OPEN: Harry Emerson Fosdick told the tale of a little church on the coast of England that was ruined in a hurricane. The congregation was poor and didn’t have the money to rebuild. Then one day a representative of the British Admiralty came to the preacher and asked if they intended to reconstruct their church building.
When the preacher explained why they couldn’t, the other man replied:
"Well, if you do not rebuild it… we will.
The spire on your church is on all our charts and maps. It is the landmark by which our ships set their course."
What the representative of British Navy was saying was this:
That church was important to them.
Throughout the book of Revelation, that’s the same message Jesus gives us.
You (for you are the church) you are important to Him.
You remember the children’s song – "Jesus Loves Me"?
Sing it with me.
“Jesus loves me this I know, for the Bible tells me so.
Little ones to Him belong, they are weak but He is strong.
Yes, Jesus loves me.
Yes, Jesus loves me.
Yes, Jesus loves me.
The Bible tells me so”
According to that song - how do we know Jesus loves us?
(The Bible tells me so)
That’s right!
In the same way we know Jesus loves us because Revelation tells us so.
• He “… loves us and has freed us from our sins by his blood.” Revelation 1:5
• He has “… made us a kingdom, priests to his God and Father…” Revelation 1:6
• He has given us robes made “… white in the blood of the Lamb.” Revelation 7:14
• ”… he’ll guide (us) to springs of living water, and God will wipe away every tear from (our) eyes.” Revelation 7:17
• We will conquer Satan “… by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of (our) testimony….” Revelation 12:11
• We have “his name… written on (our) foreheads…” Revelation 14:1
• And we sing “… a new song before the throne…” Revelation 14:3
And it goes on and on and on.
Yes, Jesus loves us… Revelation tells us so.
Now, there are many prophetic teachers out there who will say:
“Yeah, Jesus loves you (the church)… but not as much as He loves Physical Israel.”
Last week, we examined this chart dealing with a powerful prophecy from Daniel 9.
(http://frankdimora.typepad.com/.a/6a00d83534afe169e20134854dac9b970c-pi)
The prophecy is called the “70 weeks prophecy” in which God accurately told His people the date when the Temple would be rebuilt and the exact date when the coming Messiah (Jesus) would begin His ministry.
But right at the end of that prophecy (just before the last 7 years of the prophecy) these prophetic teachers “stop the clock”. They put in a “time gap” they call the “Church age” because (they believe) the church was NOT God’s most important focus in the prophecy… physical Israel was.
And thus – they say – when Jesus comes back – the Gentile church will be raptured out and physical Israel will be saved.
Essentially, they are telling us that the Church was an afterthought with God.
The Gentile church is not loved as much as the physical Jews were.
To their way of thinking – physical Israel is the apple of God’s eye.
The church is loved… just not as much.
Now that’s a bizarre interpretation of Daniel 9 because the 70 weeks prophecy doesn’t even give a hint that such a “time gap” existed, nor does that prophecy speak of God stopping the clock for the sake of physical Israel.
Part of the reason these prophetic teachers are so convinced of the importance of physical Israel is because Revelation talks about a group of people called “the 144,000”.
Have you ever heard of the “144,000”?
You can read about it in Revelation 7:4b-8
“I heard the number of the sealed, 144,000, sealed from every tribe of the sons of Israel:
12,000 from the tribe of Judah were sealed,
12,000 from the tribe of Reuben,
12,000 from the tribe of Gad,
12,000 from the tribe of Asher,
12,000 from the tribe of Naphtali,
12,000 from the tribe of Manasseh,
12,000 from the tribe of Simeon,
12,000 from the tribe of Levi,
12,000 from the tribe of Issachar,
12,000 from the tribe of Zebulun,
12,000 from the tribe of JOSEPH,
12,000 from the tribe of Benjamin were sealed.”
That sounds pretty conclusive doesn’t it?
The 144,000 are said to be from every tribe of the sons of ISRAEL!!!
Therefore, these 144,000 MUST BE physical Israelites.
Well… not so fast.
There are a few problems with this interpretation, and one of the most obvious has to do with the tribe I highlighted in the list
Do see that tribe of “Joseph” toward the end of the passage?
Have you ever heard of a tribe of “Joseph?
No?
Well, that is probably because there is NO tribe of Joseph ever found in the lists of tribes that make up physical Israel.
Now, Joseph was one of the 12 sons of Jacob (Israel).
But Joseph had 2 sons – Manasseh (the oldest) and Ephraim (the youngest).
And the families of those two boys were honored to become 2 of the tribes who were ALWAYS listed as the tribes of Israel.
But not Joseph.
So there NEVER was a tribe of Joseph.
In addition, two of the tribes of Israel are missing from this list.
One is Ephraim (Joseph’s 2nd born).
Ephraim is not listed here in Revelation 7.
And neither is Dan.
There is no rational reason why those two tribes should be missing!
What is going on!!??
Well, here’s what’s going on.
The 144,000 aren’t about PHYSICAL Israel.
They are about SPIRITUAL Israel.
It’s all about the church.
In Romans 2, Paul addresses the Christians who were Jews in Rome and he warns them - just because you are PHYSICAL Jews that you are better than the Gentile believers.
“… he is not a Jew who is one outwardly, nor is circumcision that which is outward in the flesh; but he is a Jew who is one inwardly; and circumcision is that of the heart…” Romans 2:28-29 NKJV
Being a spiritual Jew is what concerns God.
And the circumcision that counts now is not physical – it’s spiritual.
Back in the Old Testament, circumcision was done to the males of Israel.
It was the mark of the covenant.
Do I have to explain circumcision to you?
No? Good, because I didn’t want to get into that today.
But the old circumcision was the removal of physical skin from the body.
The circumcision that counts now is a circumcision of the skin of sin around our hearts.
A real Jew is not one who is one outwardly, but inwardly.
Now, real Jews are every believer(Gentile or Jew) who are part of God's new Covenant.
Later, in Ephesians 2, Paul writes the Gentile church in that city and says:
“… remember that at one time you were Gentiles in the flesh––called “the uncircumcised” by those called “the circumcised,” done by hand in the flesh. At that time you were
• without the Messiah, (didn’t have a Savior)
• excluded from the CITIZENSHIP IN ISRAEL, and
• foreigners to the covenants of the promise,
• with no hope and
• without God in the world.” Ephesians 2:11-12 HCSB
Notice what Paul is telling these GENTILE Christians:
At one time they didn’t have Jesus or God or Hope… OR citizenship in Israel
Then Paul writes: “But now IN Christ Jesus you who ONCE were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ.” Ephesians 2:13
In other words: we (as Gentiles) were once separated from Christ and God and Israel
But that’s not true anymore!
You and I are now part of a new and a Spiritual Israel.
It’s not that God doesn’t love physical Israel.
Paul says that Physical Israel is loved because of the Old Covenant (but not the New).
BUT … physical Jews are NOT loved more than you are as God’s church
The Israelites of the Old Covenant are NOT more important than you are.
You (Christ's Church) are now the APPLE of God’s eye.
Now, if a physical Jew ever converts to Christ… that is an exciting thing
But outside of Christ an unconverted Jew has NO HOPE - and no 2nd chance.
So, Jesus loves you (the church) this I know, because Revelation tells me so.
But as much as God loves you, Revelation doesn’t sugar coat what might happen to you and I because of our faith.
Revelation talks about Christians being…
o Jailed
o Mistreated
o Beaten
o And even killed
Revelation 6:9 John tells us that “When (the Lamb) opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of those who had been slain for the word of God and for the witness they had borne.”
As Jesus put it “in this world you will have … (TROUBLE).
ILLUS: Back in 325 A.D. the church held a conference in the city of Nicea. We’re told that there were 318 delegates who attended. Of those 318 delegates, “fewer than 12 had not lost an eye or lost a hand or did not limp on a leg lamed by torture for their Christian faith.” Vance Havner.
Now, I’ve said this before, but I’m going to say it again:
Revelation drives home the fact we Christians are not saved so we can live a pampered life.
Jesus didn’t save us so we could have a great family/home/car/401Ks… etc. etc.
Not that God won’t do stuff like that for us, BUT that’s not why we were saved.
Jesus saved us because we were lost in sin and we deserved to go to hell. (repeat)
ILLUS: C.S. Lewis once said: “As you perhaps know, I haven't always been a Christian. I didn't go to religion to make me happy. I always knew a bottle of Port would do that. If you want a religion to make you feel really comfortable, I certainly don't recommend Christianity.”
WHAT???
Why would Lewis say that Christianity wouldn't make me comfortable?
Because Christianity is going to tell us what we don’t want to hear.
And also because the world is not going to like you.
And why won’t this world like you?
Because the world doesn’t like Jesus.
And why doesn’t the world like Jesus?
Because Jesus tells the world something it doesn’t want to hear:
“Ya all sinners and ya all going to hell.”
Ephesians 2:1-5 tells you and I “… you (and I) were dead in the trespasses and sins in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience—among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind.
But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved.”
Now, I know this is “Friend Day” and I should be trying to sugar coat this.
But I can’t do that.
Because that is NOT what you need to hear.
You need to hear that Jesus loves you - not because you deserved His love, but because you needed His love.
And you needed His love and His forgiveness.
THAT is what Christianity is all about.
Now, one last thing – and this is the cool part.
Revelation 19:11-13 tells us
“Then I saw heaven opened, and behold, a white horse! The one sitting on it is called Faithful and True, and in righteousness he judges and makes war. His eyes are like a flame of fire, and on his head are many diadems, and he has a name written that no one knows but himself. He is clothed in a robe dipped in blood, and the name by which he is called is The Word of God.”
Who is describing?
That's right - Jesus.
Now notice verse 14
“And the armies of heaven, arrayed in fine linen, white and pure, were following him on white horses.”
Who do you think that these guys might be?
That’s US.
That’s the church.
And we know that because this is the kind of terminology God uses of Christians
Revelation 19:8 says “…fine linen is the righteous deeds of the saints.”
Revelation 3:5 “The one who conquers will be clothed thus in white garments…”
You know what this means?
This means I get a white horse!!!
That’s cool!
We are the army of God.
We are warriors called to follow Jesus into battle against Satan.
And II Corinthians 10:3-4 tells us how we wage this war:
“… though we walk in the flesh, we are not waging war according to the flesh. For the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh but have divine power to destroy strongholds. We destroy arguments and every lofty opinion raised against the knowledge of God, and take every thought captive to obey Christ…”
In other words – we’re not carrying swords, and bows and arrows and other weapons of war. Our war is a spiritual war against the gates of hell with the intention of capturing the hearts of people held under Satan’s power and influence.
But of all the weapons we have, perhaps the most powerful is talked about in Revelation 8:1-5
“When the Lamb opened the seventh seal, there was silence in heaven for about half an hour.
(I paused for about 10 or 15 seconds, and leaned forward as if listening to something)
“Listen” (I said, and then paused for another few seconds)
“Do you hear it?” (I paused again).
“Do you hear (pause) the silence?”
(I stretched out the silence just long enough to create anticipation, but not long enough to be boring).
Did you sense the anticipation?
You expected me to do something didn't you?
You had an expectation of that something was about to happen?
THAT’S what Revelation is doing here.
It’s creating an atmosphere that says
“Pay attention. Something important is about to happen.
Something that is so significant that God wants to call your attention to it."
So, why is God trying to get our attention?
Well, let’s read about it:
“Then I saw the seven angels who stand before God, and seven trumpets were given to them. And another angel came and stood at the altar with a golden censer, and he was given much incense to offer with the prayers of all the saints on the golden altar before the throne, and the smoke of the incense, with the prayers of the saints, rose before God from the hand of the angel.”
NOTICE – an angel is in charge of the prayers of the saints.
These prayers are not trusted to just anyone.
Only an angel is allowed to bring them before the throne of God.
And this angel holds these prayers in a GOLDEN censer.
It’s not a brass censer, or tin or lead.
Our prayers are held in a censer made of precious metal.
Our prayers are precious to God.
And this angel brings your prayers before the very throne of God.
They are not set on the floor before God.
They are not echoing around in the throne room.
They are presented directly to God, and he pays personal attention to your individual prayers.
Now… notice what happens next:
“Then the angel took the censer and filled it with fire from the altar and threw it on the earth, and there were
(SHOUT)
PEALS OF THUNDER,
RUMBLINGS,
FLASHES OF LIGHTNING,
AND AN EARTHQUAKE”
(Pause)
Scared you didn’t I???
I did that on purpose.
When God hears our prayers He unleashes a power that we can’t even begin to imagine.
That's why God uses an imagery of power and might and even the terror that those prayers could bring.
We are soldiers of Christ.
We are called to the battlefield against Satan and all his forces.
And when we pray… the whole might of heaven is unleashed.
CLOSE: During the 1800s, one of Napoleon’s generals was preparing to attack an Austrian town with an army of 18,000 men.
The Austrians were terrified. They were defenseless against such an attack and they knew they would face the very real prospect of slavery, death, or worse at the hands of the French.
Faced with defeat and certain death the Town Counsel called a hurried meeting and discussed their options.
After much discussion, the dean of the Church rose and said,
“My brothers it is Easter Day!
We have been reckoning our own strength, and that fails. Let us turn to God. Ring the bells and have service as usual, and leave the matter in God’s hands.”
So that’s what they did.
They went to church.
They rang the church bells, put on their Sunday best, and gathered to worship God.
When services ended, the Austrians opened the church doors and looked over the walls and found... the entire French army was gone.
It turns out that when the French heard the church bells… they thought the bells were announcing the arrival of the entire Austrian army to defend the city.
And they simply ran away.
Thus it was that in 1799, the Austrian town of Feldkirch was saved by praying and praising God.
(http://ministry127.com/resources/illustration/the-sound-of-church-bells)
That’s the story of Revelation.
Revelation tells us that God’s people are faced with an enemy we cannot withstand.
Our only hope comes in praise and prayer… and in the end we win!!
