How to prepare for the end | Revelation 6:1-8
Series: Revelation: The Best is Yet to Come
Title: How to prepare for the end
Scripture: Revelation 6:1-8
Main commentary help:
Exalting Jesus in Revelation by Daniel Akin
Revelation by Jim Hamilton
Breaking the Code by Bruce Metzger
Seven Seals by Matt Chandler, 2021 sermon
Last week: “How to Live in this world of suffering”
This week: “How to prepare for the end”
I. Intro
My dad died in 2014. He was in his 80s and died because of dementia. He forgot how to swallow. Watching him die like that was the hardest thing I’ve ever had to do. But because he knew the disease would eventually take him, he prepared himself financially, mentally, physically, relationally and spiritually. And when his brain forgot how to swallow, he started to die. But he knew that the best was yet to come. I realize that talking about God like this can get me canceled. When people don’t like what you’re saying, they want to just cancel instead of discuss and debate the issues. As a result, it’s getting riskier and riskier to speak truth—especially from the Bible. Yet Clemson football coach Dabo Swinney does so in the middle of the pandemic on a world-wide simulcast where he said the following:
“The best is not behind us. The best is yet to come, especially for those who know Jesus. I would not be able to do a positive summit and try to speak some hope and positivity if I did not say that because that is what I know. I know true peace and happiness comes from knowing Jesus. Jesus is the hope of the world. Always has been, always will be. The hope of the world is not a vaccine. It is not a politician. It is not some stimulus package. It is not any of those things. The hope of the world comes from knowing Jesus. That is what I believe and that is why I know that the best is yet to come.” -Dabo Swinney
https://www.powerofpositivesummit.com/
Where does the courage to say that and risk all he’s accomplished come from? Sheep among wolves, Luke 10:3Power of the resurrection, Phil 3:10How to prepare for what end? The end of my life or the end of the world? Yes, both. Because the answer is the same for both.
But he was ready. We talked about it often. He wasn’t wanting to leave this place but he was at peace about it whenever it happened. He’d trusted Christ at an early age.He’d led his family to follow Christ.He’d walked with Christ the best way he knew how.He’d had the important conversations while he was still thinking well. Hospice was called in when it was time.He was prepared for the end. Are you prepared for the end yet?
Bottom line: We must prepare for the end of life and the end of the world the same way: as if living and dying for Christ was worth it. And ordering our lives accordingly.
Let’s dive into the 5th and 6th seals. The 7th seal is the 7 Trumpets (judgments) we’ll learn about in the weeks to come.
II. The 5th Seal—Martyrs (6:9-11)
A. What’s a martyr? Martyr = witness. So a Christian martyr is someone willing to be a witness even if it kills them in the process.
B. Why were these people martyred? Because they were faithful to the word of God (Proclaim Jesus), and Because they were faithful to the testimony (Embody Jesus).Does your life do these 2 things?
C. They want vengeance, justice and vindication. After all, they died for loving God and loving people like Jesus did/does.
D. Vengeance is God’s job—not ours.
E. God’s character—holy and true.F. God’s method—sovereign and always on time.lG. Future martyrs? Church of Smyrna and us.
III. 6th Seal—The End. (6:12-17)
A. Common throughout scripture to be cosmic, cataclysmic destruction. Could be literal.Could be symbolic. No less real either way. Goal is to lead people to repent and believe. People would rather die than...
B. ...Face God and the wrath of the Lamb.
C. The great leveling begins. God’s justice and mercy are for all no matter your station or status in life.
D. What about you? What are you putting your hope in for your deliverance in the end? Politicians? World leaders? Scientists? Wealthy people? The Military?
Application
How do we prepare for the end?
Bottom line: We must prepare for the end of life and the end of the world the same way: as if living and dying for Christ was worth it. And ordering our lives accordingly.
Share story of Nigerian funeral
Decide if my faith is worth living for. If it’s worth living for, then it’s worth dying for. Saturate your mind and heart with scripture daily. Memorize it as if you might have to live without a printed copy one day. Pray like you might be martyred one day. Proclaim Jesus daily. Embody Jesus daily.
Bottom line: We must prepare for the end of life and the end of the world the same way: as if living and dying for Christ was worth it.We do this daily as we Proclaim & Embody Jesus.
Let’s pray.
Other notes:
How to Love
Four bullets hit Pope John Paul II – two of them lodging in his lower intestine, the others hitting his left hand and right arm. This assassination attempt on the Pope in May 1981 left him severely wounded and with considerable blood loss – his health was never the same again. In July 1981, the perpetrator, Ali Ağca, was sentenced to life imprisonment. Pope John Paul II asked people to pray ‘for my brother Ağca, whom I have sincerely forgiven’.
Two years later, he was to take the hand of Ali Ağca, then in prison, and quietly tell him that he had forgiven him for what he had done (even though his would-be killer had not asked for forgiveness). He developed a friendship over the years, meeting Ağca’s mother in 1987 and his brother a decade later. In June 2000 Ağca was pardoned by the Italian President at the Pope’s request. In February 2005 Ağca sent a letter to the Pope wishing him well. When the Pope died on 2 April 2005, Ağca’s brother, Adrian, gave an interview saying that Ağca and his entire family were grieving and that the Pope had been a great friend to them.
Pope John Paul II’s response of love and mercy is exemplary. God’s love and mercy is even more extraordinary because ‘At the cross of Jesus, pardon is complete. Love and justice mingle, truth and mercymeet.’
How to Make the Most of Your Life
‘People often ask me what Mother Teresa was like,’ writes Shane Claiborne in his book The Irresistible Revolution. ‘Sometimes it’s like they wonder if she glowed in the dark or had a halo. She was short, wrinkled, and precious, maybe even a little ornery, like a beautiful, wise old granny. But there is one thing I will never forget – her feet. Her feet were deformed.
Each morning I would stare at them. I wondered if she had contracted leprosy. One day a Sister explained, “Her feet are deformed because we get just enough donated shoes for everyone, and Mother does not want anyone to get stuck with the worst pair, so she digs through and finds them. And years of doing that have deformed her feet.” Years of loving her neighbour as herself deformed her feet.’
When people are asked about the person whose life they most admire, so often the answer is ‘Mother Teresa’. She made the most of her life. It is a paradox, because her life was a life of self-denial, taking up her cross and following Jesus.
Bible in One Year 2021 With Nicky Gumbel: Day 56 • Devotional