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I’m going to encourage you to turn to Revelation chapter 11 is where we’re at together today. Revelation chapter 11. And I want to I want to start off with a little disclaimer, I think, to this chapter, because this is one of those chapters where people go down a wormhole of eschatology and you’re like, you’re never you’re never going to be the same again, right? This is this is people get weird with this chapter. This is the kind of chapter where you might find someone teaching on it, and then you get those crazy headlines that say something like, pastor predicts the end of the world and, you know, whatever, whatever. And and I would not necessarily encourage you to listen to those people, but but just for funsies, if you want to put this on social media, I’m going to predict 2030. I’m just kidding. Don’t do that. Don’t do that. But but people tend to take take some of the statements, especially in this particular chapter and, and really dive into where the, where, where John’s quotes are coming from and then make all sorts of wild predictions About what’s to come. And I want you to know that is not my intention today at all. I find chapter 11. No matter where you where you find yourself on the eschatological timeline, there are truths from this that we can extrapolate that are relevant for God’s people. No matter where you live, at what time period you’re in.
And it’s important for us to understand the foundation to to where John is quoting from in the Old Testament and how that relates to us in life. And that’s more what I’m interested in, is highlighting where John is getting his statements from is he’s giving us this chapter and then helping us understand how it relates to, to our life. And so eschatology is certainly an important topic to consider in all of the the things you can investigate in the Christian faith. In fact, I think Jesus talked about his eschatological position or teaching more than any other anything else in the in the Gospels. And so it certainly has a place. What I’m just trying to encourage you from is when you when you study this. Don’t don’t be crazy. Let’s just let’s just take from this what what God wants us to understand and see how it relates to our life in the here and now. Because Revelation is a book that has been relevant for God’s people throughout all centuries, and this passage is certainly important for us today. And as you look at this Revelation, chapter 11, you can’t really begin to grasp what chapter 11 is saying until you you look at the end of chapter ten, right? If you even look at the first few words of chapter 11, you recognize that what John is saying in the beginning here of chapter 11 is built on what chapter ten has told us. And this is important to keep in mind when you study any book of the Bible, is that the chapter divisions in your Bible are not inspired.
We certainly believe God’s Word is inspired, but chapter divisions didn’t come until over a century later in church history, and the verses even came later than that. And the reason they were added is really for moments like this. They kind of they kind of work as addresses. Like, if you want someone to find your home, you don’t just. Well, I was going to say you don’t just describe it with hand movements, but my wife does that a lot. You go around the curve and the thingamajig on the side of the road. That’s how you kind of just goes. But but, you know, we like to give our address and, you know, beautiful Utah is laid out in such a beautiful way. You kind of our address or work like coordinates so you can find that pretty easily. Right. And books, books of the Bible are broken down like that, where we have chapters and, and verses that, that give us street addresses so we can find it together and study it not not inspired, but added for our convenience when we study God’s Word as a community. And so in order to understand chapter 11, you got to start with what was said in chapter ten. And if I just reminded you for just a minute what where we’re at in this, this timeline of Revelation, it’s chapter eight and nine.
John was explaining to us some some pretty dark pictures, right? We had the the destroyer opening up the abyss. I mean, it doesn’t get any darker than the abyss because you saw out of the abyss comes these locusts with scorpion tail, human face, horse running, things that just wreak havoc on the world and ultimately lead to the demise of people. And that’s a that’s a pretty desperate moment. But then when you get to chapter ten, you’re given this reminder of no matter how dark the day may be, God’s light is always brighter. And in chapter ten, you see the glory of God made known. And at the end of the chapter, then God commissions his people to respond in light of the circumstances that we find ourselves, because we are not people who are hopeless. And so at the end of chapter ten, you see this angel coming before John, and it says, the voice that I heard from heaven spoke to me again, saying, go, take the scroll that is open in the hand of the angel who was standing on the sea and on the land. This scroll is representative of God’s Word. So I went to the angel and told him to give me the little scroll. And he said to me, take it and eat it, and make your stomach bitter, but in your mouth it will be sweet as honey. This is like the quintessential dog ate my homework, I think kind of kind of a moment in verse ten, and I took the little scroll from the hand of the angel and ate it.
It was sweet as honey in my mouth. But when I had eaten it, my stomach was made bitter. And I was told, you must again prophesy about many peoples and nations and languages and kings. So here’s what we’re finding. What John is. John is discovering based on the greatness of who God is. John and God’s people are commissioned to go forth and proclaim God’s Word, because it’s what brings deliverance and freedom. It’s what gives us hope. And so, John, he’s taking God’s word, and he recognizes the sweetness of God’s Word, but he also recognizes it creates this tension within us because our lives aren’t always fully submitted to it. And likewise, in the book of Revelation, you see this picture of the two kingdoms. There’s the fallen Babylonian kingdom of this world that will pass away. And then there’s the kingdom of God. And that’s where God desires for us to belong. And as this word is proclaimed, there is this tension within us that wars against it. But John knows that this word is intended to bring deliverance to all people, groups, tribes, tongues, and languages. And so John is commissioned as, as a reflection for all of God’s people to go out into this world and do that. Now, knowing there is there is some adversity there.
There becomes a place for us to, to learn. What does it look like for me as a follower of Jesus, to be faithful to him all of my days, knowing there’s some obstacles, and in those obstacles we might even get discouraged? And if you think about church history there of great, great saints that have gone on before us to faithfully follow the Lord. In fact, when you look at a section of Scripture like Hebrews 11 and Hebrews 12 and Hebrews 11 lists for us this great hall of faith, and then it starts in chapter 12. Now you’ve been surrounded by these great cloud of witnesses. Now run the race that is set before you. And so it’s saying, look, these, these individuals have all been a witness to you. The greatness of God made known in their lives. Now, you. Now it’s your turn. And so knowing you have this race, it tells you to run that race with endurance. Meaning this is not a sprint, but but at the end of your life, you want to be able to look back and say, and I faithfully followed Jesus. What does that. What does that look like for us? And in Revelation chapter 11, this is where God is taking us. And we’re going to learn together four certainties that the faithful acknowledge. What are what are four certainties that the faithful of God’s people have just have just known as pillars to their life as they have have been faithful to the Lord all of their days.
And point number one in your notes, let me give it to you. We have a greater hope to highlight. We have a greater hope to highlight. And sometimes we go through difficulty and it can disorient us to to our ultimate destiny or our ultimate purpose. But but God in His Word has this continual continual reminder throughout Scripture of no matter how difficult things are, there is a God who rules and reigns. And because of that, we have this, this greater hope in our life to highlight. In fact, in terms of Hebrews chapter 12, which I just quoted to run this race before us. It tells us in verse two that in order to run that race faithfully, we look unto Jesus, who is the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross. So it’s acknowledging, you know, Jesus had adversity, the cross, but for him there was a greater hope set before him. And so he he faithfully endured the circumstances of this world for for a greater purpose, to the glory of God, for the benefit of us. And the same is true for us. We have this greater hope to highlight. Now the irony of saying this as I get ready to read Revelation chapter 11 is when you first read these, these beginning verses, you’re probably going to look at this and say interesting verses.
How does this, how does this give me a hope? I like because it is. It is bizarre until you understand it. Right. And this is what it says. Then I was given a measuring rod like a staff, and I was told. Rise and measure the temple of God and the and the altar, and those who worship there, but do not measure the court outside the temple. Leave that out, for it is given over to the nations, and they will trample the holy city for 42 months. And I will grant authority to my two witnesses, and they will prophesy for 1260 days, clothed in sackcloth. Amen. What a hope, right? Like what is. What is. How does this talking about a hope to highlight. Let me let me do a little bit of math first. And then I’ll explain to you what this is talking, talking about. Revelation in this particular verse two and verse three, it gives us two dating periods, right? 42 months and then 1260 days. 42 months is three and a half years, right? Those that are maybe not quite as quick as math. It’s three and a half years, and then 160 days when you have 30 calendar, when you think in terms of a month and 30 calendar days and you divide 30 by 160, you’re given three and a half years again. So three and a half years are talked about twice in this particular section of Scripture.
Now why is John doing that? Well, he’s highlighting for us two important places in the eschatological timeline from the Old Testament. He’s highlighting from us from the book of Ezekiel specifically chapter 46 to or 40 to 46. And he’s highlighting for us Daniel chapter nine, specifically verse 24 to 27. Right. So John is drawing our attention to the Old Testament to remind us of of hope. Now, if you ever take time to read these Old Testament prophetic books, you’ll understand. They’re as wild as John is in his book of Revelation how he describes things. Right? I mean, the Book of Ezekiel is a pretty interesting book. I mean, it starts off Ezekiel was taken into captivity in chapter one. He’s all depressed on the side of a river and his his land in which he’s been taken captive to. And he’s weeping about it because at the beginning of Ezekiel, you find out this is his birthday. He’s turning 30 years old here he is in captivity and 30 years old was a pretty important moment for the life of Ezekiel and for Israel, because Ezekiel was a priest and at 30 years old, that’s where you’re finally allowed to to live out your priestly duties. But rather than be a priest in the temple, he finds himself in exile in Babylon, and he’s weeping about this. But in those moments, God appears to him, and God lets him know that even though he’s in exile, that the Lord is still with him.
But as you move through the Book of Ezekiel, you discover when you get to chapter 11, God’s saying that his presence is no longer in the temple in Israel, that he in some regard has been exiled, just like Israel has been exiled. He’s left the temple. But then when you get to chapter, chapter 36 and 37. God delivers this great hope. There’s all this judgment in Ezekiel talking to Israel, but in chapter 36 and 37, he tells them from their dead bones he will bring life again, looking to the New covenant, the New Testament that Jesus will bring for us. And then when you get to chapter 38 and 39, there’s the story of this, this individual known as Gog, who rules from the land of Magog, which will specifically look at those two. Those two words and later in the Book of Revelation. But they’re representative of this fallen Babylonian kingdom. And as you’re reading in Ezekiel 38 and 39, you see the destruction that he’s bringing upon the world. But then when you get to Ezekiel 40, which is where John is talking about, God gives a hope and a promise that one day he will rebuild his temple. And for six chapters he has Ezekiel go around and measure the, the, this, this temple and what that’s going to look like. Now, one of the interesting things I should say about this particular section is when you when you read in the New Testament, you begin to discover that the presence of God no longer dwells in the physical temple, but rather now the presence of God dwells in his people.
Who who is the temple? We are the temple. And because of that, now we experience the presence of God wherever we go. It’s not about just going to a building to to be close to God. We we get to be near to the Lord wherever we are because God walks with us. And so what’s happening now in the book of John is, is John is taking this picture of Ezekiel, and he’s showing us how God is fulfilling what he has promised. And the way that he’s doing it is through this measuring rod. And and this measuring rod is symbolic of ownership that this is where God owns. This is where where God’s presence is made known. And this is what God possesses. And to to Ezekiel or excuse me to to John. What’s being stated here is that while while the earth may have destruction and while there continues to continues to be difficult things that we might go through, that we have a greater hope because we belong to the Lord. Yes, his judgment will be made known on things that don’t belong to him, which is which is what’s indicative in this this verse where he’s measuring the temple, which is symbolic of God’s people, which which does belong to him.
And then beyond the temple is that which doesn’t belong to the Lord. And so God is reminding us that you have this, this greater hope because you are possessed by him. And he has he has not forgotten you. He has not abandoned you. He has not left you, just like Ezekiel on the side of the river. God walks with you and you’re his. So we have this greater hope to to highlight that in the midst of of difficulty. It just it doesn’t disorient us to, to our circumstances, but we’re reminded that we we have something that transcends our troubles. And then he goes on and describes from from the book of Daniel chapter nine, and in Daniel chapter nine, it’s I think it’s important to understand the framework of why Daniel says what he says in in chapter nine. Daniel describes in this particular section what he refers to as 70 weeks. 70 weeks were this. This eschatological clock started to tick. And in Daniel chapter nine, God’s people find themselves still in exile. But God has given a prophetic promise to their return. And so this, these 70 weeks start to tick, and each week represents seven years. So these 70 weeks times seven represent 490 years where the eschatological clock starts to tick, when Israel will begin to to return and God will ultimately bring about his his Messiah, the Messiah, who will redeem and restore all things. But as you read in this story, you find that that eschatological clock stops after the 69th week, and the fullness of the 70 week 70th week hasn’t been fulfilled.
Now, when you look at Daniel and with these 70 weeks, we could ask the question, why in the world? Why in the world would would God pick this, this picture of seven like this? And you could see that this, this last little bit here in Revelation is talking about the last half of, of of seven years, right. One of those weeks, not completely fulfilled. But why would God do this? Well, when you when you study Israel, each each week that Daniel talks about is a picture of a sabbatical year, right? Seven years for Israel is a sabbatical year. And at the end of the Or. Excuse me, in the seventh year, they’re supposed to let their land lie fallow to restore the land, and they’re supposed to forgive all debts, to restore all debt. Right? And so every, every sabbatical year that’s supposed to happen, but every seven times a sabbatical year, which is 49 years, is actually the year of jubilee. And this is a holistic restoring really of all things. Anyone that’s been made slave is set free. Not only does the land lie fallow to restore any debt that is is forgiven, but but also with that any anyone that has purchased land from another family group that that land is restored back to the original family group. If you know, in the land of Israel, there was particular sets of land that was that were designated to particular tribes and family groups, and so that was to stay with that family.
But sometimes those families would go through economic hardships. Things would happen. They would have to sell that land. But every year of Jubilee, all of it was restored. It was this holistic, beautiful healing of the land that took place socio economically. It was just this restoring of of all things, and it was a reminder of ultimately what the Messiah would do seven times, seven, 49 years. But in the book of Daniel, you get 490 years. And so Daniel is painting a picture for us. That’s not just seven times seven, but it’s an exponential jubilee. It’s seven times seven times ten, saying to us this ultimate jubilee would be made known in the Messiah. But but what you discover is that that final week never came to its complete fruition. And what John is saying here is when that prophetic clock stopped, that that final moments of that prophetic clock are about to complete. And the absolute jubilee, the restoring of all of creation is about to take place, that God’s hand is made known, that this this becomes a reminder for all of us as you look at God’s faithfulness throughout the Old Testament, even to today, that we we have a a greater hope to highlight. And so John is going back and he’s showing this faithful hand of the Lord.
So that point number two, let me give it to You. We have an opportunity to seize that. We recognize we have an opportunity to to seize. And it’s it’s true in the in the day of John and throughout church history that despite the difficulty that we might go through, those difficulties also present for us an opportunity to demonstrate the greatness of who God is, that even for this generation, there is an opportunity for us to seize. It’s incredibly encouraging when you go back and look at church history to to see men and women who have been faithful to stand for the Lord despite circumstances that they were enduring, and how God used that to not only not only change things where they were, but but it became a catalyst of encouragement for believers to follow. And even when I think of just recent church history, people like Corrie ten Boom and Dietrich Bonhoeffer, who who stood up during Nazi regime to to fight against the evil that was taking place to help Jewish people find freedom. And Corrie ten boom paying a sacrifice by saying her sister killed in in a concentration camp. And Dietrich Bonhoeffer finding his, his, his own life was was taken from him because of his willingness to stand up for the injustice. Or people like Jim Elliott, who went and served in the Auca Indians or, or individuals like Horatio Spafford, who wrote the book or wrote the song.
Excuse me. It is well that we’re going to sing at the end of the service. Horatio Spafford lost his home in the Great Chicago Fire and sent his family across the Atlantic back to to England. And and when his family was returning, he didn’t get on the first ship with him. But the ship ended up sinking and his daughters drowned. And when he finally got on a boat to join his his family, the captain of the boat told him, this is where the ship with your daughters on it went down. And he wrote that song. It is well. And their lives become this inspiration, this this testimony to us of of this faithfulness to the Lord, knowing there there is a greater hope. And for each generation there is and there is an opportunity for us to, to seize. Yeah. I think of individuals like William Wilberforce knowing that this Monday is Martin Luther King Day. The William Wilberforce was one who was a part of the British Parliament. And he he spent his entire life working towards the, the abolition of slavery and and that abolition, the, the law that passed the abolition of slavery in in Britain was passed in 1833, three days after he finally died. And he this man had lived his entire decades in Parliament fighting against slavery. And and he was such a godly individual that he lived near Parliament. And it was said of his life that every day that he walked to work, he would quote all of Psalm 119.
I don’t know if you have ever read Psalm 119, but it is by far the largest chapter in all of the Bible, and that particular chapter is about the beauty of God’s Word. And and fresh on his mind daily was the honor it was to serve his King of Kings and Lord of Lords, and he labored diligently for the abolition of of of slavery. You just look at testimony after testimony of God’s faithfulness of people. And it’s it’s inspiring to us. And recognizing that we, too have our own opportunity to seize. And let me read you a text that encourages that way. How about this? Revelation four it says, these are the two olive trees and two lampstands that stand before the Lord of the earth. And if anyone would harm them, fire pours from their mouth and consumes their foes. If anyone would harm them, this is how he is doomed to to be killed. They have the power to shut the sky, that no rain may fall during the days of their prophesying, and they have power over the waters to turn them into blood and to strike the earth with every kind of plague as often as they desire. If you ever talked about seizing an opportunity, right, it’s the that kind of ability there that is impressive. But but what what is what is this passage trying to get us to recognize? Well, there’s three sections of scripture that that John is primarily highlighting here.
One is from Zechariah chapter four. The other is from First Kings chapter 17 and 18, and the last is the book of Exodus, chapter seven and ten. And he’s painting for us a picture of what it means to walk in the power of God and seizing the opportunity that we have because of the of the hope that we contain in Jesus. And so what he’s what he’s acknowledging here is first, to understand this picture from Zechariah four of of what it means to be a lampstand infused by the power of, of the olive tree. If you look in Zechariah chapter four, this is this book is written after Israel comes back from captivity and there is a a priest and a king pictured here, there’s the the priest Joshua and the king Zerubbabel. And both of them represent a lampstand to Israel, the light of God made known through them. But but what’s what’s even more powerful is when you get to the the New Testament, you understand, we’ve seen in Revelation, we’ve already talked about Zechariah chapter four and in Revelation chapter one, it painted a picture that that the power of Zechariah was made known. This, this prophetic statement was made known in Jesus that he is that, that ultimate source for us. But as you also read in the New Testament, you recognize in passages like First Peter chapter two, verse 5 to 9, that we are royal priests in God’s kingdom.
And what that means is this this picture from Zechariah four of Joshua the priest and Zerubbabel the king. Both of those positions are made known in Jesus. But because we belong to Jesus, it’s made known in us that we are royalty, and we are men and women priests of God. As we demonstrate the greatness of God in this world, and the Spirit of God empowers us to to let the truth of God be made known. And so he’s saying to us, as royal priests called in this world to represent God, that you would you would seize your moment knowing, knowing the great hope that you have in him. And in so doing, you would recognize that that prophetic power. And sometimes we talk about prophecy. Some some people think that that this word primarily deals with with the future, predicting the future. This is foretelling. Telling. But you know, when the when the Bible talks about prophecy, it primarily speaks of it in terms of foretelling the simple proclamation of God’s Word, because His Word is power. And in order to help us understand that, he goes back to the Old Testament and he takes two prophetic, powerful moments one in First Kings chapter 17 and 18, and then from Exodus chapter seven and ten, and in First Kings, if you read about that story, this is dealing with the prophet Elijah during a time where there’s false prophets all through Israel that worship Baal, and Elijah prays to God, and he asked God to stop sending the rain for three and a half years.
And the Lord answers the prayer. And finally, in this great showdown, God Elijah calls the false prophets of Baal to gather together hundreds of them and says, call out to your God and and see if your God can light and consume an altar with fire from heaven. And then I’ll call out to my God and do the same. And so all these prophets spend the day walking around this altar, cutting themselves and worship to their false god. And and if you ever read it, it’s it’s kind of comical because Elijah mocks mocks them. He says, maybe you’re maybe you’re prophets, or your God is busy in the bathroom and he can’t hear you. You should probably yell louder. That’s kind of. Elijah teases them as they’re they’re in this false worship and and nothing happens. And then finally Elijah comes before his God, and he prays, and God brings fire upon the altar and ignites it. And then Elijah prays that God would bring the rain again. And God does. And he’s showing the power of God’s Word being made known. And even in the book of Exodus with Moses, it’s this description of Moses coming before Pharaoh and warning Pharaoh to let God’s people go, or plagues will come upon the earth. And you know the story.
Pharaoh hardens his heart, and these plagues come again and again. And so these these pictures for us are a reminder that the the same power that worked in these prophets of old is the same power of God that works in this people today, that you are this royal priestly representative. And for us we we have these moments to to seize. There was a man by the name of Samuel, Samuel Rutherford, who was a minister in Scotland in the 1600s, who he proclaimed God’s Word and the people of his day didn’t like it, political leaders. And so they sent him into exile. But Samuel didn’t let this, this moment stop him from continuing to encourage God’s people. So he started to write letters to his church. And his letters were so encouraging that his church started to share it with people around them. And and it became so popular that his letters were saved. And it was stored in a book today called, I think it’s called Samuel’s Letters that was written to encourage us. And in those letters he said this. In our fluctuation of feelings, it is well to remember that Jesus admits no change in his affections. Your heart is not the compass. Jesus sails by. He’s. He’s reminding us. Look, we go through difficult times, and it does challenge our souls. But to remember, feelings are fleeting. And thank God he doesn’t follow our feelings, but rather, he remains consistent.
Your feelings aren’t the sail by which God moves by, and it’s one of the things we try to encourage people to. When you come here to ABC, that oftentimes when you ask people, how do you determine what’s true? The basis that people think truth comes from is just simply what they feel. But the problem with that is that your feelings change and you’re not the determiner of truth. The truth existed long before you, and truth will will outlive you. And what’s more important than just simply how you feel is to determine what’s True. And you don’t discover ultimate truth by looking within you, but rather beyond you. And thank God God doesn’t determine truth based on our feelings, but it’s based on who he is. Every generation has an opportunity to seize because of the greatness of who God is and the hope that he delivers. And in so doing. Point number three, we have adversity to endure. We have adversity to endure. As you think about the certainties that the faithful in God have acknowledged, there’s there’s definitely a hope and there’s definitely an opportunity to seize. And at the same time, we’ve got to acknowledge and there will be challenges that we face. And when you look at this next section in the book of Revelation, this is exactly what’s described here. But let me let me read Romans chapter 15, verse five, and I’ll look at this Revelation section. But Romans 15, verse five says this.
May the God of endurance and And encouragement grant you to live in such harmony with with one another in accord with Christ Jesus. He’s saying, look, if you come to know the Lord and you’re passionate about knowing the Lord, I’m so thankful you’re passionate about knowing the Lord. And I love the fire that Jesus puts in us when we come to know him. And that’s that’s critical and it’s important. And it’s also important to learn a rhythm of consistency in your walk with him. You know, I remember when I, when I first became a Christian, so on fire and passionate like I thought, this is never going to go away. Right. And then a few months later, it seemed like that, that that fire began to, to dwindle a little bit. And then I would look for that next. Where did that go, that next passion to get all excited about and and then up and down. It felt like my Christian life went as I began my journey. But in that you start to learn, no, I need to learn. I need to learn a rhythm of meeting with Jesus every day. This is not. This is not a sprint. This is a marathon and a part of learning how to walk that marathon is to realize there’s there’s there is adversity that that can come my way, that could try to war against me, to take the wind out of my sails. But more important than that is that my eyes be on Jesus and the greatness of who he is, because it’s what gives me my strength.
And you see in verse seven where this adversity is described here, it says, and when they had finished their testimony, the beast that rises from the bottomless pit will make war on them and conquer them and kill them, and their dead bodies will lie in the street of the great city that symbolically is called Sodom and Egypt, where their Lord was crucified for three and a half days. Some some from the peoples and tribes and languages and nations, will gaze at their dead bodies and refuse to to let them be placed in a tomb, and those who dwell on the earth will rejoice over them, and make merry and exchange presents. Because these two prophets have been a torment to those who dwell on the earth. You know, you certainly see the adversity of this moment. And and John here is highlighting it as, as Sodom and Egypt, which is this. It’s an adulterous, slave inducing people oppressing God’s people. And when it describes the oppression on God’s people to the point it’s killing them, and it says they lay in the streets for three and a half days. And the reason I think three and a half days is described here is because during this time period, it was believed if you were dead for, say, two days, that you may not really be dead yet, you were you were mostly dead, but not fully dead.
Right? This is this is how they view that. But but if you you were in the grave for more than three days or dead for three days, then you were really dead, right? There was there was no coming back from that. That was that’s kind of how they viewed this. So three and a half days, the thought of the world is we’ve defeated them. We’ve won. Our kingdom is victorious. So much so that they’re celebrating it. They’re to the point where things that are good to them, They call evil and the things that are evil, they celebrate as if it were good. They make even holidays and celebration of those things. Now, if you take that thought for a minute and you just think about where your world is today, it’s a little bit sobering in in how this is described. But John is just he’s he’s declaring to us the adversity that God’s people face continue to face and will ultimately face until the Messiah returns. In fact, the images that are drawn here are taken from Daniel chapter seven, where this this final fourth beast is depicted in in Daniel seven, especially in verse 23. And many use this to highlight the Roman Empire, which is true, I believe. But ultimately there’s a great empire that will try to rule over God’s people. And it will. It will look as if they have been victorious.
But then the rest of Revelation comes. And let me let me give you this last point. We have a victory that far Outweighs the struggle. We have a victory that far outweighs the struggle. You know, from the beginning of of God’s church, we’ve always faced adversity because of our testimony in Jesus. In fact, if you go back and look at church history, one of the first pieces of art ever drawn regarding Christianity comes in the second century. And this piece of art, it might be a little bit of a stretch to call it an art. It’s more like a scratchings on the side of a rock. But it was. It was drawn to make fun of Christians. The first Christian piece of artwork in church history is a piece of artwork to mock Christians, and it’s called the Alexamenos graffito. And it’s literally this guy named Alexamenos worshiping it says his God. But if you see the picture of his God, it’s a man being crucified with the head of a donkey, which is to emulate Jesus. And it’s a mockery of of who Jesus is, and a mockery of this man that would worship Jesus in the first century. No one could understand why anyone would want to worship a God that died on a cross. And the most shameful way you could die during this time period was by crucifixion. And to think that people would then bow down to them was mind boggling to the world.
But but it’s a reminder for us of the greater hope that we have. We know the reason Jesus gave his life so that we could have freedom in him. And and this is the victory that we celebrate. We all have this, this victory at point four that far outweighs our struggle. And in Revelation 11 verse 11, you see how this begins to unfold. And I’m only going to share with you these the first, first part of this. If you read verse 15 and on, you certainly see this celebration in heaven as God’s people. But it says in verse 11, but after these three after the three and a half days, a breath of life from God entered them. And they stood up on their feet, and great fear fell on those who saw them. Then they heard a loud voice from heaven saying to them, come up here. And they went up to heaven in a cloud. And their their enemies watched them. And at that hour there was a great earthquake, and a 10th of the city fell, and 7000 people were killed in the earthquake, and the rest were terrified and gave glory to the God of heaven. The second woe has passed, behold, the third woe is soon to come. This is reminding us as God’s people that when when things may look desperate, when, when, when you may wonder where the light is at the end of the tunnel in Christ, there is always a greater hope to come.
There is a victory that far outweighs our struggle. And God’s people here in this end of this chapter are experiencing this. You know, when I read Revelation chapter 11, there was a particular author that wrote a beautiful summary. I think, of what Revelation 11 is about. And I went back and I tried to figure out who that author was. I copied the comment, and then I and then I forgot who the author was and I couldn’t find him again. So an anonymous author I give credit to said this being a Christian is about being liberated from bondage to sin by faith in the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. Being a Christian is about being confident that the father is greater than all that nothing can overcome Almighty God. Being a Christian is about relying on the power of the spirit, not the power of our own abilities. If you don’t know Christ, what keeps you from being set free from your sin by Jesus, protected by the father’s care and experiencing the Spirit’s power? Won’t you trust Jesus now? If you do know Christ, that is who you are. You are measured by the father that you saw in the very beginning with the measuring rod, and dwelt by and empowered by the spirit which you saw from Zechariah chapter four with the the lampstands and protected to proclaim the good news, so that slaves might be freed, which you see here in these final verses.
It’s a beautiful picture of of what Revelation leads. You know, I think about God’s people throughout the centuries. There’s. Every generation has had their moment to seize and an opportunity to stand because of the hope that we ultimately have in God and the victory that we receive in him. Yes, there’s adversity in that, but it’s also a beautiful privilege to demonstrate our faith in God as greater, and we have a greater love for him than the simple pleasures of this world. And as I think back over church history, there’s example after example, but one particular individual that stands out to me more than any other is a man by the name of Martin Luther. You know, I think about what Martin Luther did in his day, which was not not Martin Luther King junior, obviously, but but the original Martin Luther. Martin Luther was in the 16th century. And to get to the point where he was in history, it didn’t just rest on his shoulders. He was certainly trusting in the Lord, but he also stood on the shoulders of great men of faith who had come before him. Men like John Haas and John Wycliffe, who wanted to get the the Bible in the common person’s hands so they could they can understand who God was. And Martin Luther picked up the torch that they had brought up until his time, and he carried it forward.
And Martin Luther, if you know his story, he had he had issues with what the people of his day were believing. And so he tacked these 95 theses to the to the castle door in Wittenberg. And when Martin Luther did this, this wasn’t anything uncommon. In fact, during his time period, it was typical for someone who had an issue, a theological debate they wanted to have. They would tack comments to the door on the church in Wittenberg, and and Martin Luther did the same. But but what Martin Luther wrote created a firestorm. And from this moment, Martin Luther began to write all sorts of documents to the point that he was brought before Emperor Charles the Fifth and told to recant what he had been proclaiming. Martin Luther, by this point in 1521, had written so much that most people believed that Martin Luther could not have written this by himself. He must have had an army of writers working with him. But they brought all this before Martin Luther put him on trial and told him he needed to recant what he believed. And Martin Luther, while he was on trial, said, I need to think about this. And so they postponed any judgment on him and gave him an opportunity to consider what his stand would be over what he wrote. And he comes back to this specific moment, of which, apparently in the 16th century, was the time to be because you got to wear your pajamas wherever you went.
You just had to wear a funny hat to do it, I think. But Martin Luther, if you can identify him as the man with the weirdest haircut there in the picture. But Martin, Martin Luther comes before King Charles, and he gives this, this declaration. It’s this declaration of of incredible boldness. He says, unless I am convinced by Scripture and plain reason, I do not accept the authority of popes and councils, for they have contradicted each other, and my conscience is captive to the word of God. I cannot and will not recant anything, for to go against conscience is neither right nor safe. Here I stand, I can do no other. God help me. Amen. And Martin Luther knew that this could cost him his life, because he had seen many others who had laid down their lives for a similar stand. But yet he stood on. On the greatness of his God. He was faithful. And his story becomes for us inspiration to how we can be faithful even in our day. All of us have an opportunity to stand for, for light, for, for Christ in this world. I mean, your ministry where God has you is that that platform of opportunity to demonstrate the greatness of who God is, the hope that he gives. Yes, there might be adversity, but there is a victory that far outweighs the struggle.