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I’m going to invite you to Revelation chapter six. This is where we’re at together today, Revelation chapter six. And this is where things get wild in Revelation, right? It goes it’s really from here on through the rest of the book. There’s just some interesting things that take place. And, you know, in reading Revelation chapter six, one of the things that has always stood out to me, I’ve thought, if, if, if Halloween has a verse and I’m not pro Halloween, okay, but I’m just saying, if Halloween has a verse, it’s definitely in Revelation. It’s Revelation chapter six, verse eight. In fact, I had this, uh, this friend in Bible college that, you know, in Bible college, they kids are constantly asking, what’s your favorite Bible verse? You know, it’s like it’s like, you know, you should have a favorite Bible verse, right? So definitely, definitely memorize God’s Word. But but because that question got asked so much, I had a friend that he made his favorite verse, Revelation chapter six, verse eight, which I think is the Halloween verse. He he would go around and he was just locked and loaded anytime anybody asked that question. And he would always quote the verse in a deeper voice, and it was from a different translation than ESV. But he would always, he’d always go, behold a man on a pale horse, and he who rode upon it was death, and all hell followed him. That’s that’s that’s what we’re getting into today.
Give you a little precursor to Revelation chapter six. That’s that’s what we’re going to find ourselves in. This is a this is a very sobering passage of Scripture, right. Even from that verse, you kind of get the the hint to that. And when you come to this passage, it’s important for us to remember really what’s taking place in Revelation to help us understand where this this section of Scripture is going. If you remember how Revelation begins for us is this introduction for for John writing a letter to us exiled on the island of Patmos. And in verse nine of Revelation chapter one, he he describes himself as as a partner in the tribulation and the kingdom of God. Right. So he’s helping us understand a couple of things about the state of the church. There is tribulation as God’s people. That’s that’s a part of being a being in this fallen Babylon world. In fact, when you read a book of Revelation, that’s what it’s presenting to us, is it not? It’s this, this idea of there’s two kingdoms of which which we have the opportunity to belong to, and one is the kingdom of this earth. It’s the fallen Babylon, where Satan is referred to as the ruler of this world, the prince of the power of the air. And then there’s the kingdom of heaven, the kingdom of God, of which God has created for us to belong to. Right. And and so John is saying that he’s he’s representing that kingdom, the kingdom of God, in the midst of a fallen, broken, and Babylon.
Babylon world. And so John is describing for us his his partnership in that, and then he’s encouraging us as God’s people. And so the rest of chapter one of Revelation goes on and paints a picture for us of this glorious God that we follow. And then when you get to chapter two and three, it talks about the adversity that God’s people experience as they desire to live for his kingdom in the midst of a fallen and broken kingdom. And in Revelation chapter two and three talks about the seven churches, which is a picture of all of God’s church throughout time and the struggles that we faced. We as God’s people, we can be. We can be oppressed, we can be tested, we can be tried. And and so there’s this this struggle of learning. What does it look like to honor God in the midst of a fallen and broken world? And this, this, this kingdom, this earth, rather than live for it, which is going to pass away, how can we live for him and His glory? And so Revelation chapter two and three is, is writing to each of those churches, describing for them how to honor the God in the midst of where they find themselves, for the purpose of encouraging us today as God’s people, to discover what that looks like. And in the midst of talking about the battle within this, this world, the spiritual battle that’s taking place that that we find it in, confronted in our physical world.
John then goes in chapter four and he pulls back the curtain of heaven. And I reminded us, when John, as John is doing this, that for each of us, it’s helping us learn the type of posture that we should take as we go into this world, as we examine how God is presented to us, saying, look, if God is in panic, if God is surprised about the circumstances of this world, then that should give you pause to consider your own fate in how you should respond in light of who God is. But what you discover in Revelation four is that God is on his throne, ruling and reigning in his sovereignty. And in chapter four specifically, it talks about God as creator. And then in chapter five, it explains to us God as creator, that that God knows the world is fallen and his desire is to recreate it in his perfection. Right? And so we saw that in the picture of this lamb. Right? This, this lamb that was slain and it had survived the slain, or it was resurrected from the slain. And it’s this image of Jesus. And we see that in, in Jesus that all of heaven is looking to him. So you have this, this sovereign, powerful God who is not only created but but recreated his his kingdom for for his glory.
And yet, despite that statement of Revelation, chapter five, and those wonderful truths in that, we still wrestle with the questions like God, if if Jesus is victorious, then why is the world still broken? If Jesus is reigning on the throne, if he created and and recreated it, why do we still face so much suffering? And where is his kingdom in all of this? And in Revelation chapter six starts to explain that story to us. God, help me understand what’s happening in light of who you are and what you’ve accomplished. And so that’s what we’re going to talk about together today is God help me understand. And we’re going to do that through answering three questions together. What is God’s plan? How do I know God’s God cares about me. And finally, what’s God going to do about injustice? So what is God’s plan? How do I know God cares about me? And what is God going to do about injustice? And I’m going to tell you with each one of these questions, I’m going to give you just one Bible verse. Okay. And these Bible verses are a very concise place to find the answer. But you’re going to see this this answer told throughout all of Revelation chapter six. So the first question there, what is God’s plan? Let me give you the answer now. And then. We’ll look at this verse later. But the answer is second Peter chapter three, verse nine.
Second Peter chapter three, verse nine. You ever understand that the gospel Jesus has been victorious, overcome the grave, and we have incredible hope in him because of that. And then you look at the world around you and you think, what is going on? Second Peter chapter three, verse nine is very concise verse that explains that to us. As for God’s people. But in Revelation chapter six, if we start to unfold this story here, this is how it begins. John says, now I watched when the lamb opened up the seven seals, and I heard one of the four living creatures say with a voice like, thunder, come. If you remember the way that we concluded chapter five, John comes before the throne. He sees the lamb that was slain, and the lamb is has overcome death. And as as John is seeing this picture unfold in heaven, he sees this scroll with seven seals on it, and John discovers that the scroll can’t be opened, and John starts to weep. And the reason John weeps is because John knows that on this scroll is contained how God is going to end his story, how everything is going to be fulfilled. But because this scroll can’t be opened, John starts to weep because he recognizes God’s promises won’t be fulfilled unless the end of the story is told. And finally, one who is worthy opens the seals, and that is the Lord. And this is important for us to recognize because you’re about to read some some destruction on the earth.
But but what’s important over and above all of that is, is to see who has the authority and control over it all. And it’s Jesus, right? While while the world may still suffer in sin, God is still sovereignly in control. And he’s working all things out according to his purpose. And so the fact that he’s opening these seals is recognizing that circumstances don’t dictate for him, but rather he is in control, control of all things. And so he opens the scroll. And then as he opens it, we start to read what happens here. And it says, and I looked, and behold, a white horse and its rider had a bow, and a crown was given to him. And he came out conquering and to conquer. When he opened the second seal, I heard the second living creature say, come. And out came another horse, bright red. Its rider was permitted to take peace from the earth so that people should slay one another. And he was given a great sword. When he opened the third seal, I heard the third living creature say, come. And I looked, and behold, a black horse and its rider had a pair of scales in his hand. And I heard him what seemed to be a voice in the midst of the four living creatures, saying, A quart of wheat for a denarius, and three quarts of barley for for a denarius.
And do not harm the oil and wine in verse seven. And when he opened the fourth seal, I heard the voice of the fourth living creature saying, come. And I looked, and behold, a pale horse. And its rider’s name was death. And Hades followed him, and they were given authority over a fourth of the earth to kill with sword, and with famine, and with pestilence, and by wild beasts of the earth. Amen. So what do you do with that? Right. This is where we hope to pull out eschatology charts and make all of these predictions of the future, isn’t it? Like this. This is interesting, but it’s going to happen. Not now. Right. That’s that’s kind of what we what we want to do with this. But let me just answer the question. Big question we could ask is, um, when is this happening? Right. Like, when does this take place in Revelation. And let me just give you the answer. It’s now. In fact, let me give you the answer. That’s that’s been the case from the beginning. These four horses have always been roaming the earth, bringing this destruction from the from the days of Genesis. This has been what we have experienced in a fallen Babylonian world. In fact, Jesus, I think, in Matthew 24, refers to this as the beginning of the birth pangs. Um, what’s being described here, if you remember? And when we looked at Revelation chapter four and chapter five together, we talked about the four angels around God’s throne, and we talked about the significance of four in Revelation and the fact that the Jews would refer to the earth as having four corners.
And the idea of four is this picture of fullness that these four angels represented the ends of the earth described in Revelation, in chapter four and chapter five. And now in chapter six, we’re seeing the same thing these, these horses that are running amok upon the earth. And these horses represent to the ends of the earth, everywhere. Everyone is finding themselves in the midst of this fallen Babylonian world, suffering because of the curse of sin. And these horses are the representation of the struggle that we experience. And each one of these horses are this, this, this explanation to us of of how we continue to find ourselves again and again in the midst of this struggle, despite God’s warning to us to continue to stop putting our trust in a fallen Babylonian world, and rather put our trust in him. And the way that you see it is through each of the images of these horses that have been painted. Notice when he’s describing these horses to us. He’s he doesn’t put it on a timeline for us because the Lord knows this is a representation of of of the battle. All of us face because of of the world that we live in and the brokenness in our own hearts.
The first horse is the white horse. Who? It’s a horse who’s given a crown. And he doesn’t tell us how he’s given this crown or where he’s given this crown from. But I think the reason for that is because we hand this crown over to this particular horse over and over again in our lives. We’re looking for something to to make life more pleasurable and easy, something to give us worth and value, something to worship. And as human beings, this this horse becomes that representation to us. In fact, this horse notice it has a bow, but it has no arrow. Which is this? This, this picture of saying this horse can over promise to you, but it will never deliver. And we as human beings, over and over again give our lives over to it, hoping that it will fulfill what it says, only to find out in the end. It never delivers. In fact, the only result of this horse that conquers is is death. That as we pursue these false idols for our lives and we put our hope in the wrong thing in the process, we end up destroying and warring one another in order to attain. We think by having more stuff, or getting more praise, or reaching higher position, or receiving more, more monetary gain, that eventually enough will be received and then I’ll be happy. And so we sell ourselves to those idols, those things that ultimately dominate us, and in the end, we destroy one another to get it.
And the result of that is that we all pay the cost, and that black horse is that representative of that, that that horse helps us recognize that as as we pursue these false idols, these false claims, these broken things of this Babylonian world that the the Red horse causes the war and the black horse, we pay the consequence, and in the end it produces death. And not just physical death of our lives, but spiritual death of our souls. Again and again, this happens from the very beginning, on an individual basis and even collectively as God’s as as people. Not just God’s people, but people. And we pursue these false idols that lead to destruction. We live in a fallen Babylon thinking Babylon can deliver us. And we were never made for that. And the Garden of Eden. You remember Adam and Eve bought into the lie. They believed that God was withholding his best from them. They thought they knew better than God. And they gave their their lives over to this false white horse that ultimately brought war between them. And in that battle there was consequence to pay and and ultimately death, even to the point when you get early into into Genesis, you see the Tower of Babel and the whole purpose of the Tower of Babel, mankind says, is to make a name for ourselves because it’s about their glory, their recognition, what they could receive.
And again and again it brings destruction over and over. Men have put their hope in a fallen Babylon, only to find out that the result of that is the death of their own soul. And this will continue to happen over and over again until the that final Babylon is is defeated, and the Lord reigns victoriously over it all. And this happens on a on a personal basis. This happens on a collective basis. And these, these four horses are pictured repeatedly in Scripture. Zechariah chapter one. You read about the four horses. Matthew chapter 24. You read about the four horses again here in Revelation. You read about these four horses, but their their warnings and reminders to us of ultimately what fallen Babylon produces and the destruction it brings to to the soul. It’s a warning cry to the heart. And it’s a it’s a place to examine our own lives where we’re putting our, our hope. And, you know, sometimes in the midst of this adversity, we we might ask ourselves the question, well, Lord, if you are in control and you have been victorious, God, why are we still in this state? Why not come now? Why not return today? And second Peter, chapter three. The Bible reminds us of this. It says the Lord is not slow to fulfill his promises as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance. The reason for God’s delay is because in Jesus’s first coming, when God owed us nothing but but justice, when God’s wrath is all that needed to be poured out.
Rather than bring his wrath, what he brought us was grace. And the reason he brought us grace was it provided us an opportunity to escape his wrath. Now, God cannot be a good God and not bring his justice against sin, right? It requires an order in order for God to be good that he executes justice. Often times we’ll compare it to a judge in a courtroom. And if a judge is in a courtroom and someone’s done something against you and injustice against you, and they’re brought to trial, and the judge looks at him and says, I think he’s guilty, but I’m not going to do anything about it. You would look at that judge and say, you are, you cannot be a good judge, because in order to be good, you must execute justice. And justice is a requirement of of goodness. Is that justice would be meted. And so when it comes to our own sinfulness and rebellion against God. The only thing God owes us is justice. But rather than that, what he brought us was grace. And so in his Second coming, when Jesus returns, what he will bring is his justice on the earth. He will bring his judgment against all sin. But his delay in his second coming is an opportunity for us to recognize how much we need him.
And so God is saying, look, it’s not because I’m delaying on my promises. It’s not because I’m not going to be faithful to my promises, but rather it’s to understand, in the midst of a fallen and broken Babylonian world that I am calling people to find their escape in him, that they would would find this, this place of grace in what God has, has done for us. And so Peter, Peter reminds us as, as, as all of Revelation is unfolding, as the patience of God is is intentional. Just because we see evil in this world doesn’t mean that that God is absent or Are indifferent. In fact, the opening of these scrolls in the very beginning of Revelation chapter six shows us a God who is in control. But at the same time, the brokenness of this world reminds us how much we need him. And so God’s delay between his first and second coming is to bring us to this place of hopeful repentance and seeing our need for Jesus in our lives, and to abandon this, this Babylonian world. And rather than live for it, we would live for Him and His glory. This brings me to the second question. In the midst of this broken world, then how? How do I know God cares about me, right? How do I know God cares about me? And when? When John does starts to talk about this answer, he he removes himself from the earth again and he goes back to this heavenly picture.
Right now he’s talking about the destruction from these horses on the earth. But now he’s about to come back to this heavenly picture to help us understand how much God cares for us as he’s going to describe the saints. But let me give you an answer for this. A more concise verse is Revelation 21, verse four. Revelation 21, verse four is the answer to your question. We’ll look at this verse in just a minute, but God starts to help us understand how he cares for us. In verse nine of this of chapter six, and when we answer this question, Why God? Why does God care for me? How do I know God cares for me? I hope all of us have in mind a Bible verse in our life that we’re going through adversity. We can remind ourselves of of the truths of who God is, right? Hopefully in your life you’ve got a few verses locked and loaded that remind you of the the nature of God, the character of God, and how much he cares for you when you go through difficulty in life if you don’t have one, let me just give you Romans eight. Okay? Just all of Romans eight. Take that. Um, it’s from beginning to end. It’s a great chapter of the Bible, but. But we need reminded over and over again of God’s care for us. And it’s it’s shocking sometimes just how many times God tells us this in the Bible.
But but it’s a reminder of just how fragile we can be as people. Because we go, we can go through a lot of adversity in life, right? And and every time we face a difficult moment, we’re like, you know, God, I believed you in that last difficult moment that you love me and cared about me. But how about this one, right? And then we go to the next one. Okay, but what about this one? God, we just we we we find our our our hope waning or or our expectations maybe not met. Um, we just we need a reminder that reorients us to to the greatness of who he is and how concerned he is for our lives over and over again. It’s like in a, in a relationship, you know, maybe as a husband or a wife like you could have you could have, I guess, got married and been like, I’m going to tell you this once, you know, it’s going to be on our wedding day. And I don’t want to have to repeat myself, but I love you, right? Like, that’s probably not going to be the best of relationships, right? I mean, you could have said it and meant it, and you could have mint it for the rest of your life. But but there’s something about nurturing the intimacy of that relationship, reminding one another that’s helpful to that.
And the same thing is true with the Lord and the obstacles we face in life. God, how do I know that you care? In Revelation chapter six, verse nine, it says, when he opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of those who had been slain for the word of God, and for the witness they had borne. Now here’s God in heaven. Now in the midst of this broken, fallen Babylon world, his people are being persecuted to the point that they’ve even been martyred. And here’s God collecting them, right? God, they’re there with the Lord. God hasn’t lost them, but the fact that they suffered. Sometimes we look at that as people and think, well, how can God care? Right. Because, well, they went through hard stuff. But you know, when you follow Jesus, we should learn very quickly in our Christian life that the the message of Jesus has never been. God cares about you despite the suffering, but rather we truly discover the care of God in our life through the suffering. And the cross is the ultimate indicator of that, that Jesus through his suffering, right? He pursues us with his life, and that his suffering is the evidence of his care for us. And when we go through adversity, that’s it’s our opportunity to show how much we we care for him in response. And so we shouldn’t be shocked that that God’s people are martyred and, and killed when this was the fate of the very person that we follow.
And Jesus was martyred, his early followers were were killed. And and so when when we know that’s the the fate of of of the one that we pursue, then it shouldn’t shock us that we would face adversity too. In fact, the Bible promises suffering. The Bible even says to us as God’s people, there is a cross before the crown. And there’s hardship that we will endure. But there’s also in that crown the idea of a of a greater hope. And so when we follow Jesus as God’s people, we don’t follow him because he makes life easy. In fact, the Bible says to us that following Jesus, it may add difficulty to your life. We don’t follow him because it’s easy. We follow him because it’s true, and he offers us a greater hope that will pass away or excuse me, a greater hope that will not pass away when the things of this world will fallen. Babylon is on a clock that is ticking, but the kingdom of God endures forever. And here’s the Lord now, collecting his his saints who are laying down their life as an offering. And that’s what’s described in chapter six, verse nine, that in the Old Testament the priests would bring an offering to the to the temple, and they would sacrifice it on the altar, and they would collect the blood of, of the sacrifice at the base of the altar.
And it was recognized that there was life in the blood. And here you see that the martyrs are being sacrificed, their life is being poured out, and it’s being collected at the base of this altar is giving themselves fully for the sake of the Lord. The question we should ask is, how are they able to do that? How are they able to prepare themselves for a road like this? I think Psalm 63 and verse three gives us a powerful thought that reminds us how God’s people are able to endure. It says this the steadfast love of the Lord is better than life. The steadfast love of the Lord is better than life. Meaning your life one day will come to an end here on Earth. But there’s one thing that will endure forever. And it’s the steadfast love of the Lord that’s going to be demonstrated to you through his promises that when everything else fades away, the one thing that you will have that will endure forever is Jesus and what Jesus has promised you in him. And so the disciples learned the world can threaten things against you, but nothing in Christ can truly be taken away from you. And so this is why in verse nine, it tells us why they were martyred. It was the word of God and the testimony, the witness that they had in him. That witness that they had seen in Christ is what they clung to. They they knew if one thing that was going to last, it was what God had proclaimed to them.
And so that’s what they held to no matter, no matter what this world would bring to them. And the early church learned that there was something worse than death to them, and that was abandoning their Lord, abandoning the hope that they had in him being unfaithful. In Revelation chapter two, verse ten to the church of Smyrna, we studied that church together, and they were a church that faced tremendous persecution in the first couple of centuries. And that that the church of Smyrna, when they endured that adversity, God said to them in verse ten, he said, be faithful unto death, and I will give you the crown of life. Faithfulness is what the early believers longed to cling to because of of who God is, and his care for them in their lives. Death was not the the the worst obstacle they had to to face, but rather unfaithfulness or abandoning the truthfulness of the Lord. And he goes on and says this. Verse ten. They cried out with a loud voice, O sovereign Lord, holy and true, how long before you will judge and avenge our blood on those who dwell on the earth? Now they want to know God. If you’re in control, how is this going to work out? And in reading this passage, you can kind of feel the the tension of their concern. Like God, here we are being martyred for you, believing in you, trusting in you and God.
We just want to know. Remind us Lord. And they’ve already been told before, but we want reminded again that this decision is the best decision. And then in verse 11, I want you to see what God says. Then they were each given a white robe and told to rest a little longer, until the number of their fellow servants and their brothers should be complete, who were to be killed as they themselves had been. In the midst of a struggle. God’s answer to them is is is a comforting answer, right? God’s honest in saying, look, there’s there’s still some adversity that that brothers in Christ, brothers and sisters in Christ are going to go through. But he also calms them in this adversity. And and the reason he he the way he does this is through one word here in verse 11 I want you to see. He says this, this one particular word, rest. Rest. He gives them a robe and he tells them to rest. Can I tell you when things in life aren’t going well, when you’ve got stress on your shoulders and concern for for tomorrow, the one thing that you cannot do is rest. When you’re worried about where you’re going to live and how you’re going to pay your bills. The one thing that you cannot do in a situation like that is, is rest. You go to bed thinking about it.
You wake up thinking about it. You you struggle. You toil, trying to figure out an answer. Right. It’s it’s difficult to rest. You wear those things. You put those things on your shoulder. How can I handle this? How can I control the outcome of this? What can I do to dictate my circumstances? And the fact that God is saying rest? Here is a reminder to his people, I’ve got it under control. This is not your burden to bear, but rather it’s mine. And I’m not worried about the answer because I already know how it’s going to work out. Rest, guys, can I can I just tell you you don’t have to wait till to martyrdom to find that answer. And this is what Jesus desires to do in the inner soul of his people throughout this world, right? That we would find our rest in him, that it’s not about a battle of proving ourselves in anything, but rather what we’ve needed, proven, has been proven at the cross through what Christ has done for us to rest in the identity that he has for me, that we would rest. He’s going. He’s going to work all things out. Rest. And here’s how. Here’s how he gives them further confidence that that’s going to happen. He says until the number of their fellow servants and their brothers should be completed. Right. So. So Jesus is saying, look, he’s acknowledging life is difficult and there is struggle because of the sinfulness in this world.
God’s acknowledging that. Right. But but he’s also acknowledging that he’s not just sitting there waiting to just suddenly boil over and anger like, fine, just just hold on, guys. Wait. And when I get really ticked, that’s what I’m going to do something right? That’s not how he’s responding here. Rather, he’s saying, I know my plan, I know my final number. And when I have that, I’m going to respond. He’s helping his people understand that God, the future that God has in mind, all of it’s been determined. He knows how it’s going to work out. And in so doing, he’s also acknowledging that there’s no suffering or no, none of his people that have ever gone through struggle that he hasn’t accounted for. Right? Look what he says until the number is complete. So he’s saying there’s there’s no one who’s struggled. There’s no one who’s been martyred that has has escaped the awareness of God. All of those things are, are in his hands. And so he he’s he’s aware of the need. He’s aware of the struggle. He’s aware of the problem. He’s a he’s aware of the suffering. And he’s going to work it all out. Just just rest. So in the midst of Revelation six, when you look at the battle that’s taking place with these horses, it’s important to remind ourselves, which kingdom do you belong to? Or maybe to ask yourself, which kingdom do you truly belong to? Because in the kingdom of God, for his people, there is this, this place of rest.
In fact, to kind of paint that that full picture for us. Revelation 21 verse four tells us at the end of the story God’s desire for us. He says he will wipe away every tear from their eyes. And death shall be no more. Neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor nor pain anymore. For the former things have passed away in his presence for eternity. There there is rest. So. So here’s the final question. Then what is God going to do about injustice? Now, as you you understand he’s in control and how he’s working all things out for us. And in second Peter three verse nine, he’s not withholding his promises, but he is faithful and that he cares for you in the midst of the the struggle. The final question is God, then when are you going to work all this out? And let me give you the passage and and then we’ll dive back into Revelation six. But your answer here, first Thessalonians, anyone spells that right, you should get a free prize today. First Thessalonians chapter one, verse ten. First Thessalonians chapter one, verse ten, and we’ll look at it. But in Revelation six, We we think about what God is going to do about injustice. It says, verse 12, when he opened the sixth seal, I looked and behold, there was a great earthquake, and the sun became black as sackcloth, and the full moon became like blood, and the stars of the sky fell to the earth as the fig tree sheds its winter fruit, when shaken by a gale.
The sky vanished like a scroll that is being rolled up, and every mountain and island was removed from its place. Um, so this is dealing now with the return of the Lord. And let me just say, people can get Uber weird, um, about things like this every time there’s an eclipse outside. Don’t don’t hit the panic button, okay? That’s that’s, um, instead, let me just take a step back from that and help you understand how the Jewish people pictured eternity when when they would look to the skies, the Jewish people would often describe outer space as the heavenlies. And in fact, they would they would typically characterize the sun and the moon, the stars, and an angelic way, meaning the angels were often said to be stars in the sky when Hebrews would write about heaven. And to understand that you don’t even have to get out of the book of Revelation. If you go back to those references there on the screen, if you go to Revelation chapter one, verse 20, you’ll you’ll see the seven angels and talked about as seven stars, or when you when you read about Satan whipping his tail and, and a third of the angels falling. It’s Revelation chapter 12, verse four, and they’re described as stars falling from the heavens.
But but here’s what I want you to recognize in Revelation chapter six, that there’s coming a day when the foundations of heaven and earth will be shaken, and this will be when God’s response is made known, when when he’s bringing about his wrath at his second coming. When when God is returning for us. And when it comes to the idea of of God’s return, it goes on. And it says this in verse 15, then the kings of the earth, and the great ones, and the generals, and the rich and the powerful, and the and everyone slave and free, hid themselves in the caves and among the rocks of the mountains, calling to the mountains and rocks fall on us, and hide us from the face of him who was seated on the throne, and from the wrath of the lamb. For the great day of the wrath has come. Who can stand? Now that’s a scary passage, isn’t it? God’s wrath. God’s wrath. And sometimes people like to sugarcoat, um, a topic on God’s wrath. But can I tell you, um, for God’s people, it’s an incredible moment of God’s promises being fulfilled for us. Certainly, there is a level of concern for God’s wrath and that level of concern. Really, you should find based on what side of of the kingdom you’re you’re on or which kingdom you represent, because God will bring his wrath. God cannot be good and not judge sin.
God demands that God judge sin in order to to be a just, good, and holy God. God will judge sin. But, but here’s here’s what’s interesting about this is that when you read about God’s judgment coming on the earth in these verses, the people that recognize the return of Jesus rather than give their heart to Jesus, who is Lord of lords, they choose rather to run to the mountains and beg rocks to fall on them and kill them rather than give their heart to God. Here they are recognizing the return of the Lord, and rather than bend the knee to him, they would prefer death over giving their life to Jesus. I mean, that’s that’s a reminder of just how how hardened the human heart can truly get towards the things of God. God’s desire and delaying his return is to give us opportunity to turn to him, because God knows he’s going to judge sin. But rather than be in the path of his wrath, he prefers you to be in the joy of his presence. But yet people still choose to be in the wrath of God rather than in his presence. And the way that it refers to it in this passage is the great day. You know, when you study this, this phrase in Scripture, it’s certainly the great day is certainly a day of judgment. But there’s another component to it, and I want to talk about that in a minute. But the way that this great day is proclaimed in the Bible, it starts off in the book of Exodus as being referred to as the day in the Book of Exodus.
It’s the day, and the day is the day in Exodus chapter 13, verse three. If you want a specific reference, it is the day Israel is rescued from slavery from Egypt, that God liberated them by his justice, that they could be free in him and walk in his promises. They refer to that as the day. In fact, they had the Feast of Unleavened Bread that they continued to celebrate throughout their history to remind them of the day, the day that God liberated them and the day became referred to later in the Old Testament as ultimately the day of the Lord. It would continue to be a picture of God’s judgment against Unjustice, a warning cry that the day of the Lord would come, and the prophets proclaimed it over and over in the Old Testament. But something interesting about the day of the Lord. There were times, if you read, for example, the Book of Amos, there were times when God was proclaiming the day of the Lord, not just as a warning against judgment for those that oppose Israel, but even as a warning of judgment to Israel itself. Because Israel abandoned God. And God would remind him that the day of the judgment, which was intended to come against injustice, is going to come against them if they didn’t repent and turn.
And ultimately, the the day of the Lord gets culminated into one final day, the great day of the Lord. And here it is happening in Scripture, and it refers to it as this day of wrath at the end of verse 15 and 16. And when you think about this, this picture of God’s wrath, this is an important word in the book of Revelation. This is the word of God’s wrath. And what’s significant for you to know as as God’s people is that the Bible promises you over and over again as his people, that God didn’t appoint you to his wrath. Meaning, this is the place that I think in Revelation where God’s people are raptured out of this world because God’s wrath is about to be poured out, because God never intended to beat up on his bride. God’s desire is to pull his people from the wrath that they they would experience the presence of his joy, and God would bring his justice on this world. And so, depending on what side of the the kingdom you want to represent, there’s a decision to be made of of of what we’re going to to live for the fallen Babylon or the greatness of who God is, whose kingdom and glory is represented in our lives? Is that this world’s or is it God’s? And when our hearts are given over to him, the Bible tells us in and Luke chapter 21, verse 26 and 28, that we are not to to run away from the Lord, but rather run to him with our heads lifted high, because we know this is the culmination of his promises fulfilled, that our King has come and he has been victorious.
But in Luke chapter 23, verse 30 is a reminder that again, those that oppose him will be under his wrath. God by his grace he didn’t owe us anything, but rather gave us an opportunity to find freedom in him, to receive what only he could offer us at the cross, that we would have ultimate hope for a greater kingdom, despite the brokenness of this fallen Babylon, that we would represent him. It’s a choice for all of us every day. What will you live for? The four horses that bring to you. Promises that can never deliver. Which lead to the destruction of your soul. Or for a king who will be faithful to fulfill everything that he declared to you, the Lord. Every day we have an opportunity to wake up and decide what our hearts will be aligned to. Which leads me with this final story. And I’ll conclude I when I when I think about heroes. Let me throw that up for you. First Thessalonians I didn’t read it to you, but you see the promise at the end of first Thessalonians chapter one, verse ten, that God will deliver you from the wrath that is to come. Um, but when I think about heroes, I like to pick dead people as my heroes, not living people, because I always feel like living people can disappoint you at some time.
Um, but every once in a while, I’ll pick a living hero. And, uh, one, one person in particular I want to highlight for you this morning is a young man that right now plays for the Utah Jazz. His name is Oscar Tshiebwe. Oscar Tshiebwe is from the Democratic Republic of Congo. And I actually found out about this young man when he was in college. He played for West Virginia University in college and then transferred to Kentucky. And and then he went to the NBA. But I started following him. I’m from West Virginia, so I started following him and got to know a little bit of his, his story. And what’s interesting about Oscar Tshiebwe and the Democratic Republic of Congo is considered one of the top 40 most dangerous places to live as a Christian, especially along the eastern side, um, Christians are being persecuted and killed. Even the story. I read an article of 80 Christians that were martyred for their faith this summer, and Oscar Tshiebwe, his father, was a pastor and at 12 years old. Oscar Tshiebwe his father. When Oscar was 12, his father was was killed. And what’s incredible about this young man is how resilient he remained. And here he is raised in the Democratic Republic of Congo, now by a single mother.
And you know, he I heard him remark once. He said, you know, when I step, when most people step on a basketball court, they’re just playing basketball. But when I step on a basketball court, I’m carrying an entire village. And he just reminded of how much his people have need and especially his his mom. He’s an incredible young man, and he’s not. When you think about stars to pick or athletes that you might follow, he’s not like the most amazing one. I think he averages 1.5 minutes a game this season. So he’s not he doesn’t get in for most games if rarely. But but I just I’m very amazed by by his love for the Lord. In fact he said when his father was killed, his first response was he got mad at God. He said, you know, my father just wanted to help people. But the Lord saw fit to take him home and he struggled with that. But then in an interview, Oscar went on and he said this. He said, my father told me to never lose God right before he passed. I never forgot that. I always remember him telling me, when you give everything to the Lord, he’s going to help you. But if you lose the Lord, you lose everything. My dad is my hero. You know, I think about the beauty of this story. Here’s his father. In a difficult country, facing adversity ultimately loses his life and in the midst of his trial, continued to encourage his son.
Son, be faithful to Jesus. And in his Father’s faithfulness, his son sees that and desires to follow Jesus, and he becomes a representation of a greater kingdom in the midst of a fallen and broken world. And one of the things I love about Oscar I don’t follow people on social media. I’m not a big social media fan. But the one person I like to read from time to time is this guy, because he’s constantly talking about his faith in the Lord. Here he is as a young boy who grew up poor in a village with a single mom. And he passionately loves Jesus. Because I think about the same thing for us every day for us is an opportunity in the midst of a fallen and broken world to call it quits, to be unfaithful, or to see it as an opportunity for a greater light to shine in us because of who Jesus is. Jesus gives us the privilege to know him when he didn’t have to, and to have a greater hope when when God didn’t have to do anything other than bring his justice and wrath. Yet he provided for us a way of escape. And so when you look at the story of Revelation, though in chapter six, we’re seeing a difficult world before us, we see the greatness of a God who is above us, and he is still in control.