Crazy Rich Asians (Revelation 3:14-22)

There is a scene from the movie Crazy Rich Asians where the girlfriend has no idea how rich her boyfriend is until they get on a plane to Singapore and the stewardess welcomes them with champagne to First Class, showing them to their comfy, leather seats.

“So, you’re rich?” Rachel says to her boyfriend.

“We’re comfortable,” Nick replies.

She snaps, “That is exactly what a super rich person would say.”

Crazy Rich Asians is the theme today from Revelation Chapter 3, looking at a church that is rich, looking at a church that’s Asian, well, Central Asian. The thing to notice is not that they are super rich but that they are super comfortable. This church is complacent. They say in verse 17, “I am rich; I have acquired wealth and I do not need a thing,” and that is insane. I do not need a thing is an insane thing to say to Jesus and yet it is what a comfortable church would say to Jesus Christ. It’s what a complacent church would say to Jesus Christ.

Three points from today’s passage: (1) Crazy, (2) Rich, and (3) Asian - all from Revelation Chapter 3 beginning verse 14.

1. Crazy

To the angel of the church in Laodicea write:
These are the words of the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the ruler of God’s creation.
Revelation 3:14

This is Jesus speaking. Every word is from Jesus and every word is true. The reason he says, “These are the words of the Amen, the faithful and true witness,” is because he is about to kick their backsides up and down Chinatown. He is going to speak some hard words to them and he wants them to know every word is true.

I know your deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot. I wish you were either one or the other! So, because you are lukewarm – neither hot nor cold – I am about to spit you out of my mouth.
Revelation 3:15-16

For some reason, being lukewarm is really, really bad because Jesus says he is going to puuiiii-bleaggghh-qquuaaaccchhh-spuhhttt you out of his mouth. Literally, he is going to, erm, vomit them out of his mouth.

What is going on? Experts tell us Laodicea was an in-between town, between Hierapolis, famous for its hot springs and Colossae, famous for its cool springs, and in between? Lukewarm Laodicea where the hot water cooled to produce this slimy, scaly, yucky water like you get here in Cambridge after boiling water too long in your kettle then letting it cool down till it is lukewarm. You are yucky like your water is what Jesus saying. That is possible but it still does not tell us what lukewarm means.

You say, “I am rich; I have acquired wealth and do not need a thing.” But you do not realise that you are wretched, pitiful, poor, blind and naked.
Revelation 3:17

The lukewarm church is the rich enough church. Notice, it is not the rich church nor even crazy rich church where the pastors drive Rolls-Royces and wear Rolexes but rather, it is the rich enough church that says, “I do not need a thing.” What do you call that? Contentment. We have enough money, enough leaders and enough people. That is contentment, right? No, that is comfort. That is complacency, not Christ speaking.

“You do not realise, that you are wretched, pitiful, poor, blind and naked.” A poor person who doesn’t realise they are poor. Where do you find such a person? Jesus says right here in Cambridge, right here in the Chinese Church. It is the person who says, “No, thank you, Jesus. I’m good.”

Try telling a Cambridge student, “You are poor,” and they will reply, “That’s true.” But then tell them, “You are wretched, pitiful, blind and naked,” and they will reply, “You are crazy!” Tell that to an uncle or auntie here in the Chinese Church and they will reply, “Lei Chee Sin!” But it is the right thing to tell to a lukewarm Christian. It is the loving thing to tell to a lukewarm Christian they are lukewarm.

Who is the lukewarm Christian? It is the believer who has lost their desperate need for Jesus. More to the point, what is the lukewarm church? It is a whole group of believers who have found a way to live life comfortably without Christ, who play it safe, who play it cool but have lost their passion for Christ.

The truth is: It is never our church, it is always that bigger church down the road, so we think. But all of us no matter rich or poor are headed down this road of lukewarmness because we all start out hot, we all start out a little crazy but then we cool down and we slow down and we get comfortable without Christ. When that happens, not only are we blind to our blindness, Jesus says, we are blind to his judgement. I am about to puuuiiiihhhh you out of my mouth.

So, point one: Jesus is crazy. Telling a rich church they’re poor. Telling a lukewarm Christian they are going to hell because that’s what being spit out of Jesus’ mouth means. Judgement. You don’t do that in Cambridge but there you go: Jesus is crazy. But point two, Jesus is rich.

2. Rich

I counsel you to buy from me gold refined in the fire, so that you can become rich; and white clothes to wear, so that you can cover your shameful nakedness; and salve to put on your eyes, so that you can see.
Revelation 3:18

The solution is not: Try harder, notice that, but Come to me. Buy from me, Jesus says. Because lukewarmness is the cooling of a relationship. It is a cooling of a heartfelt, desperate need for Jesus.

Jesus says, “Buy from me,” three things are which are expensive, exclusive and extreme - gold, white clothes and medicine. You cannot buy them anywhere else but from Jesus Christ. He does not say, “Buy from me Char Koay Tiau,” or “Char Siu Pao,” he says, “Buy from me gold refined in fire!” Again, experts tell us Laodicea was famous for its gold, its textiles and its eye medicine. These are premium items.

But I think the thing what makes them special is that they are extreme. Super refined gold. Clothes for a naked person. Medicine for a blind person that miraculously causes them to see. These are not casual things you pick up at Sainsburys (“One gold refined by fire and two bananas please”) but the kind of things that turn your life upside down. You were poor but now you have gold. You were naked but now your shame is taken away. You were blind but now you see. In other words, your life is turned upside down.

Friends, what does it mean for us to be rich? Not worrying about money. Living the Lo Sai, Tai Tai life. In a word, it is retirement. No more work and no more worries.

But notice: What does it mean for Jesus Christ to be rich? Concern for the poor. Zealousness for the lukewarm. We want to be rich so we don’t have to worry, so we don’t have to care, so we don’t have to do anything except play golf everyday but the unimaginable wealth of the Son of God makes him zealous, makes him hot with concern, makes him speak truth in love to his people. I will not do nothing.

Those whom I love I rebuke and discipline. So be earnest and repent.
Revelation 3:19

Sounds like my mum. I’m scolding you because I love you. Like any good Tiger Mum. But there is a change in tone from I’m going to spit you out to I counsel you; from You are blind to I love you. The worst thing God can do is to leave you alone. To let you remain in your state of lukewarmness.

Jesus says Be zealous. The word means to boil (zeluo comes from the sound of boiling water) Be hot, in other words. How do we do that? By copying his zeal. Jesus is the ultimate Rich man who cannot sit still. For us it means getting up, turning back and saying, “I need you. I love you, Jesus, more than gold, more than comfort, more than this life.” I dare say it involves having that same dissatisfaction as Jesus when you see people taking it easy in church, taking it easy in their relationship with Christ. They will call you extreme (“Why are you making a fuss?”). They will call you crazy (“Who are you to call me lukewarm?”). But that is what zealousness looks like because that is what Jesus looks like in his zealousness. He is the ultimate Rich man who cannot sit still.

Finally, point three, Jesus is the ultimate Asian.

3. Asian

Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with that person, and they with me.
Revelation 3:20

Right after this, we are going to do something very Asian, that is, eat ourselves silly. That is what we do here at the Chinese Church on Mid-Autumn Festival. It is an Asian thing but it is also a biblical thing. Eating together means sharing life together. Quantity time that leads to quality time together. Jesus says, “If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with that person, and they with me.” It is not an offer of food but an offer of relationship. Quality time with Jesus but also quantity time with Jesus. You have to eat every day. Jesus says, “Eat with me.”

It is interesting how Jesus says to the other churches in Revelation, “I am coming soon.” Christians believe Jesus who came and died on the cross, rose from the dead and is now seated at God’s right hand. He is King. But one day, Jesus will return as Judge. And to all the other churches, Jesus says, “I am coming… I am coming... I will come soon” (Revelation 2:5, Revelation 2:16, Revelation 2:25 and Revelation 3:11). Except to this church, Jesus says, “I am already here.”

And the sad thing is they do not realise Jesus is here, standing outside the door, knocking. Some of us are waiting for God to do something, then we will change; for God to do that amazing thing, then we will believe. Jesus says I am here, I am speaking, I am knocking and question is not whether God will do that one thing, that amazing thing before we believe or we change but whether we are listening now, whether we are paying attention now and whether we realise that Jesus is already here now. Essentially, Jesus is saying to us, “What are you waiting for?”

To the one who is victorious, I will give the right to sit with me on my throne, just as I was victorious and sat down with my Father on his throne. Whoever has ears, let them hear what the Spirit says to the churches.
Revelation 3:21-22

I have been trying to figure out why people are crazy over Crazy Rich Asians and the one word I keep hearing is: Representation. It is the first movie in 25 years with an all-Asian cast in a Hollywood production since Joy Luck Club. Representation means seeing someone like me becoming someone I would like to be. When I see someone like me on the big screen - someone who looks like me, sounds like me, or eats rice everyday like me - standing upfront here in church leading songs, playing the keyboard or preaching a sermon, that can be a very powerful thing. It makes me think: If they can do it, maybe I can, too.

Except, Jesus Christ is not like us and what he offers us is something better than representation. Here is someone completely unlike us become like us so that we can be with him. What he offers us is relationship with him.

Jesus is God, we are not. He is completely holy, completely loving, completely sinless and we are not. But Jesus became a man and became like us - not in our sin but in our weakness, in our dependence, even in our temptations. And in becoming a man he humbled himself to the cross and died and our place, taking our sin, taking our judgment and becoming our substitute for us. But God raised him on the third day back to life and exalted his Son as Christ and Lord and seated him in the heavenly realms as King.

Jesus is completely unlike us, become like us and now he calls us to be with him. “I will come in and eat with him and he with me,” (verse 20). “I will give the right to sit with me on my throne,” (verse 21).

And right after this, when we eat with one another and have fellowship with one another, while that might be a good thing and an enjoyable thing and maybe that is why you came to the Chinese Church today, the question to ask is: Are we eating with Jesus? Do we have a relationship with Jesus? Maybe that is why God brought you to the Chinese Church today because Jesus says, “Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with that person, and they with me.”

Crazy Rich Asians. Jesus is crazy - telling them they are lukewarm and telling them to repent but he is speaking the truth and he is speaking in love. Jesus is rich - not the kind of rich who want to keep it all to themselves; Jesus is the rich man become poor, the One who became sin for us so that in him we might be rich, we might be righteous, we might be saved. But finally Jesus is the ultimate Asian, who doesn’t just want quality time with us but quantity. He wants to come in, to eat with us, to be with us and us with him.

Let’s pray.

Skeptics of heaven (Revelation 22)

Christ is coming

Two hundred years ago, the people of Leeds thought the world was coming to an end thanks to prophetic messages delivered to them by a chicken.

This chicken, owned by a lady named Mary Bateman in 1806, started laying eggs with the words, “Christ is coming” written on them. Those who read these words saw them as an apocalyptic sign from God.

The event recorded by Scottish author Charles Mackay in a book entitled, “Extraordinary Popular Delusions and the Madness of Crowds,” described how the eggs caused “a panicked terror“ as “a great number of visitors” descended upon Leeds to witness this strange phenomenon of a chicken delivering messages from God.

As it turned out, the eggs were a hoax. Mary had written the messages on the eggs herself using some sort of acid, then reinserting the eggs into the hen to be re-laid.

Ouch.

A deeper skepticism

Today we are looking at the last chapter of the bible to discover what God says will happen at the end of time. I fully expect that as we approach this chapter, many will come to it with a certain degree of skepticism. “What if it’s another hoax designed to scare us? How can I know it’s real?”

But what I really want to deal with today is a deeper form of skepticism - one that is not unbelief but actually stems from a position of faith and belief in Jesus Christ. One that doesn’t say, “How can I know it is true?” but rather says, “So what if it is true?”

I think it is this deeper form of skepticism that keeps genuine Christians from reading the book of Revelation. We think Revelation is for crackpots - people who have nothing better to do than to calculate the number of the beast or postulate the symbols of the seven seals and then posting them all over the Internet.

It’s not that we don’t believe the book of Revelation but that we don’t believe Revelation is for us today. It’s about heaven. It’s about the future. It’s just not that relevant today. So when we hear a sermon about Revelation, we think it’s going to be another lecture about the end of the world, in which case, Hollywood does a better job of portraying that reality. At least movies like Armageddon aren’t boring. But a talk about heaven? We expect it to go whoosh over our heads.

Why? It’s not that we don’t believe it’s true. We do, but there’s a voice in us that goes, “So what if it’s true?”

Revelation expects that response. It deals with that form of skepticism because Revelation - especially right here at the end in Chapter 22 - speaks directly to the skeptical believer, it speaks to the weary believer, and says, “Heaven is real and it affects you today.” What we are going to see is a preview of heaven, yes, but what Revelation does is address the impact that heaven has on our lives today.

And it does that at three levels - our heads, our hands and our hearts. Revelation speaks to our heads, “How do I know it’s true?” It addresses our hands, “How is my life and how are my actions affected by this truth?” Finally, it deals with our hearts, “Why do I have a hard time desiring this truth?”

There are three levels of skepticism. Our heads - what I know about heaven. Our hands - how I live in the light of heaven. And our hearts - why is it that I’m not excited by the prospect of heaven.

1. Our heads: The assurance of heaven

Look with me to verse 6.

The angel said to me, “These words are trustworthy and true. The Lord, the God of the spirit of the prophets, sent his angel to show his servants the things that must soon take place.”

“Behold, I am coming soon! Blessed is he who keeps the words of the prophecy in this book.”

Revelation 22:6-7

Why does the angel say to John, “These words are trustworthy and true.” Well, because in one sense, they are. It is reinforcing that fact that this is God’s word.

But in another sense, it’s because of the fantastic nature of the visions John has seen throughout the book - the visions of the throne room of God, the judgement of the seals, the return of Jesus Christ. These are amazing and overwhelming pictures of what God will do at the end of time.

And the angel is saying to John, “All of this which you have seen is real.”

In particular, the angel is referring to the vision John has just seen of heaven. Look with me to the beginning of the chapter.

Then the angel showed me the river of the water of life, as clear as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb down the middle of the great street of the city. On each side of the river stood the tree of life, bearing twelve crops of fruit, yielding its fruit every month. And the leaves of the tree are for the healing of the nations.

Revelation 22:1-2

Notice the emphasis on life - the water of life and the tree of life - and how it is pointing to the source of life: God himself. From God’s throne flows the river of the water of life. Growing on each side of the river is the tree of life.

This is picture language taken directly from Genesis Chapter 2. God plants a garden in Genesis 2 and right in the centre of that garden of Eden is the tree of life.

Fast forward to the end of the bible. Here in heaven we see another garden. We see the tree of life here in this garden, only it has now become a garden city. The tree produces twelve crops of fruit, symbolising how eternal life is now available to the people of God (Remember how Israel was made up of twelve tribes of the sons of Israel).

The angel says to John, referring directly to this vision of heaven, “These words are trustworthy and true.” Why does he say that?

Not simply because these visions are hard to understand, though they are. The throne, the river, the tree of life (How can there only be one tree growing on both sides of the river?) I mean, these are pictures that ought to make us pause: What do they mean?

But there is a deeper struggle here, especially for Christian believers, in understanding what these symbols mean. Because Christian believers don’t simply ask, “Is this true?” but, some of us who do believe in the truth of these words might respond by saying, “Is this too good to be true.”

And the reason we say that; the reason these vision of abundant life sound almost too good to be true is because of the curse in verse 3.

No longer will there be any curse. The throne of God and of the Lamb will be in the city, and his servants will serve him. They will see his face, and his name will be on their foreheads. There will be no more night. They will not need the light of a lamp or the light of a sun, for the Lord God will give them light. And they will reign for ever and ever.

Revelation 22:3-5

Here, right in the middle of the angel’s description of heaven, we find two big negatives: No curse and no more night.

This promise was first introduced back in Chapter 21, “There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.” (Revelation 21:4) Heaven is described in terms of the negative. No more death. No more pain. No more curse.

You see, the real struggle for Christian believers is understanding the bible’s promise of life today in the light of their experience of death today. That’s our perspective and our experience today. We know what the curse means. We know what the darkness represents. Because we live in a world under this curse of death.

Don’t you see? Revelation speaks directly to our heads when we say, “I know this. I know God will fix this broken world. I know he will judge all evil through Jesus Christ. But sometimes that reality seems so far away.”

Revelation speaks to believer. “I know the bible promises eternal life. I know I’m forgiven of my sins through the death of Jesus on the cross. But I’m in pain right now.” Or, “My friend’s dying in the hospital right now.”

Revelation doesn’t deny death. It doesn’t deny pain or depression. It addresses it head on. Which is why, if you look back to the tree of life in verse 2, you see that this tree isn’t just there as a source of new life, of joy and triumphalism. No, the tree of life is also there for our healing.

And the leaves of the tree are for the healing of the nations.

Revelation 22:2

It’s an odd thing to have in heaven, don’t you think? Leaves that are meant to heal.

You heal a wound. You heal someone who is sick; someone who is in pain. Yet again and again, woven through the bible’s description of heaven we find God healing his people and giving them comfort. It’s there in Chapter 7: “Never again will they hunger; never again will they thirst... he will lead them to springs of living water.” (Revelation 7:16-17).

But I think the most powerful picture of God’s comfort we see in Revelation is there in Chapter 21: “They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God. He will wipe every tear from their eyes.” (Revelation 21:3-4) We will weep before our God and he will come to us with comfort and in tenderness. He will wipe away every tear.

It means that heaven isn’t a country club where businessmen turn up in their polo-shirts for a round of gold and a spot of tea. Heaven is a hospital. After all, the Greek word for “healing” in verse 2 (therapeian) is where we get the word “therapy”.

Think about this for a moment. We’re talking about eternal life, everlasting life that is in heaven with God but here, Revelation talks about healing. Why? It is because of the curse of death. It is speaking to us today who live under this curse, and it is saying to us, “One day, this curse will be lifted.” Verse 3: “No longer will there be any curse.”

There is therefore a sense in which heaven makes the most sense to those who know this curse of death, first-hand. Revelation was written for the suffering church. It was written for their comfort and assurance. If you are a Christian and you are in pain or in depression or in doubt, this book is specifically for you, to remind you that God is sovereign over your pain. He promises that a day will come when there will be no more pain and no more death.

More than that, verse 5 tells us a day will come when there will be no more night.

There will be no more night. They will not need the light of a lamp or the light of the sun, for the Lord God will give them light. And they will reign forever and ever.

Revelation 22:5

The night that is described here is talking about the darkness of doubt, the darkness of fear, the darkness of our ignorance about God. We know this because it goes on to say that the true source of light in heaven is God himself. “The Lord God will give them light.”

What is it saying? Don’t you sometimes feel tired in the faith? Don’t you sometimes wish the things you are trusting in you could see with your own eyes? Revelation is saying to us that day will come.

Verse 4: “They will see his face, and his name will be on their foreheads.” Friends, one day, you and I will see God. We will see Jesus. As clear as we see one another’s face here today, we will see the face of our Creator. And Revelation is assuring us: That day will come.

Until then, what do we do today? We hold on. We hold on to the testimony of Jesus Christ.

The angel said to me, “These words are trustworthy and true. The Lord, the God of the spirits of the prophets, sent his angel to show his servants the things that must soon take place.”

Revelation 22:6

These things that John says must soon take place encompass all the events of the whole book of Revelation - all of God’s judgement as well as his salvation.

Revelation speaks to heads, assuring us that God’s word is true. That God’s word can be trusted even when that truth seems too good to be true. Especially when that truth seems too good to be true.

“These words are faithful and true,” says the angel.

2. Our hands: Our worship in heaven

The second point is our hands and this has application for our worship. How does heaven shape our worship of God? What will worship look like in heaven?

I, John, am the one who heard and saw these things.

Revelation 22:8

Pause and think about this for a moment. Imagine you could see heaven with your own eyes. How would you react? Would it make you bold? Or would it scare you? Look at how John responds.

And when I had heard and seen them, I fell down at the feet of the angel who had been showing them to me. But he said to me, “Do not do it! I am a fellow-servant with you and with your brothers the prophets and all who keep the words of this book. Worship God!”

Revelation 22:8-9

I really admire John for his honesty for writing this. He bows down and worships the angel and he tells us that the angels rebukes him for doing that. John is honest enough to tell us how foolish he was to do this.

The funny thing is, the same thing happens back in Chapter 19, verse 10. “At this I fell at his feet to worship him. But he said to me, ‘Do not do it... Worship God!’” Meaning, this is the second time John has been tempted to worship an angel!

What an idiot! How foolish! How could he make the same mistake twice?

Friends, if it happened to John - twice - do you not think that we might be tempted to do the same? Revelation is there to point us to God, to focus on Jesus. Yet one of the great dangers of reading a book like Revelation is to fall down and worship something less than God.

In part, this applies to those of us who tend who quarrel over the book of Revelation (“This sign means this!” “No, you idiot, it means that!”).

But let me suggest to you a greater danger, one that has to do with heaven itself. In talking about heaven, in speaking about eternal life, in describing a joy that is everlasting, we as Christians will be tempted to worship the things of heaven instead of the God of heaven.

That is, we will tempted to bow down and worship idols: to worship something good we have received from God instead of God himself. This is a real danger for us who have received much from God, whether it is blessing, knowledge, friendship, opportunities, gifts. We we will be tempted to worship the things of heaven instead of the God of heaven.

That’s what John did. He did it, mistakenly, of course. But still he did it twice. Don’t you think we would be tempted to do the same? With the gifts God has given us? With the people he has put in our lives? With the knowledge and insight he has revealed in his word? Don’t you think that we, too, like John, might bow down to these good and heavenly things mistaking them for God himself?

Revelation gives us a picture of heaven, yes, but more than that, it draws our attention to the God of heaven. The throne of God and the lamb who is the source of life. We will see his face. His name will be on our foreheads (verse 4), meaning, we will belong to him and we will know God fully.

It’s not about who has the ticket to gain entry into heaven, like a bus pass. No, it is about who really knows the God of heaven.

If you are reading this and you are not a Christian, might I ask you: Do you know this God? That’s the point of heaven, by the way. It’s not simply a place that God will put you in if you’re really, really good, where he might drop by every now and then. Heaven represents God’s abiding presence in our lives.

Because that is what we ought to see in these pages: God himself. Heaven is not so much a place as it is God’s plan to glorify his Son, Jesus. Heaven is the final reality when Jesus returns to rule as the King.

So much so, that the bible can say to Christians: You are now in heaven. In Ephesians Chapter 2, Paul writes, “God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms.” (Ephesians 2:6) Christians have been raised with Jesus through his death on the cross so that he now reigns over our lives. Jesus is our King. We live in obedience to his rule.

Do you know this King and do you worship this King? That’s our second point which has to do with our hands. That is, are we living our lives today worshipping Jesus, serving Jesus, in obedience to Jesus? Because that is what we will be doing in heaven. No one and nothing else deserves our worship other than Jesus, not even the angels of heaven.

Like a little kid who is given a brand new toy by his parents, who, instead of saying, “Thank you,” to his mum and dad; who, instead of hugging his mum and dad and acknowledging their love for him, runs in the opposite direction so that he can occupy himself with this new toy. The bible says that’s what we do with the blessings we receive from God. That’s idolatry: the worship of heaven instead of the God of heaven.

Which brings us to our last point, which I think, is the most important: our desire for heaven.

3. Our hearts: The longing for heaven

Look with me to verse 17.

The Spirit and the bride say, “Come!” And let him who hears say, “Come!” Whoever is thirsty, let him come; and whoever wishes (or desires), let him take the free gift of the water of life.

Revelation 22:17

This, I think, is the hardest thing to do. Most of us talk about going up to heaven or being in heaven. Yet the picture we have in the bible is Heaven coming down to us. The new Jerusalem comes out of heaven from God and descends to earth. We don’t go up to heaven. It comes down to us.

Verse 17, the Spirit and the bride say, “Come.” Verse 20 says, “Amen. Come, Lord Jesus.” What is it talking about? Our expectation: what are we looking forward to?

If I’m honest, I read this and my first instinct is not, “I can’t wait for heaven.” My heart is saying, “I can’t wait for lunch,” or, “I’m looking forward to that movie.” My heart does not long for heaven.

If anything, heaven might come in the way of want I really want: to advance my career, to enjoy my life, to make lots of money. I don’t mind heaven in the future when I’m old and sick, but now? Now I want to live my life my way for myself.

And that’s where Revelation addresses us: at the level of our desires and it does this by creating new appetites in us. “Whoever is thirsty, let him come; and whoever desires, let him take the free gift of the water of life.” The requirements for entry into this new heavenly reality is thirst! It is desire!

We are not meant to read about the river of life and go, “Hmm, how interesting. Maybe I’ll go fishing in heaven.” We are meant to thirst for its water. And what the bible does so powerfully is that it creates this thirst in us as we hear these words. “Let him who hears, say, ‘Come.’” See that connection between hearing and thirsting? The one who hears is the one who thirsts.

Christian believer, that’s why we need this book. Because we don’t thirst. Because we don’t have such desires. Because, if we’re honest, heaven’s just an idea to us, it is not a longing. But something miraculous happens when we read Revelation, or any book in the bible for the matter. God creates that hunger in us for him. God plants in us a new appetite that turns us away from our sin, from our selfishness, and makes us long for him.

If nothing else, these closing verses in Revelation are saying to us, “If you know that you don’t long for heaven, then listen! Listen to these words. Read these promises. And God will create that desire for himself through these words!”

Revelation speaks to our hearts and enables us to say to Jesus, “Amen. Come, Lord Jesus.” (Revelation 22:20)

Conclusion

Our heads, our hands and our hearts.

The reason why we read the book of Revelation and we need to come back again and again to the book of Revelation is because we need that assurance that comes from knowing God’s promises in his word - that God will do all that he says he will do. In the face of our doubt, God says you can trust in his word. In the face of our suffering, God says he will wipe away every tear.

Secondly, it’s speaks to our hands. Whom are we serving? To whom to we give our worship? Revelation warns us of the real danger of worshipping the things of God instead of God himself.

Lastly, Revelation speaks to our hearts. What are you truly longing for in this life and the next? If we are honest, our hearts long for selfish things. Our hearts long for earthly things. Our desires are for the here and the now. If we are honest, our hearts do not long heaven. Even as Christians, we can be skeptical of the promises of heaven, because if we know our hearts, we know we don’t belong in heaven.

But that’s why we have the book of Revelation! It speaks directly to our hearts creating that longing and desire for God. It reminds us that Jesus has secured our place in heaven through his own sacrifice on the cross. He paid for our sin. He intercedes on our behalf. And one day, he will come to rule as our King!

For the Christian, our deepest longing and our heart’s desire is for Jesus, but it is a longing that has been put there by God, by his Spirit, through his abiding word. He creates that longing in those who hear his voice and obey his will.

The Spirit and the bride say, “Come!” And let the one who hears say, “Come!” Let the one who is thirsty come; and let the one who wishes take the free gift of the water of life.

Questions on Revelation 22

Here are some interesting questions I recently got from some friends going through Revelation Chapter 22 followed by my thoughts below.

1. River of life

Then the angel showed me the river of the water of life, bright as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb.

Revelation 22:1

Question: Why is the sea symbolising opposition gone but there is now a river? And why are both compared to crystal?

1.    There is no more sea in the new heavens and the new earth (Revelation 21:1)

2.    In Revelation 4:6, the sea is “glassy” like crystal;
In Revelation 22:1 the river is “bright” like crystal

3.    The first symbolises movement. Glass was imperfect in the ancient world - shimmering

4.    The second talks about light (literally, the river is a “lamp” like crystal) - there is light coming from this river of life flowing from the throne

5.    The reason for the similarity is to highlight the stark contrast - Opposition and death has been replaced with sustaining life flowing from God.

6.    (It is also worth looking at Genesis 2:10-14 where the four rivers flow out from Eden bringing life and blessing.)

2. The time is near

Let the evildoer still do evil, and the filthy still be filthy, and the righteous still do right, and the holy still be holy.

Revelation 22:11

Questions: Why is the time near? Why do the vile continue to do vile things?

1.    This is a direct reference and fulfilment to Daniel’s prophecy in Chapter 12

2.    At the end of Daniel’s visions, he is told to seal up the book until the time of the end (see Daniel 12:4 and 9)

3.    “Many shall purify themselves and make themselves white and be refined, but the wicked shall act wickedly. And none of the wicked shall understand, but those who are wise shall understand.” Daniel 12:10

4.    Notice, the reason for their evil actions is ignorance of God’s will - "none of the wicked shall understand".

5.    In Revelation however, John is told not to seal up the words of the prophecy (verse 10) for the time is near. Daniel 12:10 is being fulfilled

6.    And when Jesus came proclaiming the secrets of the kingdom (Matthew 13:11) he said, “He who has ears, let him hear!”

7.    The fulfilment of this is the gospel. The full plan of God is now revealed through the cross.

8.    Either we will hear and respond to the gospel in repentance and trust

9.    Or we will be hardened by the gospel and continue to do evil

3. The bride

The Spirit and the Bride say, “Come.” And let the one who hears say, “Come.” And let the one who is thirsty come; let the one who desires take the water of life without price.

Revelation 22:17

Question: Who is the bride?

1.    The new Jerusalem in Revelation 21:2
And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.
(see also Revelation 21:9)

2.    The bride represents the church.

3.    All marriage is a parable of Jesus and his church, according to Ephesians 5:

4.    Husbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her... This mystery is profound, and I am saying that it refers to Christ and the church.
Ephesians 5:25,32

5.    Here in Revelation it is not Jesus speaking but us, calling out to Jesus to return. “Come”.

6.    Meaning: one of the signs of a genuine believer in Jesus is the expectation of his return and a deep longing for God’s full presence in his/her life.

The last stand (Revelation 7)

Audio recording of the sermon preached on 6 November 2011 at the Chinese Church on Revelation Chapter 7. An outline of the talk was posted here.



Download MP3

Silence in Heaven (Revelation 8)

Armistice

Millions of people across the United Kingdom observed a two-minute silence on Friday to mark the 93rd Armistice Day. Wikipedia defines “armistice” as a situation in a war where warring parties agree to stop fighting. The key aspect in an armistice is the fact that “all fighting ends with no one surrendering”.

Armistice Day commemorates the first armistice signed during World War I on 11 November which took effect at eleven o'clock in the morning—the "eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month" of 1918. Since then, it has become an annual day of remembrance for all soldiers killed in the line of duty.

For many who lived through the war; for those who lost loved ones in the war; for those who continue to live with the ravages and scars of war - the two minutes of silence is a moment to grieve, to remember and to be thankful.

We open our study today from Revelation Chapter 8 with just such a moment.

Silence in heaven

When he opened the seventh seal, there was silence in heaven for about half an hour.

Revelation 8:1

This silence is symbolic of the calm before the storm. What triggers the silence is the opening of the seventh seal. This picks up from Revelation 6 which we studied a couple of weeks ago, where Jesus opened six of the seven seals on the scroll which unleashes God’s final judgement on the earth. And here he opens the seventh, and “there was silence in heaven for about half and hour.”

Like the silence observed each year at Armistice Day, it doesn’t mean that the war has ended. It just means that fighting has stopped for the moment. The opening of the seventh seal is like Jesus hitting the pause button. It is a moment to reflect on what is going on: God is finally bringing all his purposes of judgement and salvation to pass. It is a moment to consider who it is we are dealing with: the Sovereign Lord who is Holy and True, who cannot tolerate sin and who will judge all who oppose his rule. It is a moment for us to evaluate our lives: what is our attitude towards this God. How do we respond to Jesus and his saving work on the cross?

In moments like these, it may be appropriate to cover our mouths; to be silent. To be careful with our words and actions before such a holy God. To listen to what he is speaking to us even now in his word. And to see what he is doing in our world and in our lives even today.

The prayers of the saints

And I saw the seven angels who stand before God, and to them were given seven trumpets. Another angel, who had a golden censer, came and stood at the altar. He was given much incense to offer, with the prayers of all the saints, on the golden altar before the throne.

Revelation 8:2-3

Notice that in verse 2, John sees “the” seven angels. He is referring to the same seven angels we met in Chapters 2 and 3: the seven angels of the seven churches to whom this book of Revelation is addressed. They stand before God, representing each church - and indeed, representing the whole church of God, such is the symbolic nature of the number seven - and they are given seven trumpets.

But then John’s focus turns to another angel in verse 3 who approaches God and stands at the altar. What he does next triggers an end to the silence. This angel stands at the altar to offers up the prayers of the saints.

The smoke of the incense, together with the prayers of the saints, went up before God from the angel’s hand. Then the angel took the censer, filled it with fire from the altar, and hurled it on the earth; and there came peals of thunder, rumblings, flashes of lightning and an earthquake.

Revelation 8:4-5

A censer is a pot which is used to hold burning incense. Back in Asia, many homes have altars with small pots where joss-sticks are placed. Some of you will remember how smoky the whole house would be, as the smell and smoke of joss-sticks and incense would get into every room, into your clothes and maybe even make your eyes start to water. (Smoke got in your eyes. Whoawhoaawhoaaa.)

We read in verse 3 that this angel at the altar holds a hand-held censer and is given a lot of incense - meaning, he is creating a lot of smoke - and in the next verse, we see that this smoke rises up before God “together with the prayers of the saints.” This is Revelation’s symbolic picture of how our prayers reach God. They are carried by the angel, they rise up to heaven and they are presented right before God’s throne in heaven. The prayers you said this morning. The prayers we say together as a church. The prayers we say to God privately in our hearts. God hears every word. God hears every prayer.

Every one of them, that is, offered up in Jesus Christ. That’s the connection with the altar. You see, there are two types of altars in view here. The first is the altar of incense, producing the smoke and the pleasing smell of the incense before God (Also worth noting are “the golden bowls full of incense” held by the seven elders/angels before God’s throne in Chapter 5, verse 8, “which are the prayers of the saints”). But then we read in verse 5 that the angel fills his censer with “fire from the altar”. This is now talking about the second type of altar - the altar of sacrifice. That is, God’s accepts our prayers because they presented to him through the sacrifice of Jesus Christ. His offering on the cross makes our offering acceptable. His death guarantees that our prayers are heard.

And what happens next is God’s answer to our prayers. The angels hurls the censer filled with fire taken from the altar unto the earth resulting in judgement: symbolised by the thunder, lightning and earthquake.

Now you’re probably saying, “But I never prayed for that! I asked God for a sunny day, or for my favourite singer to win on X-Factor.” The prayer that is in view here is the one we heard a couple of weeks ago in Chapter 6 at the opening of the fifth seal. There the souls under the altar - those who died in their witness to the gospel - cry out to God, “How long!”

How long, Sovereign Lord, holy and true, until you judge the inhabitants of the earth and avenge our blood?

Revelation 6:10

Remember God’s response to this prayer: Patience.

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.

Revelation 6:11

God is infinitely more patient than we are. In the face of evil and unjust suffering, God holds back his righteous judgement. More specifically, here in the face of the death of Christians for the sake of the gospel, God is also patient.

Now, the kingdom of God advances not through military conquest, neither through human ingenuity and never through coercion or manipulation - but only through the testimony of the good news; the proclamation of Jesus’ death on the cross. But God knows that speaking this news gets us into trouble. People will reject the gospel and they will reject those who hold to the gospel to the extent, that some will lose their lives simply for speaking and holding to the gospel. God knows this. He has even ordained it.

I wonder if we are honest enough about this in our evangelism. I wonder if we are clear enough about this to our missionaries. God tells the souls under the altar to wait until the number of their fellows brothers who were to be killed as they were had been completed. The gospel is carried into the world through our speaking, but also through our suffering.

God response with mercy and patience in the face of evil and unjust suffering - even the suffering and death of faithful Christians in service to the gospel. He holds back his righteous judgement back in Chapter 6.

But here in Chapter 8, judgement finally comes.

For the rest of the chapter, this judgement is symbolised by four trumpets - and that is very significant. The trumpets announce God’s judgement - similar to a call to war (as we saw this week at Rock Fellowship as Gideon blew his trumpet to assemble the troops). Also, the seven trumpet ought to remind us of Jericho, when seven priests blew seven trumpets as they marched around the city seven times for seven days. God destroyed the walls of Jericho, not Israel. All they did was do a bit of walking - round and round - every day (Joshua 6). Or trumpets also signalled the God’s presence as God spoke the Ten Commandments from Mount Sinai in Exodus 19 - “The sound of the trumpet grew louder and louder. Then Moses spoke and the voice of God answered him” (Exodus (19:19).

But here in Revelation, the trumpets are symbolic of God’s warning. Revelation 8 is God’s warning to us of certain judgement to come. And the remarkable thing Revelation does with these four trumpets is to warn us of a future certainty by pointing back to a past reality - specifically, the reality of the plagues in the Exodus.

Fire from heaven

Then the seven angels who had the seven trumpets prepared to sound them.

Revelation 8:6-7

Like the seven seals, when the first four seals were subdivided from the rest - where we got the four horsemen; so here with the seven trumpets, the first four trumpets can similarly be grouped together.

These four trumpets in Chapter 8 bear a striking resemblance to four of the plagues in Egypt at the time of the Exodus. The first is the plague of hail and fire in Exodus 9. The second and third trumpets correspond to Exodus 7, when the Nile river was changed to blood. The fourth trumpet is the plague of darkness recorded in Exodus 10.

But let’s look closer at each of the first four trumpets, beginning with the first:

The first angel sounded his trumpet, and there came hail and fire mixed with blood, and it was hurled down upon the earth. A third of the earth was burned up, a third of the trees were burned up, and all the green grass was burned up.

Revelation 8:7

The hail and fire is thrown down to the earth, very much like the first angel at the altar who threw the golden censer filled with fire unto the earth. So, there’s a connection there. Yet at the time, there is also a connection with the previous chapters 6 and 7.

Last week in Chapter 7, we read of God’s instruction to the angels to hold back the four winds of judgement - to keep them from harming the earth “or … any tree”. But here, any such restriction has been lifted. “A third of the earth was burned up, a third of the trees were burned up, and all the green grass was burned up.”

Why a third? Some suggest a connection to the famine in Chapter 6. The destruction of a third, and not all of the vegetation means there is a lack of food resulting in a rise in the price of food. Interesting, the account of the hail and fire in Exodus 9 (some manuscripts even add the word “trumpets” making Exodus 9:23 read, “The LORD sent fire, hail and trumpets”) also includes a description of partial destruction of the food source: “The flax and barley were destroyed... the wheat and spolt however, were not destroyed”, Exodus 9:31).

More likely however, the one-third destruction formula found here represents partial judgement, as this formula is repeated in all four of the trumpets in Chapter 8 - one third of the earth, one-third of the trees, one-third of the sea, one-third of the waters, one-third of the sun, moon and stars. The one-third formula is Revelation’s way of saying: This is just a fraction of the judgement to come. It will get much worse than even this.

The judgement of the first trumpet is poured out specifically on the earth (as opposed to the sea and waters in trumpets 2 and 3). Looking at Exodus 9 and the plague of hail, fire and trumpets, we get additional insight into the purpose of this plague and judgement.

For by now I could have stretched out my hand and struck you and your people with a plague that would have wiped you off the earth. But I have raised you up for this very purpose, that I might show you my power and that my name might be proclaimed in all the earth.

Exodus 9:15-16

The plague announces God’s judgement over the earth, yes, but more so, God’s sovereign authority over the earth - “that I might show you my power and that my name might be proclaimed in all the earth,” is what God says to Pharaoh, King of Egypt. However, when Moses finally spread his hands towards the LORD “and the thunder and hail stopped, and the rain no longer poured down on the land (literally, earth),” Pharaoh sinned again. He hardened his heart against God.

The first trumpet is God establishing is his authority over his creation in judgement over those who continually reject his authority.

Sea turned to blood

The second angel sounded his trumpet, and something like a huge mountain, all ablaze, was thrown into the sea. A third of the sea turned into blood, a third of the living creatures in the sea died, and a third of the ships were destroyed.

Revelation 8:8-9

A popular interpretation of this bit involves a meteorite crashing into earth from space - the huge mountain in verse 8 - polluting the sea water and killing all the dinosaurs - hence the death of the “living creatures in the sea” in verse 9. Or another theory suggests that this is talking about a volcano erupting red hot lava - turning the sea “into blood”.

Again, it is worth considering that these symbols build on the rich imagery already found in the Old Testament. In Exodus Chapter 7, Moses is commanded by God to strike the River Nile with his staff and “it will be changed into blood” (Exodus 7:17). Also the prophet Jeremiah pronounces God’s judgement on Babylon, described in Chapter 51 as a “destroying mountain”, which God would reduce to a “burnt mountain” (Jeremiah 51:25). (Revelation itself makes this connection to Babylon in Chapter 18 where an angel picks up a large boulder, throws it into the sea and then says, “With such violence the great city of Babylon will be thrown down, never to be found again.” - Revelation 18:21).

In both cases, God is pouring out judgement on proud and powerful nations which oppose God’s rule and oppress God’s people - Egypt in Exodus, and Babylon in Jeremiah.

Furthermore, this judgement is poured out upon “the sea”. The sea is consistently pictured in Revelation as a symbol of rebellion. We saw that back in Revelation Chapter 4 where God sits in judgement on his throne and before him is the sea. At the end of Revelation when John sees the new heaven and the new earth, he writes, “there was no longer any sea” - God has vanquished all opposition and rivals to his authority.

The second trumpet is God’s judgement on kingdoms which use their power to reject and rival God’s kingdom. The picture of the huge mountain being thrown into the sea is symbolic of God destroying all such opposition - powerful as they may seem. Again, as we saw earlier in God’s encounter with Pharaoh, he raised Egypt up precisely for the purpose of demonstrating his power.

Wormwood

The third angel sounded his trumpet, and a great star, blazing like a torch, fell from the sky on a third of the rivers and on the springs of water— the name of the star is Wormwood. A third of the waters turned bitter, and many people died from the waters that had become bitter.

Revelation 8:10-11

At first glance, the third trumpet is very similar to the second. This judgement also involves a large object falling from the sky into “the waters”. But while Trumpet No. 2 focuses on powerful opposition against God, Trumpet 3 is about the those who practice idolatry, turning away from God. That is the symbolism of behind the “bitterness”, the poisoning of the waters and the name “Wormwood”.

Wormwood is not codename for some super secret meteor about crash into planet earth. It is the name of a plant native to Asia, Europe and northern Africa, which is bitter-tasting and produces a poisonous extract. It is this bitterness that becomes symbolic of God’s judgement.

The LORD said, “It is because they have forsaken my law, which I set before them; they have not obeyed me or followed my law. Instead, they have followed the stubbornness of their hearts; they have followed the Baals, as their fathers taught them.” Therefore, this is what the LORD Almighty, the God of Israel, says: “See, I will make this people eat bitter food (wormwood) and drink poisoned water.

Jeremiah 29:13-15

The same word occurs in Deuteronomy, this time describing the actions of the people of God turning away from God to worship idols.

Make sure there is no man or woman, clan or tribe among you today whose heart turns away from the LORD our God to go and worship the gods of those nations; make sure there is no root among you that produces such bitter poison (wormwood).

Deuteronomy 29:18

Interestingly, when we look at Exodus 7 again at the poisoning of the waters of River Nile, we see there God’s judgement, but also Pharoah’s response to this judgement.

Pharaoh’s heart became hard; he would not listen to Moses and Aaron, just as the LORD had said. Instead, he turned and went into his palace, and did not take even this to heart. And all the Egyptians dug along the Nile to get drinking water, because they could not drink the water of the river.

Exodus 7:22-24

The third trumpet is a judgement on stubborn and unrepentant hearts that continue to rebel against God to pursue false gods. The bitterness of this judgement, indicated by the name Wormwood, and the poisoning of the drinking waters is symbolic of internal nature of this punishment.

Darkness

The fourth angel sounded his trumpet, and a third of the sun was struck, a third of the moon, and a third of the stars, so that a third of them turned dark. A third of the day was without light, and also a third of the night.

Revelation 8:12

The fourth trumpet is one of the reasons why the symbols in Revelation are unlikely to be sequential. For one thing, the sun, moon and stars were destroyed back in Chapter 6 at the opening at the sixth seal, and yet here we find only one third of the sun, moon and stars affected by judgement. Having said that, both symbols in Chapters 6 and 8 have a common theme: God is de-creating the world. He is reversing the order of the universe leaving it to descend into chaos.

Instead of a sequential order of events, Revelation presents us with repeated patterns building on a common theme - each time, reinforcing the point that God is sovereign over his creation; each time, bringing home the message that Jesus will bring all of God’s purposes for judgement and salvation to completion through his work on the cross.

The judgement brought by the fourth trumpet is darkness. “A third of the day was without light, and also a third of the night”. Again the account in Exodus sheds light on the purpose of this judgement.

Then the LORD said to Moses, “Stretch out your hand toward the sky so that darkness will spread over Egypt—darkness that can be felt.” So Moses stretched out his hand toward the sky, and total darkness covered all Egypt for three days. No one could see anyone else or leave his place for three days. Yet all the Israelites had light in the places where they lived.

Exodus 10:21-22

Notice that the Israelites had light while the Egyptians were covered with darkness - “darkness that can be felt”. It was so dark that they couldn’t even see one another (Exodus 10:23) such that everyone had to stay home for three days. The darkness here is equated with blindness - the inability to perceive your environment and surroundings. The plague of darkness in Exodus 10 ends with God causing a deeper form of darkness, blindness and ignorance to fall on the heart of Pharaoh, such that he could no longer perceive God’s presence or grace.

But the LORD hardened Pharaoh’s heart, and he was not willing to let them go. Pharaoh said to Moses, “Get out of my sight! Make sure you do not appear before me again! The day you see my face you will die.” “Just as you say,” Moses replied, “I will never appear before you again.”

Exodus 10:27-29

I find this to be very scary passage - even though there’s no blood or sickness or even death. For me, to read in verse 27 of God hardening Pharaoh’s heart, making him stubborn in his rebellion. And then to hear Pharaoh’s words telling Moses to leave his sight, with Moses simply saying, “I will never appear before you again”. And then for Moses to comply with his request - that is scary. Pharaoh gets specifically what he asks for - judgement from God.

This week, one of our friends at Rock said that her colleague wanted to teach her how to swear. He was feeling frustrated with a work situation and for him, swearing and cursing was a way of releasing stress. He was puzzled why this Christian girl refused to say any of the words he was trying to teach her.

I can only guess what it was he tried to teach her, but I think that much of it have been offensive to God. When we use God’s name in vain, when we talk about hell flippantly, when we foolishly refer to judgement as something trivial - much of this talk is foolish and ignorant. We think nothing of offending others. We think nothing of offending a holy God.

Compared to course joking and cursing, Pharaoh’s request is actually quite mild. “Get out of my sight.” That’s all he said. He didn’t want to see Moses anymore. Yet he had seen the plagues. He had seen first-hand the power of God and the judgement of God. This was not an innocent request. Pharaoh was fed up. He didn’t want to deal with God or with Moses anymore.

“Get out of my sight!” Pharoah said. “So as you say,” Moses agreed. He didn’t want to deal with Moses anymore. He didn’t want to hear God’s word anymore. In effect, Pharaoh wanted to separate himself from any trace of God. And finally, God complied. The darkness is symbolic of God pulling his presence away from Pharaoh.

What if God took you at your word? The things you said to him. The things you said about him. What if God dealt with you according to your words. The bible says one day he will. We will not be able to stand - our words will condemn us. We will have no defence - our guilt will be plain before us. Unless we take God at his word.

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. In him was life, and that life was the light of men. The light shines in the darkness, but the darkness has not understood it.

John 1:1-3

Jesus is God’s word in the darkness, speaking to us and calling us into his marvellous light. He is the light of men - leading us to God. He is the light of life - showing himself as God. God sends Jesus as a light shining “in the darkness”. He wants us to respond. He wants us to see Jesus and come into his presence.

Yet as John writes in verse 3, “the darkness has not understood it.” Sometimes we see this light and turn away. Like Pharaoh, we say, “Get out of my sight”.

The fourth trumpet is a judgement of darkness. God pulls back the light of his salvation and grace. It is only partial: One third of the sun; one third of the moon and stars. Meaning: God is still merciful. There are still moments to respond to God’s grace.

The trumpets are warnings. The question is: have we taken heed of these warnings?

The fulfilment of the ages

As I watched, I heard an eagle that was flying in midair call out in a loud voice: “Woe! Woe! Woe to the inhabitants of the earth, because of the trumpet blasts about to be sounded by the other three angels!”

Revelation 8:13

We will look at the final three trumpets next week in Chapter 9. For now, chapter 8 simply ends with a clear warning: it will get worse - much, much worse, in fact. “Woe! Woe! Woe!” says the eagle flying midair in a loud voice, almost as if to say, “You think this is bad? Wait till you get a load of Chapter 9!” While the first four trumpets are judgements poured out on creation (earth, sea, water, sun, moon and stars), the last three are poured out on people; the last three trumpets are personal.

But again, the trumpets symbolise warnings. They warn us to take God’s judgement seriously and the question is: Have we heard these warnings?

Now by warnings, I don’t mean speculation. Revelation is often a book used to speculate on world events: some try to predict which kingdom is symbolised by the burning mountain; some try to predict dates when a meteor will crash into earth’s atmosphere and then point to the falling star in Trumpet Number 3 and say that’s Wormwood.

But notice that while Revelation does point forward to future events it also points backwards. It keeps saying, “This has happened before.” The first four trumpets correspond to four of the plagues in Egypt. Even the name Wormwood is used again and again in the Old Testament to symbolised God’s judgement on idolatry and false worship. Meaning: the way to take God’s future judgement seriously is to take the bible seriously. We must be careful not to treat the Old Testament like fairy tales - only to be taught to kids in Sunday School but having no relevance to Christians today. Referring to the Exodus, Paul writes in 1 Corinthians:

These things happened to them as examples and were written as warnings for us on whom the fulfilment of the ages has come. So if you think you are standing firm, be careful that you don’t fall!

1 Corinthians 10:11-12

Do you hear what Paul says? These are warnings... for us. Today. On whom the fulfilment of the ages has come - meaning: it was always meant for us, who now understand Jesus and his death on the cross as the fulfilment of all God’s promises in the bible.

How does Chapter 8 begin again? With Jesus opening the seventh and final seal. The cross is the key. It is the only way we can understand salvation. It is the only way we take seriously God’s judgement.

And what happens when Jesus unlocks the final seal? Silence. It is an armistice. The war is still ongoing, but when we come to the cross, we find peace and we receive protection. On the cross, Jesus took my punishment on himself. On the cross, Jesus took God’s judgement on himself.

The cross is God’s declaration of peace to rebels like us - rebels who have rejected him, who have denied his authority, who have turned out backs on him. Did you know that Jesus was killed as a rebel? The cross was a political statement - a capital punishment invented to warn off all potential rebels - This is what we do to terrorists. Jesus’ body was hung on a pole to make that statement. The cross was invented a warning of sure and certain punishment.

Except Jesus was not a rebel. He was innocent. Yet when false accusations were made against him, he did not say a word. The bible says all this was in accordance to God’s will.

Yet it was the LORD’s will to crush him and cause him to suffer.

Isaiah 53:10

Why would God do this? Why would God punish his own Son for my sin? One, to show me my sin. I look to the cross and I see just how serious my sin is against God. Two, to show me his love. I look to the cross and see his wounds, his scars - I receive peace and forgiveness.

But he was pierced for our transgressions,
he was crushed for our iniquities;
the punishment that brought us peace was upon him,
and by his wounds we are healed.

Isaiah 53:5

By his wounds we are healed. The violent death of the Son of God results in peace between rebels and God. This is God’s love for us.

But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

Romans 5:8

We have looked at some pretty horrible pictures of judgement today and I do apologise if I have freaked you out. It is a scary passage. Yet friends, as scary as the pictures we have seen in Revelation 8 have been - and I must contend, that as a Christian, I do believe in the certainty of these events - they are real and they will happen; still, as terrifying as these four trumpets truly are, I want you to see God’s full and final judgement on our sin not in these trumpets but on the cross of Jesus Christ.

The cross is God’s warning to us: Judgement has already come. The death and resurrection of Jesus Christ is God’s message to the world: Either your punishment and death was dealt with on the cross. Or you are filling up for yourselves judgement that will be poured out on that last and final day when Jesus returns as King and Judge.

The key is the cross. The cross is turning point of history; the turning point of judgement and salvation. There we see God’s punishment for our sin. There we see God’s forgiveness for our sin. There we God’s love for us through his Son.

At the cross, God demonstrate His love for us

While we were sinners Jesus came to die

So by His blood We could be justified.

So be not ashamed of the cross,

It bring salvation to all who believe,

God is revealed, Guilt is removed

forgiveness can now be received.

So be not ashamed of the cross.

Tell of its power to all who will hear.

Great is our joy, glory is ours

From death we can now be set free.

(“At the cross” by Bryson Smith and Philip Percival)

Who will be in heaven? (Revelation 7)

Who can stand?

The last verse of Revelation Chapter 6 ends with a question: “For the great day of their wrath has come, and who can stand?” (Revelation 6:17)

Chapter 7 is the answer to that question.

If you were here last week - and even if you were not, just glance briefly through the events of Chapter 6, where you will see world-wide chaos and conflict, death and destruction - the impression many of us might have been left with is: No one. No one can stand. The kings of the earth, the princes, the generals, the rich, the mighty, and every slave and every free man - in Chapter 6 verse 15 - they run from God. They call on the rocks and mountains to hide them from his presence, and they say, “Who can stand before such a holy God on the final day of judgement?”

They ask the question but they are not looking for an answer. They think they already know the answer: No one. That’s why they are running from God. Or they think, as many do today, there is no point answering such a question because there is no answer.

“Who can stand?” There is no point. No hope.

But Chapter 7 says there is. This whole passage is here to show us that there is hope. God even interrupts the sequence of events he set in motion in Chapter 6. You see, Chapter 7 should have been about the seventh seal. Last week we saw Jesus break open the first seal, the second, the third, fourth, fifth and the sixth seal. So, when we come to Chapter 7 we ought to read about Jesus breaking seal number 7. Instead, that’s been shelved to next week to Chapter 8. God interrupts the sequence of events to bring us the answer to this one important question, “Who can stand before him?”

We find that answer in Chapter 7, verse 9:

After this I looked and there before me was a great multitude that no one could count, from every nation, tribe, people and language, standing before the throne and in front of the Lamb.

Revelation 7:9

In a way, the answer is “no one”. John says, “no one” could count this great multitude standing in heaven before God’s throne. The number is so great it is uncountable. There will be people from every nation, tribe, people and language. Take note of that word “every”. God will save people out of every single culture and every single nation - Chinese, Malay, Indian, English, European - but also every single language - Hokkien, Cantonese, Teochew, Pu Tong Hwa.

This is an uncountable number of people gathering before God on that final day of salvation in heaven before his throne in worship of God the Father and Jesus, the Lamb of God.

Having said that, Chapter 7 opens by talking about a specific number: 144,000, to be exact. Someone asked me this week: Does this mean that out of seven billion people on the planet, only 144,000 will be saved? That comes to 0.002 per cent. Statistically speaking, it means that in the whole of Cambridge only 2 people will get to heaven!

Who are the 144,000? We will look at Chapter 7 together under three headings:

1.    Sealed (verses 1 to 8)

2.    Saved (verses 9 to 12)

3.    Served (verses 13 to 17)

Sealed

After this I saw four angels standing at the four corners of the earth, holding back the four winds of the earth to prevent any wind from blowing on the land or on the sea or on any tree.

Revelation 7:1

Last we saw how God’s judgement was represented in four different ways by four different horses. The white horse symbolised conquest by deception. The red horse was conflict and war. The black horse was economic strife and famine. The pale horse was Death and Hades.

But Revelation 7 opens with God’s angels holding back the four judgements on the earth. But you say, “Chapter 6 was about four horses. These angels are holding back four winds.” In the Old Testament, these same four horses are described in Zechariah Chapter 6, sent by God into the whole earth, into the north, west and south. And the angel tells Zechariah in verse 5, that these are four spirits or winds (As indicated in the NIV bible footnotes. The Hebrew word ruah can mean either).

So what we have in verse 1 is God actually preventing judgement - or rather, delaying judgement - that he is sending on the earth for one single purpose: to seal the people of God.

Then I saw another angel coming up from the east, having the seal of the living God. He called out in a loud voice to the four angels who had been given power to harm the land and the sea: “Do not harm the land or the sea or the trees until we put a seal on the foreheads of the servants of our God.”

Revelation 7:2-3

Just in case of anyone misunderstands me, I thought I had better clarify what this “seal” is. First of all, it’s not the semi-aquatic marine mammal that can balance a ball on its nose and goes “Auuu! Auuu! Auuu!!” It’s not that kind of seal. (I can only imagine how verse 2 would look like if you pictured the “angel coming up from the east, having the seal (Auu! Auu! Auu!) of the living God!”)

But secondly, this seal is different from the six seals we saw last week which were more like padlocks being opened one by one by Jesus. This seal is a sign of ownership much like a badge or a name tag. The angel flies in from the east (literally it reads, “from the rising sun”) and tells the other four angels to hold back on judgement until they have “put a seal on the foreheads of the servants of our God.” This seal determines who really belongs to God. And as the next verse explains, this seal determines who is truly a son of Israel.

Then I heard the number of those who were sealed: 144,000 from all the tribes of Israel. From the tribe of Judah 12,000 were sealed, from the tribe of Reuben 12,000, from the tribe of Gad 12,000, from the tribe of Asher 12,000, from the tribe of Naphtali 12,000, from the tribe of Manasseh 12,000, from the tribe of Simeon 12,000, from the tribe of Levi 12,000, from the tribe of Issachar 12,000, from the tribe of Zebulun 12,000, from the tribe of Joseph 12,000, from the tribe of Benjamin 12,000.

Revelation 7:4-8

The Jehovah’s witnesses believe that 144,000 is the exact number of people who will go to heaven, made up of early believers in Jesus’ day and the current membership of Jehovah’s witnesses. This became a problem in the 1930’s as they recruited more members who started to question if there was enough room in heaven for them. So the Jehovah’s witnesses came up with an economy class membership; a lower form of salvation where believers would remain on earth instead of ascending to heaven. Such a view is, to say the least, problematic.

Like all the other numbers in the book of Revelation (the four winds, the seven seals, the seven spirits of God), the 144,000 is symbolic and verse 4 already tells us plainly what it is symbolic of: the tribes of Israel (literally, the “sons of Israel”).

Jacob, who was later named, Israel, had twelve sons, who later became the fathers of the twelve tribes of the nation of Israel. The number 12 is representative of all of Israel. It was the main reason why Jesus chose for himself twelve students, or apostles, to follow him. He was choosing a representative of the people of God, to whom God had promised blessing, though Abraham, Isaac, then Jacob. But at the same time, Jesus was establishing a new Israel, a new kingdom of priests under a new covenant fulfilling all the promises of God made under the old.

In this vision, John sees the twelve tribes of Israel, and 12,000 out of these twelve tribes are “sealed”. They are chosen by God and protected by God from the judgement to come. Again the number 12,000 is symbolic. It is made up of 12 times 10 times 10 times 10. The number ten denotes fullness, and it is saying the full number of God’s people will be protected and saved. When you add up the 12 tribes, each with 12,000 sealed Israelites, you get the final total of 144,000.

Now to all the lawyers, arts and social science students out there, I know this is the point at which you begin to drift away - what with all the numbers and times tables. But please stay with me! You might even say, “Well, that’s very nice for Israel, but how does this concern me?”

Friends, it does concern you because Revelation 7 is talking about protection from God’s judgement. That was the purpose of the seal. It meant you belong to God and you are protected by God. It is not talking about Israel as a historical nation. This Israel is a spiritual collection of God’s people who receive all the promises of the new and old covenants through Jesus Christ.

What this means is: if you call yourself a Christian, you are an Israelite. “But I’m Chinese!” you might say, “And my favourite dish in the whole world is sweet and sour pork. How can I be an Israelite?” The definition of an Israelite is someone who traces his or her ancestry back to one of the twelve tribes, back to the father of the twelve tribes, Jacob, back to Isaac, and back to Abraham. In Genesis 12, God promised Abraham that he would bless all the nations through him and his sons. So Israel, as a people belonging to God, as children of that promise made to Abraham. They are sons of Abraham.

But again, that was Abraham. That was Israel. How does that concern me, here in a Chinese Church in the middle of Cambridge far away from Israel with no connection by race or blood to Abraham? Well, God promised Abraham in Genesis 22, “I will surely bless you and make your descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky and as the sand on the seashore.” Meaning: you will have so many sons and daughters, you won’t be able to count them. All the nations - every nation - will be blessed through your kids, Abraham.

And you see, the fulfilment of that promise, was never through Israel alone. No, we see the fulfilment of God’s promise to Abraham in verse 9; a fulfilment that comes to us through Jesus Christ, the Lamb on the throne.

Saved

After this I looked and there before me was a great multitude that no one could count, from every nation, tribe, people and language, standing before the throne and in front of the Lamb. They were wearing white robes and were holding palm branches in their hands. And they cried out in a loud voice: “Salvation belongs to our God, who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb.”

Revelation 7:9-10

I said at the beginning, Revelation 7 is the answer given to the question posed at the end of Chapter 6: Who can stand before a holy God? The people who ask this question were running away from God. They hid themselves in the rocks and couldn’t even bring themselves to see God’s face.

But the multitude in Revelation 7:9 stand before the throne and before the Lamb. Not because they are stronger. Not because they are sinless. But because they have been sealed. And because, and verse 10 tells us, they have been saved.

“Salvation belongs to our God, who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb.”

The sealing of Israel and the salvation of the multitude are two sides of the same coin. The first looks back to the promises of God to bless Abraham and his descendants. The second is the fulfilment of that promise - in Jesus, and through his salvation of a multitude of people and nations and tribes and languages when he died on the cross.

I understand how some Christians see the first part as literally pointing forward to Israel. I know and respect many pastors who read verses 1 to 8 and see there the final salvation of the Jewish people of God. Much of that desire comes from sharing God’s heartbeat for the people he has chosen and shown faithfulness to for thousands of years. Theirs is the covenant of Moses, the tabernacle, the promise of the kingdom, the Sabbath, the very identity of the people of God.

But the true revelation of God’s mercy, love and faithfulness is seen in Jesus Christ. Salvation belongs to our God... and to the Lamb. It doesn’t belong to us nor even to Israel, as privileged as they truly are in God’s dealings with them throughout biblical history. God alone is the source and determiner of salvation. In his wisdom and for his glory, God has ordained that salvation be effected through the work of his Son’s death on the cross. This is true for Jew and non-Jew. Jesus is the Lamb who was slain. His blood shed on the cross makes him worthy to receive worship from every tribe, people, language and nation.

What the vision of the multitude represents is the fulfilment of that first promise made to Abraham thousands of years ago, seen not in the formation of Israel as a political state-nation, but the new Israel comprising every nation on earth redeemed by the cross under Christ. In other words, it is the church.

Furthermore, the phrase in verse 10, “Salvation belongs to our God” is an echo of Jonah’s song in Jonah Chapter 2 where he sings, “Salvation comes from the LORD”. A biblical scholar once said that this single verse summarises the entire Old Testament. What it essentially is, is an answer to an objection. If you remember the story of Jonah, he rebels against God’s plan to save an enemy nation in Nineveh. Jonah couldn’t understand how God could save a foreign country which had oppressed Israel for so long. He wanted God to destroy that nation instead, so he ran from God. If you remember what happened next: God sent the storm, Jonah was thrown overboard into the sea but God sent the whale. And as Jonah reflected on his stubbornness and God’s mercy he sang, “Salvation comes from the LORD.” It was an admission of his guilt and an act of repentance: God saves whom he wills. Israel did not deserve salvation more than the Ninevites. God is free to extend his gift of mercy and grace to whomsoever he chooses.

It is the same situation here. Revelation 7 anticipates the objection, “How can God save from all these nations?” Answer: Salvation belongs to our God. He saves whom he wills. And the picture of the 144,000 is symbolic of God saving all whom he has chosen to save.

I wonder if you’ve ever considered why God should save anyone here in Cambridge - or the Chinese Church, for the matter? Why should God save you? You might say, “Of course, if there’s a God, he must love me. That’s his job.” Or you might think, “I’m so smart and lovable and cute, who wouldn’t want to spend eternity with me in heaven?”

Salvation belongs to God. That means it isn’t based on our merit or qualification or acceptability. It comes to us purely by his grace. It is offered to sinners like us who do not deserve this gift; it is given freely at the great cost of the blood of the Jesus Christ on the cross.

All the angels were standing around the throne and around the elders and the four living creatures. They fell down on their faces before the throne and worshipped God, saying: “Amen! Praise and glory and wisdom and thanks and honour and power and strength be to our God for ever and ever. Amen!”

Revelation 7:11-12

What do you thank God most for? In your prayers? In our songs of praise?

Is it: For more people to join our fellowship? Godly leaders? Healing for the sick? Guidance in times of crisis? All of these are important needs. We should bring them in prayer before our God and not hold them back. But think about this: what will we praise God for in heaven? No one there will be sick. No one there will be hungry. Everyone who is saved will be in heaven. What could we say to God now that we will praise God for all the way into eternity?

The angels and the elders and the four living creatures remind us that we owe God our praise. He made us. He sustains our very existence. That was the lesson from Revelation Chapter 4. God made this creation and we owe him our thanks and our praise.

But one of the elders is going to give us an even better reason to praise God. God has saved us in Jesus. In fact, through Jesus Christ, God has even served us.

Served

Then one of the elders asked me, “These in white robes—who are they, and where did they come from?” I answered, “Sir, you know.” And he said, “These are they who have come out of the great tribulation; they have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.

Revelation 7:13-14

I wonder if you’ve ever thought what it would be like to get into heaven?

Maybe it will be like a big victory celebration - like if England ever won the Four Nations Rugby League. The whole stadium erupting in praise and disbelief... I mean, joy.

Or maybe it will be like Guy Fawkes Night - fireworks, laughter, friends enjoying one another’s company. Everyone having a great time out on a weekend that never ends.

The angel says to John, “These are they who have come out of the great tribulation.” Tribulation: that means trial, stress, intense difficulty and oppression. But they stayed on course. They washed they robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. That is, the kept holding on to Jesus.

You see, the picture we get here is that of POW’s returning from war. They are tired. Many are wounded. I mean, yes, they’ve won. Yes, they are celebrating a victory, of course. Yet at the same time, the immediate emphasis in not on celebration but on comfort and relief. They look at one another and say, “We made it. We’re finally home. The war is over.” Some of them even have tears in their eyes as they walk into God’s presence.

But that’s OK. Because you see, God himself will wipe away their tears.

Therefore, “they are before the throne of God and serve him day and night in his temple; and he who sits on the throne will spread his tent over them. Never again will they hunger; never again will they thirst. The sun will not beat upon them, nor any scorching heat. For the Lamb at the center of the throne will be their shepherd; he will lead them to springs of living water. And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.”

Revelation 7:15-17

           

Verse 15 may say that they serve God day and night, but look again at these verses. Don’t you see, it is God who has serves them. He covers them (literally, “tabernacles” over them - meaning: he is always with them). He leads them to springs of living water. God wipes away every single tear from their eyes.

Our God is a God of comfort. He is a God of love. But most of all, our God is a God who is with us in our suffering and pain.

Earlier on, the elder says to John that “they have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.” Along and Sarah are back this weekend for reading week, and as they come home, they say, “Hello Mum! Hello Dad! Here’s my washing,” and dump a big bag filled with one month’s worth of smelly laundry for poor old mum to take care off. I doubt Mum will say, “Sure, I’ll just pop down to the butcher’s and get a pint of blood to wash off all those stains!”

These Christians make it to the end - through the great tribulation - because their robes have been washed and made white in the blood of the Lamb.

Now white can symbolise purity: The only basis of our purity is Jesus’s death. He took our sin. We receive his righteousness. Our robes have been washed clean and we can stand before God, spotless, pure and fully acceptable in his sight.

But I think that the colour white is more symbolic of victory. These Christians made it. God has kept them standing firm to the end. That’s the real message of Revelation 7, isn’t it? God sets a seal on his own, to shield believers from the coming judgement. And the picture of these Christians washing their robes in Jesus’ blood is indicative of their standing firm in the gospel. They have faced tribulation but they have continued trusting in Christ. Because only his blood can sustain us in our walk with him. If you are a Christian today, the only reason you have abandoned the faith and walked out on God is because the same blood which purchased you for God and freed you from sin, keeps you walking on the straight and narrow path with Jesus.

Peter writes:

In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade—kept in heaven for you, who through faith are shielded by God’s power until the coming of the salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time.

1 Peter 1:3-5

God’s power in Christ keeps you and it shields you until that final day of salvation. Or as Paul prays in Ephesians 6 for God to help us stand, withstand and to stand firm! Or as Jude writes in Jude 1:24, “To him who is able to keep you from falling and to present you before his glorious presence without fault and with great joy”. Or Paul again in Romans 5, “Therefore since we have been justified,” that is, you’ve been saved, forgiven of your sins, “we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have gained access into this grace into which we now stand” - we stand by God’s grace! It’s talking about today, now, every day you still call yourself a Christian and know that Jesus Christ is your Lord and Saviour - that is God’s grace is sustaining you and making you stand. By Grace!

Who can stand before a holy God? That was the question we began with.

It’s not talking just about that final day when Jesus returns to judge and to save. It is talking about every day you live in this world broken by sin, and are tempted to say, “I give up.” You cannot stand on your own strength, your own merit, or your own goodness.

But God can make you stand. By his grace. Through the blood of his Son shed on the cross for you. If you stand in Christ alone, by faith alone, through grace alone - if you are able to do that right now; friends, Revelation 7 is saying to you: You will stand on that final day.

In Jesus, God has sealed us - we are protected by his power. In Jesus, God has saved us - we are forgiven through the cross. In Jesus, God has served us - we are recipients of his grace, his comfort and his love.

I stand amazed in the presence

Of Jesus the Nazarene,

And wonder how He could love me,

A sinner, condemned, unclean.

How marvelous! How wonderful!

And my song shall ever be:

How marvelous! How wonderful!

Is my Saviour’s love for me!