Sermon for Midweek of Trinity 13

Revelation 17:1-18

There are too many details in Revelation 17 for us to talk about in a short sermon. And, in all honesty, it may not be possible or even wise to try to explain away every detail in this chapter. Because the overarching message is clear enough, and important enough for us to focus on: The kingdoms of the world will always be the devil’s instruments to attack the true Church of Christ, and the apostate Church, led by the Antichrist within the visible assembly of the Church, will work together with the kingdoms of the world to snuff out the true religion. But they will ultimately fail.

John sees a vision of the great harlot, the great prostitute. She’s identified as “Babylon the Great” and as “that great city which reigns over the kings of the earth.” As we talked about last week, Babylon was the great city in the Old Testament that threatened God’s people of Israel and held them captive for a time. In the New Testament era, the great city that threatened God’s people, both physically and spiritually, both from a secular government angle and from a Church angle, is the city of Rome.

There’s no doubt that Rome is being talked about here. The angel says that the woman sits on “seven mountains.” John’s readers would have had no trouble identifying that as Rome, the famous “city of the seven hills.”  And for centuries, Rome was indeed the city which reigns over the kings of the earth, again, both on the secular side in the Roman Empire and the later Holy Roman Empire, and on the spiritual side, as it eventually became (and still is!) the seat of the man who claimed to reign over all Christians everywhere, the seat of the Papacy.

So the woman in this vision, the great harlot, represents the Roman Papacy, the true Antichrist, and the beast on which the woman sits represents the secular beast, the Roman Empire itself, which evolved into the so-called Holy Roman Empire. The woman is described as THE MOTHER OF HARLOTS AND OF THE ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH. The “harlotry” here is spiritual harlotry or unfaithfulness, also known as idolatry. It includes every form of supposedly Christian teaching that leads people to trust in man instead of in God: to trust in man’s leadership, in man’s intercessions, in man’s works, in man’s protection, in man’s teachings and traditions. It’s every form of supposedly Christian teaching that causes people to focus on human desires, human likes, human beliefs. And so, with that understanding, it certainly includes much of what’s taught under the Roman Papacy.

But it isn’t restricted to the Roman Catholic Church. I remember when we lived in Puerto Rico, where Roman Catholicism was still very popular, there were some Evangelical churches who would print flyers and plaster them all over the cars in a parking lot—flyers with the title, Rome is the great harlot! Another popular version of that is the idea that, if it’s Roman Catholic, it’s bad! Well, the Papacy may be the great harlot, but the woman is called here the “mother of harlots.” Every false version of Christianity can be traced back to Rome, because it was Rome who taught everyone to trust, not in the Scriptures, but in man, and that’s what all false doctrine does, at the end of the day. It causes people to trust, not in the actual teaching of Holy Scripture, but in made-up human doctrines. It causes people to focus on what they do for God instead of on what He has done for us in Christ. It causes people to focus on how they like to worship God instead of on how God desires to be worshiped. Such harlotry is found, not only in the Roman Church, but throughout so-called Protestantism as well.

We see the woman dressed in scarlet, just like the beast on which she sits. We see the apostate Church dressed like the world, becoming more and more like the world, in her teachings as well as in her practices. Oh, the world thinks women should be in charge of everything? Look at the church over the past many decades ordaining women as pastorettes. Oh, the world thinks homosexuality is great? Look at the church now endorsing such practices. Divorce? Fine! Sex outside of marriage? Fine! God’s Word is fallible? Agreed! And so on.

But the woman is also dressed in purple and wears fine pearls and holds out a golden cup to the world. She is a glorious Church, a big Church, as the woman sits on many waters, that is, on many nations. She appears elegant, attractive, and beautiful on the outside. Again, that applies as much to the Roman Catholic Church as it does to the Evangelical megachurch (or megasynod). But in truth, she’s a harlot. She is not faithful to God and His Word and His teaching, and she teaches the nations that her fake version of Christianity is the truth!

For a while, the unbelievers love her and join in with her! The kings of the earth committed fornication, and the inhabitants of the earth were made drunk with the wine of her fornication. But eventually they grow of tired of her and the nations will hate the harlot, make her desolate and naked, eat her flesh and burn her with fire as part of God’s judgment against her. And maybe we can see signs of that in our time. The nations of the world largely followed Christianity, usually in its idolatrous form—the nations have never embraced genuine Christian doctrine as a whole. There’s still a thin veneer of loyalty to the apostate Church among the rulers of the world. But in our day, it seems that most of the nations of the world, most of the rulers of the world, are beginning to reject every form of Christianity, even the antichristian forms of it.

Now, as for the heads, and the horns, and the kings that are mentioned in this vision, some have tried to connect them to specific rulers or kingdoms in history, and maybe there’s something to that, but we don’t have time to get into it here, and it’s really an insignificant thing to match up this horn to that king. It’s the overarching message that needs to get through: that the false-teaching, man-centered, man-idolizing Church is actually the greatest enemy of mankind. Because when people are introduced to a false version of who Jesus is and what it means to follow Him, it’s the worst kind of delusion. Because when the true version of Jesus is preached, people don’t bother even listening. They think they already know what Christianity is all about. Either they hate it and want nothing to do with it, or they fall in love with the false Christ they’ve been introduced to and want nothing to do with the real one.

That’s why the alliance between Christianity and the governments of the world has never been a healthy a thing, because whole societies are led away from the true Christ to a false version of Him, to a generic God who looks something like the Christian God but isn’t.

So, again, the overarching theme of this vision is that the false-teaching, man-centered, man-idolizing Church is actually the greatest enemy of mankind, and, that the false-teaching Church which has done so much damage to the true Church over the centuries, will eventually fall. The churches that have falsely represented Christ to the world and that have gloated over and persecuted the followers of the true Christ will be put to shame.

So we should be careful, shouldn’t we? We should be on guard against the false but attractive version of Christianity. We should know the Scriptures well enough that the false but attractive version of Christianity can’t move us from the truth of God’s Word. And we should take heart, because it’s not the size of the Church or the outward glory of the Church that identifies it as the true Church. It’s the church’s faithfulness to God’s Word and Sacraments, the presence of faith in Christ alone among her members, the love her members show to one another, and the Christ-like behavior of her members in the world. Let us be about those things! Amen.

Source: Sermons

Sermon for Midweek of Trinity 12

Revelation 16:12-21

John’s visions are taking us closer and closer to the end of the world. His vision of the sixth and seventh bowls filled with the wrath of God show us the “last battle” at the place called Armageddon. Except, as we’ll see, it isn’t much of a battle. In fact, there’s no battle at all. It’s the battle that never was.

The sixth angel poured out his bowl on the great river Euphrates, and its water was dried up, so that the way of the kings from the east might be prepared.

This is the second time we’ve come across the river Euphrates in John’s visions. It was the great river on whose banks the city of Babylon was built. It ran down from the north and then split around Babylon, so that part of the river flowed to the west of Babylon, while the other part flowed to the east. You have to remember your history here. Babylon was the capital city of the Babylonians, who, led by King Nebuchadnezzar, destroyed Jerusalem and took the Jews captive in Babylon for 70 years in the sixth century BC. He was a wicked king, but God used him to punish the Jews for their idolatry. Eventually, his successors became even more wicked than he was. So God sent the Mede and Persian armies to conquer the Babylonians. The Medes and Persians came from the east, and each had its own king: Darius the Mede and Cyrus the Persian. So here, in John’s vision, the sixth angel’s bowl dries up the Euphrates so that the “kings from the east” might have easy access to Babylon, to destroy it, because its days are numbered. The prophet Jeremiah had much to say about Babylon’s impending fall in chapter 51 of his book.

Here in Revelation, Babylon symbolizes the world powers that stand against God and His Church. So the message here is that, although God has allowed the world powers to threaten and mistreat His Church for a time, just as He allowed the Babylonians to hold the people of Jerusalem captive for a time, now it’s time for the hostile forces of the world to pay, just as Babylon paid at the hands of the Medes and Persians for their mistreatment of God’s people.

And I saw three unclean spirits like frogs coming out of the mouth of the dragon, out of the mouth of the beast, and out of the mouth of the false prophet. For they are spirits of demons, performing signs, which go out to the kings of the earth, indeed, of the whole world, to gather them to the battle of that great day of God Almighty. And they gathered them together to the place called in Hebrew, Armageddon.

You recall that the dragon stands for the devil, the beast stands for world government, and the false prophet stands for the Antichrist. From the mouth of these three, John sees unclean spirits going out like frogs, croaking their lies and their deceptions to all the kings of the earth, so that all the world rulers are allied against the true Church. Now, remember, this doesn’t only mean openly anti-Christian hostility. The false prophet is involved, too, who speaks his lies from within the outward Christian Church. That means that the persecution against the Church may well have a veneer of godliness, of being pro-religion, and yet it will be hostile to the true religion taught in Holy Scripture.

It says that the demons will influence the kings of the earth by performing signs. St. Paul said that the coming of the Antichrist would be similar to this: false miracles designed to lead astray all those who refused to be led by the Scriptures themselves. So these demons will perform signs. Now, here are some things I would include in those signs that serve to confirm the rulers of the world in their rejection of Christianity: UFO sightings. The fact is, if there were actually aliens out there, then the message of Scripture really falls apart. So the claimed UFO sightings end up turning people away from trusting in Scripture, which is exactly what the goal of the demons has always been, to make people doubt God’s Word. Another demonic sign would be all the supposed “evidence” that’s asserted to “prove” that the earth is millions of years old. Now, there’s no actual evidence to support that, and yet the teaching of evolution undergirds practically all the sciences in the modern world. We might even include the climate change religion among these demonic delusions that permeate the nations of the world and end up turning the rulers of the world against the Christian religion, which teaches an entirely different cosmology and purpose for mankind and for the world. Add to that the demonic delusion of the “Pride” flag and the “Trans” flag, and most of the “isms” that have filled the world, which target both Christian doctrine and Christian history.

Yes, the powers of the world are being gathered together for a final battle against God’s people who hold to the pure doctrine of Christ. The place where they’re gathered is said to be called in Hebrew “Armageddon,” which only shows up here in the Bible. Armageddon isn’t a single Hebrew word at all. People have debated its meaning over the centuries. But it seems to be a combination of the word “Har,” which means “mountain of,” and “Megiddo,” a place in the land of Israel. Now, what is Megiddo known for? Well, King Josiah of Judah was killed there by Pharaoh Necho of Egypt. But that was in the Valley of Megiddo. What is the mountain of Megiddo? Well, the most famous one is Mount Carmel. Do you remember what happened there? There was a “battle,” of sorts, but a battle with swords. The prophet Elijah faced off against wicked King Ahab and 450 prophets of Baal. It looked like the end for Elijah. But the Lord gave him the victory that day with fire from heaven, and all the prophets Baal were put to death.

So Armageddon isn’t a scary thing at all for the people of God. It’s a symbol of God’s victory over the idolaters who threaten His people. That goes along perfectly with what John says here, that the kings of the earth are being gathered to the battle of that great day of God Almighty. What the world powers imagine will be a decisive defeat of the Christian Church is actually the “great day of God Almighty,” the day that belongs to God, not to His enemies, the great day of judgment.

And that’s exactly what we see revealed in the seventh plague.

Then the seventh angel poured out his bowl into the air, and a loud voice came out of the temple of heaven, from the throne, saying, “It is done!”

It is done!, says the Lord. It’s just one word in Greek. So much for a battle! There wasn’t even a fight. The world powers gather together against the Church of God, and God turns the tables on them and defeats them with a word.

And there were noises and thunderings and lightnings; and there was a great earthquake, such a mighty and great earthquake as had not occurred since men were on the earth…Then every island fled away, and the mountains were not found. And great hail from heaven fell upon men, each hailstone about the weight of a talent. Men blasphemed God because of the plague of the hail, since that plague was exceedingly great.

Again, this is a picture of the final destruction of the earth that will take place on the last day.

Now the great city was divided into three parts, and the cities of the nations fell. And great Babylon was remembered before God, to give her the cup of the wine of the fierceness of His wrath.

The “great city” here is Babylon. The world powers can’t stand in the presence of God. They’re broken apart, and all the cities fall—the cities which already today are becoming lost causes for every form of wickedness and violence and destruction. And God will remember all the ways in which men have threatened or harmed His people. And justice will finally be served.

“Behold, I am coming as a thief. Blessed is he who watches, and keeps his garments, lest he walk naked and they see his shame.”

There’s an interjection from Jesus Himself in the midst of this vision, a warning and an encouragement, not for the unbeliever, but for the believer who listens to the reading of this book of Revelation. I am coming as a thief! He’s said that before. In other words, you won’t be able to predict the day or the timing of His coming. It won’t be that obvious. Things will be going on in the world more or less as they have been. So He urges His people to watch, to notice the signs, and to expect Him at any moment. Then He urges His people to “keep their garments,” to hold onto faith and to the righteousness that covers us through faith. Only faith in Christ will make us worthy to stand before God on His great day. Only faith in Christ will keep us safe at the battle of Armageddon, which won’t really be a battle at all. Amen.

Source: Sermons

Sermon for Midweek of Trinity 11

Revelation 16:1-11

The vision of the seven bowls filled with the seven plagues of God’s wrath is actually very similar to the vision of the seven trumpets that we reviewed several weeks ago. We would need a whiteboard or something to place the comparisons side by side. If you’re interested, you can take your Bible and compare the two visions at home.

Tonight we heard about the first five bowls and the plagues that were poured out from them. But just as we did with the vision of the seven trumpets, so we’ll do here: we’ll recognize that the plagues poured out upon the earth, upon the sea, upon the rivers and streams of water, and upon the sun, are not to be taken literally. In other words, in the last days before Christ’s return, we don’t expect to see all unbelievers walking around with sores all over their bodies, nor do we expect all the waters of the world to be turned into human blood, or for all the sea creatures to die off, nor do we expect the sun to start setting people on fire, literally. That would all make for a thrilling sci-fi movie, but it isn’t what the Bible is talking about. In fact, I wonder if, the more they make movies to portray the events described in Revelation as literal, the less people will take to heart the true, spiritual meaning behind those pictures, which are meant to serve as warnings to unbelievers and as a great comfort to Christians.

The first [angel] went and poured out his bowl upon the earth, and a foul and loathsome sore came upon the men who had the mark of the beast and those who worshiped his image.

Earlier, John saw a beast come up out of the earth. That was the Antichrist, the symbolic leader of the false Church. A plague is poured out on that Church in the last days. This first bowl is what gives it away that the plagues are spiritual, not physical. Because the only ones who receive these foul and loathsome sores are the ones who have the mark of the beast, who worship his image. That is, the unbelieving and idolaters, especially those who have attached themselves to the false Christian Church. True Christians, believers in Christ, are not plagued with these sores. So these must be sores on the conscience and on the rational part of the soul, punishments sent by God on those who disbelieve His Word and His Gospel, who are in love with the false teachings of the false-teaching Church that sits within the borders of the visible Christian Church. If the Gospel is twisted, then men no longer have the peace that comes from it, but their consciences are tormented, as by painful sores.

Then the second angel poured out his bowl on the sea, and it became blood as of a dead man; and every living creature in the sea died.

Earlier, John saw a beast come up out of the sea. The sea stood for the unbelieving nations of the world, out of which antichristian rulers arise. Now the sea is turned to disgusting blood. Unbelievers are already spiritually dead. But this plague seems to indicate the removal of everything that was good and wholesome among the societies of the world. Reason and rationality are gone. Good order is gone. Good will is gone. In the vision of the seven trumpets, something similar happened to the sea, except that only a third of the living creatures there died. Now in the very last days, it’s “every living creature.” The societies of the world, together with their governments, are utterly ruined. Does that sound like the world we live in?

Then the third angel poured out his bowl on the rivers and springs of water, and they became blood.

There is nothing left to refresh and sustain the unbeliever when things come to this point. The Word of God, which is often compared to refreshing water in Scripture, no longer refreshes, because it has been so twisted and corrupted by men that the Christianity that’s preached in the world in the last days is no longer the Christianity of the Bible. The gospel that’s preached is no longer the true Gospel, but a false one that cannot save. As Paul wrote to the Thessalonians, God will send them strong delusion, that they should believe the lie, that they all may be condemned who did not believe the truth but had pleasure in unrighteousness.

And I heard the angel of the waters saying: “You are righteous, O Lord, The One who is and who was and who is to be, Because You have judged these things. For they have shed the blood of saints and prophets, And You have given them blood to drink. For it is their just due.” And I heard another from the altar saying, “Even so, Lord God Almighty, true and righteous are Your judgments.”

These judgments of God are just. The world wasn’t willing to be instructed by God’s Word. As Paul writes to Timothy, the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine, but according to their own desires, because they have itching ears, they will heap up for themselves teachers; and they will turn their ears away from the truth, and be turned aside to fables. And so God said, “Fine. Have it your way. You didn’t want My Word? You didn’t want the preachers I sent to you? Then I’ll see to it that you only hear false doctrine and that you only have false teachers, so that you are deprived of the only thing that could bring you to repentance and faith. This is justice.”

Then the fourth angel poured out his bowl on the sun, and power was given to it to scorch men with fire. And men were scorched with great heat, and they blasphemed the name of God who has power over these plagues; and they did not repent and give Him glory.

The sun was given to give the earth heat and light, to be a blessing to man. This seems to be another picture of God’s Word, which is meant to be a lamp for our feet and a light for our path. But when God allows the light of His Word to be corrupted, when He allows false Christianity to fill the world with its false version of Christ and His Gospel, then it no longer serves to lead people to God. Men rejected the Gospel for centuries when it was purely preached. So now men don’t even have the wholesome witness of the Christian Church filling the world anymore, but only the false witness that doesn’t give true comfort or joy or peace but only a burning emptiness inside, because truth has been replaced with falsehood.

Then the fifth angel poured out his bowl on the throne of the beast, and his kingdom became full of darkness; and they gnawed their tongues because of the pain. They blasphemed the God of heaven because of their pains and their sores, and did not repent of their deeds.

The throne of the beast represents the governments of the world that oppose Christ or twist His Word. Civil government was instituted by God to be a blessing, to promote a quiet and peaceful life. But when false and demonic delusions turn governments into promoters and defenders of “institutionalized robbery, militant atheism, atheistic evolution, murder of the unborn, pornography and countless other evils, what was intended to be a blessing becomes a curse and a source of pain and suffering,” as one commentator puts it, as people trip all over themselves and one another in the darkness of the reality they’ve created for themselves. And even though men have corrupted the Word of God and the Christian religion, the same men then turn around and curse the Word of God and Christianity as they’ve corrupted them.

But Christians are spared from all these plagues. Not that it’s comfortable living in a world that is living under the curse of God’s punishment, but the curse of false doctrine doesn’t touch those who hold to the truth of Christ. We don’t have to suffer any of the fear, or bitterness, or irrationality, or despair, or guilt, or ignorance, or confusion that the unbelieving world suffers. Because, by God’s grace, we still have the light of His Word. We still have the peace of His Gospel. We still have the guidance of His Holy Spirit. Where the truth of God’s Word is still proclaimed, there the plagues cannot fall.

So watch in society for the plagues John talks about here and how they’re manifested among those who reject the pure teaching of the Gospel. Take comfort in God’s protection, even as you witness that protection being removed from the unbelieving world. For the believer who clings to God’s Word and is watching out for false doctrine, the words of David in Psalm 18 ring true: The LORD is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer; my God, my strength, in whom I will trust; my shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold. I will call upon the LORD, who is worthy to be praised; so shall I be saved from my enemies. Amen.

Source: Sermons

Midweek of Trinity 10

Revelation 15:1-8

Last week, in the sixth vision of the set of seven visions, we heard about the harvesting of the earth, both the wheat and the grapes, the believers and the unbelievers, the believers for eternal joy and peace in God’s home, and the unbelievers for eternal crushing in the winepress of God’s wrath.

This evening, we bring to a close the set of seven visions with the seventh vision, which, as in the previous three sets of visions, serves as an introduction to the next set of visions, which will be the visions of the seven bowls filled with the final seven plagues of God’s wrath.

John sees something like a sea of glass mingled with fire. He had seen this sea of glass earlier in the book, too, where it was “before God’s throne.” This isn’t the turbulent sea of this world in which we live at the moment. It’s the smooth, calm, surface of perfect peace in God’s presence. Standing on that perfectly peaceful sea were those who have the victory over the beast, over his image and over his mark and over the number of his name. Remember, in an earlier vision, we encountered this beast, along with the other one. The beast from the sea, which stood for the secular forces, led by the governments of the world, which persecute Christians in any number of ways, from physical torture, imprisonment, and execution, to promoting falsehood, to marginalizing the Christians who refuse to go along with the falsehoods; and the beast from the earth, which stood for the Antichrist and all the false teachings that are designed to lead God’s people astray from Christ and His Word, even within the outward Christian Church. Earlier, John saw the beast being victorious over the saints, that is, succeeding in making life miserable for the saints and in executing them, too.

But here John sees the reality. The saints are actually victorious over the beast. By refusing to give in to the world’s requirement that we abandon the true God, by refusing to be led astray by the lies of the Antichrist, by clinging to Christ and His Word, the saints prevailed. They won. They now stand in the presence of God in perfect peace. As Paul writes to the Romans, we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us.

John sees them here with the harps of Gods, singing the song of Moses and of the Lamb. Harps signify music and joy and praise. These harps are provided by God Himself. He is the One who inspires our thankfulness. He is the source of our eternal joy. The words sung by the saints echo the words of Moses in the book of Exodus and again in the book of Deuteronomy. He sang to the Lord after the Lord brought Israel safely across the Red Sea on dry ground, having destroyed their enemies, the Egyptians, by the waters of that same sea. That’s reminiscent of the Flood, too, isn’t it? By those waters God saved Noah and his family as the waters lifted them up to safety, even as the same waters drowned the unbelievers in the world. Which, as Peter writes in his first Epistle, symbolizes what God does for us in Holy Baptism, saving believers by those waters, even as the unbelieving world will be wiped out with fire. So, too, the saints in heaven sing for joy about how God gave them the greatest deliverance, washing them in the blood of the Lamb through Holy Baptism and granting them final salvation in heaven as their enemies in the world are about to be destroyed.

Great and marvelous are Your works, Lord God Almighty! Just and true are Your ways, O King of the saints! Who shall not fear You, O Lord, and glorify Your name? For You alone are holy. For all nations shall come and worship before You, For Your judgments have been manifested.

Right now, in these days before the end of the world, it’s hard for the saints confess that the Lord’s ways are just and true. The righteous don’t always prosper here, while the wicked often do. Christians who do the right thing are often punished for it by the unbelieving world, while evildoers go free. Such is the way of things here, and that’s not justice. It’s injustice. But we will finally see. We will finally understand what the Lord was doing as we look back, after the fact. As the world meets its doom, the saints will see how the Lord God Almighty worked everything out perfectly. And justice will then be done.

Then John sees the heavenly temple being opened. Right now it appears closed. In other words, right now, we can’t see God’s justice. Right now, we have God’s Word proclaiming His Law and His Gospel. But the wicked don’t listen. The wicked go on in their wickedness, thinking that God’s Word is untrue, thinking that God doesn’t see, that God doesn’t care, or even that God doesn’t exist. But in the end, God will make Himself known to the world. And when He does, it won’t be for another chance at salvation. When He finally opens His heavenly temple, it will be for the final revelation of His wrath against impenitent sinners.

And out of the temple came the seven angels having the seven plagues, clothed in pure bright linen, and having their chests girded with golden bands. These angels seem to symbolize heavenly angels, not the human preachers of God’s word, like the seven angels of the seven churches, although some think they do represent preachers of the Gospel. These are clothed like the angels who appeared at Jesus’ resurrection, but with golden bands wrapped around their chests signifying their divinely given authority to carry out the work they’re about to do.

Then one of the four living creatures gave to the seven angels seven golden bowls full of the wrath of God who lives forever and ever. If the four living creatures represent the prophets and apostles, as we’ve surmised, then it makes sense with what John says here, because throughout Scripture, the prophets and apostles have prophesied the coming of the day of wrath and the destruction of the wicked. That’s why we see the four living creatures handing over the bowls filled with God’s wrath to the angels who will implement the will of God.

The temple was filled with smoke from the glory of God and from His power, and no one was able to enter the temple till the seven plagues of the seven angels were completed. When the glory of the Lord fell upon Solomon’s Temple at its dedication like a bright cloud of smoke, the priests weren’t able to minister in the temple until the glory of the Lord lifted. So at the end of the world, when God opens His temple and determines that it’s time to bring final judgment and destruction on the wicked, no one will be able to intercede for them or delay God’s wrath any longer. When it’s finally time for the day of wrath to come, there will be no stopping it.

So, look forward to that day, as those who have been brought to repentance and faith. Keep hearing and learning God’s Word. Cling to His promises. Hold on as the world spirals to its demise. And, instead of having God’s wrath poured out on you, you will be saved, by faith in Christ Jesus, and you will join the endless worship of the victorious saints on the sea of glass. Amen.

Source: Sermons

(no audio or video for today’s sermon or service)

Sermon for Midweek of Trinity 8

Revelation 14:6-13

The troubles brought upon the Church by her three enemies—the dragon and the two beasts—are countered in this fifth vision by the proclamation of the three angels. Let’s just briefly walk through their three messages tonight.

Then I saw another angel flying in the midst of heaven, having the everlasting gospel to preach to those who dwell on the earth—to every nation, tribe, tongue, and people—saying with a loud voice, “Fear God and give glory to Him, for the hour of His judgment has come; and worship Him who made heaven and earth, the sea and springs of water.”

In spite of all the opposition of the hostile governments of the world and the apostate church, the gospel will continue to be preached in all the world. That’s the simple message here. It’s the everlasting gospel. None of the devil’s lies can change it or stop it from being preached. It will be preached to all nations, as Jesus also promised when He talked about the end times.

We don’t need to narrow down this angel to one preacher in the history of the world. But many Lutherans have seen Martin Luther and his fellow preachers at the time of the Reformation as prime examples of this angelic preaching. Why? Because the beasts have been associated with the Roman Empire and the Roman Church that grew up out of that empire, and together, the not-so-Holy Roman Empire did immense damage to the Church. But the message of the Reformation was what the angel here proclaimed: Fear God and give glory to Him! Don’t fear the saints! Don’t fear the emperor! Don’t fear human beings who make themselves grand and glorious leaders of the Church! Fear God! Give glory to Him! Worship the Creator, not the creature! Let His Word dwell richly in your hearts! Let His Word determine what you believe! Do it now, because He won’t put up with this world for that much longer. The time of grace is still here, but it’s running out! Turn to Christ and escape the coming judgment!

That message continues to be preached in the world in these days of earth’s final gasps. Stop worshiping yourselves, you people of the earth! Stop living for yourselves! Fear God! Hear His Word! Repent and believe in Christ Jesus!

And another angel followed, saying, “Babylon is fallen, is fallen, that great city, because she has made all nations drink of the wine of the wrath of her fornication.”

This is a message of hope for the Church as well as judgment for those who have allied themselves with “Babylon.” Now, why Babylon? This is clearly looking back to Old Testament history, when Babylon became the great enemy of the Jews, even as it harbored the Jews for a time while they were living there in captivity. At John’s time, the great city that had become the enemy of Christians, even as it harbored many Christians, was Rome, and, by extension, the whole Roman Empire. And, as we said, Rome eventually became the seat of the most prominent false teacher in the history of the Christian Church, namely, the pope or the papacy itself, which is actually the enemy of Christians, even as the Roman Church still harbors many Christians throughout the world. Together, the hostile governments of the world and the false church (both of which have moved well beyond the borders of Rome), make all nations to drink of the wine of the wrath of their fornication, that is, leading people to worship idols, whether in the form of saints, or in the form of the government, or just in the form of self. But Babylon, in both these forms, will fall. The governments of the world will be toppled. The important men of the world will be destroyed. And the false-teaching church will come to an end. That’s good news to Christ’s flock throughout the world that has been struggling to get by. Not glorious here, not successful by earthly standards, not big and impressive. But faithful! Babylon will fall, but the Church of Christ will prevail.

Then a third angel followed them, saying with a loud voice, “If anyone worships the beast and his image, and receives his mark on his forehead or on his hand, he himself shall also drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is poured out full strength into the cup of His indignation. He shall be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels and in the presence of the Lamb. And the smoke of their torment ascends forever and ever; and they have no rest day or night, who worship the beast and his image, and whoever receives the mark of his name.”

The preaching of the gospel continues to go out, and with it, this warning, which is about as stern a warning as people can get. Do not be deceived by the antichristian government, and do not be deceived by the antichristian church. Don’t be deceived by their lies. Don’t give in to the idolatry they promote. Don’t go along with the false church with its false teachings, just because you grew up in it, or because it seems to get a lot of things right. All those who refuse to worship the true God and His Son Jesus Christ, as He has revealed Himself to us in Holy Scripture and as He is preached by faithful ministers of the Church, will end up in hell. Here is the fire and brimstone that maybe too many Christian preachers used to be known for, although today, it’s probably not enough. Fire and brimstone isn’t the only thing Christian preachers are to preach. It’s not even the main thing. But it is a thing. The same Lamb of God who gave His life for the sins of the world, who still wants all men to be saved, will also look on approvingly at the eternal punishment of those who squandered their day of grace, who remained in their sins instead of repenting of their sins and accepting His gracious offer of salvation while it was on the table, because it won’t be on the table forever.

Here is the patience of the saints; here are those who keep the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus.

There are two ways of understanding this verse. Either the ongoing preaching of the gospel and the coming judgment of the Church’s enemies gives the saints patience to make it through, or John means that the saints will still need to be patient for a while, because the Church’s enemies will still be allowed to torment Christians for a while. I think the latter understanding makes more sense. Because what’s also called for, as we wait for the Lord’s deliverance, in addition to patience, is that we continue to keep the commandments of God and stay believing in Jesus, in spite of what everyone else around us may be doing.

Then I heard a voice from heaven saying to me, “Write: ‘Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord from now on.’ ” “Yes,” says the Spirit, “that they may rest from their labors, and their works follow them.”

There’s the comfort! There’s what gives the patience and strength we need. The Lord from heaven pronounces a blessing on those who die “in the Lord,” who die believing in the Lord Jesus. Blessed “from now on,” that is, blessed from the moment they die and lasting forever, because death isn’t defeat for those who die in the Lord. It’s the passage into the eternal blessedness and rest we’ve all been waiting for, where none of the labors or troubles follow, but only the Father’s welcome, and His “Well done, good and faithful servant!” Amen.

Source: Sermons