Emmanuel Lutheran Church

Sermon for Midweek of Trinity 2

Revelation 11:15-19

It’s been a challenging journey so far through the book of Revelation. Throughout the book so far, but especially in the vision of the seven trumpets, we’ve seen many pictures and symbols that are hard to interpret with much certainty. We’ve seen scary images of destruction and violence, including the destructive force of false doctrine as it ravages the Christian Church on earth, destroying the false Christians and causing much tribulation for true believers.

It’s time for a little break from all that. It’s time to skip ahead to the end of the story. Every story has an outline, with a beginning, a middle, and an end, and each of those main parts is divided up into smaller parts. The end part of the outline for a thriller, for example, is made up of the crisis, the climax (which is like the final showdown), and the resolution, after the hero comes out victorious.

This evening we have before us only five verses, the sounding of the seventh and final trumpet. They’re clear, straightforward, and easy to understand. And, even though this isn’t the last chapter of the book of Revelation, these verses take us to the very end of the world—as each series of visions does. They take us to the resolution and show us the final victory of God over His enemies and ours, and the everlasting joy of God’s people.

Then the seventh angel sounded: And there were loud voices in heaven, saying, “The kingdoms of this world have become the kingdoms of our Lord and of His Christ, and He shall reign forever and ever!”

You may recognize these words from Handel’s Hallelujah Chorus. When the final angel sounds his trumpet, it signals the end of the world, the day of judgment, and the beginning of the open, visible, glorious reign of “our Lord and of His Christ.” The Father has entrusted the reign to His Son, to “His Christ” during this New Testament period, as the One who died and rose again, as the Head of the Church, as the Bridegroom in heaven ruling for the benefit of His Bride still on earth. But in the end, St. Paul writes that Then comes the end, when Christ delivers the kingdom to God the Father, when He puts an end to all rule and all authority and power. For He must reign till He has put all enemies under His feet. The last enemy that will be destroyed is death. For “He has put all things under His feet.” But when He says “all things are put under Him,” it is evident that He who put all things under Him is excepted. Now when all things are made subject to Him, then the Son Himself will also be subject to Him who put all things under Him, that God may be all in all.

That’s in keeping with what we confess in the Athanasian Creed, that the Son of God comes from the Father, not the other way around, and that He is equal to the Father with regard to His divinity, and lesser than the Father with regard to His humanity. Christ reigns now at the Father’s right hand, with the Father’s complete approval. He will still reign at the end, together with the Father, but somehow (and we don’t need to know how) His role will change at the end after He wins the final victory for His Church, and the Father will reassert His primary role as King of kings and Lord of lords. All the power of the powerful people of this world will vanish. And, willingly or unwillingly, the kings and presidents and rulers of the world will lay down their crowns at the feet of God.

And the twenty-four elders who sat before God on their thrones fell on their faces and worshiped God, saying: “We give You thanks, O Lord God Almighty, The One who is and who was and who is to come, because You have taken Your great power and reigned.

If you recall, we identified the twenty-four elders earlier in the book of Revelation as the sum total of all believers from the Old Testament and the New Testament. They describe themselves a few verses later as Your servants the prophets and the saints, And those who fear Your name, small and great. Once God wins the final victory over all the forces of evil in this world, the Church will give thanks. We give thanks now, of course, and rightly so. But that final thanksgiving will be the most joyful of all, because now, to our thanksgiving, we inevitably add a, “Lord, have mercy!” Now, to our thanksgiving, we tack on a prayer for God’s help and for His continued providence and preservation during this time of tribulation. But then, at the end, when our God has finally removed every harmful and painful thing from our lives, every danger, every hardship, every sorrow, our joy and thanks will be unending and perfect.

The nations were angry, and Your wrath has come, And the time of the dead, that they should be judged, And that You should reward Your servants the prophets and the saints, And those who fear Your name, small and great, And should destroy those who destroy the earth.”

The nations were angry. We see it even now. The nations rage against the Lord and against His Christ. Everything Christianity has touched is right now, at this very moment, being dismantled by the rulers of the world. Western society, Biblical morality, the Bible’s version of creation and the history of the world, Christianity’s condemnation of sin and its insistence that there is only one God who is Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

But if you compare the anger of the nations with the wrath of God—well, there is no comparison. As Jesus once said, do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. But rather fear Him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell. The prophet Zephaniah spoke of this day, and his : The great day of the LORD is near; It is near and hastens quickly. The noise of the day of the LORD is bitter; There the mighty men shall cry out. That day is a day of wrath, A day of trouble and distress, A day of devastation and desolation, A day of darkness and gloominess, A day of clouds and thick darkness, A day of trumpet and alarm Against the fortified cities And against the high towers. “I will bring distress upon men, And they shall walk like blind men, Because they have sinned against the LORD; Their blood shall be poured out like dust, And their flesh like refuse.” Neither their silver nor their gold Shall be able to deliver them In the day of the LORD’s wrath; But the whole land shall be devoured By the fire of His jealousy, For He will make speedy riddance Of all those who dwell in the land.

So let the nations be angry with God and with His people. God’s anger is far worse, and it’s about to be revealed against all those who failed to take refuge in Christ. He will destroy those who destroy the earth. That’s not talking about climate change or environmental impact. It’s talking about how men destroy the earth with their pride, with their violence, with their deception and crookedness, and, yes, with their destructive wars. They themselves will be destroyed—not wiped out of existence, not annihilated, but punished eternally in hell, even as God destroys this present earth and replaces it with the new heavens and the new earth.

As for believers in Christ, the time has come that You should reward Your servants the prophets and the saints, And those who fear Your name, small and great. This is when Jesus’ words in the Beatitudes are fulfilled: Rejoice and be exceedingly glad, for great is your reward in heaven. Or as Peter wrote, Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His abundant mercy has begotten us again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance incorruptible and undefiled and that does not fade away, reserved in heaven for you, who are kept by the power of God through faith for salvation ready to be revealed in the last time. The reward of our eternal inheritance, the reward of God’s visible presence among His people, the reward of happiness untinged by sadness, the reward of eternal life unthreatened by death will be handed out to each one of those who have remained faithful until death. That’s what the Last Day will be like for believers in Christ Jesus.

Then the temple of God was opened in heaven, and the ark of His covenant was seen in His temple. And there were lightnings, noises, thunderings, an earthquake, and great hail.

Even as the earth is destroyed, God’s temple in heaven is opened for believers. And the ark of the covenant, which symbolized God’s presence with Israel on earth but which was covered up 24/7 by a veil, will not be covered in heaven. In other words, God will no longer hide His presence from His people or restrict access to Himself. Terror will strike the unbelieving as they are escorted to their doom, even as God’s people sit down with our Father and with His Son at the heavenly table, where we will dwell with Him forever.

You and I have lived our entire lives in the end-part of the story, in the climax section, where things are at their worst in the world. But it’s all building up to the Hero’s victory over every evil, and tonight we’ve seen just a brief preview of what life will be like after that. It isn’t cheating for us to skip to the end and read how things turn out. No, it’s God’s gift to you, to show you how things turn out so that you have renewed strength to remain steadfast in the faith until then. Amen.

Audio only of tonight’s sermon, no video

Sermon for Midweek of Easter 6

Revelation 11:1-14

We have before us the second part of the interlude between the sounding of the sixth and seventh trumpets. In the first part of the interlude we saw that mighty angel standing with one foot on the land and one foot on the sea, holding the little book in his hand. That’s God’s assurance that, in spite of the persecutions and false doctrines that will fill the world, He still reigns over the future and will see to it that His Word is proclaimed in the world.

This second part of the interlude is related. It describes the state of the Church on earth under God’s protection. At the end of the last chapter, John was told by the mighty angel, You must prophesy again about many peoples, nations, tongues, and kings. As we see tonight, part of John’s prophetic ministry—and the ministry of all who come after him—is to “measure the temple of God.”

Then I was given a reed like a measuring rod. And the angel stood, saying, “Rise and measure the temple of God, the altar, and those who worship there.” This is very much like what the prophet Ezekiel saw in the last nine chapters of his book, a man measuring a city and its temple. That city, with all its dimensions being measured, represented a sacred space, the New Testament Church and God’s perfect plan for it, including His plan to preserve and protect it. That’s what John is seeing here, too, God’s plan to protect and preserve His true Church, His elect, even in the midst of the raging of the Antichrist and the false teachers and all the chaos and corruption going on in the world. The true Church will not fail. The true Church will not crumble. But by the Word of God, the true measuring rod against which all things are measured, by the Word of God that the faithful ministers continue to preach, the elect will be preserved.

But leave out the court which is outside the temple, and do not measure it, for it has been given to the Gentiles. And they will tread the holy city underfoot for forty-two months. The Gentiles—the uncircumcised—were not allowed inside the inner court of the temple in Jerusalem. In John’s figurative vision of the New Testament Church, the Gentiles represent the false church that dwells side by side with the true Church. They represent the hypocrites, the false believers and false teachers who are in the Church, but not of the Church. It’s like Jesus’ parable of the kingdom of heaven being like a dragnet that’s filled with both good fish and bad fish, or like the field where both wheat and weeds are allowed to grow up together, not to be separated until the harvest at the end of the age.

The “Gentiles,” that is, the false members of the outward Christian Church, will tread the holy city underfoot for forty-two months. Forty-two months is the same as three and a half years, the same as the one thousand two hundred and sixty days in the next verse and in other parts of Revelation, and apparently also the same as a time (that’s one year), times (that’s two years), and half a time (half a year) that we see in other places. It seems clear that this number is symbolic of the entire New Testament period, from Christ’s ascension until Judgment Day, or at least close to Judgment Day. And that fits. There have been unbelievers within the visible, outward Christian Church since the beginning, living (and even worshiping) right alongside true believers. They call themselves Christians, but they aren’t penitent. They aren’t believing. And they don’t intend to order their lives according to God’s commandments.

And I will give power to my two witnesses, and they will prophesy one thousand two hundred and sixty days, clothed in sackcloth.” Now, just as we’re not interpreting the 42 months or the 1,260 days literally, we’re also not interpreting the two witnesses literally, as two specific men. Instead, since they preach for the entire time of the New Testament, we see them as representing the tiny number of faithful preachers of the Gospel at any time over the past 2,000 years. Two witnesses isn’t many, but it’s enough.

These are the two olive trees and the two lampstands standing before the God of the earth. That imagery is drawn from Zechariah chapter 4, after the Jews had returned from captivity in Babylon. At that time, there were literally two men, Zerubbabel the anointed king of the Jews, and Joshua, the anointed high priest, through whom God would see to it that the holy city was rebuilt. They were pictured for Zechariah as two olive trees who supplied the oil for the lampstand that was Israel. Here the faithful preachers sent by Christ are pictured as two olive trees and two lampstands, supplying the oil of God’s Word, and with it, His Holy Spirit, the ones giving light to this dark world.

And if anyone wants to harm them, fire proceeds from their mouth and devours their enemies. And if anyone wants to harm them, he must be killed in this manner. Fire from the mouth is clearly a symbol of the Word of God. As God said to the prophet Jeremiah, “Is not My word like a fire?” says the Lord, “And like a hammer that breaks the rock in pieces?” The faithful preachers sent by Christ aren’t violent toward those who oppose them. But the word they preach reveals the perversion of sinners. It shows people that their deeds are acceptable before God, and that hurts people and makes them angry, wanting to harm the one who speaks out against them.

These have power to shut heaven, so that no rain falls in the days of their prophecy; and they have power over waters to turn them to blood, and to strike the earth with all plagues, as often as they desire. That imagery points the reader back to the prophet Elijah, who prayed that no rain would fall on Israel for three and a half years, and also to Moses, at whose word Egypt was struck with plagues. Figuratively, it seems to indicate that the faithful preachers of the Gospel will preach God’s judgment on the world, and God will see to it that judgment takes place even during this life against the wicked who oppose the witness of His Church.

When they finish their testimony, the beast that ascends out of the bottomless pit will make war against them, overcome them, and kill them. And their dead bodies will lie in the street of the great city which spiritually is called Sodom and Egypt, where also our Lord was crucified. When they finish their testimony. That won’t happen until close to the end, when the Gospel has been preached in all the world. God knows exactly how far the preaching of His Word will reach, which people are the last ones who need to hear it. But there will come an end to preaching, either an absolute end, so that there are no faithful preachers left, or (and I think this is more likely) a general end, so that there are practically none left—which is basically the situation in the world right now, isn’t it? When that happens, the beast from the bottomless pit will overcome the faithful preachers, if not by physical death, then by silencing them. That beast is either the devil or his servant, the Antichrist, but the beast will come after the faithful preachers through his servants on earth, through the wicked, and especially through the wicked who have infiltrated the outward Christian Church. Already the vast majority of Christian churches ridicule the faithful preachers who proclaim the entirety of God’s Word, who preach against sex outside of marriage and homosexuality, who preach against women serving as pastors of churches, who insist on doctrinal integrity and pure teaching.

Then those from the peoples, tribes, tongues, and nations will see their dead bodies three-and-a-half days, and not allow their dead bodies to be put into graves. And those who dwell on the earth will rejoice over them, make merry, and send gifts to one another, because these two prophets tormented those who dwell on the earth. It really isn’t hard to envision the world rejoicing over the silencing of those who preach God’s Word rightly, is it? Whenever a famous conservative speaker is silenced or shamed, there is maniacal laughter and rejoicing in the world. How much more when the Biblical preachers are silenced, who tormented the wicked with their constant exposing of sin and pointing to Christ! This may well be the world we’re living in right now, when the Christian message has been all but silenced in the world, when society openly mocks and criticizes the Christianity of the past and celebrates its apparent demise.

Now after the three-and-a-half days the breath of life from God entered them, and they stood on their feet, and great fear fell on those who saw them. And they heard a loud voice from heaven saying to them, “Come up here.” And they ascended to heaven in a cloud, and their enemies saw them. Somehow, God will vindicate His preachers and the witness of His Church. The world will see that God did not actually abandon His people, even though it appeared that they were defeated.

In the same hour there was a great earthquake, and a tenth of the city fell. In the earthquake seven thousand people were killed, and the rest were afraid and gave glory to the God of heaven. The second woe is past. Behold, the third woe is coming quickly. When the Church’s preaching is finished, when the world has spent a brief time rejoicing at the true Church’s apparent demise, when God has vindicated the message of His people in the world, then things will start to fall apart for the apostate church here on this earth, even as the third woe—the eternal condemnation of the wicked in hell—is about to take place.

So what we have in this chapter is a vivid depiction of the opposition believers will face both from the world and from the outward Christian Church which has rejected the Word of God—things that we’re seeing play out before our eyes. At the same time, we see that it’s all under God’s control, and that He still accomplishes His good purposes through the Church’s witness. We’re closer and closer to the end, very possibly already in that short “three and a half day” period at the end of the “three and a half year” period of the New Testament era. But the Lord has measured the true Church and won’t let it be destroyed. So hang on a little longer. Christ is coming soon! Amen.