The Book of Revelation

This introductory lesson presents Revelation as a book of encouragement and hope, identifying John the Apostle as the author during the late 90s AD. It explores how the book’s vivid symbolism and themes of divine sovereignty prepare believers for faithful endurance.

This lesson explores the four major interpretive approaches to Revelation—preterist, historicist, futurist, and idealist—and outlines the structural flow of the book. It emphasizes using an eclectic “redemptive-historical” lens to see how these visions encourage the church throughout history until the final consummation.

This study examines the prologue’s definition of the book as an “apocalypse,” “word of God,” and “prophecy” delivered from the Father through Christ and His angel. It highlights the unique blessing promised to those who read aloud, hear, and keep the words of this revelation.

Focusing on the epistolary greeting, this lesson details the trinitarian grace and peace flowing from the eternal God, the “seven spirits,” and Jesus Christ. It celebrates Christ’s identity as the faithful witness and ruler of kings who has freed His people to be a kingdom of priests.

This session focuses on the “theme verse” of the book, announcing Christ’s certain return with the clouds and His self-identification as the Alpha and Omega. It also recounts John’s commission on Patmos to write what he sees and send it to the seven churches of Asia.

John’s vision of the “one like a son of man” reveals the terrifying and comforting glory of the risen Christ standing among the seven lampstands. The lesson concludes with Christ’s assurance that He holds the keys of Death and Hades and remains present within His church.

This lesson explores the common structure found in each of the seven letters, including the self-description of Christ, the commendation, and the promise to the one who overcomes. It highlights that while these were real historical churches in Asia Minor, their spiritual conditions serve as timeless examples for all churches throughout history.

The letter to the church in Ephesus commends their doctrinal purity and endurance but warns against their loss of “first love”. It serves as a call for modern believers to repent and return to the heart of their devotion to Christ.

Jesus addresses the suffering church in Smyrna, offering no rebuke but instead encouraging them in the face of poverty and coming imprisonment. The lesson highlights the promise of the “crown of life” for those who remain faithful through their tribulation.

Set in the city where “Satan’s throne” is located, this study explores the dangers of compromising with the world through the false teachings of Balaam and the Nicolaitans. Christ calls the church to repent by wielding the sharp two-edged sword of His Word against those who hold to these destructive doctrines.

This lesson examines the longest of the seven letters, focusing on the church’s failure to confront the false prophetess “Jezebel” and her seductive teachings. It emphasizes the “eyes like a flame of fire” that search every heart and the promise of authority over the nations for those who hold fast.

Jesus commends the church in Philadelphia for keeping His word despite their “little strength,” promising them an open door that no one can shut. The study explores the assurance of being kept from the hour of trial and the promise of becoming a permanent pillar in the temple of God.

The final letter addresses a church blinded by material wealth, famously rebuking their lukewarm spiritual state with the threat of being “spit out”. Despite this stern warning, the lesson highlights Christ’s gracious invitation for fellowship as He stands at the door and knocks.

As the vision shifts to the heavenly throne room, this lesson explores the “open door” and the invitation for the church to see reality from God’s perspective. It emphasizes God’s absolute sovereignty and transcendence as the Creator seated upon His throne.

This study focuses on the worship offered by the twenty-four elders and the four living creatures, signifying the participation of all creation and the redeemed. It highlights the “Holy, Holy, Holy” anthem as the pattern for earthly worship that reflects heavenly reality.

The focus turns to the sealed scroll that no one in heaven or on earth is worthy to open, causing John to weep. The lesson reveals that the Lion of Judah is the only one worthy to take the scroll and execute God’s redemptive plan.

This lesson explores the central paradox of Christ as the “Lamb standing as though it had been slain,” who conquers through His sacrifice. It concludes with the universal chorus of praise, affirming that the Lamb is worthy to receive all power, wealth, wisdom, and glory.

This lesson explores the universal chorus of praise as myriads of angels and every creature in heaven and on earth join together to worship the Lamb. It highlights the ultimate recognition of Christ’s worthiness to receive power, wealth, wisdom, might, honor, glory, and blessing.

As the Lamb opens the first four seals, four horses and their riders are released to bring conquest, war, famine, and death to the earth. The study examines how these judgments represent the sovereignly directed “birth pains” that characterize the current age.

The fifth seal reveals the souls of those slain for the Word of God crying out for justice, while the sixth seal brings terrifying cosmic upheaval. This study contrasts the security of God’s people with the terror of the world’s leaders who flee from the face of the One seated on the throne.

Before the final winds of judgment are released, God commands the sealing of His servants to protect them through the coming trials. This lesson identifies the 144,000 as a symbolic representation of the complete, militant church of God protected on earth.

John beholds an innumerable multitude from every nation standing before the throne, clothed in white robes and carrying palm branches. The vision provides comfort by showing the church triumphant, serving God day and night in His temple where the Lamb will shepherd them to springs of living water.

The opening of the seventh seal leads to a profound silence in heaven as the prayers of the saints rise before God as incense. This study illustrates how the intercessions of God’s people on earth are directly linked to the divine judgments that follow.

The first four trumpets herald partial judgments upon the earth, sea, rivers, and celestial bodies as a warning to the world. The lesson emphasizes that these ecological disasters serve as a “call to repent” before the final woes arrive.

The sounding of the fifth trumpet marks the opening of the bottomless pit and the release of a demonic plague led by the angel Abaddon. This lesson explores the spiritual torment faced by those who lack the seal of God, illustrating the horrific reality of being left to the consequences of one’s own sinful desires.

Turn to Revelation chapter 14 as we come to the second part of Revelation 14. We'll be in verses 6 through 13 tonight. 14, 6 through 13. Revelation 14, 6 through 13. "Hear now the word of the Lord." Then I saw another angel flying directly overhead with an eternal gospel to proclaim to those who dwell on earth to every nation and tribe and language and people.

And he said with a loud voice, "Fear God and give him glory because the hour of his judgment has come and worship him who made heaven and earth the sea and the springs of water." Another angel, a second, followed saying, "Fallen, fallen is Babylon the Great, she who made all nations drink the wine of the passion of her sexual immorality." And another angel, a third, followed them saying with a loud voice, "If anyone worships the beast and its image and receives a mark on his forehead or on his right hand, he also will drink the wine of God's wrath, poured full strength into the cup of his anger, and he will be tormented with fire and sulfur in the presence of the holy angels and in the presence of the Lamb. And the smoke of their torment goes up forever and ever and they have no rest day or night, these worshipers of the beast and its image and whoever receives the mark of its name. Here is a call for the endurance of the saints, those who keep the commandments of God and their faith in Jesus. And I heard a voice from heaven saying, "Write this, blessed are the dead who die in the Lord from now on. Blessed indeed, says the Spirit, that they may rest from their labors, for their deeds follow them." This is the Word of the Lord.

Thanks be to God. And tonight the title of my lesson is, "For all the saints who from their labors rest." Let's pray together. Our Father in heaven, we come before you tonight and we give you thanks for your word. We give you thanks also for the opportunity to gather once again here as your people to study your Word, to be able to worship you through this study and to be able to respond rightly as those who seek to live our lives according to what you tell us here. Please help us now to have ears to hear.

Give us wisdom that comes from heaven above and we pray these things in Jesus name. Amen. So as we've been moving through this particular cycle of visions in Revelation, we've seen an increasing distinction. Last week we talked about the great contrast. We're seeing this increasing, ever increasing distinction that's being made.

Beginning in chapter 12, we were introduced to the main characters. We had the dragon, the woman, the child and her offspring, the woman's offspring, the other offspring of the woman. And then we learned about the two beasts who are agents of the dragon, the one from the sea and the one from the land. Together they make up what we call, what we've entitled the counterfeit trinity. At the beginning of chapter 14, we saw last week the vision of the lamb who was standing with his army with the 144,000 on Mount Zion.

This was a victorious image of triumph. It is a picture of what will take place at the end of time, when Jesus comes back and brings his ransomed people to be with him in eternal glory. But this picture that we saw last week is one of an army. Because until the day is finished, there is a war between God's people and the worshipers of the beast and its image. Worshippers of the counterfeit trinity not only have been taken captive by the deceitfulness of the father of all deceit, they've also been taken captive by their own sinful hearts.

And so they not only worship the dragon and his beasts, they also at the same time make war on the saints of God. Now as we see these images, we might be tempted to think that there are two opposing sides. On one side we have the lamb and his army, and on the other side we have the dragon and his followers. So far so good, right? There are two sides.

But then we might be tempted to think that all of this is sort of like choosing teams for a sport or for a game. You know the picture well at the playground, right? You have the two team captains, and those team captains alternate choosing one by one who will be on their teams. And until you're chosen for a team, you remain neutral and available for the taking. And when you are chosen, then you're now on one of the two sides.

Well this is not the picture that we have of Revelation. This is not the picture depicted there for us. As simple as that picture may be, it illustrates a crucial point related to what we find all throughout this book. And that's continuing to unfold. As chapter 14 particularly unfolds, the picture continues to come into clear focus.

We are all of us either on one side or we are on the other side. In other words, there is no neutrality. There's no point where we are unaffected or unbiased. Everyone in the whole world either belongs to the lamb and his army or they belong to the dragon and his worshippers. The next part of chapter 14 is filled with vivid imagery and again more contrast.

And there's one primary point that these pictures portray. And that's this, for the ungodly, unfaithful earth dwellers, there will be eternal unrest. Eternal unrest. But for those who bow down and who acknowledge that Jesus is in fact Lord, for those who fear God, give Him glory and worship Him, there will be eternal blessed rest. That's the distinction.

That is the picture. And that's what's in focus particularly here in chapter 14 verses 6 through 13. So for us, every day of our lives we are faced with a decision. Yes, it is a decision. Will we settle for eternal unrest or will we relentlessly pursue eternal rest?

Will we strive to enter the rest that is offered to each one of us by God through Christ? Or will we continue in unbelief? Not as neutral, apathetic, or uneffective, but as worshippers of the beast and its image. So let's take each of these images side by side so that we have complete clarity of the two eternally separated sides that are pictured here. And let us not leave here tonight.

This is so important. I think these verses in particular, I know I keep saying this throughout Revelation, but I really do think these are some of the most important verses in the book of Revelation. It just keeps getting better and better. The pressure keeps getting put on further and further. Let's not leave here without any shadow of doubt that there are two sides and only two sides.

And we must choose every day which side we will be on. So first, we have the side of eternal unrest. And that's really what's in view in verses 6 through 10, 6 through 11, excuse me. And really, this is, at first hearing, it might sound softer and less severe than it actually is, let's say, eternal unrest. At first, on the surface, it doesn't seem like that big of a deal.

But the unrest we are talking about here is not like an uneasy feeling that we get when things aren't quite right. I'm not talking about waking up in the middle of the night with your mind racing, thinking about a hundred different things, unable to fall back asleep. That's not the unrest that's in view here. Although those are micro pictures in a very microscopic and small way of what we're saying here, what we see here is far greater. This eternal unrest is the equivalent of what we could call and say is eternal torment.

Eternal unrest is eternal torment. That's what awaits all who die outside of the sovereign protection of the Lamb. And this reality is made clear through three successive announcements of flying angels in view in these verses. This vision follows on the heels of the previous vision of, again, the Lamb standing on Mount Zion with His army. And that picture that we saw there is one of the end of history.

And that picture is of a heavenly perspective. John's vision now moves and returns to the earthly picture. So we had the heavenly, now we have the earthly once again. But this is still the same period of time as the Lamb standing on Mount Zion with His fair army. Each of the angels in this vision has a complimentary message that calls for an awareness of the reality of eternal unrest.

We'll take each of these angels' messages one by one. First of all, angel one message. This is a call to repentance. Let's look again at verse six and seven. "Then I saw another angel flying directly overhead with an eternal gospel," sorry, I thought my recording stopped.

"with an eternal gospel to proclaim to those who dwell on earth, to every nation and tribe and language and people. And he said with a loud voice, 'Fear God and give Him glory, because the hour of His judgment has come and worship Him who made heaven and earth the sea and the springs of water.'" He's scared. Mark well scared. Go ahead, Mark well. Okay, I'm going to keep going.

You don't want anybody to fall down on anybody. Yeah, all right. So when we read each of these angels' messages, when we read that first of all, this angel is flying overhead, does that remind you of any picture we've seen so far in Revelation? Do you remember something similar? I know it's really distracting.

Look at me. All right, yeah, exactly. So if we go back to chapter eight, verse 13, we read this. "Then I looked," this is again in the seven trumpets. "Then I looked and I heard an eagle crying with a loud voice as it flew directly overhead." And remember what that message was.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, to those who dwell on the earth at the blasts of the other trumpets that the three angels are about to blow." And then we know when we see those other three trumpets that there is indeed whoa. And we're moving further to the end of history with those three trumpet blasts. The three angels' messages that we now find in chapter 14 are similar. These are, in fact, messages of whoa. But even with these messages of whoa, they begin with a call to repentance.

So there are no excuses, in other words, for those who reject the messages that these three angels proclaim. The first angel proclaims, once again, we keep seeing this with a loud voice. In other words, this is a message for all to hear. The picture of this particular vision is one for those who are alive, who will be alive on the earth in the day of Christ's return. But it is also a loud voice, a loud message, proclaimed now through the scriptures for all who have ears to hear.

That's why we have it in the Bible. And that message is an eternal gospel. It's very distinct. He has a message of an eternal gospel. Now, we might expect the content of that gospel to be something like this.

You are a sinner in need of salvation. You need a Savior. And Jesus is that Savior. He came to earth to live a perfect life, die to pay for your sins. And he was raised on the third day, defeating sin and hell and death forever.

But that's not the content of what we read next, is it? Make no mistake. That's exactly what is implied in what this angel declares. But notice the focus of this particular gospel message. Listen again.

"Fear God and give him glory, because the hour of his judgment has come, and worship him who made heaven and earth, the sea and the springs of water." So what's the emphasis of this gospel message? Well, again, it's a call to repentance, because the hour of judgment has come. So the question is, is this a different gospel? What do you think? Is there any other gospel?

No. In fact, what is Paul saying, Galatians? If an angel from heaven were to come to you proclaiming a different gospel, he is to be accursed. There's no other gospel. This is the same gospel.

What this gospel good news message does, is it shows how actually reductionistic, to use a big word, we can sometimes be in our own thinking about what the gospel message actually is. Joel Beekie, in his commentary on these verses, says, "We assume that the gospel can be reduced to a few simple propositions, and we expect preachers to present them to us over and over again. If they don't, we conclude that they are not preaching the gospel. Yet in scripture, the same gospel is preached in many different ways." He goes on, "The gospel, while sharply focused on Calvary, is as big as the Bible. It is woven into everything that God has revealed to us.

You won't understand the Bible unless you realize that the focal point of scripture is Christ crucified. Everything the Bible has to say leads us to Christ, and from there directs us into the way we are to live as His followers. So we are to understand this message of the first angel as the gospel of Jesus Christ. It is good news." So implied in this message, this eternal gospel that this first angel proclaims, is the hour of judgment has come, and it is also implied in that message the guilt of our sin. The guilt of our sin.

How? Well, all of us are guilty before a holy God. Why? Why are we guilty? Because we're sinners.

What does that mean? We've broken God's law. Even in one small minute point, if we've broken God's law, what do we deserve? Hell. Exactly.

Because of that then, we are condemned. And when sin entered the world through Adam, death also entered the world. When Adam fell, we all fell. Now, every single one of us, even the cute babies in the room, we are all born into this world, inheriting a sin nature from Adam. Therefore, no one is righteous, not one.

We're all born condemned. That's the bad news, right? We need to know the bad news before we can understand the good news. But the good news is that the Lamb was slain to take away the sins of His people. But for those who reject this message, what's the result?

Condemnation is sure. Judgment awaits. We must confidently say that without the warning of judgment that is soon to come, our gospel message is incomplete. Let me say that again. Without the warning that judgment is soon to come, our gospel proclamation or message is incomplete.

The gospel message requires a response, and make no mistake, everyone who hears the gospel message, the true gospel message, does respond. They will respond. They either receive the free gift of eternal life through Jesus Christ or they do the other RE word. They reject it. A gospel without the warning of impending judgment and a call to respond is only a partial gospel.

By the way, this is exactly what we see in all the gospel preaching of the New Testament, particularly as we go through the book of Acts. You remember our study. It's amazing how many times we point back to Acts as we're going through Revelation. We see that the warning of coming judgment is part of the preaching of the gospel of the apostles. So that is the emphasis of this angel's eternal gospel proclamation because the angel says the hour of judgment has come.

Now here is yet another instance of announcing something that is still future as if it has already taken place, or particularly in this case, as if it is now taking place. The vision here is a vision of what will most certainly happen in the future. So we need to be put in this frame of mind as if it is now taking place. That's what this vision is doing. That's how certain this is.

This is the urgency with which we must all live our lives every day. So knowing that the hour of the Lord's judgment has now come, what does the angel say? Fear God, give Him glory, and worship Him. Each of these commands forms a call of repentance, a call to repentance. And this call is given, notice specifically, to those who dwell on earth.

That is clarified to every tribe, every nation and tribe and language and people. So in other words, this is a call to either wake up from their drunken stupor or to receive the condemnation that is certain. Wake up from your drunken stupor or receive the condemnation that is certain. It's a call to those who have been worshiping the beast, and for those who have been worshiping the image of the beast, it's a call to stop doing that. And though each of these commands really are three ways of saying essentially the same thing, they still have slight distinctions.

So what do we see here with each of these commands? First, there is a call to fear God. What do you think is particularly in view as the angel says, fear God? What do you think? Okay, know Him.

Fearing Him begins by knowing Him, knowing who He actually is, knowing what He says and what He demands. So how do we know Him? Through His Word, right? Reading His Word, meditating on His Word, living out His Word. As the Proverbs say, the fear of God is the beginning of wisdom.

Those who do not fear God live, in other words, as if He doesn't exist. They are essentially practical atheists. Sometimes they're intentional atheists. They're declared atheists. They are more concerned about the fear of man than they are about the fear of God.

They're more concerned about fitting in with the world. They're more concerned with earthly comforts and pleasures than submitting to God's Word and His will. So the question for each of us to always be asking ourselves is are we more concerned with the fear of God or the fear of man? We will do one or the other, always. As I said in the beginning, there is no neutrality.

We either fear God or we fear man. We fear ultimately the dragon and his beasts. Here's the reality. Ultimately, every person who ever has lived, ever will live, will actually end up fearing God. There are two kinds of fear.

The fear of knowing Him and having a reverential awe before Him, like we read about for those who are actually His. Or there's the fear of Him that cries out to the mountains and the rocks to fall on us, to hide us from His awful and terrible presence. Like we sing about when we sing will He comes with clouds descending for those who are deeply wailing. So fear God. Then the second call is to give Him glory.

What does it mean to give God glory? What's due to Him? That's right. Yeah, what is the word glory by itself essentially mean? There's different connotations to this word.

Sometimes you'll hear it as weight or even brightness or magnificence. Often it has to do with even opinions, especially as we talk about giving something glory. To give something glory is to essentially recognize its value or give it a certain value, and to deem it worthy of our attention and our affection. So in our fallen condition, we give glory to God naturally, right? No, we don't.

We will one day, all of us will. But in our natural condition, our falling condition, we give glory to all the wrong things. And probably chief among those things is giving glory to ourselves. But as Christians, we are called to give glory to God alone. And everything we do, yes, to give God honor, very similar connotation, absolutely.

Glorifying Him, yes. So whatever we do, whether we eat or drink, do all things for the glory of God, to the glory of God. So we don't give glory to ourselves or to the things of this world or to the beasts and the dragon. We give glory to God alone. Again, there is no neutrality here.

We can't stress this point enough. It's not as if you're either giving glory to God or not giving glory to God or something in between, something neutral. Like I'm not giving glory to God or giving glory to other things. That's impossible. There's one side or another.

We either give glory to God or we give glory to something else, other than God. So there's no neutrality. We will live in such a way that we will give glory to God or other things. So this means with everything, right? How we spend our time, how we do our work, what we entertain ourselves with, the movies we watch, the music we listen to, the ways, again, we do our work.

All of this, we will either bring glory to God or take glory from Him and give it to another. But if we fail to do that, to give glory to God willingly in this life, know that we will all bow down and give glory to God when Jesus comes. Every knee will, in fact, bow and every tongue will confess that Jesus is Lord. And what does it say at the end of Philippians 2, 11? To the glory of God, the Father, right?

Without exception. So fear God, give Him glory. And then third, to sum it all up, we must worship Him alone. So what's the angel saying here? Why is the angel saying worship God?

What does it mean? To give Him adoration. Yeah, to give Him adoration, praise. Literally, the word is bow down, right? The word used here is to bow down.

What's that? Yeah, put no other God before Him, right? To know He is God above all. He is to be worshiped and to be paid homage alone. And the call I notice here is to worship Him.

Why? Because specifically, because He's the Creator. He's the one who made heaven and earth, the sea, and the springs of water. Which at first sounds a little odd to us as we hear that. But notice how we're tying everything together in the book.

Have we seen these categories already? Again, in the trumpet judgments. These take us right back to the early categories of the unraveling of creation that happens through God's judgment. In the first four trumpet judgments, we read that one-third of the earth, one-third of the sea, one-third of the springs of the water, and one-third of the heavens are all destroyed. Those same categories are being evoked here in this angel's message.

God is the one alone who creates and controls all things. Therefore, worship is due to Him and to Him alone. So here is the eternal gospel proclamation of the first angel. Judgment has come, so repent. Fear God, give Him glory, and worship Him.

If we do not do this now, then we will be forced to do so in a different way when the hour of judgment comes. But here's something we also must keep in our minds as we think about this. We can only fear God, give Him glory, and worship Him now in this life by the regenerating, sanctifying, and empowering work of the Holy Spirit. If we try to do this in our own power, will we fail? Yes.

This requires submission. It requires humility. It's not something that we can muster up on our own strength. So we move from the first angel's message, the pronouncement of the eternal gospel, to the second angel's message, which is judgment on Babylon. And these second and third announcements all find further reasons and motivations to respond rightly since the hour of judgment has come.

These two angels' pronouncements are ones of certain doom that come at the hour of judgment. Again, the second angel here is pronouncing the judgment that will come on Babylon. We read in verse 8. Another angel, a second, followed saying, "Fallen, fallen is Babylon the Great, she who made all nations drink the wine of the passion of our sexual immorality." So the question is, what does Babylon represent? What is Babylon?

It's symbolically called Babylon. It's the world. It's the world system. It's the great city of the world, in contrast to the heavenly Jerusalem. We haven't been yet introduced to the symbolic role of Babylon in Revelation.

That will be clarified in a few chapters, but we are now introduced to the idea. And we understand what this represents because we understand what Babylon represents in the rest of scripture. Babylon was a real city that existed in history, and for a large portion of history, by the way. Yet Babylon, because of that, is also the city that never seems to die. Babylon represents all the cities that embody the spirit of the kingdom of this world.

Babylon will always be present all throughout history until Christ returns. Babylon goes all the way back to the Tower of Babel. That's the beginning of Babylon. And what's at heart? What's at stake in the Tower of Babel?

What happened there? Yeah, rebellion against God. That's how to sum it up. Right? Why?

Because they thought they could be like God themselves, and they could build a tower to reach God, and yet God had to disperse them. That's when we have different languages created. So Babylon is always an ever-present reality all throughout history until Jesus returns. Babylon will later in Revelation be pictured as a prostitute that lures the earth dwellers in with her powers of seduction. By the way, this is the counterfeit version of the woman that we were introduced to in chapter 12.

Babylon, the harlot, or the prostitute. She's compared to the adulterous woman of Proverbs 7. Listen specifically to verses 21 to 23. With much seductive speech, she persuades the man. With her smooth talk, she compels him.

All at once he follows her as an ox goes to the slaughter or as a stag is caught fast, till an arrow pierces its liver as a bird rushes into a snare. He does not know that it will cost him his life. That's the picture. The prostitute Babylon, though, her seduction, or her destruction, rather, is sure. Her fall is imminent.

Yet now, in the present and all throughout history, she seduces by enticing the nations specifically, as it says here, to drink of the wine of the passion. Or if you have the ESV there, there's a little footnote. That word could also be translated the wrath of her sexual immorality. So the picture here is vivid. The powers of seduction are very strong, like we read in Proverbs 5 and 7.

Like we said last week, though the picture here is far more than sexual immorality, sexual immorality is a sort of all-encompassing representative picture of idolatry. A synecdoche is the proper term. Think about what we find in our culture related to the proliferation of sexual immorality today. Specifically, picture in your minds the blatant immorality of the LGBTQ movement, for example. So-called pride parades and drag shows.

Think about the scenes that you've seen on that, hopefully on social media or on the news and not in person. But think about those pictures that we can recall. All of these and all these examples, there's a flaunting of sexual immorality and mocking of God through vile acts. That's the picture of the wrath of her passion. But then there's this lewd perversity of the multi-billion dollar industry of pornography.

This is prostitution in your pocket. It's a covenant entered into under the cover of secrecy and anonymity, making it in some ways all the more dangerous. While the flagrancy of the LGBTQ movement is obvious and it's often less attractive to professing Christians, the secret world of pornography is more covert. So because of that, this makes it even more seductive and dangerous. In that sense, it really is even a greater threat.

Make no mistake here. This is the picture that we see here. Each of these forms of idolatry and all the other kinds of idolatry represented in Babylon are the evils that are contained there. She makes the nations drink the wine of her passion and that passion is wrath against a holy God and his holy law. Hedonism is mockery and blasphemy against God who has made every person in his own image.

And here's what we need to see from chapters 13 and 14. The dragon and his beasts are behind all of it. But make no mistake, though your flesh may delight in the hedonistic pleasures of Babylon now, Babylon will fall. It is sure, fallen, fallen. Do you notice how it said twice there?

By the way, this is a direct quotation from Isaiah 21. Fallen, fallen. That's how sure it is. When it's repeated, it means it's emphatic. It is certain.

It is sure. It will be destroyed at the hour of judgment. Woe to you, O earth and sea, for the devil has come down to you in great wrath because he knows his time is short. So we move now to the third message of the third angel. And this is a warning of punishment that is sure to come.

Verse 9, "And another angel, a third, followed them, saying with a loud voice, 'If anyone worships the beast in its image and receives a mark on its forehead or on his hand, he also will drink the wine of God's wrath, poured full strength into the cup of his anger.'" This is a conditional message. Therefore, it is an implied warning. You've heard the message. You've seen the vision in your mind's eye. The beast entices all to worship and to worship its image, to worship itself and its image.

And by doing so, the person who worships him, what does he do? He receives the mark on the forehead or on the hand, the forehead that controls his mind, the right hand that controls his deeds. If you do not have the seal of God, you have the mark of the beast. There is no neutrality. There is no in-between.

What results for those who receive the mark of the beast is this. They will receive the full wrath of God. The picture is so clear. What does that wrath look like? First notice, it again is compared to drinking wine, just like the drinking of the wine of Babylon's wrath.

Babylon's drunken, stupor, wrathful wine is wrath against tomb, God and the saints. But now look, if you drink the wine of the wrath of Babylon, then you also will drink the wrath of God's cup. This is a metaphor that we see used all throughout scripture, by the way. This is not new to Revelation. Again, pretty much none of the images here are new in and of themselves.

They are taken and modified from other places in scripture. Listen to what Psalm 75.8 says. "For in the hand of the Lord there is a cup with foaming wine well mixed, and he pours out from it, and all the wicked of the earth shall drain it down to the dregs." Here's another example, though, of John taking Old Testament imagery and using it in fulfillment language. As we've seen in the seals and the trumpet judgment, God's wrath is being poured out on mankind even now as we speak. We've seen that, right, throughout the book of Revelation.

But all of these instances are temporary and they are partial. In other words, they are drinking the wine of God's wrath. Did you notice this in Psalm 78? That is well mixed. In other words, God's wrath has not yet been poured out in its full strength.

But at the hour of judgment it will be. There will be no more common grace mixed in. No longer will the rain fall on the unjust. No longer will the worshipers of the beast have any semblance of reward. God's wrath will be poured out in full.

That also means that when that day comes, then God's wrath will also be eternal. And that idea is behind the statements that come next as we continue on in verse 9 and then 10. "And he will be tormented with fire and sulfur in," or brimstone, which is how the King James translates that word, by the way, "he will be tormented with fire and sulfur in the presence of the holy angels and in the presence of the Lamb." Verse 10, "And the smoke of their torment goes up forever and ever, and they have no rest day or night, these worshipers of the beast and its image, and whoever receives the mark of its name." Dear brothers and sisters, hear this clearly. God's wrath against sin is an eternal, unrelenting, never-ending wrath. The view of hell and punishment for sin in Scripture is not one of annihilation.

Torment and punishment is eternal, and that's clearly on display in this verse. Fire and sulfur, the smoke of their torment goes up forever and ever. And notice that this is done in the presence of the holy angels and the presence of the Lamb. The description here shows the spiritual, psychological, and physical realities of the eternal punishment of God's wrath. And more than that, the punishment is not an absence of God's presence.

It is rather in the full presence, the full measure of His wrathful presence as His wrath is poured out, the Lamb and His holy angels with Him. And all this can be summed up with these words, "They have no rest day or night." So this is the fate that awaits all who reject the message of the eternal gospel. The messages of these three angels warn of the fate of those who are the enemies of the cross of Christ, whose end is destruction, whose God is their belly, and whose glory in their shame with minds set on earthly things, as it says in Philippians 3. Their message is a most important message. It is the most important message in the world.

Hear it loud and clear, tremble as you consider these words, but do not remain in fear. Know that there is a solution, and that solution is found in what follows in the rest of this passage. That's the second point. Yes, it took that long to get to the first point. That's the way the text is written, right?

But then we have these last two verses that we should get to the other side, the side of eternal rest. What's the real purpose of this passage? Why do we have it? What's its goal? Well, it's both to convince those who have ears to hear, to turn from the love of Babylon and all her harlotry.

And at the same time, its goal is to encourage all professing Christians to persevere and to continue steadfastly in the faith. And we can do this while we cling to the promises of God's Word that we know that the end is unquestioning certainty. Verse 12, "Here is a call for the endurance of the saints, those who keep the commandments of God and their faith in Jesus." So who are the saints who are called to endure? How are they characterized? How are they described?

There are those who keep the commandments of God and their faith in Jesus. This is two sides of one coin, not two opposing sides, but two ways of saying essentially the same thing from different perspectives. On one side, the saints are those who keep their faith in Jesus. To be a saint, to literally be a holy one, that's what that word means, is to put all your trust in Christ and in Christ alone. It is to acknowledge that apart from Him, you have nothing good.

It is to know that you used to be a worshipper of the beast and of its image, and it is to realize that you were blinded by the seduction of Babylon. All of us were. But now, the Spirit of God has removed the veil from your eyes. And you can see clearly. You understand that you've broken God's law, and because of that you deserve eternal, conscious torment and the fire and sulfur and the smoke of torment that goes up forever and ever.

That's what we all deserve. It's to believe that there is really no rest day and night for those who worship the beast and its image and receive its mark. And you realize that Jesus, the Son of God, came to this earth in order to perfectly fulfill the law of God in your place. He perfectly obeyed so that you, by faith, could be counted as righteous, as perfect. And that in so doing, He also became the only acceptable sacrifice as your substitute.

He took the penalty of sin that you owed but could not afford to pay. So because of this, He uniquely was able to do what? This is so beautiful. He was able to drink down the dregs of the full measure of God's wrath in your place. The picture we see painted there in the third angel's pronouncement.

He already took it. He took the cup for you of God's wrath. God's wrath was poured out on Him so that you could be forgiven of your sins by His blood. And then you understand something more. By grace, through faith, you are now able to live by the power of the Holy Spirit free from the bondage of sin.

You once had the law of God written on your heart to condemn you. It gave you a guilty conscience. But now you have the law written on a new heart, a heart that was turned from stone and replaced with a heart of flesh. And because of this, now you have the law written on your heart so that you can actually obey the commandments of God. You are free to submit yourself to God's will.

Though your obedience to God's law is imperfect in this life because of the remaining effects of sin, nevertheless, you are able to live a life of thanksgiving and praise as you obey by faith through the enabling work of the Holy Spirit. You can really offer up your body as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God. You don't have to be conformed to this world, but rather can be transformed by the renewal of your mind. You do not have to fall for the seductive lies of Babylon if you are in Christ. You do not have to believe the very convincing manipulative deception of the dragon and his beasts.

You have been freed to obey God. That's what it means to be a saint. That's what it means to keep your faith in Jesus and to keep God's commandments. Finally comes one of the most wonderful benediction statements found throughout Revelation in verse 13. "And I heard a voice from heaven saying, 'Write this, blessed are the dead who die in the Lord from now on.

Blessed indeed,' says the Spirit, 'that they may rest from their labors, for their deeds follow them.'" This blessedness is so important that it's again emphasized twice in this passage. "All who persevere and endure the temptations of the dragon, the beasts in Babylon, all part of one system, all who endure that will be blessed. All who die in the Lord will receive not eternal unrest, eternal torment, but what? Eternal rest." Over and over again, believers are encouraged in Revelation to persevere to the end. We're called to suffer for the sake of Christ, knowing that it is the calling of every one of us.

And that suffering takes many shapes and forms. But it's all the same in the end. We're called to endure to the end, even if that means dying. Because when we suffer and die, what does Revelation tell us? We actually conquer.

We cannot be harmed by the second death. We've been sealed for spiritual protection. So even if you are tempted to compromise with the dragon, because it means you will otherwise suffer, know this. You don't have to. Indeed, you cannot.

You must not. When you endure, you will find what we are all so desperately looking for. And this is every person who's ever existed or will exist without exception. What are we all looking for? We're looking for our souls to be able to find rest, right?

Remember that Augustine quote? "Our souls will find no rest until they rest in you." That's what's pictured here. Eternal rest. This is the great Sabbath. And we must strive to enter it.

We must labor. We must fight in order to reign. But the promised blessedness is abundantly clear through the eyes of faith. If we have died with Him, we will also live with Him. If we endure, we will also reign with Him.

But if we deny Him, He also will deny us. If we are faithless, He remains faithful because He cannot deny Himself. One day, the fighting will end. One day, the church militant will be the church triumphant. One day, all things will be made right.

And one day, the full measure of God's wrath will be poured out in full strength without any mixture. These truths should permeate our thoughts every day of our lives. Really, it should control our thinking. Joel Beakey and Paul Smolley in their Reform Systematic Theology say that the expectation of Judgment Day should illuminate and direct all our earthly activities, not just when we grow old or face a terminal illness, but also when we are young and healthy. Okay, all you young and healthy people in the room.

These thoughts must permeate our minds every day. We have to live in light of these realities. We have to have them before our minds eye whenever we are tempted to compromise with the world. We must not believe the lies. We must not fall for the seductions of the prostitute that is Babylon.

We must hold before our eyes this fact always, and that is the coming certainty of our blessed hope. And praise God that this doesn't have to be an arbitrary concept in our imaginations. God gives us the ordinary means of grace by which we are sustained as we wait by faith for our faith to become sight. We look for the day when we will have our eternal Sabbath rest, but while we do, what do we get to do every single week? We get to have a taste of that Sabbath rest on the Sabbath, the Lord's day, every week as we come together and worship God at the Mount Zion, at the heavenly Jerusalem like we read about in Hebrews 12.

He also gives us other means of grace to experience Sabbath rest even every day of our lives. As we read scripture, meditate on it, pray, sing, pray together, do all these things. These are means of grace where we can experience the foretaste of the Sabbath rest that awaits us eternally. So give yourself to these means of grace, but also remember this. There are only two sides.

There is no neutrality, and Jesus promised that the wheat would grow up with tears. The church will always have false professors. Jesus told us this. So examine yourself all the time, not to doubt your assurance, but to make sure you're not trusting yourself. To make sure that you are trusting in Christ alone who took the wrath, the full measure of God's wrath, drank it down to the dregs in your place.

Put all your faith and hope in Christ. The question is this that I'll leave you with. Which will you have? Will you have eternal unrest, or will you have eternal rest? There is no in between.

There are not two teams, or there are two teams, rather, and you have to be on one of the two teams. You can't be in the middle. There is no neutrality. Any questions?