Emmanuel Lutheran Church

Sermon for Midweek of Trinity 7

Revelation 14:1-5

In the first three visions of the set of seven visions we’ve been considering, we met the “unholy trinity” of the dragon, the beast from the sea, and the beast from the earth. The dragon represents the devil as he seeks to destroy first Christ and then the Bride of Christ, the Church. The beast from the sea represents secular government as the devil’s instrument to persecute the Church. The beast from the earth represents the false-teaching Church as the devil’s instrument, working together with the government, to persecute the Church.

There are some eerie similarities between these three and the blessed holy Trinity. The dragon, that is the instigator of the other two beasts, mimics God the Father as the begetter and sender of the Son and the One from whom the Holy Spirit proceeds. The beast from the sea, representing the rulers of the world, mimics God the Son, who rules at God’s right hand. You recall that one of the heads of that beast had a deadly wound that was healed, even as Christ was slain for sins and then raised from the dead. And the beast from the earth is a false prophet directing men to worship the government, even as the Holy Spirit is the Inspirer of all true prophecy and directs men to worship Christ. There are other things we could point out, but let that be enough for now.

After the earlier visions of the great tribulations that would come upon the earth, we were shown the hidden reality: that God had marked off 144,000 as His own here on earth. That number represents all the elect here on earth as God preserves them in the faith here and then keeps them in perfect peace and safety once they reach heaven. Now, after the visions of the dragon and his two allies and all the ways they trouble God’s people, we’re given another vision of the same 144,000, assuring us that, although the devil and his allies do their worst, God’s elect are safe.

Then I looked, and behold, a Lamb standing on Mount Zion, and with Him one hundred and forty-four thousand, having His name and His Father’s name written on their foreheads.

There’s the Lamb again, the Lamb of God, standing on Mount Zion, which represents the Church of God, either here on earth or in heaven. In this case, it seems to be the Church in heaven that John is seeing, because in a moment he’ll mention the throne from the heavenly throne room, as well as the 24 elders and the 4 living creatures which we saw earlier in the book. Don’t let it bother you that believers are depicted in different ways even in the same scene, sometimes as 24 elders and sometimes as 144,000, which is also a multiple of 12. Each picture emphasizes some detail we’re supposed to notice.

The elect who have come out of this great tribulation are in heaven with Christ. The “seal” with which they were sealed is explained here as “His name and His Father’s name” written on their foreheads. That’s both a mark of ownership, a mark of confession, and a mark of protection.

And I heard a sound from heaven, like the sound of many waters, and like the sound of loud thunder. And I heard the sound of harpists playing their harps. They sang as it were a new song before the throne, before the four living creatures, and the elders; and no one could learn that song except the hundred and forty-four thousand who were redeemed from the earth.

When you compare the voice of the Christian Church on earth, especially the Church that holds to the truth of God’s Word in all things, with the voice of the world—with the voice of society, the voice of the stuff they put on TV or in the movies, with the voice of the media, with the voice of those who lobby for wickedness and perversion, with the voice of the false Church and the false prophets, it seems like the true Church’s voice is being drowned out, doesn’t it? Our voice here seems weak and small and insignificant. But the reality we can’t see is revealed to us here. The sound of the Church in heaven, singing God’s praises, singing a “new song,” the song of redemption and truth and eternal joy, is much louder, like the sound of Niagara Falls, like the sound of thunder that claps within a quarter mile of your house. That song is going on even now among the saints and angels in heaven. The voice of God’s enemies is pathetic in comparison. But only the redeemed learn this song, only those who finally end up in heaven. Here we can’t hear it or sing it, and we’re not supposed to. But we are supposed to believe that the song is being sung, and that we will one day add our voices to the heavenly choir.

The 144,000 are the ones who were not defiled with women, for they are virgins. That’s not meant literally. Throughout the Old Testament, and also in the New, God compares Himself to a husband and the Church to His Bride. He also compares idolatry to adultery and fornication. His people are supposed to be devoted to Him as our only God, but many in Israel “played the harlot” with false gods. Not the 144,000. Not the elect. They worship the Lord their God and serve Him alone. They worship Him in the innocence and purity and perfection of heaven.

These are the ones who follow the Lamb wherever He goes. Just as Jesus said, My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one can snatch them out of my hand. Note this well! Don’t be deceived by the world’s idea of heaven. The heart of eternal life is following the Lamb, following Christ around wherever He goes. Not fishing. Not drinking beer with your buddies. Not driving around the streets of heaven in your favorite car. It’s the characteristic of true Christians that they want to be with Christ. Those who end up in heaven will “be with the Lord forever,” as Paul wrote to the Thessalonians. If that’s not your goal, then you still don’t even know the true God, much less with you spend eternity in His heaven.

These were redeemed from among men, being firstfruits to God and to the Lamb. In one sense, Christ redeemed all men by paying for their sins on the cross. But sometimes Scripture speaks of redemption in the final sense of being rescued out of this world and brought safely into Christ’s heavenly kingdom. That’s what Jesus says as the signs of His return are fulfilled, one by one. Stand up and lift up your heads, because your redemption is drawing near! Again, the 144,000 in this vision are those who have made it safely to heaven. And they’re called firstfruits to God and to the Lamb, like the Old Testament offerings that were brought to God in the temple and devoted to Him. The rest of the crops were consumed by the people in their homes. But the firstfruits belonged to God, just as the elect do.

And in their mouth was found no deceit, for they are without blemish before the throne of God. This verse looks back to Psalm 32, Blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered. Blessed is the man to whom the LORD does not impute iniquity, and in whose spirit there is no deceit. It also reminds us of what Peter says in 1 Peter 2 about Christ Himself: Who committed no sin, nor was deceit found in His mouth. Finally, it also reminds us of what Paul wrote to the Ephesians in chapter 5: Christ also loved the church and gave Himself for her, that He might sanctify and cleanse her with the washing of water by the word, that He might present her to Himself a glorious church, not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing, but that she should be holy and without blemish. What a beautiful picture of the saints in heaven! No spots. No blemishes. No lies or deceit or sin of any kind. They were made perfect before God here on earth through the forgiveness of their sins. They’re made perfect before God there in heaven so that, finally, they will have no sins to forgive.

Again the Lord has given us a much-needed reprieve in this vision of the 144,000 with the Lamb. The unholy trinity of the dragon and the two beasts may make this world similar to a living hell, but try as they might, they won’t succeed at dragging God’s people away from Him. There awaits a place at the Lamb’s side on Mount Zion for all who remain faithful until death. Amen.

Sermon for Midweek of Trinity 6

Revelation 13:11-18

John’s vision of the beast that came up from the sea to attack to Church (Rev. 13:1-10) was very obviously a symbol of the political powers that the devil employs against Christians, based on the similarities between that vision and Daniel’s vision in chapter 7 of his book. In the vision before us this evening about the beast from the earth, we’re shown an enemy that, in many ways, is even more dangerous, because it looks so much more innocent on the surface, and yet combines its diabolical power with the power of secular government to make life almost unbearable for Christians.

John says, Then I saw another beast coming up out of the earth, and he had two horns like a lamb and spoke like a dragon. The only description of what this beast from the earth looks like is that is has two horns like a lamb, or better, like the Lamb—Christ, the Lamb of God, whom we’ve already seen multiple times in Revelation. But he speaks like a dragon, or rather, the dragon, who was identified earlier as the devil. This is almost exactly the image Jesus uses in Matthew 7 when He says, Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing but inwardly are ravenous wolves. In fact, in the rest of the book, when John talks about this particular threat to the Church, he simply calls it “the false prophet.” The first beast represented hostile secular governments. This second beast represents false prophets within the Christian Church, and, in particular, the false prophet known as the Antichrist.

And he exercises all the authority of the first beast in his presence, and causes the earth and those who dwell in it to worship the first beast, whose deadly wound was healed. In other words, the secular government would eventually authorize the existence and the practice of the Antichristian Church. We see throughout this vision how closely the Antichristian Church and the government will work together against God’s people. And that’s exactly what we’ve seen in history. At John’s time, people could scarcely imagine the Christian Church working together with the government. At his time, the Roman government was already trying to eradicate Christians. But within a couple centuries, things would change. The Roman government would begin to promote Christianity. But over the next several centuries, that unholy matrimony between Church and State would end up strengthening the Antichristian side of Christianity, which became the persecutor of true Christians.

You know from Bible class and from the Lutheran Confessions themselves that Lutherans have identified the Roman papacy as the most obvious form of the Antichrist, based especially on Paul’s description of the “man of lawlessness” in 2 Thessalonians 2. Remember, we’re not saying that all Catholics are antichristian or that all catholics are condemned. But that identification of the papacy as the Antichrist is strengthened here in John vision of the beast from the earth. You know how the Roman Empire eventually became the so-called “Holy Roman Empire,” how the Roman Church began to assert secular authority for itself even as it started inventing and promoting all sorts of false teachings. Vatican City is still recognized internationally as a sovereign territory, a political state. The papacy looks Christian on the outside, but its actual teaching strikes at the heart of Christianity, which is justification by faith alone in Christ Jesus. And the way it has exalted secular authority and used that authority over the centuries has damaged countless Christians.

He performs great signs, so that he even makes fire come down from heaven on the earth in the sight of men. Maybe you recall that when the prophet Elijah was standing in the midst of the false prophets, the prophets of Baal, on Mt. Carmel, he called down fire from heaven to burn up his offering—something that they were unable to do, proving that he was the true prophet of God. Even at the time of the apostles, God used miraculous signs as a stamp of approval on His true messengers. But the Scriptures are very clear that, in the last days, miracles will be used by the devil to deceive. So it is with the papacy. Any number of miracles and signs and apparitions have been claimed by the Roman church for centuries. And any number of people have been deceived by those signs.

And he deceives those who dwell on the earth—by those signs which he was granted to do in the sight of the beast, telling those who dwell on the earth to make an image to the beast who was wounded by the sword and lived. He was granted power to give breath to the image of the beast, that the image of the beast should both speak and cause as many as would not worship the image of the beast to be killed.

How many Christians have been legally burned at the stake or otherwise put to death as the Roman Church worked together with secular government to spread its lies and to silence the truth? So again, the identification of the beast from the earth with the Antichrist and specifically with the Roman papacy is strengthened.

But here we should pause and note that all fanatical leaders within the Christian Church are included in this beast that persecutes true Christians. Protestant Christians have created many false doctrines of their own and have sometimes used the secular sword to enforce their own false beliefs and to put to death those who dissent.

But it’s not just the sword that these two beasts use as they work together. John says, He causes all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and slave, to receive a mark on their right hand or on their foreheads, and that no one may buy or sell except one who has the mark or the name of the beast, or the number of his name. Now, you know how too many people have understood this “mark of the beast,” as if it were a barcode or a microchip, or a vaccine. That’s far too literalistic and it ignores the context of these verses. Just as the 144,000 Christians who were “sealed” don’t bear any visible sign of that sealing, so this isn’t a visible or tangible sign. It’s a characteristic of unbelievers, either on their hand, that is, in their behavior, or on their foreheads, that is, in their thinking. It’s a characteristic impressed on people by the beasts working together that allows unbelievers to engage in society, while excluding believers from society. If you don’t have “right think” and “right behavior,” as defined by the beasts, you’re going to have a rough time fitting in.

Here let’s mention some of the ways the false Church, working together with the government, has recently impressed this mark of unbelief on people, with the full approval, consent, and support of either the Roman Church or major branches of Protestants, all having to do with false beliefs and sinful practices.

…the acceptance of evolution or “millions of years.” Not a day goes by when I don’t see some article or overhear some discussion of the evolutionary origins of the universe, with its millions of years.

…the belief in the government as savior, or in a country as God’s Church. That’s a belief held by people both on the “Left” and on the “Right.” “Only one man can save our republic and his name is (fill in the blank)!” I’ve seen pictures of Lutheran sanctuaries draped in the American flag. Whether it’s socialism, or communism, or an exaggerated sense of patriotism, it’s not a teaching that comes from Christ. It comes from somewhere else and it threatens the faith of Christians.

…a belief in Critical Race theory.

…both insisting on prayer in public school and the atheistic banning of prayer in school. Both are contrary to the teaching of Christ.

…support for the modern nation of Israel as God’s chosen people; Jerusalem as God’s city.

…and, of course, what’s known as “tolerance,” that is, openly accepting and even praising sexual perversion, the so-called “equality” of men and women; the validity and praiseworthiness of every religion (except, usually, the Christian one, because it rightly calls every other religion idolatrous and demonic).

We could go on and on. The false Church and the government have worked together for a very long time, either to put Christians to death, or to push Christians out of society by popularizing false teachings and sinful practices.

Now, as for the number of the beast, 666, people have debated the meaning of that for almost two thousand years. The number itself is not evil. No number is either holy or evil. It’s the meaning behind the number. There are many possible explanations, but the best theory I’ve ever heard still comes from a suggestion from the second century Church Father Irenaeus, born only about 30 years after the Apostle John died. The Greek alphabet assigns numerical values to each letter. If you count up numbers for letters in the Greek word for “Latin,” you get 666. Latin, as in the people who originally inhabited Rome and whose language became Latin. Again, that applies well both to the Roman Empire as the original political power that persecuted Christians, and to the Roman papacy which grew out of that Roman Empire, still has its seat in Rome, still uses the Latin language for official business, and still is the most prominent false teaching Church in the world.

But let’s not get hung up on 666 and the ways it can be understood. Let’s learn the clear lesson the Lord teaches us here in this vision. We shouldn’t be surprised when we see the outward Christian Church not only falling apart but turning against those who hold to the teachings of the apostles and prophets, just as we shouldn’t be surprised when we see the governments of the world turning against Christians. These things were foretold long ago. And while both the government and (obviously) the Christian Church were given by God to be good institutions in the world, they have been perverted by the devil to serve his purposes of attacking true believers in Christ, who have always been a small minority in the world. But the end of the story hasn’t changed, has it? First the bad guys have to do their bad stuff. But then the beasts will be defeated and punished by Christ at His coming. Soon believers in Christ will be delivered from these tribulations. And until then, the Son of God fights for His Church and will preserve His saints in the midst of all these trials, if we hold fast to His word and teaching until He comes. Amen.