Then The Lord Comes
End of Days • Sermon • Submitted
0 ratings
· 3 viewsEvil feels overwhelming but it isn't; the faithful will see God's justice and experience his mercy on the great and terrible day of the Lord.
Notes
Transcript
This week your staff and I attended the Gospel Coalition Conference.
It’s held in Indianapolis, Indiana every other year and this year, post Covid, they offered both in person and live-stream options.
So, we joined up with Kim Washburn, Reson Holt, Beau Washburn and Daniel Wright and attended via livestream.
Greenwood was gracious to host us every day and Reson did a great job getting the livestreams where they all needed to be.
It was a good few days.
The theme of the conference was “Jesus Is Greater” and every keynote address was an exposition of a portion of the book of Hebrews - all 13 chapters.
We listened to, are you ready? - at least 14 hours of preaching and teaching, not to mention the intermingled worship sets.
It was a wonderful conference.
And I tell you all of that to tell you this - the last speaker was David Platt.
Many of you are familiar with Platt - for a season he was the president of the International Mission Board.
But mostly you’ll remember him from our study of his book “Radical” from a few years back.
This coming Friday night, he’ll be leading Secret Church - Friday night at 7, here - you might want to figure out a way to be here.
You’ll never experience anything like it.
But, Platt was the last speaker of the event.
He introduced his message by saying he had 25 points in his message.
Everyone laughed.
And he said, “No, really, I have 25 points - so let’s get started.”
He did have 25 points and at the end of the message, we wanted to stand up and cheer.
“Jesus IS Greater.”
You’ll be happy - or maybe disappointed if I could preach like Platt - that I don’t have 25 points this morning.
But I pray at the end of the message, you’ll want to stand up and cheer because “Jesus is greater.
There are three things we want to remember from today.
First, the world will always hate Christians because it always hates Jesus
Second, things are going to get worse before they get better.
And third, then Jesus comes.
The world will always hate Christians because it always hates Jesus.
You know, when you first read the question of the “souls of those who had been slain,” it sounds like they are asking, how long before you will avenge our deaths.
They were slain - verse 9 says.
You heard that before - that’s the word used for Jesus - “I saw a Lamb standing, as though it had been slain...”
They had a violent, brutal death.
Like in 2015, when 21 Egyptian Coptic Christian construction workers - construction workers - were kidnapped by Islamic murderers.
We saw the video of them marched single file down a beach; they were made to kneel and then their butchers decapitated them.
Why?
Did these guys do some provocative thing to enrage the terrorists?
Yes, they followed Jesus.
But it’s more than that.
In Revelation, these martyrs, these people who died for their faith, their souls are “under the altar.”
Isn’t that curious to you?
Whatever could that mean?
Back in the day when they had the Jewish temple, it had several altars in it.
On one of those altars in particular was a bowl of incense, that when the incense was set on fire, it represented what?
The prayers of God’s people.
When an animal was sacrificed to atone for their sins, some of the animal’s blood was poured around the based of that altar.
When the martyr was sacrificed, their blood was poured out around the altar - see the image?
Ok, now keep thinking.
Where have you heard something about blood talking before?
Then the Lord said to Cain, “Where is Abel your brother?” He said, “I do not know; am I my brother’s keeper?” And the Lord said, “What have you done? The voice of your brother’s blood is crying to me from the ground.
The Bible has been using this symbolism forever.
The souls got under the altar, not by their works, not because they were faithful unto death, the souls under the altar sacrificed themselves for God.
I know it’s nuanced but follow me.
Their blood isn’t calling out because they want vengeance for their deaths.
Their souls are calling about because they want to know how long God will put up with people impugning his name.
How long will God allow people to accuse him of not being righteous, of not being God?
The are tired of people talking bad about they God they know and love.
See, John and his readers are well aware of what the Old Testament - their sole source of scripture - said.
Deuteronomy 32:43
“Rejoice with him, O heavens;
bow down to him, all gods,
for he avenges the blood of his children
and takes vengeance on his adversaries.
He repays those who hate him
and cleanses his people’s land.”
And yet, here they are - some dead for centuries - and they are praying that the Lord would uphold his name.
They are not accusing him of inaction, they are asking him when will his mercy give out?
When is your patience going to wear out with these people?
They did not die because the world hated them - they were collateral damage.
They died because the world hates Christ.
This is profound so get ready for it, the only way to elevate godlessness is to eliminate Godliness.
The issue isn’t white supremacy, I heard someone slip the other day and say what they meant - it’s Western ideology - it’s Western Christianity.
The issue isn’t prejudice, either real or imagined, about the LGBTQ+ movement, the issue is Christian morality.
Our American society has tipped the scale towards anything goes.
The Lord has removed his hand of restraint from us and you can’t miss it if you are a Christian.
And if you are not, you call what you are seeing progress.
The only way to elevate godlessness is to eliminate Godliness.
Evil and good cannot co-exist.
They didn’t die because the world hated them - they died because the world hates Jesus.
The souls aren’t concerned with themselves, they are concerned that the world knows the Lord they know.
Psalm 79:10
Why should the nations say,
“Where is their God?”
Let the avenging of the outpoured blood of your servants
be known among the nations before our eyes!
We aren’t concerned about ourselves.
We know who you are.
We are so consumed by your love and strength that we were able to die as sacrifices for you.
But Lord, we are ready to see you roll.
You who created the nations, you who are above reproach, you who know no evil, you who live in pure justice,
How long will you allow them to deny your very existence?
To de-mythologize your word.
To say that your people who are called by your name, are evil and unjust and are relics of a superstitious, by-gone day?
“How long before you will judge and avenge our blood on those who dwell on the earth?”
The answer isn’t what we want to hear.
Things will get worse before they get better.
Now the good thing is, the souls give us a peek into what our lives might look like before their is a new heaven and the new earth.
They are given a white robe - white for purity - they conquered.
Then they were “told to rest a little while longer.”
The word rest implies bliss - extreme happiness and contentment.
You continue to rest because more souls will join you.
“until the number… is complete.”
Things will get worse before they get better, but they won’t stay worse forever.
The Lord has a number in mind and when that number of souls is martyred for the faith, when that number is reached, the Lord’s mercy will end.
His patience will run out.
Then the Lord comes.
Let me remind you of a few things right quick.
First, almost everything we see in Revelation we can see in the Bible before Revelation.
Does that mean that John just picked and chose the best parts to make up a story?
No, it means that “there is no variation or shadow due to change” in the Lord.
He is the same yesterday, today and forever.
In fact, I feel foolish as I study the Bible sometimes, because I forget.
Just because the second part of the Bible is called the New Testament, doesn’t mean God has changed.
So expecting God to react to sin differently in the New Testament than he did in the Old Testament is kind of silly, actually.
God hated sin then - he hates sin now.
We have de-constructed sin to turn it into an illness or an addiction or an ailment - but changing the words doesn’t change the issue.
Sin is sin and God hates sin.
Second, let me remind you again about apocalyptic language.
These symbols and signs are meant to convey both emotion and information.
Sometimes the symbols are literal, but mostly the symbols are meant to make you think and feel.
So when you read about the sixth seal, it’s time to think and feel.
Time has passed - how much, we don’t know.
What we do know is this?
The souls under the altar have been resting, but the last soul just got added.
Jesus’ patience has run out.
His mercy is complete.
“When he opened the sixth seal, I looked and behold, there was a great earthquake...”
Now as far as symbols go, earthquakes in Biblical literature always indicates “the chaos between [the fall of] one kingdom and [the rise of] another.” (Beale)
This isn’t a little trembler, it’s a great earthquake.
Revelation 11:15 declares: “The kingdom of this world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of his Christ, and he shall reign forever and ever.”
What does it look like when this colossal of a kingdom falls only to have a more magnificent kingdom take it’s place?
It looks like a volcano erupting.
I thought I remembered seeing a picture of a volcano erupting where it looked like the sky was rolling back like a scroll.
The ash cloud was propelled so high so fast, that the clouds that had been over the mountain were pushed back and kind of consumed in the eruption.
People reported strong earthquakes.
Giant bolts of lightning streak through the ash cloud as it rises.
Giant super-heated boulders are ejected and flung miles through the air looking like hundreds of stars falling from the sky.
People 8 miles away from Mt. Saint Helen's when it erupted in 1980 said the wind blew like a gale force wind - a wind so strong 8 miles away, that a fig tree could have it’s green fruit blown off.
A car caught in the dust cloud had to stop because it became as dark as night.
And as the dust settled, the moon at night was clouded with haze.
And something I found amusing, but I am certain it wasn’t amusing to them.
In a Japanese volcanic eruption, some hikers were down slope a bit from a very unexpected eruption.
And what were they yelling?
“Get behind large boulders.”
“Hide in the ditches.”
The ground jumps up and down under your feet, and the entire world explodes over your head.
In 79 ad, Mt. Vesuvius erupted not too terribly far from where John was exiled on Patmos.
The terror of that eruption would be fresh on their minds.
Some probably had friends or family die that day.
They remember the way the sky looked and all of the stories the survivors told.
But then they realized very, very important, they survived.
Revelation 6:15
Then the kings of the earth and the great ones and the generals and the rich and the powerful, and everyone, slave and free, hid themselves in the caves and among the rocks of the mountains,
7 types of people.
All of the evil, arrogant, God-hating, God-denying, God-defying, God-defiling people - all of them - the complete lot of them.
From the halls of Washington, DC, to Moscow, to Beijing and every point in between.
Kings, and important people.
Commanders of great armies, billionaires and millionaires.
Powerful people, social media influencers, reality T.V. stars and media personalities.
From the slaves still in slavery in multiple countries to the jet setting elite unencumbered by any rules.
The lot of them will be terrified and will hide themselves - but not from flying boulders and burning ash.
But someone is missing from the perfect list.
The church.
The bride of Christ is missing.
Where is she? We don’t know yet.
Was it the rapture?
John up to this point has no idea of a miraculous saving event for Christians so we’ll need to keep reading and studying to see.
But one thing we know for sure at this point, the church isn’t a participant in this hell on earth.
We aren’t a part, we aren’t caught up in it.
We don’t run and hide in caves - we are not there.
But the Godless elite in Washington, DC and Atlanta, Georgia and all around the world are.
Revelation 6:16-17
calling to the mountains and rocks, “Fall on us and hide us from the face of him who is seated on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb, for the great day of their wrath has come, and who can stand?”
I want you to notice something else here: No one asked, how did this happen?
Who caused this mess?
Who voted wrong, what policy do we need to tighten up, what about the Green New Deal?
There is no question, because deep in their evil hearts they have a memory of a shadow of God’s morality.
Having been created in the image of God, living within them is a shadow of God’s morality they cannot elude.
No amount of surgery or drugs or licentious, immoral behavior can wash it away.
No reordering the words of the language, no amount of calling truth a lie and a lie the truth can make it go away.
When the Lord comes, they will know it is him.
What is astounding is they don’t cry out for mercy.
They don’t realize their error and plead for forgiveness.
There is no repentance.
To the very end, they hate the one who created them.
To the very end, like the darkness dwellers they are, they think they can hide from him and avoid his wrath.
“Fall on us and hide us from him who is seated on the throne...”
What they have never taken to heart is, death never stopped Jesus.
They can die here, but Hebrews 9:27
And just as it is appointed for man to die once, and after that comes judgment,
I worry about myself sometimes.
Who in their right mind would preach about the end of time in the middle of a pandemic?
Well, I did.
On June 7, 2020, the first day we offered in person services, we studied Joel 2:1-17
Joel 2:11 says,
The Lord utters his voice
before his army,
for his camp is exceedingly great;
he who executes his word is powerful.
For the day of the Lord is great and very awesome;
who can endure it?
The Lord has been executing his judgment on ungodly people using armies and nations and peoples for centuries.
Earthquakes, major sea changes in the geopolitical landscape has happened time and again.
Assyria gave way to Babylon.
Babylon gave way to Rome.
Rome fell and over time Great Britain, France, Germany, Russia, China
The United States of America conquered lands exacting God’s judgment on wickedness and immorality.
But there will come a final day when the number of souls who die as sacrifices to the cause of Christ will be complete.
And we can pray, “Father forgive them,” we can pray, “Lord please have mercy on our sons and daughters,” “have mercy on our friends and family.”
“Lord have mercy on my friends at work and my girlfriend at school and my boyfriend at college.”
“Lord have mercy - they don’t know you.”
And your prayer will fall on deaf ears.
The final soul will be poured out on the altar.
His voice / her voice will cry out, “…how long before you will judge and avenge our blood on those who dwell on the earth?”
And Jesus will answer, “Today.”
Church, Jesus is greater than all of the political and spiritual powers who spit on his name.
Our bodies may die from violence or our bodies will die by old age - regardless, when the great and terrible day of the Lord appears.
We won’t be there.
We will be resting with him.
Because Jesus is greater - and we belong to him.
Please listen - you know in your heart if you belong to Jesus or not.
If you belong to him, today’s message is good news - we are one day closer to his promise fulfilled - He will be our God and we will be his people - and all of the incredible, unimaginable things that will mean.
But if you don’t belong to him, and you know in your heart right now that you do not, your end is far from glorious.
The wrath of God will bring unspeakable horror upon you.
Wrath - that means God’s anger and fury.
Don’t be deceived - just because people say God is love and God loves everyone, doesn’t make that true.
God loves his children.
He is jealous for his bride.
Deuteronomy 32:43
“Rejoice with him, O heavens;
bow down to him, all gods,
for he avenges the blood of his children
and takes vengeance on his adversaries.
He repays those who hate him
and cleanses his people’s land.”
If you hate Jesus and never repent, he will cleanse you off his people’s land.
And if you don’t follow him, you hate him - Please, repent.
You know you aren’t God, quit trying to be God.
Turn to Jesus and ask him to save you.
Ask him to forgive you for your sins, tell him you want to follow him wherever he leads.
Jesus died on a cross so that you could be saved.
If you will trust Jesus with your life, his blood will cover all of your sins.
You’ll be free from sin.
You’ll be free from death.
For the first time in your life, you can be truly free.
Please come forward when we sing, tell me, tell someone in here that you have asked Jesus to save you.
His patience will end.
Please don’t wait until it is too late.
Let us pray.