Revelation – Jesus IS Coming Back
“It’s all fun and games until someone gets hurt.” That was a favorite phrase of my mom and dad. The “let’s try this” turns sour when mom or dad enters the area and tells you how wrong and hurtful that will be to do it. Doing wrong brings out the mischievousness in all of us. It seems like fun and such a great idea at the time. But this “fun” is only short-lived. When it is blatant sin against God and hurts others, someone has to step in.
God’s vision to John reveals the hearts of future people. The church is measured and found it does not measure up in Truth telling. At this point, Truth has been changed to accept all sin on earth. God sends Two Witnesses who come to tell the Truth…like Jesus did centuries before. They, too are ridiculed, mocked, humiliated, tortured but not hurt for a period of time, (1260 days to be exact). These Two Witnesses (prophets) “pricked the conscience of all the people on earth, made it impossible for them to enjoy their sins.”
When their time was up for telling the Truth, they battled Satan himself and died in the same city where Jesus was crucified. BUT, after 3 and half days, The Voice of heaven orders these two to “Come up here!” A massive earthquake brought down man-made structures revealing the power and majesty of God. Fear drove people to give honor to Him.
Revelation 11, The Message
The Two Witnesses
1-2 I was given a stick for a measuring rod and told, “Get up and measure God’s Temple and Altar and everyone worshiping in it. Exclude the outside court; don’t measure it. It’s been handed over to non-Jewish outsiders. They’ll desecrate the Holy City for forty-two months.
3-6 “Meanwhile, I’ll provide my two Witnesses. Dressed in sackcloth, they’ll prophesy for 1,260 days. These are the two Olive Trees, the two Lampstands, standing at attention before God on earth. If anyone tries to hurt them, a blast of fire from their mouths will incinerate them—burn them to a crisp just like that. They’ll have power to seal the sky so that it doesn’t rain for the time of their prophesying, power to turn rivers and springs to blood, power to hit earth with any and every disaster as often as they want.7-10 “When they’ve completed their witness, the Beast from the Abyss will emerge and fight them, conquer and kill them, leaving their corpses exposed on the street of the Great City spiritually called Sodom and Egypt, the same City where their Master was crucified. For three and a half days they’ll be there—exposed, prevented from getting a decent burial, stared at by the curious from all over the world. Those people will cheer at the spectacle, shouting ‘Good riddance!’ and calling for a celebration, for these two prophets pricked the conscience of all the people on earth, made it impossible for them to enjoy their sins.
11 “Then, after three and a half days, the Living Spirit of God will enter them—they’re on their feet!—and all those gloating spectators will be scared to death.”
12-13 I heard a strong voice out of Heaven calling, “Come up here!” and up they went to Heaven, wrapped in a cloud, their enemies watching it all. At that moment there was a gigantic earthquake—a tenth of the city fell to ruin, seven thousand perished in the earthquake, the rest frightened to the core of their being, frightened into giving honor to the God-of-Heaven.
14 The second doom is past, the third doom coming right on its heels.
The Last Trumpet Sounds
15-18 The seventh Angel trumpeted. A crescendo of voices in Heaven sang out,
The kingdom of the world is now
the Kingdom of our God and his Messiah!
He will rule forever and ever!
The Twenty-four Elders seated before God on their thrones fell to their knees, worshiped, and sang,
We thank you, O God, Sovereign-Strong,
Who Is and Who Was.
You took your great power
and took over—reigned!
The angry nations now
get a taste of your anger.
The time has come to judge the dead,
to reward your servants, all prophets and saints,
Reward small and great who fear your Name,
and destroy the destroyers of earth.
19 The doors of God’s Temple in Heaven flew open, and the Ark of his Covenant was clearly seen surrounded by flashes of lightning, loud shouts, peals of thunder, an earthquake, and a fierce hailstorm.
The 24 Elders in heaven fell to their knees in worship to God with songs of praise. The power of God is revealed. Truth is revealed once more by His glory.Do we enjoy our sin? Or do we enjoy Truth? What does our joy (what we enjoy most) reveal about our lives?
Dear Heavenly Father,
There is more to come! Jesus IS coming back. God, you know the time and events that will reveal Your power and glory. You have given us only a glimpse of things to come when You come back to claim your own. Thank you for rescuing us NOW, redeeming us NOW because of our belief in the Truth of your salvation. Continue to transform us to know Truth, tell Truth and live Truth. You are Truth. You will not change. Thank you!
In Jesus Name, Amen
Today I am camping on the last words in this passage from Jesus to John and to us who believe…”You must go back and prophesy again over many peoples and nations and languages and kings.” Yes, this message is sweet and easy to eat but the work to tell it, to get others to believe in Jesus is hard. Remember Jesus didn’t promise “easy”. It will wound our hearts for loved ones to reject their salvation offered by Jesus. Those who fight to reject life will be sarcastic and find fault in our imperfect ways. That’s easy for them because not one of is perfect–only perfectly forgiven! We will be mocked and criticized with every move we make to tell it, live it and show it, but oh, it will be worth it all when we see Christ. These are thoughts I have this morning.
5-7 Then the Angel I saw astride sea and land lifted his right hand to Heaven and swore by the One Living Forever and Ever, who created Heaven and everything in it, earth and everything in it, sea and everything in it, that time was up—that when the seventh Angel blew his trumpet, which he was about to do, the Mystery of God, all the plans he had revealed to his servants, the prophets, would be completed.
6-7 The Seven Angels with the trumpets got ready to blow them. At the first trumpet blast, hail and fire mixed with blood were dumped on earth. A third of the earth was scorched, a third of the trees, and every blade of green grass—burned to a crisp.
DID YOU GET THAT?….NO change of heart! Is that where the world is today? What will it take? Turn back to God. Repent and be saved, sealed and delivered. The trumpet is ready to be played!
9-12 I looked again. I saw a huge crowd, too huge to count. Everyone was there—all nations and tribes, all races and languages. And they were standing, dressed in white robes and waving palm branches, standing before the Throne and the Lamb and heartily singing:
“No more crying there, we are going to see the King!”…(chorus from my past popping into my head with thanksgiving in my heart!) What a wonderful picture image of Who God is and What He has done, is doing and will do through this Revelation of Jesus Christ our Savior and Lord! 
Each ensuing battle begins with the shout from the protectors of the throne. “Come out!” It seems all of evil is invited to come out of their hiding places to be dealt with and conquered once and for all. Come out, come out, wherever you are…Jesus is coming back! 
12-17 I watched while he ripped off the sixth seal: a bone-jarring earthquake, sun turned black as ink, moon all bloody, stars falling out of the sky like figs shaken from a tree in a high wind, sky snapped shut like a book, islands and mountains sliding this way and that. And then pandemonium, everyone and his dog running for cover—kings, princes, generals, rich and strong, along with every commoner, slave or free. They hid in mountain caves and rocky dens, calling out to mountains and rocks, “Refuge! Hide us from the One Seated on the Throne and the wrath of the Lamb! The great Day of their wrath has come—who can stand it?”
Background: In the Old Testament, God commanded the priests of Israel to continually burn aromatic incense — made from a blend of five exotic spices — on the golden altar inside the Holy of Holies. Israel was also required to sacrifice certain types of animals to atone for their sins. But, again, it wasn’t the aroma from the sacrifices that pleased God as much as what it represented: repentance, clean souls, changed lives (Leviticus 1:9, 13; 2:2; 23:18). If performed properly, these sacrifices were “a pleasing aroma to the Lord” (Numbers 15:3).
I would imagine that God’s favorite, most fragrant aroma is our love, knowing and realizing His love for us. “Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends” (John 15:13). The greatest act of love ever performed was when Jesus voluntarily offered up his life for the sins of his people, suffering untold emotional, spiritual, and physical pain on a Roman cross.
What follows is deeper worship of God. “…a door opened into Heaven. The trumpet-voice, the first voice in my vision, called out, ‘Ascend and enter. I’ll show you what happens next.'” John responded, “I was caught up at once in deep worship and, oh!…” Then John describes a scene in heaven of pure worship.
9-11 Every time the Animals gave glory and honor and thanks to the One Seated on the Throne—the age-after-age Living One—the Twenty-four Elders would fall prostrate before the One Seated on the Throne. They worshiped the age-after-age Living One. They threw their crowns at the foot of the Throne, chanting,
Dear Heavenly Father,
Evangelist Tony Campolo once said, “The world is so complacent that we don’t even sin with passion. We are so lukewarm as a church we are not letting anyone see Christ in us.” 
15-17 “I know you inside and out, and find little to my liking. You’re not cold, you’re not hot—far better to be either cold or hot! You’re stale. You’re stagnant. You make me want to vomit. You brag, ‘I’m rich, I’ve got it made, I need nothing from anyone,’ oblivious that in fact you’re a pitiful, blind beggar, threadbare and homeless.
Is that our relationship with God? Are we good as long as we know He is looking? We have a very immature idea of who God is if we think we will get by with bad behavior that treats others unkindly, loves only those who love us back, or holds back blessings to others because of our own selfishness. Like our kids’ view of things, we think we can hide from God things displeasing to Him. But that is not Truth. “…watch as I take those who call themselves true believers but are nothing of the kind, pretenders whose true membership is in the club of Satan–watch as I strip off their pretensions…” Yikes! Our behavior must match what we say we believe…not matter what. God is watching. Always.
10 “Because you kept my Word in passionate patience, I’ll keep you safe in the time of testing that will be here soon, and all over the earth, every man, woman, and child put to the test.
When we say yes to more than we ought to in the church, are the motives the same. Are we just trying to be and look busy to look good? And for whom? Each other? The church at Sardis seemed to have reputations for “vigor and zest” but were judged by Jesus to be dead inside. Yikes! Jesus does not look at our busyness as a sign of holiness. He looks at our heart. 
“I see right through your work. You have a reputation for vigor and zest, but you’re dead, stone-dead.
4 “You still have a few followers of Jesus in Sardis who haven’t ruined themselves wallowing in the muck of the world’s ways. They’ll walk with me on parade! They’ve proved their worth!
What do we learn?
