What is to be gained from studying Revelation? In short…A Reality Check! All of us have a skewed version of what we call reality in this world where things are not what they seem. Revelation reveals the truth of God’s kingdom and the fallen world where we live. At the center of true reality is the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit and the Kingdom of heaven. Revelation is an unveiling of the God of the Bible, as He truly exists and rules over all things. N.T. Wright puts it this way, “The point John is making, again and again, is that there are many who have lived on earth as though there were no heaven, or as though, if heaven there be, it was irrelevant. His whole book is about the re-establishment of the rule of heaven on earth itself.”
If we heard a voice from heaven today, we would surely take notice, stop what we are doing, listen and respond. John hears many voices from heaven. I think it is good for us to attend to these voices as living voices with timeless messages. There is a reason Revelation was recognized as a sacred text and included in the canon of Scripture; there is also a reason that in the Scripture John writes, “Blessed is the one who reads aloud the words of this prophecy, and blessed are those who hear, and who keep what is written in it.” (Revelation 1:3) And Jesus says, “Blessed is the one who keeps the words of the prophecy of this book.” (Revelation 22:7)
I want to highlight three particular voices. In chapter 14 of his vision, John describes three angels who fly overhead and proclaim a message to “those who dwell on earth, to every nation and tribe and language and people.” (Revelation 14:6)
First Angel’s Message
“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.” (Revelation 14:6-7)
To all the inhabitants of the earth, this angel proclaims an eternal gospel. This angel seems to represent God’s desire to want all people to be saved. This is a message to all of those who are unsaved and who are not citizens of heaven to repent and worship the Lord. Those who have received Jesus as Lord and Savior must also examine their lives in light of the coming judgment and the command to worship the Lord and give him glory. To those who belong to God, he encourages them throughout Revelation to stand fast and firm in the faith.
The first angel’s message has three elements that are constitutive to the eternal gospel. Without these elements, the gospel lacks fullness. The first necessary component is the universal audience of God’s message of the gospel. It goes out to “every nation and tribe and language and people.” No person is excluded from the good news of Jesus Christ. No person whatsoever is outside the reach of his saving arms.
Secondly, the eternal gospel includes the call to “fear God and give him glory” and to “worship him who made heaven and earth, the sea and springs of water.” The eternal gospel focuses on the eternal God who created all things and is worthy of worship and awesome reverence. All true glory goes to him. The gospel points people to the one true God and commands submission to him. Implied in this command of the gospel is the redeeming, reconciling work of Jesus Christ who became the mediator for God and man. He allows people to worship God in Spirit and truth, as God desires. Redemption and salvation are not only for our benefit but are for the glory of God
Thirdly, the eternal gospel of heaven includes the reality of the hour of judgment coming on the earth. This may surprise us today in the church that the gospel includes the message of judgment to the unsaved. We tend to set judgment over and against what we call “the gospel” or “good news;” however, Scripture sees them as conjoined. For example, when Peter preaches the gospel to Cornelius’ household he proclaims the following: “He commanded us to preach to the people and to testify that he is the one appointed by God to be judge of the living and the dead. To him all the prophets bear witness that everyone who believes in him receives forgiveness of sins through his name.” (Acts 10:42-43) Peter preaches judgment and forgiveness of sins, but not one without the other. After this, the Spirit falls, and the audience is saved and baptized in the Spirit and in water.
Similarly, Paul includes the coming judgment in his gospel message to the Greeks in Athens, “The times of ignorance God overlooked, but now he commands all people everywhere to repent, because he has fixed a day on which he will judge the world in righteousness by a man whom he has appointed; and of this he has given assurance to all by raising him from the dead.” (Acts 17:30-31)
Jesus tells us that the Holy Spirit himself convicts the world of sin, righteousness and judgment: “Concerning sin, because they do not believe in me; concerning righteousness, because I go to the Father, and you will see me no longer; concerning judgment, because the ruler of this world is judged.” (John 16:9-11) As the ruler of the world is judged, so his followers will be judged if they do not repent. It is God’s hope that the Spirit’s conviction will lead to sorrow, repentance and salvation.
The judgment of God draws the praise and worship of heaven rather than the moans and groans that it meets on earth. John testifies to the praise of heaven regarding God’s judgment, “”Hallelujah! Salvation and glory and power belong to our God, for his judgments are true and just.” (Revelation 19:1-2)
Our gospel message must include the fullness of God’s work of redemption in Jesus Christ – his universal redemption, the command to repent and worship God and the coming judgment he will perform.
Second Angel’s Message
John continues his vision, “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.’” (Revelation 14:8)
This angel proclaims the sentencing of the evil to God’s wrath. Babylon represents all that is fallen in the world and remains unrepentant in light of God’s gracious redemption. The godly rejoice at the expression of God’s judgment, because it is an expression of his character including his love and goodness. Listen to the call in heaven, “Rejoice over her, O heaven, and you saints and apostles and prophets, for God has given judgment for you against her!” Then a mighty angel took up a stone like a great millstone and threw it into the sea, saying, “So will Babylon the great city be thrown down with violence, and will be found no more.” (Revelation 18:20-21) This is a cause for heaven to rejoice at the destruction of evil from creation. The sexual immorality of Babylon is not mere physical sex but indicates the spiritual adultery of all who serve and worship anything other than the one true God.
The multitude beings in heaven thank God for the exertion of his judgment in wrath and in reward. The 24 elders around the throne of God, praise him at his judgment, “”We give thanks to you, Lord God Almighty, who is and who was, for you have taken your great power and begun to reign. The nations raged, but your wrath came, and the time for the dead to be judged, and for rewarding your servants, the prophets and saints, and those who fear your name, both small and great, and for destroying the destroyers of the earth.’” (Revelation 11:17-18) In the vision of Revelation, these elders are the people closest to God’s throne, and they rejoice at his judgment that ends all destruction and evil. Like the eternal gospel, this eternal message goes out from God’s messenger to all the earth to hear and respond.
Third Angel’s Message
The third angel John hears gives the ultimatum from heaven to the dwellers on the earth. In his lectures on Revelation, biblical scholar Dr. Robert Mulholland describes these three messages as representing, “Good News,” “Bad News,” and “You Choose.” The choice is published in the following statement by the third angel, “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, 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.’” (Revelation 14:9-11)
God is giving the inhabitants of the world a chance to repent and turn from evil to him, because his coming and his judgment are imminent. The consequences for rejecting the salvation in Jesus Christ are eternally painful and severe.
Those people who have not received the offering of salvation in Jesus Christ will receive the punishment for their sins according to God’s judgment and justice. Apart from Jesus Christ, there is no covering or protection from God’s anger and his wrath when the time comes. The consequences are apparent in this vision for those whose names are not written in the Lamb’s book of life. This is a final warning for such people to repent and turn to the Lord and receive his salvation.
In our churches today, are we giving this urgent warning to people in our congregations? Are we allowing this message from heaven to be proclaimed and heard among the multifarious cacophony of our culture? We may think we are being “visitor friendly” or “real” or “welcoming” to sinners and backsliders by avoiding these “harsh” messages; however, the opposite is true Biblically. We are truncating the gospel to find personal and corporate favor with people at large. I think God is calling pastors and churches to risk alienation and rejection in order to proclaim the whole gospel of the kingdom of heaven.
Craig Stephans 