Can you live however you want, once saved? (Revelation 14:1-20)
One of the main themes in the book of Revelation that we've seen, especially in the last few weeks, is that the church will suffer on earth. Revelation has described this suffering using a number of different images, and symbols. In chapter 11, we saw the two witnesses, symbolizing the church, murdered on a city street by a satanic beast (Revelation 11:7). In chapter 12, we saw the dragon wage war with the woman's children-- the ones who keep the commandments of God and hold to the testimony of Jesus (Revelation 12:7). In chapter 13, we saw satan summon two beasts. Beast #1 was summoned from the sea, wages war on the holy ones, and conquers them, for the entire 42 months of the church's existence (Revelation 13:5-7). Beast #2 forces people to bow down to Beast #1, or suffer financial harm (Revelation 13:6).
We've lots of pictures describing the church being attached by satan, and suffering. And how does God want his people to respond to all of this? [put this in outline?]
(1) By recognizing that no human empire is ultimately safe. All human empires can turn into satan's beast. He has the ability to give his authority, and throne, and power, to any nation (Revelation 13:1-2). So don't be surprised when a new government rises up, or a new head emerges, and the government turns on you.
(2) By steadfastly enduring the suffering (Revelation 13:10).
(3) By continuing to give clear testimony about Jesus, regardless of the cost (Revelation 12:11, 17).
(4) By refusing to bow down to human empires, or to the emperor.
(5) By accepting your fate, without resorting to violence (Revelation 13:10).
(6) By obeying God, rather than human empire (Revelation 12:17).
Hearing Revelation teach this-- "seeing it"-- has been painful in several ways. It's forced us to rethink our alliances, and our allegiance, to the state. Can churches really have a U.S. flag in one corner, and the Christian flag in the other? It's forced us to reflect on how satan has manipulated us into waving the flag of this country, rather that of Jesus. Above all else, it's forced us to make a decision:
Will we choose obedience to God, and the Lamb, or to satan? Will we bow down to the Creator of the all things, or will we bow down to his weak, loser rival? Will we continue to be steadfast, and faithful, regardless of the cost?
The last few chapters have forced us to slow down, wrestle with uncomfortable truths, and think hard about what's coming our way-- or, what might be coming our way (just like Revelation's first audience, some Christians do quite well under the beast, in parts of the empire, while others suffer). Revelation gives us a chance to think about all of this now, to help us embrace a warrior's mentality. It's designed to help us make the right choice-- we will follow Jesus wherever he goes, regardless of the cost.
But it's also fair to ask, is the cost worth it? Now, this maybe strikes you as a cowardly, fleshly, carnal question.
But it's a fair question, especially given the way that churches today tend to talk about eternal life.
Twice in my life, I've been a part of a church where the pastor preached for several weeks in a row on eternal security. They both argued that once you're saved, that you can live however you want, sin however you want, and you will still go to be with Jesus when you die. They both argued that no sin was worse than any others, and that this somehow meant that no sin was actually that bad-- because we are all sinners. So the bottom line, is that you can sin however big you want, for as long as you want, and God will still give you eternal life.
I pressed both of them on this, using specific examples. Could I abuse my wife until the day I die, and still receive eternal life? Could I be an abortion doctor? Could I set up an idol in my living room, worshipping it, and also worship Jesus? Can I do all these things, and still receive eternal life with Jesus?
Both of the pastors got tired of the "game" pretty quickly, but the answer from both of them was "yes." Once you are saved, you can live however you want, and God will still give you eternal life in the end. I mean, you shouldn't live however you want, but there is nothing you can do that puts you at any kind of risk of facing God's wrath, rather than his love.
[Neither church appreciated the difference between "perseverance of the saints," and "eternal security." Perseverance of the saints people would say, "You will, AND you must, persevere. Eternal security people say, "Jesus did it all, so you "must" do nothing except believe in Jesus. There's a reason Calvinists historically have taught perseverance of the saints, and not eternal security]
So especially in today's Western church, this is a question that needs to be asked. Is following Jesus worth the social, and financial, and physical cost? Or is it okay to pull back when things get tough, and live a compromised life?
Last week, we worked our way through Revelation 14:1-5. There, we saw the picture of the triumphant church, standing with Jesus, who didn't compromise. Let's begin by simply rereading those verses:
(1) and I saw,
and LOOK! The Lamb standing upon Mount Zion!,
and with him 144,000, having his name and the name of his Father having been written upon their foreheads,
(2) and I heard a sound from heaven [what John hears, interprets what he sees]
like the sound of many waters,
and like the sound of great thunder,
and the sound that I heard was like harpists playing on their harps,
(3) and they are singing [something] like a new song before the throne
and before the four living creatures and the elders,
and no one was able to learn the song, except only the 144,000-- the ones having been purchased from the earth.
(4) These ones are the ones with women not being defiled.
For virgins, they are.
These ones [are] the ones following the Lamb wherever he goes.
These ones were purchased from people/humanity-- firstfruits to God and to the Lamb,
(5) and in their mouth there wasn't found a lie.
Unblemished/blameless, they are. ["Unblemished" is focused]
In these verses, we see a picture of the faithful, steadfast church. They were faithful, consecrated priests, living in service to God. They follow Jesus, which is one of the key discipleship words in the NT. You become Jesus' disciple, by making the choice to follow him. You stay Jesus' disciple, by continuing to follow him. And these 144,000 had mouths that matched their hearts. They didn't shrink back from telling people about Jesus. They were open, about whose tattoo was on their forehead. So these are the ones who end up with Jesus, in heaven, singing a new song before the throne. If you want to end up with Jesus in heaven, you have to follow Jesus on earth.
At this point, John sees a contrasting picture. What is the fate of those who don't follow Jesus, but instead worship human empire, and bow down to other gods? What happens when you give your allegiance to the wrong flag? John first sees three different angels.
Verse 6-7:
(6) and I saw another angel,
flying in mid-heaven,
having an eternal gospel to proclaim ("to gospel") to the ones dwelling upon the earth and to every nation and tribe and tongue and people,
(7) saying with a great voice,
"Fear/revere God, [Revelation 11:13]
and give to him glory,
because the hour/time of his judgment has come,
and worship/bow down to The One Who Made the Heaven and the Earth and the Sea and the Springs of
Water,"
This angel's gospel perhaps sounds different than the gospel we're used to. The good news, is that God's judgment has come. He is actively, right now, judging the world. And this moment, right now, is your opportunity to change how He will judge you.
What God is looking for, has three main parts.
(1) The first, is that you fear God. We could unpack this in a few different ways. Partly, "fearing God" means revering him, understanding that God is seated in heavenlies, far above us. Partly, "fearing God" means obeying him. When you find yourself wanting to do the wrong thing, you stop, you think about who God is, and what his expectations are, and you instead obey. And partly, "fearing God" means fearing GOD, and not someone else.
(2) The second main part, is giving God glory. You honor him; you lift him up, in your speech, in your actions.
(3) The third main part, is that you worship the one true God-- the One Who Created Everything.
So we see in these three things, that they are a combination of a changed approach, and a changed life. You turn from other gods, to the Living God, and you give the Living God his due (Acts 14:15).
The gospel, then, is not just about intellectual assent to the truths of Christianity. It's not just about asking Jesus to forgive you, and come into your life. It's not just about believing that Jesus died on the cross for you, and rose again. It's about turning, with the entirety of who you are, and giving your allegiance to the One Seated on the Throne and to the Lamb. Let's read from 1 Thessalonians 1:2-9 (NRSV very lightly modified):
2 We always give thanks to God for all of you and mention you in our prayers, constantly 3 remembering before our God and Father your work of faith(fulness) and labor of love and steadfastness of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ. 4 For we know, brothers and sisters beloved by God, that he has chosen you, 5 because our message of the gospel came to you not in word only but also in power and in the Holy Spirit and with full conviction; just as you know what kind of persons we proved to be among you for your sake. 6 And you became imitators of us and of the Lord, for in spite of persecution you received the word with joy from the Holy Spirit, 7 so that you became an example to all the believers in Macedonia and in Achaia. 8 For the word of the Lord has sounded forth from you not only in Macedonia and Achaia but in every place your faith in God has become known, so that we have no need to speak about it. 9 For they report about us what kind of welcome we had among you and how you turned to God from idols to serve a living and true God 10 and to wait for his Son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead—Jesus, who rescues us from the coming wrath.
So that's the good news the first angel proclaims to all people. This is an "eternal" gospel-- meaning, maybe, that this is the gospel that's still true for us, nearly 2,000 years later. God's judgment has already begun to come on the earth. This is your window, to turn to God. And all of this is good news-- now's your chance, to give your allegiance to God.
Verse 8:
(8) and a different, second angel followed, saying,
"Fallen, fallen, [is] Babylon the Great, [Isaiah 21:9]
who from the wine of the passion of her sexual immorality, she has given all the nations to drink,"
This is the first time we've seen Babylon in the book of Revelation, but every Christian reading the book in the first century would've had no problem identifying Babylon with Rome (1 Peter 5:13). We can maybe leave it as an open question at this point, whether Babylon is bigger than Rome. But there's certainly a strong connection between the two [I think it's Craig Keener who says, slightly differently, that there are many Babylons]. Rome, as the center of the Roman empire, has given all the nations to drink from "the wine of the passion of her sexual immorality." This is not literal language. It's symbolic. Babylon-- Rome-- is the center of the Roman empire, and it's pushed all of the nations and peoples under it to serve the wrong god. All the nations, by bowing down to idols, and specifically idols of the emperor, have drunk her wine.
And what we are seeing here, is an adaptation of Jeremiah 51:6-10 (NRSV updated):
6 Flee from the midst of Babylon;
save your lives, each of you!
Do not perish because of her guilt,
for this is the time of the LORD’s vengeance;
he is repaying her what is due.
7 Babylon was a golden cup in the LORD’s hand,
making all the earth drunken;
the nations drank of her wine,
and so the nations went mad.
8 Suddenly Babylon has fallen and is shattered;
wail for her!
Bring balm for her wound;
perhaps she may be healed.
9 We tried to heal Babylon,
but she could not be healed.
Forsake her, and let each of us go
to our own country,
for her judgment has reached up to heaven
and has been lifted up even to the skies.
10 The LORD has brought forth our vindication;
come, let us declare in Zion
the work of the LORD our God.
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Take this out?:
And it's fitting that Rome is called "Babylon," because this is not the first time in history that a human empire has done this. Let's turn to Daniel 3:1-7 (NRSV updated no reason):
3 King Nebuchadnezzar (King of Babylon) made a golden statue whose height was sixty cubits and whose width was six cubits; he set it up on the plain of Dura in the province of Babylon. 2 Then King Nebuchadnezzar sent for the satraps, the prefects, and the governors, the counselors, the treasurers, the justices, the magistrates, and all the officials of the provinces to assemble and come to the dedication of the statue that King Nebuchadnezzar had set up. 3 So the satraps, the prefects, and the governors, the counselors, the treasurers, the justices, the magistrates, and all the officials of the provinces assembled for the dedication of the statue that King Nebuchadnezzar had set up. When they were standing before the statue that Nebuchadnezzar had set up, 4 the herald proclaimed aloud, “You are commanded, O peoples, nations, and languages, 5 that when you hear the sound of the horn, pipe, lyre, trigon, harp, drum, and entire musical ensemble, you are to fall down and worship the golden statue that King Nebuchadnezzar has set up. 6 Whoever does not fall down and worship shall immediately be thrown into a furnace of blazing fire.” 7 Therefore, as soon as all the peoples heard the sound of the horn, pipe, lyre, trigon, harp, drum,[a] and entire musical ensemble, all the peoples, nations, and languages fell down and worshiped the golden statue that King Nebuchadnezzar had set up.
The other thing that makes Babylon an appropriate title for Rome, is that both destroyed the Jewish temple.
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So this second angel announces that Babylon-- Rome-- has already fallen under judgment. And we should note the verb tense here, is past tense (aorist). Rome has already fallen. The verb tenses treat this as an already accomplished fact (in much the same way as OT prophets use the qatal).
Now, even once we understand this symbolic language, we still probably find ourselves asking a question here: Why does the second angel talk about Babylon?
The idea in Revelation, again, is that satan is fighting against God, and the church, by setting up an alternative to God and the Lamb. You can choose to worship God, and the Lamb, and serve them as a kingdom of priests. Or, you can choose to serve Beast #1, human empires, and superpowers, and give your allegiance to them. Satan has given human empires his power, and authority, and throne, to encourage people to think that human empires are worthy of trust, and praise, and allegiance. There's something about vast armies that makes people bow down, and say, "Who can stand against the Beast?"
So the second angel announces the judgment against Babylon, as a way to signal to readers, that the Roman empire won't last. Rome can't stand against God's judgment. And if Rome can't stand against God, who should you fear, and give glory to, and bow down to? (God). Satan offers the world the very best alternative that he can. But it's a cheap, poor substitute.
Verse 9-11 pull all of this together, with a third angel:
(9) and a different, third angel followed them, saying in a great voice,
"If anyone worships/bows down to the Beast and its image,
(10) and he receives a mark upon his forehead or upon his hand, he also will drink of the wine of God's anger-- the [wine] having been mixed full strength in the cup of his wrath--
and he will be tortured with fire and sulfur in the presence of the holy angels and in the presence of the Lamb,
(Revelation 6:16-17)
(11) and the smoke of their torture forever goes up,
and they aren't having rest/relief day and night-- the ones bowing down/worshipping the Beast and its image, and if anyone receives the mark of his name.
So Babylon gave the nations the wine of the passion of her sexual immorality. This was symbolic language, describing how she encouraged people to worship the emperor, and other false gods. Try to picture all the nations at a neighborhood bar, and the first round of wine was on Babylon. I guess it's a yuppy bar, but work with me.
What the third angel adds to this, is that anyone who drank that first round of wine, also has to drink the second. God, like Babylon, has a wine. But his wine, is the wine of his anger, unmixed, full-strength. So if you drank from Babylon's wine by bowing down to idols, and being unfaithful to the Creator, then God will force you to choke down the wine of his wrath.
This is symbolic language, obviously. It's not literal. But it's a terrible picture. I imagine that God's wine burns, all the way down, and tears you apart from the inside out.
Still in verse 10, John then sees a second picture of God's wrath. Everyone who bows down to the wrong god, receives the mark of the Beast on their forehead or hand. And everyone with that mark, will be tortured with fire and sulfur in the presence of the angels and of the Lamb.
We maybe find ourselves thinking about a lake of fire here, and kind of the classic view of hell, but three things should make us pause. The first, is that a lake isn't mentioned. The second, is that this torturing seems to be happening in heaven-- it's occurring in the presence of the Lamb, and the holy angels (19:1; h/t J. Ramsey Michaels, Revelation).
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J. Ramsey Michaels, Revelation, vol. 20, The IVP New Testament Commentary Series (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 1997), Re 14:6–12:
Why, for example, is the torment going on in the presence of the holy angels and of the Lamb, thus (apparently) in heaven itself? The announcement seems related to a celebration of Babylon’s doom five chapters later: “Hallelujah! The smoke from her goes up for ever and ever” (19:3). That celebration too goes on in heaven (19:1). Probably both scenes are momentary previews of “hell” and hell’s finality in “the lake of fire” (19:20; 20:10, 14; 21:8), not the reality itself.
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And the third, probably most important, is that the language here is adapted from God's judgment of Sodom and Gomorrah. Let's read Genesis 19:24-29:
24 Then the LORD rained on Sodom and Gomorrah sulfur and fire from the LORD out of heaven, 25 and he overthrew those cities and all the plain and all the inhabitants of the cities and what grew on the ground. 26 But Lot’s wife, behind him, looked back, and she became a pillar of salt.
27 Abraham went early in the morning to the place where he had stood before the LORD, 28 and he looked down toward Sodom and Gomorrah and toward all the land of the plain and saw the smoke of the land going up like the smoke of a furnace.
29 So it was that, when God destroyed the cities of the plain, God remembered Abraham and sent Lot out of the midst of the overthrow, when he overthrew the cities in which Lot had settled.
What John sees, is like a never-ending version of Sodom and Gomorrah. God will forever rain down fire and sulfur on everyone with the mark of the Beast. The smoke from that fire and sulfur will go up forever.
So I think we are supposed to read Revelation against the backdrop of Genesis, as a symbolic reinterpretation of it. Being judged by God and the Lamb, is like being caught in Sodom on its day of judgment (it's another way of expressing the same idea as Revelation 6:16-17). And I don't want to press the details here, any more than I did earlier. God's judgment comes down like a cup of the wine of his wrath. And it comes down like the fire and sulfur that wiped out Sodom.
So now we've seen two pictures, back to back, of the horrors of God's wrath. This is what it looks like when God's wrath is unmixed, full-strength. And this is the fate of all who bow down to human empire, and false gods. And I hope you hear that me calling this "symbolic" doesn't somehow soften any of it. We don't need to know what God's wrath literally looks like, to feel its horror. [And I think it's designed to make us feel-- not to help us fill out a systematic theology].
With this, we come to verse 12. This is the most important verse in the entire chapter:
(12) Here, the steadfastness of the holy ones, it is-- the ones keeping/obeying the commandments of God and the faith(fulness) toward Jesus, ["the steadfastness of the holy ones" is focused]
Who does verse 12 apply to?
Us.
These pictures of drinking God's wrath, and being burned with sulfur and fire, are a warning to us. If we compromise ourselves, and bow down to the emperor, and serve human empire, this is our fate. What God calls us to, instead, is steadfastness. And what this means, specifically, is obeying God, and remaining faithful to Jesus.
So can you live however you want, and still end up with Jesus in heaven?
The answer is no. Those who persevere, who remain loyal to God and the Lamb, are the ones who end up with Jesus. You have to follow Jesus, to end up with Jesus.
Verse 13:
(13) and I heard a voice from heaven saying, [so he "saw" in 6-12, he now "hears" an interpretation/application]
Write:
"Blessed [are] the dead-- the ones in the Lord dying-- from now on!
"Yes," the Spirit says,
"with the result that they shall rest from their hard toils [same word for "rest" as verse 11-- a key link].
For their works follow with them,"
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I'm not quite sure how to deal with the "ina" in this verse. It's either awkward Greek, or something that just doesn't translate very nicely. But I think the "ina" means something like, "with the result that."
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Verse 13 is an encouragement to us, to be steadfast and faithful. You've maybe heard that when you die, you don't take anything with you. But it turns out that this isn't true. When you obey God's commands, and stay faithful toward Jesus (verse 12), this results in fruit. Good works. And those good works follow with you when you die. For this reason, you are called blessed. When you abide in Christ, and stay "in the Lord," your toil and hard work isn't for nothing (John 14:20-24; John 15:10). So maybe you're tempted, on a bad day, to give up, and compromise, and serve the Beast. But when you stay faithful, regardless of the cost, your hard work now, will give you rest later.
Starting in verse 14, John sees another vision. I want to get through this, because it ties everything we've read today together. But we will fly a little higher over it (because it's getting long).
Let's read the whole thing, through verse 20:
(14) and I saw, and LOOK! A white cloud!,
and upon the cloud one being seated, similar to a son of man, [Jesus, probably]
having upon his head a golden crown and in his hand a sharp sickle,
(15) and a different angel came out from the temple,
crying out in a great voice to the one seated upon the cloud,
"Send your sickle,
and reap,
because the hour to reap has come,
because the harvest of the earth has dried out (when it's dry, it's time to harvest),
(16) and the one seated upon the cloud cast his sickle upon the earth,
and the earth was harvested,
(17) and a different angel went out from the temple-- the one in heaven--
also having a sharp sickle,
(18) and a different angel [went out] from the altar-- the one having authority/power over the fire--
and he loudly said in a great voice to the one having the sharp sickle, saying,
"Send your sharp sickle,
and harvest the grape clusters from the vine (singular) of the earth,
because its grapes are at their best,
(19) and the angel cast his sickle toward the earth,
and he harvested the vine of the earth,
and he threw [them] into the winepress of the wrath of the Great God,
(20) and the winepress was trampled outside the city,
and blood went out from the winepress as high as the bridles of the horses, for 1,600 stadia.
What we see in these verses, is two separate harvests. There's something like a wheat harvest in verses 14-16, and a grape harvest in verses 17-20. In these verses, when the time is perfect for the final judgment, you want to be the wheat. You want to be harvested, and gathered up, by the first angel. [This is another way of talking about how we are the firstfruits, dedicated to God, as in Revelation 14:4. The language of harvest ties the chapter together.]
The second harvest, of the gapes, is another way of speaking about God's wrath. Everyone who God is angry with, ends up in a giant winepress, trampled outside the city (the heavenly city of Jerusalem?), with their blood flowing out 1600 stadia. Literally, this would work out to roughly 180-185 miles (according to commentators). But the number here is probably symbolic. There are four corners to the earth, and 4 squared is 16. And 10 is a number for completeness, so 10 squared would point in that direction. So the idea, probably, is that the entire earth turns into a winepress, and the blood flows out across the whole earth.
This is a horrible, gory picture of the final judgment. Probably, it's symbolic, right? But calling it symbolic, doesn't make it any less horrifying.
If we compromise, and bow down other gods, and give in, this is our fate. And here again, we should see how the language of Revelation adapts the OT. Let's turn to Isaiah 63:1-6 (NRSV updated). This is God speaking:
“Who is this coming from Edom,
from Bozrah in garments stained crimson?
Who is this so splendidly robed,
marching in his great might?”
“It is I, announcing vindication,
mighty to save.”
2 “Why are your robes red
and your garments like theirs who tread the winepress?”
3 “I have trodden the winepress alone,
and from the peoples no one was with me;
I trod them in my anger
and trampled them in my wrath;
their juice spattered on my garments,
and I stained all my robes.
4 For the day of vengeance was in my mind,
and the year for my redeeming work had come.
5 I looked, but there was no helper;
I was abandoned, and there was no one to sustain me,
so my own arm brought me victory,
and my wrath sustained me.
6 I trampled down peoples in my anger;
I crushed them[a] in my wrath,
and I poured out their lifeblood on the earth.”
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So can you live however you want, sin however you want, and still end up with Jesus?
Revelation 14 very strongly answers "no" to that. People who don't obey God's commands, and don't stay faithful to Jesus, end up coming under God's wrath.
The chapter as a whole gives us three different pictures of what God's wrath looks like. If we bow down to the Beast, we will drink from the wine of God's wrath (Jeremiah 51:6-10). We will suffer forever with fire and sulfur, like a never-ending Sodom and Gomorrah (Genesis 19:24-29). We will end up in God's winepress, trampled outside the city, with our blood flowing out (Isaiah 63:1-6).
I can't look at any of these three, and have any confidence about what exactly the final judgment will look like. All three are adaptations of God's judgments in the OT. All three are symbolic, probably. But even if I don't find myself with any certainty about what exactly it will look like, I don't want any part of any of them. God's wrath, unmixed, full-strength, is a terrifying thing. It's a terrible thing to fall into the hands of the living God.
So let's be faithful to Jesus. Let's obey God's commands. Let's fear God, rather than some other god. Let's give God glory, rather than human empire. Let's worship the Creator, rather than something created. And let's work hard at all of this now, so that our works follow with us, and we can rest with Jesus forever.
