The Good News of Judgment

Well, as we continue our journey in Revelation, we move to this middle section of Revelation fourteen. Look today at verses six through thirteen, if you'll remember, we are right in the middle of this reprise here in chapters twelve through fourteen, and we see these seven events that are a recap of God's judgment, his historical judgment that brings about the consummation of all things. And it's before we go into these bowls of judgment, which is another iteration of that same idea of a series of seven judgments being poured out. We've seen in chapter twelve this war between the beast and the woman in her offspring. We saw in chapter thirteen this picture of this dragon and the beast and the second Beast, and this sort of false trinity. And on last week we saw a picture of the war of worship, and that ultimately what this was about was a battle as to whom we would worship. There are those who've taken the mark of this beast so that they may buy and sell, and they have worshiped him and are bringing about judgment as a result of this worship. This is a picture of those who turn toward idolatry and away from the authentic worship of the authentic Triune God. And then we saw a picture of the Lamb standing on Mount Zion, and this one hundred and forty four thousand who are with him. And we looked at the symbolism there of that number, this picture of the complete people of God standing before the Lord there on Mount Zion, and this picture of perfect worship that originates in heaven and has an impact on earth. Now we move beyond that to a threefold proclamation by angels, and this war of worship has given way to the good news of judgment. Now, I know that sounds ironic, and there's a reason that that sounds ironic. We'll talk about that more. But the good news of judgment. We don't think about judgment as good news, but it is. And we find that here as we begin in verse six of Revelation fourteen, we read, then I saw another angel flying to directly overhead with an eternal gospel to proclaim to those who dwell on earth, to every nation and tribe and language and people. And so we hear here there's a gospel coming. There's an angel, a messenger of God, bringing an eternal Gospel. What is that eternal gospel sound like? Verse seven, 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. Verse eight. 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 hand, and 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 Christ. And I heard a voice from heaven saying, write this, Blessed are those or excuse me, 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. If someone were to ask you what is the most glorious announcement you could make about God? What would your answer be? Think about that for a moment, because here we have, in the midst of Revelation twelve through fourteen, this picture of the cosmic battle that is going on, this picture of time wrapping itself up, history being consummated, and God bringing things to an end. And right here at the apex of it, there are three angels, and one of them is said to bring an eternal gospel to all the earth. If you're in the midst of that, this most important moment and this most important message, and you have to make a glorious announcement and pronouncement about God, what do you say? Time is running out, The war of worship is in an apex. God sends his perfect messengers with his perfect message, and their theme not love, but Judgment, is that what you thought? Is that how you would have answered the question? In fact, if we're honest, even knowing that this is the message that the angels proclaim, if someone were to ask us this question, even after we realize that this is what the angels proclaim, for the most part, we'd feel very uncomfortable saying, you got one shot. It's the apex of this battle, and you're going to say a glorious proclamation about God. What's your proclamation? You know the answer, and you don't like the answer, Judgment, But why don't we like this answer? There are reasons for that. We'll find those as we look at these proclamations. The first Angel, the first Angel brings this gospel of God's glory and coming judgment. We read that 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. Again we've seen this before a number of times, but also in the previous chapter. Those who are receiving this mark are from where every nation and tribe and tongue 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, and the sea and the springs of water. Here's what we hear. If we were to take this in the form of a statement to walk away with you stand condemned before a holy and just God. There's the statement of the First Angel. The first Angel says, you stand condemned before a holy and just God. This is a global proclamation. Remember the importance of that number four. That number four is a number of completion as it relates to the earth, and so when we talk about the four winds and the four corners of the earth, so on and so forth, that's a reference to all of the earth. Here is a reference to all of the peoples of the earth, every nation and tribe and language and people. We've seen this a number of times, and it refers to the message being a global message, a message to all of the people on the earth. And this message of God's impending judge is a message for all the people in all the earth. And from the time of Christ's death, burial and resurrection, he gives a great commission. What is the great commission? The great commission is to go and make disciples of all nations, to go proclaim the Gospel among all nations, and to teach them to observe whatever the Lord has taught us. What is being said there, go tell every tongue and nation, and tribe and people this gospel message. And so what's the picture here? The picture is an intensification of the Gospel going forth as the time draws near and as history draws to a close. So as the battle intensifies the people of God, the messengers of God don't back off, but they step on the gas. As it relates to claiming the gospel. As we get closer and closer to getting the Gospel to all people, we don't relax. Listen to this in Matthew twenty four nine to fourteen. Then they will deliver you up to tribulation and put you to death, and you will be hated by all nations for my name's sake. And then many will fall away and betray one another and hate one another, and many false prophets will arise and lead many astray. And because lawlessness will be increased, the love of many will grow cold. But the one who endures to the end will be saved and This Gospel of the Kingdom will be proclaimed throughout the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come. This gospel will be proclaimed throughout the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come. God forbidden that we should ever get so myopic that we just think about us. Amen. Our desire is that the Gospel will be proclaimed to all nations. This is a global proclamation. And then look at the nature of this proclamation. Fear God, so you think about when you think about an eternal gospel. Hey, you got a minute. I know you don't know me, but I'd just like to share the gospel with you. Fear God. It's generally not where we start. Amen, Fear God. Why are they taking the mark because they fear the beast. This idea of fearing God means you don't fear the beast and what he can do to you. Is this not what Jesus says. Don't fear man who is able to kill the body, but fear God, who is able to story both body and soul in hell. Don't fear man who says that he can keep you from buying and selling. Fear God who owns the cattal on a thousand hills, and who also will judge you, especially if you enter into the idolatry of fearing the beast as opposed to fearing God. Then he says, and give him glory. Fear God and give him glory. What happens when we fear the beast, we give the beast glory instead of giving God glory. Romans Chapter one makes this picture clear, does it not. This is the essence of all sin beginning of verse eighteen and Romans one, for the wrath of God is revealed from Heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men who buy their unrighteousness suppress the truth. For what can be known about God is plain to them because God has shown it to them. For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived ever since the creation of the world in the things that had been made. So they are without excuse, for although they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to Him. But they became feutile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened. Claiming to be wise, they became fools and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images resembling mortal Man, and birds and animals and creeping things. And they worship the creature rather than the Creator. They give glory to man and not glory to God. This is very important when we get to the proclamation of the second Angel, the third one says, worship him. We know that in Romans chapter one, they give this glory to these creatures and not the Creator. And ultimately that's whom and what they worship. Fear God, give him glory and worship him. Worship him. Ultimately. What this is is a call for repentance. If you note what happened in chapter thirteen. What happens they fear the beast, They give glory to the beast, and they worship the beast. In other words, the message of the Angel is repent. Turn from the fear of the beast and giving glory to the beast and giving worship to the beast, to fearing God, giving glory to God and worshiping God. This is ultimately a call to repentance. That's where the Gospel ends up. Amen repent. It's also a two sided proclamation. There is mercy and judgment. There's the obvious statement that the day of judgment or the hour of his judgment has come. But this is merciful. Why is this merciful? Because the end has come and the message is still going out to the whole world. It's not quite over yet, and God hasn't stopped. This is merciful. This is like a countdown. You're about to be destroyed by a superior force, and the superior force comes to you and says you're about to be destroyed, and we're giving you one more chance to lay down your arms. You have no hope in this fight, none whatsoever. And whenever the moment comes and the decision is made, you lose, and you lose big. And so in mercy, I'm saying to you, don't fight me, because I will destroy you. That's merciful. That's merciful that it happens before it's too late. It's merciful that it calls for repentance and faith. Why is that merciful Because that's the only hope. That's the only hope. Now, this is not merciful in that it says it can go hard or it can go easy. It can be a painful death, or a swift death. No, no, it's not that kind of mercy. This is the superior force who comes and says the countdown is here. I am at your gates. This is your last opportunity. And it's not your last opportunity to throw down your arms and go easily. It's your last opportunity to go from being my foe to my friend, from being my enemy to being my son. This is merciful, and it's merciful because it will bear fruit. God does not send forth the gospel just for sending forth the gospel sake. He sends forth the gospel because the gospel bears fruit. You see that in the next section. And when this great harvest comes, there is a great harvest that comes before the end. That's merciful. That is absolutely merciful. By the way, we see a microcosm of this, do we not the deathbed conversion. That's merciful. That's merciful. There are those at a young age come to faith in Christ and spend their entire lives in this process of sanctification and growing in grace, and it is a beautiful thing. God uses them. They serve him, they give him their lives. Maybe they serve him in some you know, ministry capacity or whatever, and they're saved and we say hallelujah. God is good. But there are other people who spend every day of their lives as enemies of God, with nothing but venom toward God, and at the end of their lives they respond to the Gospel and they are just as saved as the one who walked with God for sixty years. Don't count on that, by the way, Amen, if you're counting on that, then you're in trouble. If you're counting on that, it's not authentic. If you're counting on that, then you're presuming upon God. If you're counting on that, you're playing with God. If you're counting on that, you heard that somebody got saved at the last minute of their life, and you believe that you can live any way you want to, and then God's going to give you that same opportunity. No, you'll probably get hit by a bus. But even so, even so, you don't presume upon God. This is not about presuming upon God. This is about seeing the mercy of God. But then there's the judgment aspect. This seals the fate of those who do not repent. It heaps up condemnation and wrath for those who do not repent. You think about how merciful God is for the individual who's at death's door when the battering ram has almost touched the wall, and they throw up the white flag and they repent and they come to faith in Christ. And it's merciful. But think about the individual who sits under the preaching of the Gospel week after week, year after year, and they still have not come to repentance in faith. Think about the individual who's heard the gospel again and again and again, and they play church and they play with God, but there has been no repentance in faith. Think about the individual who presents themselves as a member of the one hundred and forty four thousand, all the while trying to hide the mark on their forehead and on their hand. Think about that individual who's heard this again and again and again, and the ram hits the wall and they face God. Just as it is gloriously merciful for God to save at the last moment, it is gloriously fearful to play with God and then meet him church. If you are here today under the sound of my voice and have heard and not responded to the gospel. I beseech you, I beg you consider this. Tomorrow is not promised to you. Tonight is not promised to you. The end of this service is not promised to you. Repent, turn from your sin, Turn to Christ. Put all of your hope and trust in Him, because He's all the hope and trust you have. His judgment is coming. Then there's the second angel. The second angel brings the gospel of God's victory and coming judgment. The first one is his glory and coming judgment, the second one is his victory. Verse eight. Another angel a second followed saying fall and fallen is Babylon the Great, she who made all the nations drink of the passion of her sexual immorality. This is interesting for a number of reasons. First of all, we don't know who Babylon the Great is now again. Mind you, I know you've read ahead and you've studied, and you're sitting there. You're going, well, actually I do, because you know I've been looking. No, no, no, If you are hearing this for the first time, like the first century audience, who is hearing this? There hasn't been an explanation of Babylon the Great. This is foreshadowing, kind of like the Beast was foreshadowed in eleven, and then he was explaining in twelve, just like the great city has been foreshadowed, you know, before we see the city at the end of the letter, Babylon the Great is just mentioned here. We're going to learn more about Babylon the Great next few chapters. We're going to see this picture in the next few chapters. But why would John make this reference without any explanation. Here's why, because everybody who heard this knew about Babylon. They knew about Daniel, they knew about Nebeca Nezzart. See, Babylon is symbolic of this great city of Man that opposes the city of God. And before there's even an explanation or an exposition of how Babylon falls and how great the fall is, the Angel makes the proclamation fallen. Fallen is Babylon the Great, She who made who all the nations drink the wine of the passion of her sexual morality. That wine is going to be very important in a little while because there's her wine, and in a moment we're going to learn about God's wine. If there were a statement to go with this one. This statement would be this, everything you know, love, cherish worship, and believe, stands condemned before a holy God. Everything you know, love, cherish worship, and believe, stands condemned before a holy God. That's the message that this angel brings. The first angel brings a message that says, you stand condemned before a holy God. The second angel brings a message. Not only do you stand condemned, but everything and everybody you know stands condemned. Everything you love stands condemned. Everything you worship stands condemned. Everything you hold dear stands condemned. Everything that you impresses you stands condemned. Everything that your heart desires and you're working toward in your life stands condemned before a holy God, because it's all part of Babylon the Great. Unless your eyes are fixed on the lamb of God, the one who stands on mounta Zion, everything that you are trusting in is condemned. This is a picture of the great city of Man and all of his accomplishments, and it is great. Of Man is great. His accomplishments are great. I think we make a mistake when we fail to acknowledge common grace. I think we make a mistake when we don't appreciate the city of Man, for example, I think we make a mistake when we look at history and don't acknowledge the fact that modern medicine is an absolute marvel. That the length of our lives today compared to the length of men's lives one hundred years ago, is absolutely astonishing because of the marvels of modern medicine. And that's not just because I saved people in medicine. That's because of common grace. Folks. We landed on the moon. That's awesome in the true there a sense of the word. I know we over use that word. The word belongs there. Human beings put foot on the moon. That's the city of Man doing awesome things. The things that have been accomplished in art and music, in architecture. When you go to Dubai and try to look up at the birge, if you get too close, you'll fall over backwards trying to look up at that thing. That's awesome when you look at the bridges that we've built, when you look at the cars that we build, the ships that we build, the planes that we build, I double dog Dare you to stand outside an airbus three eighty and not be impressed? It's almost frightening. Why is it so important that we have a healthy respect for the city of Man, Because if you don't, you don't understand how magnificent God is and what it actually means. When he says fallen, fallen is Babylon. The Great God calls it great. The city of Man is great. The things the city of Man has accomplished are great, and they will burn. They're awesome, and they pale in comparison to our God, and for us to trust in them is idolatry. Acknowledge them, but we don't worship them or place our trust therein Why because one of the things that is great about the city of Man is the greatness of its sinfulness. Its sinfulness is great, and in this short verse we get just a glimpse. We'll get more of a picture of it. But this picture right now, the angel's proclamation is not about the city and its sinfulness. It's about God and his judgment of this city. That's why he can be brief. This great city is judged. The third angel brings the gospel of God's wrath and manifest judgment Verses nine through eleven, and another angel a third following them, saying with a loud voice, if anyone worships the Beast and its image and receives a mark on his hand, on his forehead, or on his hand, he also shall drink the wine of God's wrath. Notice the use of wine here again poured out 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. If the statement of the first angel is you stand condemned before Holy God, and the statement of the second angel is all that you know and love and believe stands condemned before Holy God, then the statement of the third angel is this All that God condemns is condemned, completely and eternally. All that God condemns is condemned and completely and eternally. Folks, God does not tolerate rivals of any kind, or in any way the sin that brings judgment. What is it? It's pictured here as worshiping the beast receiving its mark, but ultimately it's a picture of idolatry. And we know that the sexual limorality of Babylon, the great and the horror of Babylon, this picture of sexual morality is a metaphor for idolatry. And so this great sin ultimately is idolatry. All of our sin ultimately is boiled down to idolatry. It is either idolatry of self or idolatry of something else that we value more than we value God. So when I value myself more than I value God, it's idolatry, and it leads me to sin. It leads me to find illegitimate ways to accomplish legitimate means. It leads me to find alternatives to get things that only means something when they come to me from God, and it's ultimately idolatry. All of our sin is idolatry. But notice the nature of the judgment. Drink the wine of God's wrath. Listen to this from Dennis Johnson and revelation. Wine symbolizes God's wrath in two ways. When the grapes are crushed, their red juice flows from the wine press like the blood of God's enemies when he treads them down see that in fourteen nineteen to twenty, nineteen thirteen and fifteen, which again correlates to Isaiah sixty three to three. And when the wine is fermented, its mind numbing strength symbolizes the confused stupor of those who will drink God's cup of wrath. They will drink down the dregs, they will be tormented. We see fire and sulfur. This takes place in the presence of the land. It takes place forever and ever. It takes place without rest. Now watch this. Here's what people do. They say, Well, okay, there's the stuff here in revelation that's symbolic. And you've just said that this stuff here in revelation is symbolic. So here's a picture of hell and sulfur, fire, eternal torment, So that too must be symbolic. So Hell's not real, it's just symbolic. Let me give you a number of things here to answer that question. Number One, Hell is not talked about just in revelation. Amen. By the way, Earth is also mentioned here in this passage, right, that's not symbolic. Right. And just because you use every tribe and nature and nation and people in tongue to symbolize the whole earth because of this number four, doesn't mean that the earth that's being symbolized is symbolic. So the picture here of drinking the dregs of the wine of God's wrath, that's symbolism. But what's its symbolism for Hell? Which is real? Amen? So this idea of fire and sulfur and torment, this is symbolic symbolic of what hell, which is real and eternal. Hell is real Hell, it's not symbolic. We see it in other parts of the Bible. Throughout the Bible, we see pictures of hell in places that aren't symbolic. So when we come here and we do see symbolism as it relates to Hell, the symbolism is actually used to point to the intensity of God's judgment that is poured out in Hell, not that Hell is symbolic. What would hell be symbolic of? If there's no hell? What would this be symbolic of? If there's no hell, God is going to judge you intensely it's going to be like fire and suffer where nowhere? Really, how does that work? Folks? If hell is symbolic here, what's it symbolic of. Well, it's symbolic of God's judgment against sin, right, Okay, then how does God judge sin? If there's no hell? It doesn't work. But here's the question, why do we object to hell in the first place. Let me give you a few examples and answer those. We can't answer all the objections, but we need to answer some because there are people who object to hell. First, people object to hell because they say it makes God seem cruel. It makes God seem cruel. That God would send people to a place of eternal torment makes God seem cruel. By the way, this objection is based on a caricature of God. If you've seen caricatures, You walk down the street in any tourist town and there's someone there drawing caricatures. And what you do in a caricature is you take certain features and you exaggerate those features, and then the rest of the features of the individual are underestimated. And so you may have an entire picture of an individual, and two thirds of the picture is their head. And aspects of their head, and then there's a little lobity body down there to let you know that there's the rest of the person. But there's this exaggeration of the head. When we're looking at a caricature, we know that it's a caricature, and a good characture is caricature is only meaningful if you know what the real thing looks like. We have a caricature of God, and what is exaggerated in our caricature of God is love. And there's all this well, by the way, not biblical love, but man sentimental understanding of love. And so there's this huge picture of you know, flowers and rainbows and you know, and and and unicorns and butterflies and all this. Okay, there's this picture of man's love and all that. You know, there's a hearts and so on and so forth, and then down there somewhere there's other attributes of God, but you can barely see them. So when you begin to talk about hell and all you have is this caricature of God, it doesn't fit the caricature. But ultimately that caricature is idolatrous because it's God formed in an image that is not accurate. That's idolatry. Here's the other problem with this. Justice is never cruel by definition, it's just amen. Let me show you the great irony of not believing in hell. We recently had this national case that didn't get national attention. Kermit Gosnell, this doctor in Philadelphia who was slaughtering unborn children. He was an abortion doctor. He did late term abortions. He was slaughtering not unborn children, but born children. They would survive the process and he would take their lives. He was recently convicted. Now you may not have heard much about this if you were just relying on the news. It's horrible, gruesome. They showed pictures of the courtroom and the press galley seats reserved for reporters who were covering this news story, and the press galley was empty because the news did not want to report on this story because it might have a chilling effect on abortion. God forbid, we should stop murdering four thousand babies every day in this country. But when people heard about what Gosnel did, just like when they hear about what other quote monsters have done through history, immediately there is a hue and cry. What is the hue and cry. The hue and cry is there needs to be justice. He needs to be punished for what he did. When we hear about Hitler's Nazi Germany and the extermination of Jews, what's the historical hue and cry? There needs to be justice. He needs to be punished for what he did. Everyone cries out for justice and punishment for what individuals have done. And then God says, here is justice, and we say, I don't like that. Man's justice is okay, God's justice not so much. That is sinful. We yearn for justice. And there's a reason we yearn for justice, and it's because we're made in the image of God. Here's the other problem. If we reject the idea of eternal justice, our only alternative is temporal justice. And I've got to get you for what you did. They are parts of the world where genocide has gone on for generations because there is no sense of eternal justice. There is only a sense of me paying you back in the here and now for what your ancestors did to my ancestors. Secondly, people object to hell because man's sin is final and hell is eternal. Have you heard this? I mean, I get to sin for sixty seventy, maybe eighty years, and then I go to hell for eternity. How's that fair? This objection is based on a low view of sin. We don't understand the significance of sin. If we did, then we would understand that when we sin, we sin against infinite holiness and righteousness, and when you sin against infinite holiness you deserve infinite justice. What other justice would be acceptable? Thirdly, people object to the idea of hell because they say it contradicts the idea of eternal joy in heaven. How can we have eternal joy in heaven if there are people who are being judged eternally in hell. How can we know that people are being judged eternally in hell and actually enjoy heaven. This objective objection is based on a carnal estkatology that sees heaven as merely endless supplies of whatever it is that makes us happy here and now. We don't take into account that who we are in the here and now physically, emotionally, and spiritually is not fit for heaven. We will be changed, amen. We just read about that in one Corinthias, chapter fifteen. We will be changed. We have to be changed. You're not fit for heaven. You can't take heaven in your current state. You're not ready for it. We talked on last week about the fact that you can't even take the singing in heaven. It would bust your ear drums. Literally, your physical body can't take it. So the problem is you are trying to use what it is that pleases you in the here and now and project that onto heaven. Folks, listen to me. The justice and righteousness of God will be your all in all in heaven, and the eternal punishment of sin and God pouring out his wrath on sin is a glorification and magnification of His righteousness. What else could you celebrate? It is just there's a biblical view of judgment that impacts the worship of the people of God. Listen to this in the worship book of the Bible, the Psalms, and we can't do all of them, but just listen to this. I want you to get a feel for it. Psalm three, verse seven. Arise O Lord, save me, oh my God, for you strike all my enemies on the cheek. You break the teeth of the wicked. There is glory and worship of a righteous God who manifests his righteousness in the destruction of the wicked Psalm nine to five. You have rebuked the nations. You have made the wicked perish. You have blotted out their names forever and ever. This is worship. Psalm ten fifteen. Breaks the arm of the wicked and evildoer. Call his wickedness to account till you find none. Psalm eleven five to six. The Lord tests the righteous, but his soul hates the wicked. Did you hear that the Lord's soul hates the wicked? And the one who loves violence, let him ring colds on the wicked. Fire and sulfur and a scorching wind shall be the portion of their cup. Again, this is the book that teaches us how to worship. Some thirty seven ten. In just a little while, the wicked will be no more. Though you look carefully at his place, he will not be there Some thirty seven twenty eight. For the Lord loves justice, he will not forsake his saints. They are preserved forever. But the children of the wicked shall be cut off Psal fifty eight ten. The righteous will rejoice when he sees vengeance. He will bathe his feet in the blood of the wicked some seventy five eight. I believe what John has in mind, 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. God is to be worshiped because of His judgment on the wicked. What's the purpose of this proclamation in the last two verses we see it here two things. First, here is a call for the endurance of the saints, those who keep the commandments of God and their faith in Jesus. Here's a call four times that configuration happens linguistically in Revelation. Four times, three of them in this section and one in chapter seventeen. Two times it's a call for discernment in understanding what signs me in seventeen and at the end of thirteen, and then twice it's a call for endurance and perseverance. But I want you to notice something we're not told here sayings you need to endure because God is going to rescue you. That's true. And you find that in Revelation you're encouraged to endure because God is going to save you. Here, you're encouraged to endure because God is going to judge the wicked. Hang in there. God is going to judge the wicked. It's a call for endurance. It's a call for endurance. It's a call for you to lift up your head because God is going to judge the wicked. By the way, this also calls you and me away from vengeance. God, did you see what they did to me? Yes, I did endure. You don't have to pay him back. I'm going to judge the wicked. The statement here is that God's condemnation of sin is a source of encouragement to the saints, not in the sense of gloating, not at all, but in the sense of worship. This is the God whom we worship. He is just, and in his judgment of the wicked, we are reminded of that. There are two statements here about the purpose, first the saints in their endurance, and second the saints in their faith. This last statement is the second of seven beatitudes. In Revelation, it says, and I heard a voice from heaven saying, rite this. Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord. From now on blessed. Indeed, says the Spirit, that they may rest from their life labors for their deeds. Follow them. There's seven benedictions in this letter. This is the second. There are five more to come, seven beatitudes, if you will. And here he says, blessed are those who die in the Lord. There's several things that you take from this. Number one, we take from this that our greatest goal is not centered around the things that we accomplish or experience in the here and the now. Praise God for all of his blessings in the here and the now, but they pale in comparison to the blessings that are ours and eternity. Amen. Here's the second thing that we take away from this. Being sealed means that we are rescued from God's judgment, but it doesn't mean that we are rescued from the wrath of his enemies. Let me say that again. Being sealed means that we are rescued from God's judgment, but it doesn't mean that we are rescued from the wrath of His enemies in the here and the now. In fact, it usually means an intensification of the wrath of his enemies against us. In the here and the now. This is important, saints, because if we don't get this, we'll have again. We've said this before, we'll say it again. An overrealized eschatology, and an overrealized eschatology looks at the consummation of all things and what it is that we are promised in the age to come, and expects to experience those things in the here and the now we've already. He says that this is what's wrong with the Word of Faith movement, that it looks at those things that are promised to us in our eternal state and tries to bring them into the here and the now, and then blames you if you don't get them by saying that you just didn't have enough faith, because if you did, you could have it all in the here and the now. Folks, no one who reads revelation can believe that unless they deceive themselves. Not just revelation, I mean tewod Timothy three twelve. All those who desire to live a godly life in Christ Jesus shall be persecuted. Jesus said it. Know that if the world hated me, he'll hate you. Also. There's the picture. Thirdly, God judges sinners, so we don't have to. Amen. God judges sinners, so we don't have to. First of all, I don't cast my judgment against sinners. If I have to make any statement about sinners, it is a statement of what God says about them, not a statement of what I say about them. Secondly, what this means is that people don't have to get their come up and from me. That's not my department. Amen, it's not my department. And so I don't have to seek people out and find out what they did, or know what they did, and experience what they did, and then somehow say I'm gonna get them. God takes care of that. God takes care of that. This is where vengeance's mind comes in. I will repay. God takes care of that, care of that. Finally, knowing this should not lead us to sit back and gloat. What do we have here? The judgment of God is coming, The Ram is about to hit the gate, and what does God do? He sends his angels to proclaim an eternal gospel. This is counterintuitive because here's our natural response. Our natural response is, world, you hate us, but God's gonna get you, and we're gonna watch it. Happen. That's our natural response. You say nasty things about us, you marginalize us, relies us, you hate our God. God's gonna get you, and I can't wait to see it happen. That's not this text. This text says the ram is at the gate. It's almost too late. So intensify your proclamation of the gospel that those who deserve judgment might, by God's mercy be saved. That's counterintuitive unless you remember yourself. How dare I have any other attitude toward another person? How dare I remember my own life and my own sin and the wrath of God that I stored up, and his glorious mercy that saved me, and then turn around and look at another person and say you're not worthy of that? Who do I think I am? So? Now, as hatred comes, and as violence comes, and as the marginalization comes from the world, what do we do We recognize that this comes from the same place that I was in before God found me, and we preach to them the same gospel that saved us. Why Because we love God and we desire for his name to be glorious. And when we preach the gospel, it's going to be glorified in one of two ways. Number One, before the Ram hits the gate, sinners will repent and God will be glorified as he shows mercy at the last hour. Or Number two, the Gospel has proclaimed sinners will harden themselves and God will be glorified as he is righteous. Justice and wrath is poured out against those who chose the beast. Either way, our duty is the same. We proclaim the eternal Gospel, our hope and theirs. Let's pray, Father, as we bow before you. We are humbled by your justice and your wrath and your judgment of sin. Humbled because we recognize that if anyone deserves it, we do. And yet you have been merciful. Yet you have been kind. Yet you have been gracious to us, Grant by your grace that this would not puff us up with arrogance and pride, but that it would rise up in us and an urgency to proclaim that same gospel by which we are saved. Father, I pray for those here under the sound of my voice who have heard again and again and again I am sinful, Christ is righteous. I deserve to die. He died instead, that they've heard again and again and again that Christ died for sin, once for all, the just, for the unjust, that he might bring us back to God. That they've heard again and again and again about his active obedience that allows him to impute righteousness to us, and this passive obedience that allows God to impute our sinfulness to him. They've heard again and again and again about our need to come to Him in repentance and faith, and yet they have not. God, Would you be merciful here today and safe sinners to this We pray to the glory of Christ for the honor of his name, for it is in that name that we pray and ask all things. Oh Man,