Confidence in Chaos
Revelation 14:1-13
Main Idea: When everything in our lives is actually out of control, we can trust Jesus, who is absolutely in control.
I. Our Final Outcome is Secured (14:1-4)
Revelation 14:1: Then I looked, and behold, on Mount Zion stood the Lamb, and with him 144,000 who had his name and his Father’s name written on their foreheads…
Where are they standing? On Mount Zion, God’s holy hill (cf. Ps. 2:1-6)
Who is standing there first and foremost? The Lamb (cf. Rev 5)
Who is standing there with Him? The saints who are sealed with His name and His Father’s name
What are they doing as they stand there? They are singing with a loud voice
There are two major truths to be taken from this vision:
First, everyone sealed in the beginning shall be safe in the end.
These did not obtain “saint” status by their performance, rather they were “redeemed from the earth,” “redeemed from mankind.” This is not a thing done by them, but a thing done for them by Another, namely by the Lamb.
Second, the ascendancy of “the beast” has absolutely no bearing on the outcome of the war.
For all intents and purposes, it looks like the dragon is winning, that the Kingdom experiment has failed, that the creation will disintegrate into the chaos from which it came. Then, in what appears to be the last flicker of humanity’s hope, John looks “and behold, on Mount Zion, stood the Lamb, and with Him 144,000.” There it is. Game over. Victory won. It wasn’t even close!
II. Our Game Plan has not Changed (14:5-11)
In the context of the chaos in which we have been placed:
We are to “Fear God and give Him glory” by proclaiming the eternal gospel to those who dwell on earth.
We are to keep ourselves “unstained from the world” (James 1:27) by remembering that “Babylon is fallen, fallen.”
We are to “Watch and pray that we may not enter into temptation,” for “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…and he will be tormented…forever and ever”
Here is the great irony of this vision of the angels: The ones who are putting the saints at risk of their lives are the very ones at the greatest risk. Their one hope is the very people they persecute. Those who proclaim to them the everlasting gospel that has power to save even the worst of sinners.
Here is the encouragement to the saints from the vision of the angels: The plight of the perishing is not lost on us. We know what it is to be “lost” and we know what it is to be “redeemed.” We know that the Lamb has called us to love our enemies and preach the gospel for the glory of His Father, even if it results in our suffering and death. The love of Christ compels us to keep telling everyone we can.
III. Our Marching Orders are Clear (14:12-13)
Revelation 14:12: Here is a call for the endurance of the saints, those who keep the commandments of God and their faith in Jesus.
This endurance is marked by two features:
The saints who endure “keep the commandments of God.” They obey what their Lord has told them in spite of threat, in spite of opposition, in spite of ridicule. They seek to observe everything that the Lord has commanded us to do. (Mat 28:20)
The saints who endure “keep…their faith in Jesus.” This means they not only obey the direct and clear commandments of their Lord, they also orient and organize all of their lives to and around the gospel. They keep “in step with the truth of the gospel.” (cf. Gal. 2:14)
There are two implications in this concept of obedience under “the endurance of the saints”
The first is obedience under the threat of certain death.
The second is obedience in the scope of uncertain life.
