A Change in Perspective

INTRODUCTION

Well we are coming to the close of a series we’ve been in for the past few months entitled “Kingdoms in Conflict.”

It’s been an exploration of how the Kingdom of Light advances against the kingdom of Darkness and how Satan has always attempted to oppose God, his people and his redemptive plans for the world.

Review of 12-14

For those of you who are just joining us, the language John uses in Revelation 12-14 is apocalyptic in genre. That means he uses images and symbols and metaphors to describe very real and literal events.

For example in chapter 12 we saw a cast of characters.

a pregnant woman clothed with the sun, moon under her feet and 12 stars on her head.

that woman gave birth to a male child who would rule the nations with an iron rod and be caught up to heaven to sit on a throne.

Both the woman and the child are preyed upon by a fiery red dragon with seven heads and ten horns/crowns who unsuccessfully sought to devour the child at birth and so he then begins to persecute the woman as well as the rest of her children.

An important thing to remember about apocalyptic is just because you may not take every word literally doesn’t mean it shouldn’t be taken seriously. Thankfully, like most things in the book of Revelation these symbols are defined for us. Not all of them but many of them.

We said the woman represented true Israel, the dragon represents Satan and the child represents the Lord Jesus Christ. The “rest of her offspring” I believe represents all those who came to believe in the Lord Jesus after his death and resurrection.

Chapter 12 ends with Jesus ruling and reigning from heaven, the devil defeated and angry on the earth and God’s people overcoming the devil by the blood of the lamb and the word of their testimony.

Chapter 13 opens with a presentation of another beast.

In fact, in Revelation 13 Satan (the first beast) brings to power 2 more beasts. The beast the from the sea and the beast from the earth. Again, the imagery is apocalyptic.

In chapter 13 there is more disagreement between commentators. Just by way of review we said

the first beast represents an evil, antichristian/antisemitic empire led by a future end times antichrist.

the second beast represents a deceptive but powerful false religion headed up by a future end times false prophet.

In other words, Satan is going to use an unholy mix of politics and religion to crush the people of God who live on the earth during this time.

This, of course, is not surprising! This has always been Satan’s MO for persecuting the people of God. The number one source of martyrdom of Christians has always been “the State.”

Jesus also warned his disciples in the first century, Matthew 24:4-5 “4 Jesus replied to them, “Watch out that no one deceives you. 5 For many will come in my name, saying, ‘I am the Messiah,’ and they will deceive many.”

And again in Matthew 24:11-12 “11 Many false prophets will rise up and deceive many. 12 Because lawlessness will multiply, the love of many will grow cold.”

And that’s exactly what we see happen in Revelation 13. The false prophet leads many people astray to bow down to this false Christ, his false promises, and his oppressive antichristian government.

The delusion is world wide in its impact. Every Christian who refuses to bow down to the Antichrist is under the threat of death and immediately banned from participation in the system.

To say they “get cancelled” is an understatement.

The Power of Perspective

That brings us to chapter 14 which we began last week. Today’s message is entitled “A Change in Perspective.” It’s somewhat tongue in cheek.

On the one hand, there are different perspectives for how one should interpret chapters 12-14.

Preterist: There are those who interpret these things to have already happened in the first century.

Idealist: There are those who say these things are “always happening” in one form or another and John is just using the apocalyptic to paint it in extremes.

Futurist: Then there are those who say, “yeah they might’ve happened back in the first century to some degree and sure they are themes that repeat themselves throughout human history. But these particular manifestations are real and literal and will happen during the final 3 1/2 years before Jesus returns to the earth.

The Call for Virtue

Wherever it is that you land on that particular question, the point of application is the same. John calls for certain Christian virtues in chapters 12-14.

This kingdom conflict between good and evil calls for endurance, faithfulness and wisdom from the Saints.

John calls for faithfulness and endurance in Revelation 13:10 “...This calls for endurance and faithfulness from the saints.”

And he makes an appeal for wisdom in Revelation 13:18 “... This calls for wisdom...”

We need wisdom to be able to identify these forces when they rise to power on the earth and we need faithfulness and endurance to hold fast to our testimony about Jesus no matter the cost.

That kind of wisdom, faithfulness and endurance is exactly what we see when Revelation 14 opens.

The Change in Perspective

Not only does chapter 14 show these virtues of endurance, faithfulness and wisdom. It also shows us WHY those virtues manifest among the people of God.

These virtues can you be yours regardless your suffering if you learn to see your suffering from a different perspective.

Here’s how I break it down for my own understanding:

Revelation 12 presents the conflict from a historical perspective (from beginning to Jesus’ ascension)

Revelation 13 presents the conflict from a human perspective. (from the side of those who live ‘on the earth.’)

Revelation 14 presents the conflict from a heavenly perspective. (from the side of those who trust in Christ and remain faithful)

So, Revelation 14 talks about a similar set of events as chapter 12 & 13 but does so from a different perspective: the perspective of heaven.

This heavenly perspective is necessary and was given by John to encourage faithfulness among the saints. Even as they suffered great persecution they were to be reminded that God’s kingdom will come and his will shall be done.

They will be delivered from the wrath of the antichrist and their sufferings on the earth. Ultimate victory belongs to the Lamb and to his people.

READ THE TEXT:

Revelation 14:6–12

6 Then I saw another angel flying high overhead, with the eternal gospel to announce to the inhabitants of the earth—to every nation, tribe, language, and people. 7 He spoke with a loud voice: “Fear God and give him glory, because the hour of his judgment has come. Worship the one who made heaven and earth, the sea and the springs of water.”

8 And another, a second angel, followed, saying, “It has fallen, Babylon the Great has fallen. She made all the nations drink the wine of her sexual immorality, which brings wrath.”

9 And another, a third angel, followed them and spoke with a loud voice: “If anyone worships the beast and its image and receives a mark on his forehead or on his hand, 10 he will also drink the wine of God’s wrath, which is poured full strength into the cup of his anger. He will be tormented with fire and sulfur in the sight of the holy angels and in the sight of the Lamb, 11 and the smoke of their torment will go up forever and ever. There is no rest day or night for those who worship the beast and its image, or anyone who receives the mark of its name. 12 This calls for endurance from the saints, who keep God’s commands and their faith in Jesus.”

Chapter 14 in a Nutshell

John opens with the words, “Then I saw...” He does this three times in Revelation 14. Each time starts a new section. (Rev 14:1; 6; 14)

It’s as if he’s saying “even though it looks like Satan may be winning, from this perspective the victory belongs to the Lamb!

Revelation 14:1-5 gives us a picture of God’s protection over those who bear his mark throughout the Great Tribulation.

Revelation 14:6-13 gives us a picture of the Gospel proclamation that will take place during this same time.

Revelation 14:14-20 gives us a picture of God’s wrath finally being poured out on the earth.

In other words, Revelation 14 reminds us that even in the face of incredible opposition, God’s people will be protected, his Gospel will be proclaimed and his promised wrath will eventually be poured out on the earth.

It’s a reminder for us that God is working even when it doesn’t feel like he is. He’s faithful even when we can’t see it in moment. He’s working all things together for good.

The Preaching of the Gospel

In our passage today we see him working that good through the proclamation of the Gospel.

There are three angels and they speak three different messages.

The first angel promotes the worship of God and Him alone.

The second angel pronounces the futility of idolatry.

Finally the third angel makes a promise about God judgment.

In some ways you could summarize the message as “God is infinitely holy… mankind is universally sinful and the wages of that sin is eternal judgment.

Before we dive into the particulars about that message we need to deal with this question of flying angels preaching the message.

Angels: Literal or Figurative

Angels show up ALL OVER THE PLACE in the book of Revelation!

Will there literally be angels that fly up in the sky with super loud voices and built in translators so that every person on the earth (every nation, tribe, language and people) hear what the angels are saying?

There are interpreters who say yes. And, if you take a plain reading of this text then it certainly seems that way.

Others would say these angels represent something else.

Already in the book of Revelation we’ve seen a relationship between angels and churches. (Rev 2-3)

Some think the angel in chapter 10 is a reference to Jesus Christ.

The angels are also the ones who unleash the trumpet/bowel judgments on the earth. (Rev 8-9, 16)

For those reasons I think it may be possible to think of this angel as representing something else.

A Representation of Gospel Proclamation

Or maybe even understand these angels as literal/physical angels that animate a particular spiritual activity on the earth.

What is that activity? I believe the proclamation of these angels represent the preaching of the Gospel to the ends of the earth.

Just like Jesus said would happen in Matthew 24:14 “14 This good news of the kingdom will be proclaimed in all the world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come.”

Who’s doing the preaching?

Well in light of verses 1-5 it’s probably that believing remnant who’ve remained faithful to God even though the whole world as turned against them.

Not one single time is the Gospel preached by anything or anyone else other than a human except right here in Revelation 14.

That’s why I think the angels may be the ones energizing the activity but it’s redeemed HUMANS who actually preach the message.

That’s why many see the 144,000 as a reference to every living Christian living on the earth during the time of the Great Tribulation. (12 x 12 x 10 x 10 x 10.... 12 tribes, 12 apostles, 3 x 10 ultimate power)

If you believe in a post-trib rapture then that makes a lot of sense!

The Overcoming Power of the Gospel

Whoever they are, they’re preaching the Gospel even though it’s very likely going to cost them their very lives. But it’s through the preaching of the Gospel that they will overcome the rage of Satan.

This is EXACTLY what the angels sang about Revelation 12:11

Revelation 12:11 (CSB)

They conquered him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony; for they did not love their lives to the point of death.

Remember, chapter 12 is giving us a historical/big overview of everything.

The picture you get is that of a radiant group of believers who are actively sharing the good news of the Gospel because their hope is not in this world or the things of this world - their hope is in Jesus who died for them.

That’s the power of the Gospel. It’s the power of the Gospel that animates the COURAGE of the saints. The blood of Christ. The story of the cross.

Those things are what create a community of people who’ve been bought with a price, their bodies are NOT THEIR OWN.

They are radical sold out confident Christians who spread throughout the entire world preaching the Gospel to every nation, every tribe, every language and every people.

The Blood is The Seed

This is going on EVEN AS the “powers of this world” are persecuting them, squeezing them, pushing them out of the economic system and educational system and social institutions of the day.

They’re doing everything in their power to scare them, intimidate them and destroy them. But no matter how hard they try they can’t get it done.

As Turtullian said of those first century Christian martyrs - “their blood was the seed of the church.” It was through their suffering that the Gospel advanced even further and faster.

The Gospel Versus the Beast

If you think back to Revelation 13 the two things that this “unholy trinity” used to compel submission was people’s love of money and fear of death.

If you didn’t take the mark of the beast then you would be sentenced to death and removed from being able to buy or sell.

By appealing to their fear of death the antichrist was actually preaching a false Gospel. He was saying, “faith in Jesus won’t give you real life… it’ll just make your life worse! What you really need to be happy is this… just trust me… life isn’t worth living if you don’t have… just follow me...”

By appealing to their human greed the false Gospel sounded something like ... “If you become one of those Jesus freaks then how will you ever get a good job? Who do you think will ever date you? How you imagine the rest of your friends are going to treat you? What you really need is this… what will really make you happy is this...”

The devil has always played on human fear and human desire to orient our hearts AWAY from God and towards the world. Away from LIFE and towards death and destruction.

The blood of Jesus and the truth of the Gospel absolutely reorients our heart TOWARDS GOD, away from this world and that’s why we can overcome.

What is the Gospel?

The Gospel is that we were created by a loving and holy God.

MAN/SIN: Instead of living according to his design for our life/world we rebelled against him and decided to live life according to our own terms.

ALL HAVE SINNED and fallen short of God’s glory. Rom 3:23

Even though God had every right to destroy us and the world we perverted with our sinful rebellion he instead did the opposite.

CHRIST/CROSS: He sent his beloved son into the world to do for us what we could never do for ourselves.

Jesus lived a sinless perfect life of love and obedience to God the father. Instead of sinning like our first father Adam he resisted temptation and perfectly followed the will of the Father.

He did this even though obedience to the Father’s will demanded that he lay down his life as an atoning sacrifice for sin.

Not just one or two sins for one or two people. But the entirety of sin for the entirety of the world. He was rejected so we could be accepted. He was cast out so we could be welcomed in.

RESURRECTION/RESPONSE: God showed his acceptance of that sacrifice by 3 days later raising Jesus from the dead and proving to everyone that his claims were true and he really was the Son of God.

That resurrection was the firstfruits of a new kind of life available to every person who repents of sin and puts their faith in Jesus as Lord.

Anyone who calls on the name of Jesus can be saved. Rom 10:13

If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead then YOU WILL BE SAVED! (Rom 10:9-10)

When you receive that saving grace into your life then the power of sin is broken in your life. You have a new power to overcome sin, Satan and his schemes.

How the Gospel Destroys

That “overcoming power” is what John is talking about in this chapter. The Gospel destroys our fear of death and our tendency towards human greed.

Through Faith in the Gospel our heart is reoriented towards God and enabled to overcome the lies of the enemy.

It destroys our fear of death because through Jesus we have eternal life. Not just that our life goes on forever. But that we can live a qualitatively better life even now, even in the face of things like mortality and death.

It also destroys our love of money. Why? Because our hope is not in this world or the things of this world. This world is passing away along with its desires: lust of the flesh, lust of the eyes, pride of life. Through faith in Jesus we store up for ourselves treasures in heaven where moth and rust cannot destroy and thieves cannot break in and steal.

Sinful expressions of fear and desire are replaced with faith and love.

Don’t you see this is why the Gospel cannot be stopped? This is why the gates of hell cannot prevail against the church. This is why the Gospel IS THE POWER of God for salvation to everyone who believes.

Responding to the Gospel

So we’ve seen the power of a change in perspective. We’ve seen the power of a preached Gospel. I want to close our time looking at the content of these three proclamations.

Some say these three proclamations ARE the Gospel. I disagree. Rather, these angels are showing that once the Gospel has been preached there’s only ONE proper response. They are describing the three major implications of that Gospel on your day to day life.

So I want to close our time by examining these three pillars.

Glorify God (through reverential worship)

Forsake Your Worthless Idols (through repentance of sin)

Escape The Coming Judgment (through faith in Jesus)

The Gospel culminates with the worship of God, the failure of idols and the promise of judgment.

Fear God and Worship Him

The first pillar of the Gospel is the glory of God. Revelation 14:7 Glorify your creator through reverential worship.

Revelation 14:7 (CSB)

7 He spoke with a loud voice: “Fear God and give him glory, because the hour of his judgment has come. Worship the one who made heaven and earth, the sea and the springs of water.”

The Bible says the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. Not fear in the sense that “The big man in the sky is going to strike you with lightening. Fear in the sense of reverence and respect.”

When God is feared you’ll live your life in a way that brings him glory.

Jordan Peter Illustration

There’s a popular cultural figure in our day named Jordan Peterson. Somewhat of a firebrand who never really answers the question when people ask him if he’s a Christian or if he believes in God.

Even though I share in that frustration I love his evasion of an answer. He says, “I live as though God exists.”

I don’t think JP’s definition of God is what WE mean but his definition of worship couldn’t be more correct.

If the Gospel really is true then how can you not orient ALL of your life towards this holy creator God is who is so worthy of our worship?

Don’t just fear God because you’re fearful of his judgment. Worship him because he made you for worship.

He made you so that your human flourishing is directly related to your recognition of his glory and worship of him with all of your life.

Forsake Your Worthless Idols.

The second point of application is to forsake your worthless idols through repentance of sin.

Revelation 14:8 (CSB)

8 And another, a second angel, followed, saying, “It has fallen, Babylon the Great has fallen. She made all the nations drink the wine of her sexual immorality, which brings wrath.”

Here we are introduced to a city that is truly Mysterious in the book of Revelation. We will learn more about this city and her idolatrous ways in Revelation 17 but suffice it to say she represents all things idolatry.

ORIGINAL: The original Babylon was not only a means by which God poured his wrath out on HIS people back in the book of Jeremiah. Babylon was also a kingdom that experienced the wrath of God themselves because of their idolatry and sexual immorality.

Mystery Babylon

The idea of idolatry and sexual immorality are often correlated in Scripture

They had incredible wealth and power and historical prestige. Their rulers (like King Neb) were usually sociopathic egomaniacs. And like most wealthy nations who forsake God, their culture was very sick with sexual brokenness and various forms of idolatry.

HISTORICAL: Some commentators say this reference to Babylon is a reference to Rome because for John his modern day Babylon would’ve been Rome.

FUTURE: Some say this is a future reference to a future “Babylon like” nation and that’s more where I land.

Idols Invite Wrath

Either way - the point is ALL Babylons eventually FALL. All idols eventually fail you.

They promise wealth and pleasure and whatever else to get you to bite. But they’re sour in your stomach after they show themselves for what they really are - cheap substitutes for the living God.

Not only will idols fail you. They invite the wrath of God into your life. You cannot worship God and cling to idols at the same time. He will not tolerate that in your life.

Escape The Coming Judgment

The final response given by the final angel is to escape the coming judgment through faith in Jesus Christ.

And this judgment, I believe, is the judgment of eternal hell fire with the devil and his demons.

Revelation 14:9–11 (CSB)

9 And another, a third angel, followed them and spoke with a loud voice: “If anyone worships the beast and its image and receives a mark on his forehead or on his hand, 10 he will also drink the wine of God’s wrath, which is poured full strength into the cup of his anger. He will be tormented with fire and sulfur in the sight of the holy angels and in the sight of the Lamb, 11 and the smoke of their torment will go up forever and ever. There is no rest day or night for those who worship the beast and its image, or anyone who receives the mark of its name.

Literal or Figurative

Some people don’t see this as a reference to hell but rather a literal description of the fall of Babylon.

My only problem with that is the use of words like “torment” and “forever and ever” and “no rest day or night.”

The fact that this torment is “in the sight of the holy angels and the Lamb” also suggest some sort of spiritual reality like hell as opposed to a war torn landscape on the earth.

People don’t like to talk about hell these days but it’s a VERY biblical concept. And we have more information about the experience of hell in this passage than many others in the Scripture.

And even if this is figurative language, it’s describing a literal reality. John uses apocalyptic symbols to communicate ideas that are beyond his reach.

So even if it’s not literal fire and brimstone, what they point to would be even worse and more agonizing then you can even imagine.

Hell is real so ENDURE!

The reality of hell is why John encourages endurance among the people of God.

Revelation 14:12 (CSB)

12 This calls for endurance from the saints, who keep God’s commands and their faith in Jesus.”

Remember, those who refused the Mark of the Beast were prohibited from buying and selling and sentenced to physical death.

Those who BEAR the mark of the beast, however, are opening themselves up to something FAR WORSE.

It’s not a physical consequence with temporal effects. It’s a spiritual consequence with eternal effects.

Poured Full Strength

This language about God’s wrath being “poured full strength” into the cup of his anger is actually a play on words.

The verb poured was used of a type of wine preparation that mixed wine with spices in order to amplify its affect.

The word “full strength” means “unmixed” as in “not tempered by mercy or grace whatsoever.” (so mixed and unmixed!)

This is not just “karma” or “the universe getting revenge.” This is the just retribution of a holy God against those who refuse to submit to the truth.

This age of grace will one day come to an end and when it does God’s mercy will no longer restrain his wrath against sin.

It is a fearful thing for sinful people to experience the just punishment for the sin against a Holy God.

I know this brings up all kinds of questions about hell and maybe we can answer them next time.

This is a warning, though, that God is not indifferent to our sin.

Jesus experienced this hell FOR US on the cross. Why would we not respond to the Gospel and escape it ourselves?

Conclusion

So in conclusion, I want to exhort you to believe the Gospel, glorify God, forsake your idols and escape this judgment.

God’s mercy and grace will not be extended indefinitely. Do not harden your heart! Today is the day of salvation.

If the Spirit of God is convicting you of sin then respond to the offer of God’s mercy and grace.

You may not get another chance.

If you ARE a Christian, give thanks to God for the blessing of your salvation. LIVE as if the Gospel really is true.

Live a life of worship, forsake the idols in your life because they will fail you and join your brother and sisters in rescuing people from the fire of hell with the proclamation of the Gospel though our church and our lives.