The Vindication of Faith

Sunday, August 16, 2020 “The Vindication of Faith” Revelation 14 Idea: The followers of the Lamb will have their faith vindicated by the immediate presence of God and the severe execution of judgment upon their oppressors. Intro: One of the greatest feelings or experiences in life is that of vindication. This is the feeling, which comes when you realize what you have given yourself to has not been in vain because the body of work and the results bear proof of success. Anyone who has accomplished a monumental task or achieved something great in the face of criticism knows this feeling. Before his death in 2014, Truett Cathy could probably have described this feeling to us. He and his brother opened an Atlanta area dinner in 1946 known as the Dwarf Grill. That diner would spin off into what we know as Chick-fil-A today. Cathy’s fast-food chain has the highest same-store sales and is the largest quick-service chicken restaurant chain in America. They outpace their competition in sales and volume while being closed on Sundays. I bet there were many executives and consultants early on who criticized Cathy’s business model saying, “You cannot afford to lose a whole day of revenue. You won’t be able to compete with the other food chains.” I think Cathy and his family’s commitment has been vindicated. Not only does Chick-fil-A do more business in six days than their competition in seven days, but the restaurant chain has created a system that gets more people in and out quicker than all the others. It is absolutely amazing. Someone else who knows something about the feeling of being vindicated is Noah. Can you imagine the criticism he must have faced while building the ark? Biblical scholars and historians tell us he lived in a time of history that had no rain. The atmosphere and conditions of the earth seem to have been different prior to the great flood. We know he was roughly 500 years old when his three sons were born (Gen 5:32). We also know he was 600 years old when the flood began (Gen 7:6). During that century, Noah experienced an epiphany with God whereby he was told about the judgment coming upon the wickedness of earth in the flood and the salvation available through the ark. Noah was instructed to build the ark and get on board when the rain began to fall. Day after day, week after week, month after month, and year after year Noah worked on the ark. He was probably a great spectacle in his culture. Surely, people would travel from great distances to see what he was building and hear the tale of “rain” and a “flood” to come. They laughed and ridiculed he and his family. They mocked and resisted his preaching of righteousness and call for repentance and faith (2 Pet 2:5). They did all of this up to the time the rain began to fall and the springs of earth started bursting open. They laughed till the waters began to rise and the ark began to float. In that moment, Noah’s faith and obedience was vindicated as it became reality. We find a similar picture of vindication in Revelation 14. These visions are given to John in order to strengthen the church as they endure great suffering. Commenting on this chapter, Robert Mounce says, “Visions of what will be strengthen the believer to endure the reality of what for the present must be.” They remind believers their faith will be vindicated in the end and call for perseverance. Read Revelation 14. Inquiry: Chapter 14 falls in the middle of another interlude between judgments. The seven trumpets have been blown, which unleashed natural, cosmic, and demonic judgment upon the ungodly of earth (Rev 8-9, 11:15-19). Before the seven bowls of wrath are poured out (Rev 16), John is shown visions of what is happening in the spiritual realm and who wins in the end. Thematically, in this interlude there are two major sections: chapters 12-13 reveal the war of the false trinity against God and His people, and chapter 14 describes the actions of God and His people in response. Just before the outpouring of the bowls of God’s wrath and the coming of the end, John is again assured that the consummation is in God’s hands; that the wicked, godless civilization of the beast will fall under divine judgment, and that the saints will be brought into their eternal salvation. This chapter consists of a series of somewhat disconnected short visions, which collectively remind believers that their faith will be vindicated…that it is worth it. Let’s look at this vindication of faith. The first aspect of this vindication is that… 1. Faith becomes sight. Paul reminded the church in Corinth that believers are to walk by faith rather than sight (2 Cor 5:7). In this life, we faith into Jesus and His promises. We look toward the consummation of all that He has said even though we cannot see it with our eyes. There will be a day, however, when our faith gives way to sight. We will behold with our eyes the victory of Christ that we have believed on throughout our life. This picture is what we discover in Revelation 14. John sees the Lamb of God standing on Mount Zion (Rev 14:1). With Him stands the 144,000. These are the same 144,000 pictured in Revelation 7. They represent the church. Primarily, they represent the victorious saints of the Great Tribulation. Secondarily, they represent the people of God down through the ages who faithed into the coming Messiah. They bear the mark of Christ and the Father on their foreheads (cf Rev 7:4). The work of Jesus on the cross and the shedding of His blood has brought them victory. Today, we may wonder if our faith in Christ is worth it. We may experience ridicule from others who question our reasons for holding onto the gospel and striving to live righteously before God. It is not easy to be a follower of Jesus. It is not always expedient to be committed to the gospel, but church it is worth it. There is coming a day, when everything we have believed by faith will become sight before our eyes. The resurrected Jesus whom we have faithed into will stand with us and we with Him. Our commitment to Christ will be vindicated as we behold Him. There is a second aspect to this vindication of faith. 2. Faith brings joyful worship. Now, John hears a voice thundering from heaven, but it is gentle and soothing like the sound of harpists playing their harps (Rev 14:2). This heavenly music is blended with the singing of those around the throne of God (14:3). This new song personifies the highest worship in heaven. It is a song of redemption celebrated by the angelic host and gloried in by the redeemed of the earth. John points out that only those who had experienced salvation in Christ on earth were able to sing the song. The wicked will not be able to nor would they want to sing a song that glories in Christ and His redeeming love. Today, we sing of God’s redemption. We magnify His great love and grace. We worship Jesus because of His sacrificial death and victorious resurrection. Have you ever thought through what we do when we sing and worship the Lord? When we sing to God and about His redemption, we juxtapose His holiness and righteousness over and against our sin and shame. We line up His grace and mercy against our rebellion and disobedience. We glory in Christ’s great love for us while we were yet sinners (Rom 5:8). We are in ah over it. At the culmination of history, when Jesus is finally and fully victorious over evil, the Church and all of heaven will erupt in joyful worship of God for His redeeming love. Today, we sing in faith, but there is coming a day when our singing faith will be vindicated. It will be proven to be true. There is a third aspect to this vindication of faith. 3. Faith perseveres in purity. John describes the 144,000 as those who have not defiled themselves. They are blameless (Rev 14:4-5). We should not understand this as describing a special class of Christians who have practiced a life of chastity. No, the Bible commends marriage and teaches marital intimacy. It is a good gift from God (Prov 18:22). Instead, we understand this description to be figurative. The 144,000 virgins are undefiled in the sense that they refused to participate not only in immorality but in worldly pursuits of all kinds. They refused to worship the beast and engage in the immorality surrounding that worship. Today, we strive to walk in purity before God. We do so because He is holy and calls us to be holy (Lev 11:45; 1 Pet 1:16). Man is made in the image of God. He is meant to mirror the Lord in creation. We image the holiness of God in the world He has charged us to steward. Illust: One of the wonderful things about Chick-fil-A is how their employees represent the company. They are trained to be respectful and polite. They are trained to selflessly serve the customer, which is indicative of Truett Cathy and the Christian ethic that characterized his life. The employees of Chickfil-A persevere in that ethic. As followers of Jesus, we too persevere in the ethic of our leader because He has changed our lives. He changed our want-to’s. Because of Christ, we no longer want to chase after other gods and idols. We no longer want to live for worldly pleasure. We no longer want to live for self. We want to live lives that please and honor Jesus, and this desire and commitment will be vindicated when we too stand with Him at the eschaton and are rewarded, which brings us to a fourth aspect to this vindication of faith. 4. Faith is rewarded. Verse 12 calls for endurance in believers based on the promise of God’s judgment on those who warred against them. Believers, however, are not just called to persevere; they are also assured of blessedness in response to their perseverance (Rev 14:13). The voice from heaven declares that their deeds follow them after death. Over and over again in the Bible, we read of individuals’ beliefs and actions being remembered and recorded, testifying on their behalf. In Revelation 20:12, the books are opened and the dead are judged by what was written in those books. We see here in verse 13 the basic Roman and biblical principle of lex talionis, the law of retribution. Paul told the Galatians, “Do not be deceived: God is not mocked, for whatever one sows, that will he also reap.” (Gal 6:7). Your actions follow you after death. Your actions with and toward Christ carry eternal consequences. There is a fifth aspect to this vindication of faith. 5. Faith is vindicated. The declaration of the angel in verse 8 stresses the absolute certainty of the coming destruction. “Fallen, fallen is Babylon the great…” Babylon represents apostate man, the civilization ruled by the Antichrist. This civilization will experience the wrath of God in full strength (14:10). It will no longer be diluted. The destruction will resemble that of Sodom and Gomorrah with fire, sulfur, and smoke (Gen 19:24). The vision of destruction is further made clear in the visions of the Son of Man taking a sickle and reaping the harvest of the earth (14:14-16) and another angel cutting the clusters of grapes from the vine with a sickle and throwing them into the winepress of the wrath of God (14:17-20). The vision of the Son of Man most likely refers to the gathering of the elect from among the earth, while the vision of the angel and grapes is the gathering of the rebellious for judgment. There the full strength of God’s wrath will be expressed as the grapes are crushed in the winepress until the blood flows as high as a horse’s bridle for 184 miles. Faith is vindicated in these visions as God’s people are gathered for reward and the final, gruesome judgment of God is executed on those who mistreated the people of God. The suffering endured by believers is worth it. The enemies of God will be crushed under His divine and exhaustive wrath. There is a sixth aspect to this vindication of faith. 6. Faith is a choice. The vision of the angel flying overhead proclaiming an eternal gospel connects the judgment of God with the grace of God. We have seen this grace in the midst of judgment already in the Revelation (8:13; 9:12; 11:1-13). There is debate over what this eternal gospel being proclaimed is. Some see in it no offer of salvation but only a proclamation of judgment. I, however, see a final chance to repent being given to the nations. The message here is similar to that of the Lord’s message on the coming of the Kingdom in Mark 1:14-15. It is near, so repent and believe the good news. It is not yet too late. The judgment has not yet fully fallen. There is still time to repent and believe the gospel. There is still time for God’s mercy. There is a strong sense of urgency in the angel’s message. The gospel is an urgent message. We share it urgently because the time is short. Judgment is coming. The wrath of God against sin is real. We share it urgently because everyone must decide on it. There is no middle ground. You cannot ride the proverbial fence in regards to the gospel. Not to choose is to choose. You are either with Christ or against Him. No one will be able to stand before God at the Great White Throne and argue their neutrality on the issue. Everyone is born with an adamic nature. They are born a sinner; therefore, everyone is by nature an enemy of God (Rom 3:10-18, 23; 6:23). It is the grace of God that opens our eyes to our rebellion and leads us to faith and repentance. It is a choice that every person must make. Praise be to God for His grace. When a person responds in faith and repentance, he or she becomes a new creation, raised from death to life, and transformed from an enemy into a son or daughter of God. Faith is a choice. One day our choice will be vindicated…proved. Those who faithed into Christ will be blessed in eternity. Those who rejected Christ will be judged for eternity. Conclusion: These visions of what will be strengthen the believer to endure the reality of what for the present must be. We may suffer greatly today or at some point in the future, but there is coming a day when our persecutors will receive the just payment for their sin and rebellion. Our responsibility is to rightly image God in this godless world, knowing that it is worth the pain and trouble. Not everyone finishes strong. Demas forsook the gospel in favor of the world (2 Tim 4:10). Christian, the struggle is worth it because we shall see Jesus, be rewarded, and witness the wrath of God against the enemy. Our faith will be vindicated. Faith is a choice. If you are a Christian, there was a point in your life when you made a choice to follow Christ and turn from your sin. If you have not done so, then you are under the condemnation of your sin and need of forgiveness. You need to believe the message of the gospel. What is the gospel? We talk about it in three parts. Good News – You were made by God and for God (Col 1:16). He loves you. He has a plan and purpose for your life. Bad News – Sin has broken God’s design. The sinful nature that overcame Adam and left God’s design in him broken has been passed on to us. It has separated us from God. Today, in our sin, we are on the wrong side of the great chasm. Our sin condemns us before God, so that we are deserving of His judgment. This brokenness should not surprise anyone; because if we are honest with ourselves, we recognize it. We feel it in our anxiety, fears, and broken relationships. We know there is a deep need that we cannot meet ourselves. Best News - The gospel declares that God the Son has paid the penalty for our sin so that we can be set free (Rev 1:5). He offered His life as a substitute for you and experienced the wrath of God the Father against your sin. So that now, you can experience forgiveness for sin by placing your faith in Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior. You are given a choice to make? As a follower of Jesus, you have experienced His grace and forgiveness. And thankfully you can never exhaust His grace. Forgiveness is always available if you will turn to Him in faith and repentance of all sin. What prevents you from placing your faith in Jesus and turning from your sin today? As a Christian, you need to hold onto the gospel and share it with others.