Advent: Bad News Good News Revelation 6:1-11, Matthew 24:3-14
December 7, 2014
Setting the Scene Matthew 24 The disciples are walking with Jesus admiring the temple, and he warns them that it will be completely destroyed. Say what...this beautiful temple, the centre of our spiritual lives...that must mean the end of the world! v.3 ”Tell us, when will this happen, and what will be the sign of your coming and the end of the age?” v.4 Jesus answers, “watch out that no one deceives you.” As we read or listen to the news, we also see the destruction of so much that we consider good, the world seems to be spiraling into more and more chaos. There is so much bad news that it leaves one with a sense of hopelessness at times. I have at least half a dozen sermons on the bad news in our world. How do we interpret these kinds of events to a skeptical world? How do we minister to the hurting who ask where is God...or want to blame Him, as even the elect grow weary and doubt? It is easy to be deceived, we have to have our eyes open to see: see God for whom He is, see the events in the world through the eyes of Scripture, see how the Gospel, Good News, is the message that turns bad news into good news. What is going on? Jesus gives us a clue. v.8 “All these are the beginnings of birth pains.” (Once a woman is in labour and the waters have broken, the contractions are getting closer, the cervix is dilated, birth is very close and unstoppable.) When we look at eschatology, from the Greek work meaning last, I am not going to speculate on different theories, and instead concentrate on what I know. To understand what is going on, we have to do back to basics and know who are the main players in God’s narrative. The context is clear from Genesis to Revelation.
We live in the middle of a spiritual battle between good and evil, God and Satan, Christ and anti-christ. God is Creator, who has a definite purpose for his creation. Satan is the prince of this world, the spirit of the age who has come to steal, cheat and destroy. While this anti-christ spirit has been evident through-out history, in the last days he will launch a final onslaught. From the initial creation when God looked on his handiwork and declared it was good, to the falling out of harmony through the fall, this world is the stage and mankind is central to this battle is being played out. As a consequence of the Fall, everything is in a process of decay and death, “Heaven and earth will pass away” (v. 35) Paul writes, “The whole of creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to this present time.” (Romans 8:22) That sounds like bad news. While everything is passing, there is only one thing that we can rely on - “my word, that will never pass away.”(v.35) This reveals the Good News, that into the groaning, decaying, world, God has established his own rescue plan. He sent his only Son to reclaim that which is His, so that whoever believes in Him would be transferred from the dominion of darkness into the kingdom of the beloved Son and receive the gift of eternal life. He has already established his heavenly kingdom, transcendent beyond space and time. All this bad news is like the pain of labour pointing to the joyful birth of new life. in the last days, the intensity and frequency of these events for mother earth, are described by Jesus as “the beginning of birth pains,” resulting in a joyful conclusion. (v. 8) i.e. The return of Jesus Christ as Lord and King to consummate and complete his heavenly everlasting kingdom. v. 30,31 “ At that time the sign of the Son of Man will appear in heaven, and then all the nations will mourn. They will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven, with power and great glory. And he will send his angels and they will gather his elect
from one end of the heavens to the other.” NB. Advent: Jesus coming, His incarnation, offers spiritual rebirth into his kingdom. His coming again will rebirth a new heaven and earth. Meanwhile, here on earth, in the already established but not yet completed stage of kingdom life, there is a struggle for this world, for the soul of every individual and nation. While the world is focussed on VIP events, from world leaders at their summits to who has married or divorced who, or who scored the winning goal, they are only a backdrop for God’s priorities. Just as in the Bible, God is more interested in what his covenant people are up to, and how they work out his purpose, his redemptive history in the world. The seals of Revelation 6 describe some of the upheaval and bad news in our world. But this has to be interpreted through the eyes of Scripture, which also points to the Good News of the Gospel. Bad News/ Good News Revelation 6 BN The first seal - white horse...bent on conquest As much as we say we hate war, war is part of every age in history and continues to be prolific all over the world. Whether it is wars of past generations or today, everyone thinks they are a knight on on a white horse, fighting for a just cause bent on conquest. Isn’t that true? Every year we seem to see another war flare up. Now the Ukraine is on edge, Syria is a nightmare, Afghanistan drags on, Iraq is a powder keg, Iran is verging on going nuclear, Israel is surrounded by enemies bent on her destruction, and so on. And of course this past year we have seen the rise of ISIS, those fighting for an Islamic State with a barbarity and anti-Christian anti-anyone who won’t believe the same as they do. Here we see a genocide more evil than at anytime in history, which will surpass even the horror of the holocaust.
GN The Lamb "Worthy is the Lamb, who was slain...to Him who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb, be praise and honor and glory and power for ever and ever.” (Revelation 5:12) The cross turned everything upside down. Jesus the lamb who was slain, is seated on the throne as judge and king. And a believers response is praise. BN The second seal - red horse of violence/conflict. From September 11 to the murder of Cprl. Nathan Cirillo, the face of terrorist evil has come close to home in a new way. Most of us can’t comprehend why young people will blow themselves up for a delusion. We see gangs who kill with impunity and a crisis in the USA over police killings. For our so called advanced civilization, all the wise men and women are puzzled why human beings seem intent on destruction. It is particularly tragic that innocent vulnerable children are under such attack, physically, emotionally, spiritually and even sexually. ...peace was taken from the earth. GN The Prince of Peace “And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.” (Philippians 4:7) The Prince of Peace offers us His peace rooted in justice and righteousness, that passes all understanding. Real lasting peace only comes through the Cross, where Jesus took care of all that causes un-peace. He also has a special heart for children and warns “it would be better to be thrown into the sea with a millstone hung around their neck than to cause one of these little ones to sin.” (Luke 17:2) BN The third seal - black horse of scarcity, economic meltdown Jobs, resources, fish, money, food are all in diminishing supply. Recently we have seen the Western economies on the brink of collapse. Sadly some don’t learn the lessons and continue to irresponsibly deplete our resources in a frenzy to accumulate more and more. Greed seems to have no bounds from the big banks and corporations to the trade unions to individuals. On the other side of the spectrum, in some countries, a day’s wages
hardly buys a loaf of bread. Causes are varied: greed, exploitation, natural disasters, war, man-made stupidity. This is the vehicle that the anti-christ will use to get control by exploiting the economy. Whoever can control food supply, financial resources and personal information under the guise of security, has power & control. GN The Lord God Our Provider “And my God will meet all your needs according to the riches of his glory in Christ Jesus.” (Philippians 4:19) In this world we still feel the effects of what is going on in the world. Many families and businesses, missions and churches, are feeling the pinch. But, we live in God’s economy where He is the Lord our Provider, and we have his promise that He will meet our every need in Christ Jesus. BN The fourth seal - the pale horse of death, natural disasters and disease One quarter of the world will be killed, and famine, earthquakes, pestilence, plagues are all causes mentioned. Scientists are struggling to make sense of the changing weather patterns. A combination of natural and man made causes such as El Nina, global warming, and destruction of the ozone may be explanations. Earthquakes, floods, fires, hurricanes, tornadoes, tsunami’s have caused mass destruction. Events in these past few years all point to a dramatic increase in the intensity and frequency of these contraction pains. At the moment the Philippine’s is being hit once again. Diseases mutate into new pestilences and plagues. Who would have thought that a disease such as AIDS, unknown some 25 years ago, and more recently the Ebola outbreak, could reek such havoc on the world population. GN The Resurrection and the Life “Where, O death, is your victory? Where, O death, is your sting? But thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.” (1 Corinthians
15: 55,56) Since the resurrection of Jesus, death is the beginning of eternity free from the constraints of our earthly existence. We also praise God for the courage of those health workers who continue to go into danger in order to serve the sick and dying, many of whom are Christians going in obedience to God’s call. BN The fifth seal - the souls of those slain, anti-Christian persecution As the anti-christ spirit arises, there is a direct head-on collision with the spirit of the real Christ. We see this rebellion and inversion of values where evil is considered good, and wrong becomes right, and visa-versa. The result is increased persecution and suffering. All men will hate you because of me (Luke 21:17). The persecution in our Western world is subtle, under the guise of tolerance which tolerates anything, unless of course they don’t agree with it, like Christianity, as we see this "holiday season. In many countries it is a life/death situation. Millions of Christians, over 200m in over 60 countries are banned, arrested, killed and persecuted for their faith - martyrs clothed in white robes of righteousness. Most are horrified by the beheadings of those who won’t renounce their faith. But there will be a day of reckoning. There will be justice. GN The Judgement “I saw the thrones on which were seated those who had been given authority to judge. And I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded because of their testimony for Jesus...they will be priests of God and reign with Him.” (Revelation 20:4) There will be a time of justice, judgment, reward and retribution. Christians will be on the judgement seat with the Lord. The Witness ”This gospel of the kingdom will be preached in all the world as a witness to all the nations, and then the end will come” (Matthew 24:14) While many Western and Northern hemisphere commentators dismiss the church and its relevance, in the third world, global south, Asian and Arab countries, the
church grows and expands at an incredible rate. The gospel is being preached to all nations and there is unprecedented revival, including in Muslim countries e.g. David Garrison, A Wind in the House of Islam - supernatural encounters. Why do we have to wait so long Lord? Why? GN Jesus message reflects God’s priorities and is the same to day as when he preached, “Repent and follow me.” Why is He waiting? cf last Sunday. “The Lord is... patient, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance (2 Peter 3:9) God is seeking to gain our attention so we’ll turn to Him. BN We live in a fallen world where Satan is prince and blinds eyes. Even though God has reached out to us in love. He loved us so much that he gave his only Son so we could enjoy eternal life with him. Yet “they still would not believe.” All these calamities are allowed for the specific purpose of shaking people out of their hard-hearted self-centeredness and flagrant disobedience to God’s word. But, they still did not repent...(Revelation 9:20,21). GN “At that time they will see the Son of Man coming in cloud with power and great glory. When you see these things begin to take place, stand and lift up your heads, because your redemption is drawing near.” (Luke 21:27,28) There is a time coming when God’s mighty power, the same power that raised Jesus from the dead, will be manifest in full glory. There will no longer be the waiting for vindication, there will be consummation and fulfillment. The constant battle between good and evil will be over, as the goodness and victory of the Lord Jesus will be clear for all to see. There will be no mistaking his coming, and it shall be visible from east to west like a lightning bolt. All will know, every knee will bow and every tongues confess that Jesus is Lord and King. That is worth all the struggles and waiting. In the meanwhile, what should we do?
What should we do? Watch Out Look to the signs around. Jesus rebuked people for knowing the signs of the weather, but not recognising the signs of the times. We need to ensure that we are aware of events in the world, but filtered through eyes that are finely tuned by the Word of God. Watching includes being alert and on our guard, being prepared and ready for all situations. Stand up The word stand comes up again and again. Standing means to stand up and confess that Jesus is Lord, that he does rule. It means standing in/on the Word of God, the Word that will never pass away while everything else is transitory. It means standing with courage even when others buckle, let you down, and don’t stand with you. It means standing together with brothers and sisters around the world who are persecuted for their stance. Stand up, stand up for Jesus cf. hymn. Look up Lift up your heads and look up. As we are in worship, as we daily stand in the presence of God, as we look up, we see things from His perspective. Look up and rest in the assurance that He has the future in his hands, including our destiny. We are called to look up in prayer. Pray with me. Lord Jesus thank you that you came into this world so that I could be born of your spirit. Forgive for my sins, come into my heart, and receive me into your kingdom. Fill me with the Holy Spirit that I might praise and glorify your Name. Come Lord Jesus.