Having Ears to Hear

INTRODUCTION

Last time we were together I gave us a big overview of the book of Revelation. The reason is because sometimes, in getting so detailed in preaching through a book, we miss some of “big ideas” that ride above the surface.

The book of Revelation was written to remind Christians why they can have unshakeable hope in this broken world.

Those first century Christians needed to be reminded of certain “core truths” that would enable them to endure through their trials and tribulations.

The message of Revelation is as relevant today as it was to its original audience.

But the only way we can hear those truths is if we have ears to hear.

Jesus on Hearing

Throughout the Gospels Jesus would put at the beginning or end of his teachings, “Let him who has ears to hear, listen....”

Jesus often spoke in parables. One day his disciples came up and asked him, “Why do you speak in parables?

Jesus answered him,

Matthew 13:11-17

...“Because the secrets of the kingdom of heaven have been given for you to know, but it has not been given to them. 12 For whoever has, more will be given to him, and he will have more than enough; but whoever does not have, even what he has will be taken away from him. 13 That is why I speak to them in parables, because looking they do not see, and hearing they do not listen or understand. 14 Isaiah’s prophecy is fulfilled in them, which says:

You will listen and listen,

but never understand;

you will look and look,

but never perceive.

15 For this people’s heart has grown callous;

their ears are hard of hearing,

and they have shut their eyes;

otherwise they might see with their eyes,

and hear with their ears, and

understand with their hearts,

and turn back—

and I would heal them.

16 “Blessed are your eyes because they do see, and your ears because they do hear. 17 For truly I tell you, many prophets and righteous people longed to see the things you see but didn’t see them, to hear the things you hear but didn’t hear them.

What Jesus presents in this text is a contrast between two types of people. Those who are open and receptive to the message of the Gospel and those who are NOT.

Those who are spiritually open are granted access to truth. The more open they are they more truth they receive.

The closed-minded, however, are cut off from knowing the truth. If fact, even the general truth that they think they have will be taken away from them.

So when Jesus is asked, “Why do you speak in parables?” His answer is, “So that the ones who CAN hear DO and the one who WON’T hear CAN’T.”

There are serious consequence to spiritual deafness.

How do you become the kind of person who hears the most wonderful news in the world and yet to your ears it’s a message worthy of rejection?

How does one develop that kind of spiritual deafness? The consequences could not be more serious. That’s what I’d like us to look at this morning in the book of Revelation.

The Deceived: Earth Dwellers

The book of Revelation describes those who “do not have ears to hear” as “earth dwellers.”

We first meet them in Revelation 3:10 when Jesus contrasts “earth dwellers” with those who “keep his commandments.”

Revelation 3:10 (CSB)

10 Because you have kept my command to endure, I will also keep you from the hour of testing that is going to come on the whole world to test those who live on the earth.

Again we see the contrast.

Those who hear God’s word and keep it are kept from the hour of testing (the Great Tribulation.)

Those who do not hear and keep will not be protected.

As you move along in the book of Revelation you see the description of the earth dwellers begin to worsen.

In Revelation 6 they are presented as the ones behind the persecution of the saints.

Revelation 6:10 (CSB)

10 They cried out with a loud voice, “Lord, the one who is holy and true, how long until you judge those who live on the earth and avenge our blood?”

In Revelation 8 the earth dwellers are the only ones on whom the trumpet judgments fall.

Revelation 8:13 (CSB)

13 I looked and heard an eagle flying high overhead, crying out in a loud voice, “Woe! Woe! Woe to those who live on the earth, because of the remaining trumpet blasts that the three angels are about to sound!”

In Revelation 11 the earth dwellers are the ones who rejoice and send gifts to one another when God’s witnesses are put to death.

Revelation 11:10 (CSB)

10 Those who live on the earth will gloat over them and celebrate and send gifts to one another because these two prophets had tormented those who live on the earth.

So far we’ve seen that those who don’t have ears to hear...

disobey Christ’s commands,

comply with Christian persecution,

deserve the judgment of God

celebrate the censoring of truth.

From all of this you might think these earth dwellers must be atheistic or men and women without faith. But as you move forward in Revelation you see that’s not the case.

Every human has been designed to worship something. Earth dwellers merely exchange the proper worship of God through Christ with the worship of a counterfeit.

So they worship a counterfeit god (idolatry).

In Revelation 13 this counterfeit is presented as “the Beast.”

Revelation 13:8 (CSB)

8 All those who live on the earth will worship it, everyone whose name was not written from the foundation of the world in the book of life of the Lamb who was slaughtered.

100% of these earth dwellers take the mark of the beast and help carry out the will of the antichrist.

The reason these “earth dwellers” reject Christ and “love this world” isn’t because they haven’t heard the Gospel or had an opportunity to repent (Rev 14:6).

They’ve had repeated opportunities to repent and rejected Christ at every turn.

Instead, they wonder after the Beast and persist in their unbelief no matter what.. Revelation 17:8.

In each of these days, the title “earth-dweller” is more moral than it is geographical, more theological than it is biological.

These are people who “live for this world” and not for heaven. They are all about the here and now and not the sweet by and by.

Blind To Their Own Condition

We learned from our study of Revelation 17 that these earth dwellers - by and large - are blind to the truth about their spiritual condition. Revelation 17:2

Revelation 17:2 (CSB)

2 The kings of the earth committed sexual immorality with her, and those who live on the earth became drunk on the wine of her sexual immorality.”

In the book of Revelation, Babylon represents a “counter culture” to the kingdom of God. It puts itself in the place of God and has a replacement set of values, promises and consequences for those who won’t submit.

Babylon uses her power and influence to entice these earth dwellers to drink her kool-aid and follow her agenda.

As a result, these earth dwellers become drunk.

The image is that of someone who is totally numb to the foolishness of their own decisions and the dangers that are all around them.

From the perspective of an “earth-dweller” everything is good. They are buying and selling, marrying and burying. But from God’s perspective, they’re just a bunch of drunk idiots feeling their way forward in the dark.

Lamb Follower or Earth Dweller?

QUESTION: if someone was to evaluate YOUR life and convict you based on the way you live… would you be an “earth-dweller” or a “lamb follower?”

What’s interesting in the book of Revelation is that there is no neutral or middle ground when it comes to this question.

You’re either an earth-dweller or you’re not. You wear the mark of the beast or the mark of God. You’re following the true Christ or the Anti-christ.

I think that makes a lot of people uncomfortable because we like the idea of having our cake and eating it too. Living in this world and for this world in some respects but also living for Christ and going to heaven when we die as well.

We make all sorts of justifications and twist ourselves into knots theologically but the net result is the same: compromise.

That’s why the message of the book of Revelation is so important. It’s clarifying. It’s an either/or kind of choice.

Are you a Lamb-follower or an earth-dweller?

It’s not a question of whether you will live IN this world. It’s a question of whether you’re living FOR this world.

It’s a question of authority and affection. Who has your heart and who bends your ear?

The Deceivers:

If you’re unsure about the answer to that question or if you’d say you’re living more for this world than you are for the world that is to come, you need to understand WHY that may be the case.

The book of Revelation doesn’t only present the “deceived” it also presents the “deceivers.”

None of us live in a vacuum. Earth-dwellers become earth-dwellers because they grow up in an environment that pulls them that direction. (like a frog in boiling water.)

Unholy Trinity

The book of Revelation presents this system in apocalyptic terms and so some people get lost in the imagery of it.

The point is, Satan knows we were made for God. So instead of persuading us to reject God all together, he designs a system of theological counterfeits that deceive and destroy.

I think the most helpful way to think of it is in terms of an “unholy trinity.”

CHART: The holy trinity is

God the Father who created all things and rules sovereignly over his creation.

He sent his Son into the world to live the life we couldn’t live and die the death we should’ve died.

The Spirit of God points people to the truth about God and His Son, proving that message through signs and wonders.

Those who follow the lamb belong to the New Jerusalem. Citizens of the kingdom of heaven, heirs to the inheritance in Christ.

The unholy Trinity in Revelation tries to tell a similar story.

Instead of God the Father you have Satan the Dragon. He’s not a creator, he’s an uncreator. Dissolves and destroys.

Instead of sending his Son to save the world through love he gives rise to a beast that will rule the world through force.

Instead of the Holy Spirit we see Satan rise up a “false prophet.” Like the Holy Spirit he persuades people to follow the beast through the display of false signs and wonders.

Those who follow the beast belong to the city of Babylon. Citizens of the kingdom of this world, heirs to the desolation about the come on the world.

Let’s unpack of a few of these characters a little more.

The Beast

The first and most well known source of deception is “The Beast.” This figure is also referred to as “the Antichrist.”

The reference to the antichrist shows up throughout the Old Testament and into the new.

The antichrist is not just someone who is “against Christ.” He rather presents himself as an alternative to Christ. A replacement savior. Another - maybe more palatable - Christ figure.

From the Abyss

In Revelation 11 we find that the beast comes from the abyss.

Rev 11:7 “... the beast that comes up out of the abyss will make war on them, conquer them, and kill them.”

The abyss is symbolic of death and hell. The clear implication is that this beast is satanically inspired. He, like Satan hates God, hates God’s people and intends their destruction.

King of a Kingdom

In Revelation 13 we see that the Beast is king over an antichrist kingdom.

The Beast is compared to a leopard, a bear and a lion. This is an obvious allusion to Daniel 7. Daniel has a vision of four beasts, the first three of which are a lion, a bear and a leopard.

Thats’ why many people see the Beast of Revelation 13 as the fourth beast of Daniel 7.

A beast that was indescribably horrible. Intense in it’s arrogance and defiance. Hostile to the people of God.

A beast that symbolizes an empire that is larger and more ruthless than any of the ones who came before it. (Dan 7:7; 17, 23)

Now there are all kinds of debates of what this is going to look like or who is the antichrist and we aren’t going to go into all of that.

Potential of Political Power

I only bring it up because it is the impressive nature of that political reality that leads many “earth-dwellers” to say “I’m going with THAT GUY instead of Jesus...”

That’s exactly what we see in Revelation 13:4

Revelation 13:4 (CSB)

4 They worshiped the dragon because he gave authority to the beast. And they worshiped the beast, saying, “Who is like the beast? Who is able to wage war against it?”

The beast deceives earth-dwellers through the potential of political power.

Instead of finding their ultimate hope in the kingdom of heaven, they place all of their hope on an earthly politician or political movement.

I only bring it up now because this attraction is just a strong TODAY as it was in the past and as it will be in the future.

Many Christians “sold out” in the first century because they were more afraid of CEASAR than they were Jesus Christ.

And it’s not just Christians buckling under the threat of godless government. Sometimes Christians will COMPROMISE obedience to Christ in an effort to GAIN political power for themselves.

The thinking is that the only way to usher in the Kingdom of God is if we take the reigns into our own hands and compel people through force to do the right thing. But that’s using the methods of this world instead of the way of our Lord.

His kingdom advances through voluntary love and sacrifice more than it does through force and coercion.

The False Prophet

The next member of the unholy trinity is the False Prophet. He also shows up in Revelation 13.

Like the antichrist he too tries to imitate Christ. (Rev 13:11)

Rev 13:11 “..it had two horns like a lamb, but it spoke like a dragon.”

This is the force that persuades people to “take the mark of the beast.” (Rev 13:16-17)

Unlike the Holy Spirit, he is coercive and authoritarian. He doesn’t act in love but through force.

He combines false religion and authoritarian politics to coerce and compel. There is no separation of church and state. (i.e. imperial cult, Islam, etc)

In fact, he uses the State to propagate his false religion and he uses miraculous signs and wonders to get people to worship an image of the beast.

Revelation 13:14 (CSB)

14 It deceives those who live on the earth because of the signs that it is permitted to perform in the presence of the beast, telling those who live on the earth to make an image of the beast who was wounded by the sword and yet lived.

Political tyranny, economic discrimination and religious persecution mark the rule of the false Christ and his false prophet.

Pressure of False Religion

Through it all - the false prophet deceives earth dwellers through the pressure of false religion.

Those who resist that pressure experience persecution and death.

But those who submit find temporary pleasure and relief.

I’m sure many people who “take the mark of the beast” do so because that’s just the easiest thing to do.

Maybe they don’t buy into all the talking points and religious devotion but they certainly don’t like the alternative and everybody else is doing it so what’s to lose?

That’s how MANY false religions propagate in this world. It’s how spiritual idolatry runs rampant in our world today. People just allow themselves to be pressured into the “religious behavior” of the culture in which they find themselves.

The Harlot Babylon

The third character we meet as part of this counterfeit system is in Revelation 17. She is presented as the Harlot Babylon.

Babylon represents the centralization of spiritual idolatry and sensual indulgence.

If the Church exists to glorify Christ and advance His kingdom on the earth. Babylon exists to do the opposite.

Babylon is committed to exalting the self and dishonoring God. Its an age old temptation that will only grow in the days leading up to the end.

Babylon deceives earth dwellers through the pleasure of her sensual indulgence.

She looks so beautiful on the outside but it’s all a front. She promises material prosperity and delivers on that wealth for a finite season.

But underneath those looks lies economic oppression, sexual immorality and all kind of human indecency.

It’s why, in the end, Babylon falls. But before it falls, it takes as many prisoners as it can.

Satan The Dragon

Babylon, The Antichrist, and his False Prophet are all animated by a singular force: and that’s Satan the dragon.

Revelation refers to Satan as a dragon more than any other symbol. (13 times!)

Satan’s first and greatest sin is repeated in the Beast, the False Prophet, and Babylon. The glory that belongs to God alone he craves for himself. Pride. Ego. Self-exaltation.

It’s why he tried to thwart God’s plan in Christ.

It’s why he furiously persecutes God’s people.

It’s why he developed an entirely alternative system for people who will follow in his footsteps.

This unholy trinity is at work in our world today because Satan is as active TODAY as he was in the past or as he ever WILL BE in the future.

Some think the antichrist, false prophet, and Babylon of Revelation all happened in the first century. Some speculate on future expressions of these things.

The truth is - the Spirit that animates both past and future expressions of this system is ACTIVE in our world today.

Preying On Souls

Which means each one of us need to be on guard. There is a spiritual deafening that is taking place all around us.

Lots of people claim to be atheists but the truth is we are all worshippers of something. We are all people in search of salvation.

You need to know that about yourself because Satan certainly knows that about you.

Satan preys on our soul’s search salvation. There’s only ONE way to receive that salvation and so Satan has filled this world with counterfeits.

The question is, who’s kingdom are YOU living in? Which Gospel will YOU receive? To which king will YOU submit?

The mark of those who belong to Satan’s kingdom is 666: the number of man.

The number six is one deviation away from seven (the number of perfection). The number six therefore represents incompleteness, unfulfillment, broken promises.

That’s the way of this world. It will promise you one thing and draw you in based on those promises. But it never really delivers. It’s always just shy of what you really need to be happy and live content.

True joy and happiness are found fully and finally in the Lord Jesus Christ.

To be truly free you must know and submit to the truth.

Hearing Keeping & Hoping

But hearing that truth, receiving it and living it out in your daily life WILL NOT BE EASY. The truth is we are living in the middle of a spiritual battle..

Life on earth may look ordinary and even boring but the truth is there’s a war going on. A cosmic spiritual conflict between good and evil, God and Satan.

Those who belong to Christ will experience opposition from earth dwellers and their unholy trinity. They control much of what we see going on in this world.

People who are at war need to live like it!

So how do we become people who hear God’s Word? How do we keep ourselves from becoming like these “earth-dwellers” in the book of Revelation?

Blessing Statements

John lays it out at the beginning of the book of Revelation. In the middle and at the end.

He attaches a blessing to those who have ears to hear.

Revelation 1:3 (CSB)

3 Blessed is the one who reads aloud the words of this prophecy, and blessed are those who hear the words of this prophecy and keep what is written in it, because the time is near.

The same promised blessing is attached at the end of the book of Revelation. Rev 22:7

Revelation 22:7 (CSB)

7 “Look, I am coming soon! Blessed is the one who keeps the words of the prophecy of this book.”

That word translated “Blessed” doesn’t just mean that “good things from God” will come to the people who live in these ways. The word really conveys the idea of ideal human flourishing.

A crude way to put it is “happy.” Not happiness determined by fortunate circumstances but happy in the sense of complete and whole and “it’s all good.”

In the book of Revelation there’s a connection between hearing ears and a happy life.

I just read two of SEVEN statements that say as much. (Rev 1:3; 14:13; 16:15; 19:9; 20:6; 22:7, 14)

In Revelation 14:13 there’s a voice from heaven that pronounces a blessing on those who “die in the Lord” and a subsequent affirmation from the Holy Spirit that “they will rest from their labors since their works follow after them.”

In Revelation 16:15 there is a similar blessing is promised to those who - unlike the earth dwellers - keep themselves alert and clothed (symbolic of someone who rejects ungodly living and awaits the return of Christ).

Revelation 19:9 pronounces a blessing on those who are invited to the marriage feast of the lamb.

Revelation 20:6 gives a blessing to those who share in the first resurrection thereby escaping the power of the second death.

Revelation 22 contains the final two blessings: again to those who “keep the words of the prophecy” (Rev 22:7) and those who “wash their robes...” (Rev 22:14)

Necessary Relationships

With all seven “blessing” statements you see a relationship begin to form. Two relationships, really.

The first is the relationship between hearing and keeping. Those who truly HEAR God’s Word prove they have heard by the way that they live. Real faith always produces works. We’re not saved by our works but our works show that we’ve been saved.

The second relationship is between keeping and hoping. Those who keep God’s Word do so on the basis of God keeping HIS. There’s a direction relationship between our demonstration of faith and God’s promise of faithfulness.

Revelation 2-3

This shows up over and over again in Revelation 2-3. Jesus writes seven different letters to seven different churches.

Every letter is different in certain respects. Different weaknesses, different strengths, different challenges they had to overcome.

But there are also important similarities.

Every letter ends with every church being given the same command: LISTEN.

“Let anyone who has ears to hear LISTEN to what the Spirit says to the churches.” (Rev 2:7, 11, 17, 29; 3:6, 13, 22)

The command to LISTEN is followed by a promised reward to the ones who overcome.

Command = Listen to what the Spirit says (hearing)

Obedience = To the one who overcomes (keeping)

Reward = I will give... (hope)

Every church is given a command and every command is followed by a description of obedience that is grounded in hope.

There’s a necessary relationship between Christian hearing, keeping and hoping.

Conclusion

You’ve heard the phrase, “The proof of the pudding is in the tasting?” Well, the proof of the hearing is in the keeping. The power for keeping is found in hope.

This approach to God’s word will cause it to bear fruit in your life irrespective of the consequences.

So as we bring this message to a close let me ask you, “Do you have ears to hear?”

Or, would your life be more characterized by a love for this world that displaces a genuine love for Jesus Christ?

The truth is, Christ desires to bless you. He wants to heal you. All that is needed is for you to listen to what the Spirit says.

For some of you He’s saying, “repent and be saved.”

For others he’s saying, “trust and obey for there’s no other way to be happy in Jesus than to trust and obey.”

Regardless of the particulars we should hear God’s Word and keep it because He is always faithful to his promise.