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Sorry, sermon not recorded.
Revelation 6
Once there was
a man called John who lived in a world full of suffering, inequality, war
and famine. And he had a
vision. Here’s how it went:
Imagine there's no
Heaven
It's easy if you try
No hell below us
Above us only sky
Imagine all the people
Living for today
Imagine there's no countries
It isn't hard to do
Nothing to kill or die for
And no religion too
Imagine all the people
Living life in peace
You may say that I'm a dreamer
But I'm not the only one
I hope someday you'll join us
And the world will be as one
Imagine no possessions
I wonder if you can
No need for greed or hunger
A brotherhood of man
Imagine all the people
Sharing all the world
You may say that I'm a dreamer
But I'm not the only one
I hope someday you'll join us
And the world will live as one
John Lennon lived in a
world of poverty, greed, divisions and warfare and he had a vision for a
better world. His vision is a
world without heaven or hell, a world where people simply live for today. And he asks us to join him.
The song is regularly
voted as one of the most popular and important pop songs of all
time. But this dream of a better
future doesn’t tell us how we’re going to have our happy ending. Instead there’s just a hope that we
can do away with heaven and hell, with religion and possessions. It’s all very utopian, and very dream
like and there’s a great sense of sadness pervading the whole song. Because we know it’s just in his
imagination.
Another John had a
vision. He also lived in a world
of suffering, warfare, poverty and death. But John the author of Revelation has a very different
vision. His vision is not a
sentimental and saccarine-sweet imagination. His is a heavy, gut-wrenching, kaleidoscopic view that pull
no punches. Revelation does not imagine
away heaven and hell – Revelation lays heaven and hell bare before
us. It takes us to the heights
and drops us to the depths in order to explain just why the world is full
of such suffering, death, famine and war.
For this John the
answer to the world’s problems is not to imagine away heaven and
hell. Instead the answer is to
push deeper into these realities, to understand them more. And I hope we will follow his lead. It might be tempting to back away from
the supernatural heights of heaven and the devastating depths of
judgement that we see in Revelation.
But let me plead with you not to back away from heaven and
hell. Because actually
Revelation’s vision is far more comforting in the long run. From the perspective of Revelation we
can say to suffering people ‘This is wrong. The world as we know it is is
not the way things are meant to be.
But God will do something about that. Justice will be done on the face of the earth. And the
future is not in the hands of some hippy dreamers who’d like to imagine a
better tomorrow. The future is in
the hands of God the Father and His Son, the Lamb, Jesus Christ. And they will bring about a
future better than anything we can imagine.’
Don’t back away from
this teaching on heaven and hell.
Removing heaven and hell does not make things better it actually
makes them worse. Without a
proper view of heaven and hell there’s no real difference between the
great evils of our time and the great hopes we have for the future. Without heaven and hell, all our
problems aren’t really problems and all our solutions are pure
imagination. Without heaven and hell, we’ll simply be left with John
Lennon, singing our sad songs about a future we know will never happen,
and then we die.
On the other hand,
Revelation shows us the truth.
There are real problems with this world. And there is a real judgement of earth-shattering
proportions. And through that
there is a real hope of cosmic dimensions. Real judgement and real hope, but you have to have
both. And you find them both in
Revelation’s visions of heaven and hell.
Do you remember two
weeks ago we looked into heaven with John. Revelation 4, verse 1: John saw a door open into heaven
(v1) and there was (v2) the throne of the universe with Someone sitting
on it. Revelation 4 gave us a
vision of God the Father in all His beauty and power. Then Revelation 5 which we saw last
week introduced us to (v1) a scroll sealed with seven seals. And, as
we’ll see this evening, the unfolding of this scoll is the unfolding of
history. But there’s only One
Person who is able to open the scroll, only One Person can make sense of
God’s history and bring it to pass.
The Lamb who was slain.
Jesus Christ, through His death and resurrection He is able to
take the scroll of history from His Father’s hands and to break open the
seven seals. Last week we saw how
Christ stands at the centre of the throne, the centre of the church, the
centre of all creation and He brings about God’s purposes for
history. He is worthy of praise
from all creation and so in v13:
13 Then I heard every creature in heaven and on earth and under the
earth and on the sea, and all that is in them, singing: "To him who
sits on the throne and to the Lamb be praise and honour and glory and power,
for ever and ever!"
All creation sings the
praises of the Father and His Son, the Lamb. It’s a wonderful scene.
But as John turns to chapter 6 and following we see that not all
creation joins in with this praise.
There are major pockets of resistance to Jesus Christ. The world is not in harmony with its
Maker. And so as Jesus unfolds
history and the life of His kingdom presses in upon earth, there is
judgement.
If you were here last
week you’ll remember a comparison we made between the opening of the
seven seals and the seven days of creation. Just as, in Genesis 1, the Word of God brought order out of
chaos over seven days, so in Revelation, the Word of God brings order out
of chaos by breaking the seven seals.
Just as in Genesis 1, it was a work of separating out (light from
darkness, dry ground from the waters) and evaluating (it was good); so in
Revelation it is a separating, evaluating work – a work of judgement that
also brings about God’s purposes for creation.
So as we move through these
seven seals we are moving through the judging activity of Jesus Christ on
this world, but it’s a judging activity that will bring about
righteousness, peace, rest. When
the seventh seal is broken there is silence in heaven (8:1) – a Sabbath
rest is brought to all things through the seven-fold judgement.
And Revelation drives
home to us the point that these calamaties that are coming upon the earth
are not random mishaps. These are
judgements that are coming straight from the throne. In verses 1-8 we see the four living
creatures opening the first four seals.
And with each seal that they open they say ‘Come.’ And that’s a very important word in
Revelation. Revelation is a
forward looking vision and the coming that’s looked for ultimately is the
return of Jesus Christ with His Father.
That will be the coming that puts everything right. And over 25 times in Revelation the
word ‘come’ is used in that forward looking sense. So here, as these first four seals are
being opened, the four living creatures are calling out ‘Come.’ But the seventh seal isn’t broken yet
and so the coming is not the final judgement, but it is moving
towards that judgement. It is an
ongoing judgement of the world that is a prelude to the final judgement
of Christ. As the coming of
Christ’s kingdom presses in on the world there will be at the same time
suffering and calamity and judgement.
That’s what we’re being told in these first 8 verses.
Here we have the four
horsemen of the Apocalypse. They
are released when the living creatures call for the kingdom to come. And the first horseman is there in
v2. He rides a white horse, he
has a bow and a crown and he rides literally ‘as a conqueror and in order
to conquer.’
Now this word for
conquer is the same as the word for ‘overcome’. So it literally says he rides as ‘an overcomer and in order
to overcome.’
Now do you remember
when we studied chapters 1-3, at the end of each of the letters to the
churches Jesus makes promises ‘to the one who overcomes.’ Look for instance at chapter 3:21.
To him who overcomes, I
will give the right to sit with me on my throne, just as I overcame and
sat down with my Father on his throne.
So you see Jesus is
Himself the great Overcomer. And in Revelation 6 the great Overcomer (the
great Conqueror) rides a white horse.
Now in Revelation 19, Jesus rides on a white horse as the ultimate
Conqueror. And He conquers by the
sword that comes out of His mouth.
So if you ask me, this first horseman is a symbol of Jesus the
great Overcomer, conquering the world by His gospel. So at the very beginning of the
seven-fold judgements of the world it is the Word that goes out and
judges and separates (just like in Genesis 1). The very first horseman of the Apocalypse is Christ and in
chapter 19, the last horseman of the Apocalypse is Christ. And He rides out, to begin with, with
just a single crown and bow, but by the end of Revelation He has many
crowns and the sword He carries will bring about the final judgement.
So I think this first
horseman is a picture of Christ going out to the nations as the gospel
spreads and conquering by His word.
There are other views on the first horseman. Some say that the first horseman is in
fact an anti-Christ figure. I
think if it was an anti-Christ figure we’d expect to read more about the
carnage he brings but all we read is that he conquers, or overcomes –
which is very much a Jesus-like thing to do in Revelation. Also if it was an anti-Christ figure
we might expect him to be released towards the end of the seven-fold
process, not right at the beginning.
There are other factors to bear in mind and I may well change my
thinking on the rider on the white horse, but for now I think we are
being shown a picture of Christ
conquering as His gospel goes out to the nations. And this is the first answer to the
four living creature’s call ‘Come.’
But hot on the heels
of this gospel progress comes terrible suffering as well. And that’s a major theme in
Revelation. As the word of God
goes out and people testify to Jesus so suffering and tribulation
increase.
So next in v4 we see
the red horse whose rider takes peace from the earth so that men slay
each other. Here is warfare
spreading throughout the globe.
Then in v5 and 6 there’s a black horse who represents poverty and
inequality. In v6 there’s the pronouncement: "A quart of wheat for
a day's wages, and three quarts of barley for a day's wages, and do not
damage the oil and the wine!"
Now a quart of wheat was
about a day’s worth of food, so the prices here are through the
roof. The average labourer must
simply live from hand to mouth but at the same time the command is not to
harm the luxury items, the oil and the wine are kept safe. So the poor struggle to live, the rich
continue in their luxury.
Here is poverty
alongside oppresive rich people.
Then the fourth horse
is in v8 – a pale horse – this one’s a sickly green colour – literally
like death warmed up. It’s rider
is Death. And hot on his heals is
Hades – the place of the dead.
This scene sounds almost as though death is a great combine
harvester and then Hades is like the great container for the dead.
These horsemen are
terrifying. If you’ve seen the
first Lord of the Rings film it’s difficult not to think of the Black
Riders galloping after Frodo and his friends.
Imagine death riding
out to pursue you with Hades following close behind. Well in a sense John is saying –
that’s reality. War, poverty and
death are simple realities of this world. The time of these judgements is now. And Christians bear the brunt of these
judgements as much as any other people.
The Lamb opens the
scroll, the living creatures say ‘Come’, the kingdom of Christ presses in
on this world and there is tribulation, pressure, suffering for all. As Paul says in Romans 3 – the wrath
of God is being revealed from heaven against the ungodliness of
humanity. War, famine,
inequality, poverty, oppression, death – these are all present and
ongoing judgements of this world.
We are in the midst of these judgements right now. And while the sixth seal hasn’t yet
been opened, while the great day of God’s wrath has not yet come,
we are bearing the brunt of the first 5 seals. We are in the midst of an on-going, world-wide judgement. Revelation makes us see that the pain
and suffering we experience is not simply a mechanical fault with
creation. It’s not as though
there’s simply an impersonal computer virus that’s messing up the world’s
operating system. No the Lamb is
opening His scroll, Jesus is unfolding history and He personally
is bringing about an on-going, world-wide judgement of the earth. This judgement won’t be complete until
the great day of His wrath comes, but in the meantime His wrath is being
revealed in war, famine, poverty, death etc.
Now when we suffer
these things or people close to us suffer these things we are not to
think ‘Jesus has it in for me.’
It’s not as though Jesus has it in for me especially. But we are to think ‘Jesus has it in
for this whole rebellious world-order of which I’m a part.’ He is effecting a root and branch
judgement of all creation. And
far from this suffering by-passing Christians, the fifth seal tells us
that Christians will suffer more than others.
9 When he opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of
those who had been slain because of the word of God and the testimony
they had maintained. 10 They called out in a loud voice,
"How long, Sovereign Lord, holy and true, until you judge the
inhabitants of the earth and avenge our blood?" 11 Then
each of them was given a white robe, and they were told to wait a little
longer, until the number of their fellow-servants and brothers who were
to be killed as they had been was completed.
Here are people in heaven
yelling at God. Verse 10 says
they called out in a loud voice. In anyone’s language that means they
were yelling at God. How long
until the great day of judgement?
How long until we are avenged?
That’s what these martyrs are asking. And the answer? Verse 11 – wait a little longer, we
need more martyrs.
Gordon Conwell
Theological Seminary estimates that 175 000 Christians are killed every
year simply for being Christians. That’s 480 every day. That’s 20 every hour. That’s most of us dead in the time it
takes to have this service. And
still the full number of martyrs has not come in. The kingdom will advance through
suffering. Christians are not
immune from the terrors of the last days, we bear the brunt of the
tribulation. And those who really
see both the horrors of this world, and the goodness of the Sovereign
Lord, Holy and True – they scream to Him, please bring on judgement
day. What a thought. Especially when we see how awful
jugdement day is. But those who
have seen the horrors of the world up close and who have seen the
holiness of the Lord up close – they cannot wait for the sixth seal to be
opened.
Well that happens in
v12. Everything else in this
chapter has described the world as we know it. Here we are about to witness judgement day.
12
I watched as he opened the sixth seal. There was a great earthquake. The
sun turned black like sackcloth made of goat hair, the whole moon turned
blood red, 13 and the stars in the sky fell to earth, as late
figs drop from a fig-tree when shaken by a strong wind. 14 The
sky receded like a scroll, rolling up, and every mountain and island was
removed from its place.
On this day heaven and
earth will be shaken (Haggai 2), the sun will darken (Exod 10:21f; Ezek
32:7); the moon will turn to blood (Joel 2; Acts 2); the stars will fall
from the sky (Matt 24:29) which will be rolled up like a scroll (Is
34:4). The mountains and islands
will run away (Rev 16:20) which is ironic because the mountains and
islands are usually places you run away to. They are the places of escape, but
there is no place of escape on this day.
Verse 15:
15
Then the kings of the earth, the princes, the generals, the rich, the
mighty, and every slave and every free man hid in caves and among the rocks
of the mountains. 16 They called to the mountains and the
rocks, "Fall on us and hide us from the face of him who sits on the
throne and from the wrath of the Lamb! 17 For the great day of
their wrath has come, and who can stand?"
v15 gives us a sevenfold
description of humanity – and because it’s sevenfold you know it’s
complete. Every kind of person –
high born or low born, slave or free – they are desperate to flee FROM
Christ. Now they are already
hiding in the caves but they realize that this hiding place will not work
and so they actually want to be crushed to death by boulders rather than
face the wrath of the Lamb. Can
you imagine ever wanting Mount Everest to fall on you? To be pulverized by the mountains
rather than face something. We sometimes
speak of wishing the earth would swallow us up. But we don’t really mean it. Every single person on planet earth who does not belong to
Christ will scream at the mountains “Fall on us and hide us from the face
of Him who sits on the throne and from the wrath of the Lamb! For the great day of their wrath has
come, and who can stand?”
This is one of the
most harrowing images of judgement in all the bible. And perhaps the most harrowing image
is that strange phrase ‘the wrath of the Lamb.’
This is not the anger
of the great king against rebels.
This is much much worse.
This is the anger of the Lamb who was slain to save rebels. This is the anger of the meek and
humble Saviour who stretched out His arms to a disobedient and obstinate
people. This is the anger of the
One who longed to gather His children under His wings but they were not
willing. This is the anger of the
bloody sacrifice who poured out His life just to redeem and forgive such
people. And yet both great and
small, slave and free, run from Christ and prefer to be crushed rather
than face Him.
On the road to
judgement stands the Lamb who was slain.
And He offers free and full forgiveness – He bleeds forgiveness,
mercy and grace. But to trample
on Christ and keep on going is to earn yourself cosmic and un-ending
wrath.
Those who will be sent
to hell have not only rebelled against a mighty King, they have trodden
on the slain Lamb. They have
spurned their only Saviour, who wept and sweated and bled for them. They have hated and trampled on Christ
crucified. And they will not
stand on the great day of His wrath.
But who can stand?
Is it any coincidence
that in verse 9 the martyrs are pictured as taking refuge under the
altar? I don’t think so – there
are two places of refuge sought in Revelation 6. Those in v15 take shelter in the best
refuge that the world can offer.
They find the strongest and most secure thing they know and they
think that this will protect them from the great day of judgement. But there is nowhere to hide. The deepest nuclear bunker is not
strong enough to withstand the wrath of the Lamb. But those in v9 take shelter
underneath the altar. Underneath
the place where the Lamb is slain – that’s where they find safety. Because that’s the place where this
wrath was spent and satisfied.
Now it becomes the refuge.
A Christian is simply
someone who has taken refuge in Jesus Christ. A non-Christian is someone who effectively says to
something in the world ‘Give me shelter, give me safety, give me security.’ A Christian is someone who comes to
Jesus and says ‘Great Lamb, hide me from your wrath. Jesus – you give me shelter, you give
me safety, you give me security.’
And Jesus never turns away anyone who comes to Him like that. But to all who look for refuge
anywhere else they will not stand on the great day of His wrath.
Let me close with a
few thoughts about the divine anger we’ve been thinking about.
1st – Anger
is a good thing in a world as rotten as this one. In the Bible, God is constantly described
as slow to anger. And that’s a
good thing. It would be terrible
if the Father or the Son flew off into a rage without warning. But it would also be terrible if they
never got angry – the evil of this world, and particularly the evil of
rejecting Christ is damnable.
So it is a good thing.
2nd – Anger
is not the last word. When the
Bible says God is ‘slow to anger,’ it immediately goes on to say He is
‘abounding in steadfast love.’
This morning we read from Hosea 6 which says this:
"Come, let us return
to the LORD. He has torn us to pieces but He will heal us; He has injured
us but He will bind up our wounds. 2 After two days He will
revive us; on the third day He will restore us, that we may live in His
presence.
His anger is not the last
word. Revelation chapter 7 will
show us that this judgement clears the ground for an incredible future of
joy, peace, righteousness and rest.
Anger is not the last word.
3rd – It’s
important to see that the Father is not the only one angry at sin. Sometimes we can imagine that the cross
is an angry Father being placated by His Son who really isn’t that
bothered about sin. The Son is
lovely and meek, the Father is unbending and wrathful. But no, v17 speaks of ‘their’
wrath – Jesus is just as angry at sin as the Father. And He suffers in Himself the fullness
of His own divine anger at sin.
4th It’s
chapters like this that show us just how intense Christ’s sufferings
were. Here is the magnitude of
the wrath which Jesus faced on the cross. The Lamb faced His own divine anger at sin – an anger that
shakes the creation to its very foundations. When we read of Jesus sweating blood in the garden of
Gethsemane and overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death, He is
feeling in Himself the dread of all those who say to the mountains ‘Fall
on us and hide us.’ After
studying Revelation 6 we should have a bigger picture not only of
judgement day but also the cross.
5th – we
are always tempted to measure hell by our sins. Passages like this tell us to measure our sins by
hell. What do I mean? We tend to think of our sins as
trifling matters and then we read about the terrible judgement of
God and think it’s over the top.
That’s backwards. We
should read about the terrible judgement of God and then think – that’s
what my sin deserves. Don’t
measure hell by your sins, measure your sins by hell. And then rejoice that the Lamb
intercepted His own wrath and hid you under His altar, the cross.
So what are you taking
shelter in tonight? Coming soon
is a day when everything that can be shaken will be removed. And there is only one hiding place.
Let’s pray
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