A Fly Went by -Revelation 8:1-6; 2 Corinthians 13:5; 1 John

“A Fly Went by”

A Fly Went by – Revelation 8:1-6; 2 Corinthians 13:5 ; 1 John 1, 2, 3, 5

How many of you remember the children’s book “A Fly Went by”? The story goes like this: A young boy is lying by the lake and a fly few by him very afraid of what was chasing him. Then a frog hopped by with the same fear the fly had. Then came a cat, a dog, a pig, a cow, a fox, and a man. All of these characters were scared of what was chasing them. The boy then hears a sound; it was the sound the man said was chasing him. To make the story shorter the terribly frightening noise that was “chasing” the man was nothing more than a lamb that had his hoof stuck in a bucket and was following the man to get some help. In other words all of these characters were afraid of absolutely nothing that was of any danger. To be honest that pretty well describes the world we live in right now. Everything is the worst, storms, viruses, politics, the other political party…It has gotten so bad that often we don’t even listen anymore to the warnings because they are never as bad as they are advertised to be. To be honest I think that is the plan of the “Enemy”. Keep people calloused to warnings so that when we warn them of the impending judgment it just rolls off of their backs. Well I have a news flash for you; it is more than the story of “The Fly Went by”. What we are going to be looking at in the coming weeks in our study of The Revelation of Jesus Christ is going to, in reality, be much worse than what can put into words on a page. I think that the Apostle John did his best but just like words cannot fully express the majesty and glory of God it also cannot fully express the wrathful judgment of God. We just do not have the words. This morning we are going to look at Revelation 8:1-6 but then we are going to go to 2 Corinthians 13:5 and 1 John. Let’s go ahead and pray then we will look at God’s Word.

Just as a refresher when we were in chapter 5 there was a sealed scroll presented that no one in heaven or earth was worthy to open. Then the only One worthy came forward, the Lion of the Tribe of Judah, presented to John and us as a Lamb that had been slain. We of course had no doubt that this was in fact Jesus Christ our redeemer. In chapter 6 Jesus, who is the only One worthy to loose the seals opens six of the seven seals. With the opening of each successive seal we observed military conquest, rumors of war, warfare and murder, generally all peace being taken from the earth, we saw want and need with the rich getting richer and the poor getting poorer, t we saw famine and death all due to the wars and injustice, then we saw the souls of those who were martyred for their testimony of Christ and recognized that this is what has happened since Christ came to redeem His people and it will continue until He returns to judge those who oppose Him and His Father, and we saw that natural disasters would be occurring as well and that those who oppose God still would not repent but instead call out to the hills to protect them blaming God for their misfortune. Those were the first six seals that basically described life from the past, today and until Christ returns. Now on to the seventh seal. Let’s read Revelation 8:1-6 1When He opened the seventh seal, there was silence in heaven for about half an hour. 2 And I saw the seven angels who stand before God, and to them were given seven trumpets. 3 Then another angel, having a golden censer, came and stood at the altar. He was given much incense, that he should offer it with the prayers of all the saints upon the golden altar which was before the throne. 4 And the smoke of the incense, with the prayers of the saints, ascended before God from the angel’s hand. 5 Then the angel took the censer, filled it with fire from the altar, and threw it to the earth. And there were noises, thunderings, lightnings, and an earthquake. 6 So the seven angels who had the seven trumpets prepared themselves to sound.[1] Mankind has been experiencing God’s judgment since the fall of man in the Garden of Eden but as we saw last week His full wrath has been withheld. But now with the opening of the seventh seal we are going to see tribulation like never before, the winds of God’s judgment is being released. But first there is a, for the lack of a better phrase, a “dramatic pause” before God’s judgment is released. There has been praising and singing and celebration without ceasing of the saints, the four creatures and the angels and now there is silence. This is the actual, not proverbial but actual, calm before the storm, something very important is about to happen. When Jesus opened that last seal it is most likely as if the rest of the scroll just rolled on out for all to see and it just caused them to stop in their tracks. In verse 2 John sees the seven angels who stand before God given seven, one each, trumpets. These trumpets are not for playing tunes they are battle horns meant to announce military or attack movements and the seven angels are ready to sound them.

In verses 3-5 we see a scene much like we saw in chapter 5 when the 24 elders had the bowls of incense that were the prayers of the saints. In this case it is an eighth angel that has a censer or golden bowl designed to hold burning coals and incense. The angel came and stood before the altar, the same altar that John first saw when the fifth seal was broken. Under that altar he had seen the souls of the martyrs, and from that altar their prayers were ascending. Now the prayers of all the saints are added to the cries of the martyrs for God to judge the unholy. If you will remember the martyrs were told to wait a little longer until all the number of those who would be martyred had been fulfilled then God would avenge them. It appears as if that time is fast approaching. Just as an aside this demonstrates that the prayers of the saints on earth have an effect in the throne room God. Those prayers of intercession would become part of the basis for God’s judgment.

This angel with the censer takes live burning coals from the fire and hurled it at the earth. This resulted in noises, thunderings, lightnings, and an earthquake. That is the same thing Moses and the children of Israel experienced when God revealed Himself on Mt. Sinai in Exodus 19 and it will happen two more times in Revelation; here as a prelude to the first trumpet and in chapter 11 it concludes the final trumpet and in chapter 16 when the seventh bowl of God’s wrath is poured out. Very clearly this casting down of the censer to the earth announces that something catastrophic is about to happen on the earth. Then verse 6 serves as a transition from the long period of human history characterized by hints or minor demonstrations of God’s judgment to the pouring out of God’s final judgment against those who oppose Him. The seven angels with the seven trumpets prepare to sound them. The great tribulation mentioned in Revelation 7:14 is now coming. The earth and those who refuse God, with the blowing of the first trumpet, move into a phase of divine judgment in which they cannot survive intact. The unraveling of the world is about to begin.

Now you may wonder why I stopped here since there are still seven trumpets and seven bowls of judgment coming. Believe me; I have a very good reason. Some of you may have already figured it out and disagree, and some of you may agree, but I am not convinced that there will be a rapture or taking out of the church before the Great Tribulation. Someone who knows that argument very well may be able to persuade me that way but someone who has the understanding that the church will be here during the Tribulation can persuade me as well. I am leaning towards, but not sure, the church being here on the earth during the Great Tribulation and God will protect her/us from His wrath. I take this view because I can’t find a clear statement of the taking out of the church before the Great Tribulation. Then there are the examples of God’s judgment being on display while at the same time God’s people being delivered and I use as my prime example the plagues in Egypt, but there is Noah and there’s Lot and his family and there are the 100 prophets of God that Obadiah hid from Jezebel while she was killing all the prophets of God. But like I said I admit that I could be wrong on this because there are some great scholars on both sides of this debate and some lousy scholars on both side. However if I am wrong about the direction I am leaning then the worst thing that can be said of me on this is that I have prepared you for a worst case scenario. If I am correct then the best thing that can be said of me concerning this is that I prepared you for a worst case scenario.

When I first went into the ministry my greatest concern was that God’s people in the United States were not prepared to live in a world that was hostile to God, the things of God and the people of God. Because we live in a culture that has been influenced greatly by the morals of the church we have not had to suffer any persecutions really. For the most part we stumble through unprepared for all of the trials, temptations and tribulations that come our way or more importantly will come our way.

This week part of my daily Bible reading was from 2 Corinthians 13. Have you ever had a verse in the Bible just kind of grab you? That is exactly what 2 Corinthians 13:5 did to me. Today as we slow down a bit, as we take this dramatic pause from the travels through the coming Great Tribulation I want to have you think a bit about your faith. With the possibility of the world unraveling around you I have to ask you; are you spiritually prepared? Let’s read 2 Corinthians 13:5 5 Examine yourselves as to whether you are in the faith. Test yourselves. Do you not know yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you?—unless indeed you are disqualified.[2]

There are two things Paul says there. First: Examine yourself as to whether you are in the faith, prove (test) yourself to know that Christ is in you. Second: Examine and test yourself to know if you have been disqualified. To make that simple, you need to know if you are in Christ or if you are not in Christ, disqualified because there is the judgment of God coming, either in this lifetime or after this lifetime. The judgment is a sure thing and it is not a lamb with its foot stuck in a bucket it is the Lamb that was slain coming as the Lion of the Tribe of Judah.

So if we are to examine ourselves, test ourselves then there has to be some sort of standard outside of ourselves that we test by. Well it just so happens that we went through that or those tests back in 1 John a few months back. So if you will turn in your Bibles back a little ways to 1 John 1. In 1 John 5:13 John tells us that he wrote this letter that the readers who believed in Jesus would KNOW that they have eternal life and continue to believe in the name of Jesus. So we are going to look at several passages from 1 John for the purpose of examining ourselves.

Test 1: 1 John 1:5 5 This is the message which we have heard from Him and declare to you, that God is light and in Him is no darkness at all.[3] Like I said we have looked at this before and I don’t have time to spend too much time here but clearly John is saying here that God is not hidden from us, He has revealed Himself in His creation and in His Son. In revealing Himself He has made it clear that He has a will for His people. So the test is do you know that He has a will for your life? I’m not talking about the small details I’m just asking if you acknowledge that He has a purpose for you, a claim on you as we find in Ephesians 2:10. Do you know that He has revealed Himself and has a will for your life.

Test 2: 1 John 1:6-7 6 If we say that we have fellowship with Him, and walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth. 7 But if we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin.[4] Since He has revealed Himself and His character (He is light, holiness and righteousness) and has revealed his will for you is to walk in His character. If you say that you have fellowship with Him yet you do not live your life in His character, demonstrating His holiness and righteousness then you are a liar (you do not practice the truth). Folks if you call yourself a believer, then you are going to have to come to this conclusion: If you do not reflect His character then you are reflecting your character. The test is simple do we walk, does our overall lifestyle demonstrate that we reflect His character. If it does then John says you have passed the test and you are cleansed by the blood of Jesus Christ. If not then you are a liar. John’s words not mine.

Test 3: 1 John 1:8-10 8 If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. 9 If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. 10 If we say that we have not sinned, we make Him a liar, and His word is not in us.[5] This is huge and if you don’t get anything else today get this. John is telling us that the greatest evidence that one is in Christ is that they will be sensitive to their own sin. The one who has Christ in him, who is not disqualified, will be offended and grieved by his own sin and that grieving will lead him to confess his sin and repent. I was listening to a preacher this week and he asked this question: “When was the last time you wept over your own sin?” “When was the last time you were broken because you had sinned against a holy God?” When I heard that, when it really hit home, I was ruined, I was shattered because, lately, I had not been broken by my own sin. You see if you are in Christ and not disqualified then God safeguards you. He does so by convicting you of your sin. If you are not convicted of sin in your life (if you say you have no sin) and are not called by that conviction to repent and confess then the truth is not in you. John says plainly that you are not a believer. But preacher you can’t say that! You are right, I can’t but the Word of God just did.

Tests 4 and 5: 1 John 2:3-6 3 Now by this we know that we know Him, if we keep His commandments. 4 He who says, “I know Him,” and does not keep His commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him. 5 But whoever keeps His word, truly the love of God is perfected in him. By this we know that we are in Him. 6 He who says he abides in Him ought himself also to walk just as He walked.[6] Does your style of life demonstrate that you keep the commandments and when you fail are you broken bringing about confession and repentance? If you keep His commandments you know Him and by that you know you know Him because keeping God’s law on your own is impossible and distasteful. Romans 8 says that the natural man is not subject to the law nor can he be. But if you say you know Him but do not keep the law then you are a liar. If that is offensive don’t look at me. If you do keep His commands then you will walk as He walked. Jesus walked in all the commands of God, without flaw or failure. The preacher I told you about earlier gave this illustration. Picture a young boy going out into the snow with his father to do the daily chores. The father is a large man and the boy is small. As the father makes his way through the snow the son does everything in his power to walk in his father’s footsteps. He fails because he is unable to do it perfectly but it is his greatest desire to be like his father and walk as his father walks. That is what John is talking about. If you abide in Christ, if Christ is in you then you will desire above all else to walk as He walked. If you do not have that desire then you are disqualified, you are not His.

Test 6: 1 John 2:9-11 9 He who says he is in the light, and hates his brother, is in darkness until now. 10 He who loves his brother abides in the light, and there is no cause for stumbling in him. 11 But he who hates his brother is in darkness and walks in darkness, and does not know where he is going, because the darkness has blinded his eyes.[7] If you say you are a believer and you do not actively love fellow believers then you are a liar. Since Christ is in you, you love to be with people who want to be with God. Do you love God’s people; are you willing to lay down your life for them?

Test 7: 1 John 2:15-17 15 Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. 16 For all that is in the world—the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life—is not of the Father but is of the world. 17 And the world is passing away, and the lust of it; but he who does the will of God abides forever.[8] Do you love what comes from God and returns to Him as worship? Or do you love the things of the world that nailed Jesus to the cross? The things of the world will all pass away and so will those who love those things. But those who love God, the things of God, will do the will of God and he will abide forever. Jesus made it very clear that you cannot serve two masters.

Test 8: 1 John 2:19 19 They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would have continued with us; but they went out that they might be made manifest, that none of them were of us.[9] Those who are believers will not walk away from orthodox Christianity. I may not be talking to you but you may have family members that said a prayer one time but today they have gone out from us (not this church but the church). They need to hear this warning from you. Those who are His will persevere.

Test 9: 1 John 2:22 22 Who is a liar but he who denies that Jesus is the Christ? He is antichrist who denies the Father and the Son. 23 Whoever denies the Son does not have the Father either; he who acknowledges the Son has the Father also.[10] Those who are in Christ will acknowledge and embrace all the fullness of Christ’s person. He is Redeemer, Savior, Lord, Prophet, Priest, and King. To acknowledge His role as Savior and deny His role as Lord with the authority to rule and reign in your life is to deny that Jesus is the Christ. Think about that one for just a minute.

Test 10: 1 John 2:29 29 If you know that He is righteous, you know that everyone who practices righteousness is born of Him.[11] Do you practice everything that conforms to the will of God (righteousness)? If you believe that living righteously is a burden, something not worth the effort then you are lost, disqualified.

Test 11: 1 John 3:3 3 And everyone who has this hope in Him purifies himself, just as He is pure.[12] The hope that John is talking about is eternal life in the presence of God and Jesus Christ His Son. Those who have that hope will purify themselves. Wait a minute preacher, got you there. It is Christ who cleans us and makes us holy; pure. That is true, He cleanses us and proclaims us justified, we are pure for eternity but we are responsible for keeping our lives on this earth pure. Those who are His will have a plan of some sort to keep himself or herself pure; separate from a lifestyle of sin. What is your plan?

Test 12: 1 John 3:4-6 4 Whoever commits sin also commits lawlessness, and sin is lawlessness. 5 And you know that He was manifested to take away our sins, and in Him there is no sin. 6 Whoever abides in Him does not sin. Whoever sins has neither seen Him nor known Him.[13] We are not talking about sinless perfection. We have already acknowledged that those who are His will occasionally sin but they are sensitive to that sin and will confess and repent. We are talking about a lifestyle of sin, a lifestyle that demonstrates that you do not care about the law of God. Those who live that lifestyle are not His. An individual can come to church every week; Satan does, and still have a lifestyle of lawlessness demonstrated by attitude and action. He or she who do that and has no sensitivity to their own sin has neither seen Christ nor known Him. He is lost. He is disqualified.

Test 13: 1 John 5:12 12 He who has the Son has life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have life.[14] Do you have the Son? If you do then Jesus is not just something that is added into your life to round things out. He is your life because in Him is life and that life is the light of man. Do you love Jesus I guess is the better way to ask that question because if He is the One who gave you life then you will love Him above all the things of this world. That does not mean that you will never take your eyes off of Him but your lifestyle will demonstrate that He is your greatest passion.

Folks John wrote this letter so that those who read it would know if they are believers or not. If something in what I said this morning did not convict you then you are a super Christian (there’s no such thing) or you are not His. The judgment is coming, whether now in this lifetime or not, it is coming. This is not the story of The Fly Went by. This is real and you had better know if you are in Christ or not because there are no do-overs. Let’s pray.

[1] The New King James Version. (1982). (Re 8:1–6). Nashville: Thomas Nelson.

[2] The New King James Version. (1982). (2 Co 13:5). Nashville: Thomas Nelson.

[3] The New King James Version. (1982). (1 Jn 1:5). Nashville: Thomas Nelson.

[4] The New King James Version. (1982). (1 Jn 1:6–7). Nashville: Thomas Nelson.

[5] The New King James Version. (1982). (1 Jn 1:8–10). Nashville: Thomas Nelson.

[6] The New King James Version. (1982). (1 Jn 2:3–6). Nashville: Thomas Nelson.

[7] The New King James Version. (1982). (1 Jn 2:9–11). Nashville: Thomas Nelson.

[8] The New King James Version. (1982). (1 Jn 2:15–17). Nashville: Thomas Nelson.

[9] The New King James Version. (1982). (1 Jn 2:19). Nashville: Thomas Nelson.

[10] The New King James Version. (1982). (1 Jn 2:22–23). Nashville: Thomas Nelson.

[11] The New King James Version. (1982). (1 Jn 2:29). Nashville: Thomas Nelson.

[12] The New King James Version. (1982). (1 Jn 3:3). Nashville: Thomas Nelson.

[13] The New King James Version. (1982). (1 Jn 3:4–6). Nashville: Thomas Nelson.

[14] The New King James Version. (1982). (1 Jn 5:12). Nashville: Thomas Nelson.