of the beast she rides, which has the seven heads and ten horns. The beast, which you saw, once was, now is not, and will come up out of the Abyss and go to his destruction. The inhabitants of the earth whose names have not been written in the book of life from the creation of the world will be astonished when they see the beast, because he once was, now is not, and yet will come.”

"This calls for a mind with wisdom. The seven heads are seven hills on which the woman sits. They are also seven kings. Five have fallen, one is, the other has not yet come; but when he does come, he must remain for a little while. The beast who once was, and now is not, is an eighth king. He belongs to the seven and is going to his destruction.”

"The ten horns you saw are ten kings who have not yet received a kingdom, but who for one hour will receive authority as kings along with the beast. They have one purpose and will give their power and authority to the beast. They will make war against the Lamb, but the Lamb will overcome them because he is Lord of lords and King of kings — and with him will be his called, chosen and faithful followers."

Then the angel said to me, "The waters you saw, where the prostitute sits, are peoples, multitudes, nations and languages. The beast and the ten horns you saw will hate the prostitute. They will bring her to ruin and leave her naked; they will eat her flesh and burn her with fire. For God has put it into their hearts to accomplish his purpose by agreeing to give the beast their power to rule, until God's words are fulfilled. The woman you saw is the great city that rules over the kings of the earth."

          This is the same beast as in Act 4 – the symbol of every earthly power that sets itself against God’s rule. Jesus came to earth – went to heaven and will come again. The imitator has his beast come out of the sea – goes into the abyss and comes back again.  Rome was built on seven hills – the seven kings would limit Satan’s power – the geography is symbolic of all world powers against God and all Kings and authorities of every time who are against God.

Coming to scene 3 we see the importance of God’s overthrow by the sheer length of the scene – the final four scenes after this one move quickly.   Scene 3 is the grand Oratorio in the play – God’s wrath set to music. It shows the opposite of what took place in the same scene in Act 4. Sit up as I blow quickly through this musical part of the drama of the book of

Revelation which ends with a Hallelujah chorus – not the one you are familiar with but a hallelujah chorus nonetheless:

Scene 3        The Final Cosmic Oratorio   (18:1-19:10)

After this I saw another angel coming down from heaven. He had great authority, and the earth was illuminated by his splendor. With a mighty voice he shouted: "Fallen! Fallen is Babylon the Great! She has become a home for demons and a haunt for every evil spirit, a haunt for every unclean and detestable bird. 3 For all the nations have drunk the maddening wine of her adulteries. The kings of the earth committed adultery with her, and the merchants of the earth grew rich from her excessive luxuries."

Then I heard another voice from heaven say: "Come out of her, my people, so that you will not share in her sins, so that you will not receive any of her plagues; for her sins are piled up to heaven, and God has remembered her crimes. Give back to her as she has given; pay her back double for what she has done. Mix her a double portion from her own cup. Give her as much torture and grief as the glory and luxury she gave herself. In her heart she boasts, 'I sit as queen; I am not a widow, and I will never mourn.' Therefore in one day her plagues will overtake her: death, mourning and famine. She will be consumed by fire, for mighty is the Lord God who judges her. When the kings of the earth who committed adultery with her and shared her luxury see the smoke of her burning, they will weep and mourn over her. Terrified at her torment, they will stand far off and cry: "'Woe! Woe, O great city, O Babylon, city of power! In one hour your doom has come!' "The merchants of the earth will weep and mourn over her because no one buys their cargoes any more—cargoes of gold, silver, precious stones and pearls; fine linen, purple, silk and scarlet cloth; every sort of citron wood, and articles of every kind made of ivory, costly wood, bronze, iron and marble; cargoes of cinnamon and spice, of incense, myrrh and frankincense, of wine and olive oil, of fine flour and wheat; cattle and sheep; horses and carriages; and bodies and souls of men. "They will say, 'The fruit you longed for is gone from you. All your riches and splendor have vanished, never to be recovered.' The merchants who sold these things and gained their wealth from her will stand far off, terrified at her torment. They will weep and mourn and cry out: "'Woe! Woe, O great city, dressed in fine linen, purple and scarlet, and glittering with gold, precious stones and pearls! In one hour such great wealth has been brought to ruin!'  "Every sea captain, and all who travel by ship, the sailors, and all who earn their living from the sea, will stand far off. 18 When they see the smoke of her burning, they will exclaim, 'Was there ever a city like this great city?' They will throw dust on their heads, and with weeping and mourning cry out: 'Woe! Woe, O great city, where all who had ships on the sea became rich through her wealth! In one hour she has been brought to ruin! Rejoice over her, O heaven! Rejoice, saints and apostles and prophets! God has judged her for the way she treated you.'"

18:21 Then a mighty angel picked up a boulder the size of a large millstone and threw it into the sea, and said: "With such violence the great city of Babylon will be thrown down, never to be found again. The music of harpists and musicians, flute players and trumpeters, will never be heard in you again. No workman of any trade will ever be found in you again. The sound of a millstone will never be heard in you again. The light of a lamp will never shine in you again. The voice of bridegroom and bride will never be heard in you again. Your merchants were the world's great men. By your magic spell all the nations were led astray. In her was found the blood of prophets and of the saints, and of all who have been killed on the earth."

19:1 After this I heard what sounded like the roar of a great multitude in heaven shouting: "Hallelujah! Salvation and glory and power belong to our God, 2 for true and just are his judgments. He has condemned the great prostitute who corrupted the earth by her adulteries. He has avenged on her the blood of his servants." And again they shouted: "Hallelujah! The smoke from her goes up for ever and ever." The twenty-four elders and the four living creatures fell down and worshiped God, who was seated on the throne. And they cried: "Amen, Hallelujah!"  Then a voice came from the throne, saying: "Praise our God, all you his servants, you who fear him, both small and great!"

Then I heard what sounded like a great multitude, like the roar of rushing waters and like loud peals of thunder, shouting: "Hallelujah! For our Lord God Almighty reigns. 7 Let us rejoice and be glad and give him glory! For the wedding of the Lamb has come, and his bride has made herself ready. 8 Fine linen, bright and clean, was given her to wear."   (Fine linen stands for the righteous acts of the saints.)

Then the angel said to me, "Write: 'Blessed are those who are invited to the wedding supper of the Lamb!'" And he added, "These are the true words of God."

At this I fell at his feet to worship him. But he said to me, "Do not do it! I am a fellow servant with you and with your brothers who hold to the testimony of Jesus. Worship God! For the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy."

Now 4 scenes which move quickly without my help: Remember the white horse from the four horseman – this is rider is filed with greater grandeur as he assembles the church for Armageddon.

Scene 4        The Word of God on the White Horse   (19:11-16)

I saw heaven standing open and there before me was a white horse, whose rider is called Faithful and True. With justice he judges and makes war.   His eyes are like blazing fire, and on his head are many crowns. He has a name written on him that no one knows but he himself. He is dressed in a robe dipped in blood, and his name is the Word of God. The armies of heaven were following him, riding on white horses and dressed in fine linen, white and clean. Out of his mouth comes a sharp sword with which to strike down the nations. "He will rule them with an iron scepter." He treads the winepress of the fury of the wrath of God Almighty. On his robe and on his thigh he has this name written: KING OF KINGS AND LORD OF LORDS.

The birds are invited to a feast as they watch the battle of Armageddon.

Scene 5        The Angel Standing in the Sun   (19:17-18)

And I saw an angel standing in the sun, who cried in a loud voice to all the birds flying in midair, "Come, gather together for the great supper of God, so that you may eat the flesh of kings, generals, and mighty men, of horses and their riders, and the flesh of all people, free and slave, small and great."

It seems that throughout this drama – this Revelation that John is seeing and reveals to us that there is a connection between the earlier portions and the latter – The great tribulation being connected to Armageddon being connected to the overall picture of the badspel against the gospel (goodspell) It shows the struggle since the cross – worldly powers against the body of Christ – the church will one day come to a final battle to the finish.

Scene 6        The Battle of Armageddon   (19:19-21)

Then I saw the beast and the kings of the earth and their armies gathered together to make war against the rider on the horse and his army. But the beast was captured, and with him the false prophet who had performed the miraculous signs on his behalf. With these signs he had deluded those who had received the mark of the beast and worshiped his image. The two of them were thrown alive into the fiery lake of burning sulfur.   The rest of them were killed with the sword that came out of the mouth of the rider on the horse, and all the birds gorged themselves on their flesh.

Down went the beast – now God turns to the Dragon himself.

Scene 7        Satan cast into the Abyss   (20:1-3)

And I saw an angel coming down out of heaven, having the key to the Abyss and holding in his hand a great chain. He seized the dragon, that ancient serpent, who is the devil, or Satan, and bound him for a thousand years. He threw him into the Abyss, and locked and sealed it over him, to keep him from deceiving the nations anymore until the thousand years were ended. After that, he must be set free for a short time.

Parenthetic Prophecy on Satan’s limited authority   (20:7-10)

7 When the thousand years are over, Satan will be released from his prison and will go out to deceive the nations in the four corners of the earth — Gog and Magog — to gather them for battle. In number they are like the sand on the seashore. They marched across the breadth of the earth and surrounded the camp of God's people, the city he loves. But fire came down from heaven and devoured them. And the devil, who deceived them, was thrown into the lake of burning sulfur, where the beast and the false prophet had been thrown. They will be tormented day and night for ever and ever.

9-28-14 Would you like a cup or a bowl?

Scripture                                Revelation 11:19 – 16:21

ACT 5

Rev 11:19-15:4

STAGE SETTING   11:19

          Act 5 is in contrast to Act 3. In Act 3 we saw the church in the end-times great tribulation. Now we see the secular world under the same conditions.  Not a later time - in the same time - so these are overlapping acts looking at the same events from a different perspective.  (Two eyewitnesses to a crime - one is looking into the sun the other has their back to the sun - they describe the same events very differently. OR Christians and unbelievers view what God is doing very differently)  Comparing the acts – we not only see different attitudes toward the same events but different figures acting on God’s behalf.  In Act 3 Seven angels of the presence, symbols of God’s saving power - NOW, Seven angels of the last plagues, dressed as priests through whom the wrath of God is poured out.

          Lev. 26:21 (“If you remain hostile toward me and refuse to listen to me, I will multiply your afflictions seven times over, as your sins deserve.”) Warning of God’s wrath toward Israel–7fold plagues to sin ratio. How appropriate to Revelation (7 plagues)

          In Acts 3 & 4 the temple/sanctuary/ark was visible and public – here it is pushed to the background. Ex 40:34 (Then the cloud covered the tent of meeting, and the glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle. took it out of view)

`         TODAY’S TEXT:           Revelation 15:5-16:1

After this I looked and in heaven the temple, that is, the tabernacle of the Testimony, was opened. Out of the temple came the seven angels with the seven plagues. They were dressed in clean, shining linen and wore golden sashes around their chests. Then one of the four living creatures gave to the seven angels seven golden bowls filled with the wrath of God, who lives forever and ever. And the temple was filled with smoke from the glory of God and from his power, and no one could enter the temple until the seven plagues of the seven angels were completed. 16:1 Then I heard a loud voice from the temple saying to the seven angels, "Go, pour out the seven bowls of God's wrath on the earth."

          If we struggle to approach God in his glory, imagine how difficult to approach him/stand against him in his wrath.

 Scene 1        The Plague to the Earth (Boils on men)   16:2

The first angel went and poured out his bowl on the land, and ugly, festering sores broke out on the people who had the mark of the beast and worshiped its image.

 Scene 2        The Plague to the Sea (Blood)   16:3

The second angel poured out his bowl on the sea, and it turned into blood like that of a dead person, and every living thing in the sea died.

 

Scene 3    The Plague to the Rivers and Streams (Blood)   17:4-7

The third angel poured out his bowl on the rivers and springs of water, and they became blood.  Then I heard the angel in charge of the waters say: “You are just in these judgments, O Holy One, you who are and who were; for they have shed the blood of your holy people and your prophets, and you have given them blood to drink as they deserve.”  7 And I heard the altar respond: “Yes, Lord God Almighty, true and just are your judgments.” (The people who complain about God’s unfairness are those not living in his Grace. Those who know Him recognize He is always fair and just.)

Scene 4        The Plague to the sun (Burning Heat)   16:8-9

The fourth angel poured out his bowl on the sun, and the sun was allowed to scorch people with fire.  They were seared by the intense heat and they cursed the name of God, who had control over these plagues, but they refused to repent and glorify him. 

Scene 5   The plague to the Beast’s Throne (Darkness)   16:10-11

The fifth angel poured out his bowl on the throne of the beast, and its kingdom was plunged into darkness. People gnawed their tongues in agony and cursed the God of heaven because of their pains and their sores, but they refused to repent of what they had done. Even the one they worshipped was devastated by God - and STILL people refused to turn to God.  People will hold to their unbelief in God and their belief in the world culture of anything goes as long as it feels right to you, even though it means they are condemning themselves to hell for eternity - “condemning themselves”

 Scene 6        The Plague to the Euphrates (Drying up)   16:12-16

The sixth angel poured out his bowl on the great river Euphrates, and its water was dried up to prepare the way for the kings from the East. Then I saw three impure spirits that looked like frogs; they came out of the mouth of the dragon, out of the mouth of the beast and out of the mouth of the false prophet. They are demonic spirits that perform signs, and they go out to the kings of the whole world, to gather them for the battle on the great day of God Almighty.  “Look, I come like a thief! Blessed is the one who stays awake and remains clothed, so as not to go naked and be shamefully exposed.”  Then they gathered the kings together to the place that in

Hebrew is called Armageddon.  10 virgins-5 were prepared / stay awake in the garden of Gethsemane. / I will come like thief in the night - we will come back to that.

 Scene 7        The Plague to the Air (Devastation)   16:17-21

The seventh angel poured out his bowl into the air, and out of the temple came a loud voice from the throne, saying, “It is done!” Then there came flashes of lightning, rumblings, peals of thunder and a severe earthquake. No earthquake like it has ever occurred since mankind has been on earth, so tremendous was the quake. The great city split into three parts, and the cities of the nations collapsed. God remembered Babylon the Great and gave her the cup filled with the wine of the fury of his wrath.  Every island fled away and the mountains could not be found.  From the sky huge hailstones, each weighing about a hundred pounds, fell on people. And they cursed God on account of the plague of hail, because the plague was so terrible.

The curtain comes down on act 5 - no one moves to go to intermission because of the devastation - but remember - these are the last plagues from the perspective of the unrepentant, unmovable, unbeliever.

Jump back to what scene six was teaching us about Jesus coming like a thief in the night - See it from the perspective of someone who believes - has faith in Jesus:

A THIEF IN THE NIGHT:

1 Thessalonians 5:1-11   Now, brothers, about times and dates we do not need to write to you, for you know very well that the day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night. While people are saying, "Peace and safety," destruction will come on them suddenly, as labor pains on a pregnant woman, and they will not escape. But you, brothers, are not in darkness so that this day should surprise you like a thief. You are all sons of the light and sons of the day. We do not belong to the night or to the darkness. So then, let us not be like others, who are asleep, but let us be alert and self-controlled. For those who sleep, sleep at night, and those who get drunk, get drunk at night. But since we belong to the day, let us be self-controlled, putting on faith and love as a breastplate, and the hope of salvation as a helmet. For God did not appoint us to suffer wrath but to receive salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ. He died for us so that, whether we are awake or asleep (alive or dead), we may live together with him. Therefore encourage one another and build each other up, just as in fact you are doing.