Revelation (Page 2)

The Marriage of the Lamb The Marriage of the Lamb Brad Mills / General Revelation / Joy; Heaven; Marriage of the Lamb / Revelation 19:1–10   Revelation contains many contrasting themes. Darkness is followed by scenes of bright light. The torments of persecution on earth are followed by the glories of saints in heaven. In this case we jump from the theme of the world lamenting at Babylon’s funeral to the saints rejoicing at the wedding celebration of the Lamb.…

A Lament for Babylon A Lament for Babylon Brad Mills / General Revelation / Judgment; Idolatry; Harlot / Revelation 18:1–24   Babylon and the beast represent the assault of Satan upon the Church through the seduction of our lustful desires and indulgence of our misplaced fears. Those threats are not finally removed until they are destroyed by Christ at his Second Coming. That can only be seen from a heavenly vantage point. The believer is filled with hope recognizing that…

The Harlot and the Beast The Harlot and the Beast Brad Mills / General Revelation   The best classic novels represent excellent writing and story telling, but those with the greatest impact typically illustrate some moral purpose. One of my favorite novels portraying the devastating consequences of immorality is Leo Tolstoy’s Anna Karenina. The story follows the lives of two main characters. Anna, a disenchanted housewife, has an extra-marital affair with another member of the upper-class. Konstantin Levin, a down-to-earth…

The Seven Bowls of God’s Wrath The Seven Bowls of God’s Wrath Brad Mills / General Revelation / Wrath of God / Revelation 16:1–11   Although judgment is a dirty word in our culture, it is biblical. The holiness of God demands his wrath. Liberal pastors minimize God’s wrath in order to be accepted by the culture. But this comes at a great cost to the truth and sufficiency of Scripture. Arguing against this tendency, Richard Niebuhr described the liberal…

The Sea of Glass The Sea of Glass Brad Mills / General Revelation / Heaven; Worship; Wrath of God / Revelation 15:1–8   Let me begin by reminding you of some of the fundamental principles we have been following in order to better comprehend this challenging book. Given the nature of the apocalyptic genre, our default hermeneutic (how we interpret any given passage) should be to expect symbolism and metaphor. We see it throughout the book. That doesn’t make the…

The Grapes of Wrath (Rev. 14:12-20) In his novel The Grapes of Wrath Steinbeck brilliantly portrayed the consequences of the suffering people endured during the Dust Bowl migration. Their suffering was building in them a fury of wrath that would eventually explode. Essentially, he was suggesting that anger and hatred are the natural byproduct of oppressive experiences. He certainly has a point. However, one thing is clear, he was not using the metaphor in the same way that Scripture used…

The Terror and Comfort of the Gospel (Rev. 14:6-13) There is no denying the weightiness of the book of Revelation. Eternity hangs in the balance as John’s vision portrays the punishment of evil, and the victory of the Lamb. Symbolism increases the sense of mystery while highlighting the terrible and glorious realities they illustrate. Our passage this morning reveals how the gospel provokes both terror and comfort. Read Rev. 14:6-13 Pascal’s Wager essentially states that humans bet their lives on…

The Lamb and the 144,000 Revelation is a book of contrasts. The dark is stark, while the light is bright. And it frequently shifts between the two. This morning we come to another abrupt transition. After visions of a fierce dragon and beasts persecuting the church, we need to remember that victory belongs to the Lamb. This passage (14:1-5) stands in sharp contrast with the previous one (13:11-18). Last week we saw how the false prophet promotes the counterfeit worship…

The Mark of the Beast (Rev. 13:11-18) Predicting the identity of the beast whose mark is 666 has become a game. So let’s play “Pin the Tail on the Antichrist” for a minute.1 Some of the obvious candidates have been world leaders such as Napoleon, Hitler, Stalin, Mussolini, and Anwer Sadat. Americans have been proposed too. In his book 666: The Final Warning!, Gary Blevins argues that the Antichrist is none other that our beloved 40th president, Ronald (6) Wilson…