Revelation

A Brazilian writer by the name of Fernando Sabino penned this somewhat famous phrase,

everything will be okay in the end. If it's not okay, then it's not the end.

It's a phrase that's been used in a movie or two, a book or two, a TV show or two.

It's also a quote that would not be completely out of place in trying to summarize the book of

Revelation. That's how it's felt up to this point. Even in the sections that we've skipped over,

we've just jumped from chapter 12 to chapter 19, but all the bits that we've looked at and the bits

we haven't looked at have made it really clear life is tough, but it won't always be that way.

The church is under persecution. Christians are struggling. In fact, the whole of the scriptures

up to this point resound with this cry of God's people, how long, O Lord? When will justice come?

When will you fix this? And then here in Revelation, over and over, there is the promise

that justice is coming, that very soon God will make it right. And today, finally, in the second

last scene of the book of Revelation, we reach that moment. But this scene doesn't open with the vision

of an event. There is an event or two in there, but this vision that John sees here in chapter 19

is actually a vision of identity rather than a vision of an event. As we get to this final act

in history, we need to almost go back to the beginning. We need to look at Jesus again as he is,

as he has shown himself to be, and as he will always remain. And so look with me at verse 11,

at this vision of Jesus, this timeless vision of Jesus.

I saw heaven standing open, and there before me was a white horse whose rider is called Faithful

and True. With justice he judges and makes war. His eyes are like blazing fire, and on his head are

many crowns. He has a name written on him that no one knows but he himself. He is dressed in a robe

dipped in blood, and his name is the Word of God. The armies of heaven were following him, riding on white

horses and dressed in fine linen, white and clean. Out of his mouth comes a sharp sword with which to

strike down the nations. He will rule them with an iron scepter. He treads the winepress of the fury

of the wrath of God Almighty. On his robe and on his thigh he has this name written, King of Kings

and Lord of Lords. This is a description of who Jesus is. It's true that he does things that qualify

him and justify these titles, but this picture is Jesus in his glory and splendor. He is the victorious

king. He is the victorious one who rides in on the horse. The one who has already won the battle against

Satan on the cross. The one who has already done what needs to be done, and the one who already now

sits on the throne in heaven and will forever sit on the throne in heaven. Before we get to the end,

we must remember who Jesus is. He is the king who reigns with all power and authority and majesty.

For the church of the first century suffering fierce persecution, and for our church suffering the daily

temptation towards apathy or laziness or compromise, for all of us we must be reminded that the struggles we

face, the battles we engage in daily, are just the fading evidence of an already beaten resistance,

because the victorious king is on the throne now. Before we worry about what comes next,

John begins, God begins, by revealing Jesus to us again. Jesus will not make some late arrival that

will suddenly turn the tide of the church's battle in history. He is not the warrior waiting for

just the right moment for the final showdown. He is on the throne now. He has sufficient authority

and power now. He is the king of kings and the lord of lords. He is the one who judges. He is the one

who will tread the winepress of the fury of the wrath of God almighty. He is king now.

And having seen Jesus, now we get to the event. Now we get to the finish line. Now we get to the

final battle. But it's not much of a battle. I don't know if you noticed this, but the battle is

actually over before it even begins. Listen to what the angel says in verse 17. John sees the angel

standing in the sun and the angel cries out in a loud voice to all the birds flying in midair,

come gather together for the great supper of God so that you may eat the flesh of kings,

generals and mighty men of horses and their riders and the flesh of all people free and slave,

small and great. Come gather together for supper. There is about to be a whole army laid waste,

a feast for the birds. But the armies haven't even gathered for battle yet.

So far all we have is the angel predicting what's going to happen when the army does gather for

battle. In a second the armies will gather in opposition to God. The kings of the earth and

those who have opposed God will gather together for battle. But this angel is already confident

that this is not a battle. The outcome is already decided. Before the battle takes place,

he invites the birds to feet on the spoils. Because listen to how it plays out. Verse 19,

I saw the beast and the kings of the earth and their armies gathered together to make war against

the rider on the horse and his army. But, so the scene is set for an epic showdown between good and evil.

But verse 20 kind of, it's an anticlimax. The beast was captured. With him the false prophet who had

performed the miraculous signs on his behalf. With these signs he deluded those who had received the

mark of the beast and worshipped his image. The two of them are thrown alive into the fiery lake of

burning sulfur. The leadership of these armies that would oppose God are beaten before the battle can

happen. And the armies that remain in verse 21 are killed with the sword that came out of the mouth

of the rider on the horse. And all the birds gorged themselves on their flesh. No sooner has this

apparent opposition to God and to Jesus' kingship gathered as an army to face off with Jesus as they

are defeated. The beast is thrown into the lake of fire. The false prophet, their representative of

Satan, they are thrown into the lake of fire. There is no power for Satan when he stands in the

presence of a victorious king, Jesus. And everyone else in this battle is cut down by the word of God.

Cut down by the sword that comes out of Jesus' mouth. There is no battle here. All there is,

is the exertion of authority and power that Jesus already has. The battle was fought when Jesus came to

earth the first time. The battle was fought at the cross. And so Jesus uses the authority and power

that he was given when he rose from the dead. We looked at this last week in chapter 12. He was

snatched up to heaven. He sits on the throne now with the name above every name, with authority to rule

and to judge. And so he exercises that authority which he already has. The end of time will not be a battle

between Jesus and Satan. It will be the final destruction of an already defeated enemy in the

devil. It's there again in chapter 20. John's kind of tells this story in two sequences, if you like.

In chapter 20 and verse 7, we get the same thing using different words. When the thousand years are

over, we're going to come back to that. But when the thousand years are over, Satan will be released

from his prison and will go out to deceive the nations in the four corners of the earth,

Gog and Magog, to gather them for battle. Gog and Magog are just cities out of the old. It's a person

and a city out of the Old Testament that fought against God's people, Israel. So it's just

representative. Satan's going to go out and gather anybody who doesn't call Jesus their Lord and

gather them for an apparent battle with the king. It says, in number, they're like the sand on the

seashore. They marched across the breadth of the earth and surrounded the camp of God's people,

the city he loves. So the tension is building. This numerous army that is too numerous to

count is gathered in opposition to Jesus as king. They are led by Satan himself. But again,

anti-climax. Have a look at it. Verse 9. But fire came down from heaven and devoured them.

There is no battle. Those who oppose God will be destroyed. Verse 10. The devil who deceived

them was thrown into the lake of burning sulfur where the beast and the false prophet had been

thrown. They will be tormented day and night forever. The nations are gathered, same as they

were in chapter 19. They're deluded by Satan into thinking that there is some possibility that they

can rule themselves, that they can oppose Jesus. But there is no battle. There is no victory for those

who would work to undermine the rule and reign of Jesus. Even as they surround the people of God,

they are destroyed. It's the same scene described twice. It's the final showdown between Jesus and

his enemy, but it's not really a showdown. It is the inevitable conclusion to the victory that

Jesus won on the cross. Satan has been defeated. The battle has already been won.

I don't know that that many of us take a whole lot of interest in the rugby league state of origin.

I personally don't, and I'm thankful that my Bible study group doesn't because it meant we could still

have Bible study on Wednesday nights for a few weeks earlier in the year. But I remember this year's

state of origin, it struck me as strange that they needed to play a third game.

You know, given it was the first time New South Wales had won in nine years, and maybe they wanted

to savour the moment. But it's a best of three series. So once you've won two games, the third

one seems a little bit redundant. But they did play a third game, and something strange happened,

because in that third game, Queensland won quite convincingly. But at the end of the game,

New South Wales was awarded a trophy. And Queensland was looking somewhat dejected and forlorn, having

ended a nine-year winning streak. And approaching that final game, there may have been a sense of

hope. There may have been a sense that there is a chance for victory, but actually the outcome

was already decided. It didn't matter what happened in that last 80 minutes of football,

the trophy would be awarded to the team that had already won the victory, that had already done

what needed to be done to win the trophy. And in the same way, we may look at life and feel like

God is on the losing side at the moment. We may feel like we are on the losing side at the moment.

We may feel like Satan is taking all this ground in our lives and in our cities and in our world,

but we need to understand that the victory has already been won. When we get to the end of time,

it doesn't matter what happens between now and then, you can be assured that the victor will

receive the crown and the victor is Jesus. When he died on the cross and rose again, Satan was emptied

of his power. His greatest weapon, death, was defeated. And so Jesus is already exalted.

His rule and his reign aren't open to challenge. They are established and they will be established

forever and ever. Let me tell you why this is incredibly good news. Because the victory that

we long for in life, the freedom from sin and temptation, the freedom from sickness, the freedom

from death, the freedom from Satan is inevitable. Because the battle has already been won.

No matter how much you struggle, no matter how many times you stumble, our hope is certain.

Because it's already won. Because the fight has already taken place. Because Jesus is already

on the throne. Because of the cross, what we hope for is inevitable. One day Jesus will return

and bring the justice that we so desperately desire.

This week, when I was working on this sermon, I, for a break, went for a wander down the road

and ended up in a shop buying a pair of jeans. It's amazing what you do to procrastinate when

you're struggling. While I was in there buying a pair of jeans, I was just chatting with the girl who

was selling them and taking my money from me. And she asked me innocently enough,

have you got much planned for the weekend? Now, as an Anglican minister, that's an open goal.

So I just casually said, oh, weekends are pretty busy for me with work. And she kind of let it go

for a sec and then said, oh, what do you do? After I told her I was an Anglican minister, she didn't

believe me at first. But eventually said, okay, fair enough. Doesn't seem to be joking.

And we ended up having a conversation for quite a while. She asked me a question, what's the

difference between Catholic and Christian? Do you actually believe Jesus is real? You know,

are you allowed to get married? Is your wife a Christian? Does it affect the way you raise your

kids? All these questions over and over and over. But the main question that stuck with me was,

does believing that there is more than this life give you hope now?

I had some fantastic answers about five minutes later. But in the moment, I fumbled out something

like absolutely. I struggled to elaborate, but I knew I wanted to say yes, and I wanted to say it

strongly. So I said, absolutely. It is really tempting for us, even as we wade through a book like

Revelation, to get excited about the finish line that God is painting for us. And it is exciting.

But we've got to understand that the hope that he gives us is not just about the future. It's a hope

that transforms now as well. As we get to this end point of Revelation, and as we see what is the

final scene, we know this is the final scene because Satan is being defeated and cast into the lake of

fire forever. He will not come back from there. This is the light in the sand where Jesus is making

things right. As we have our eyes lifted to that glorious destination, there is still the need for

a pastoral word. There is still the need for us to wrestle with the reality of pain and suffering

and doubt because we're not there yet. As exciting as this picture is, we've got to admit that sometimes

we're not that excited. As much as we want to get there one day, we are easily distracted.

And so we come to chapter 20, which I believe is a pastoral word for the first century church,

but for us as well. Now, before we go into this section, I want to acknowledge that chapter 20

verses 1 to 6 are some of the most confusing verses that I've come across in scripture.

Lots of people who love Jesus have different opinions about what is really going on here.

I read a lot of commentaries and had a lot of people tell me different things.

Throughout generations, people have argued about this and people have used this passage

in some really unhelpful ways, but I want us to focus on what's the key here.

A quick reminder, when we read prophecy, which is what Revelation is, we need to remember that

it's highly symbolic. What that means is these are pictures which point to realities,

not pictures of reality. It's a subtle difference, but it's important. So when we look at chapter 9

and verse 11 and we see Jesus depicted as a rider on a white horse, that seems normal enough. So we go,

he must be riding a horse. But that's not the point. The symbol is that he is victorious. That's why he's

riding a horse. The symbol is he's pure and holy. That's why he's dressed in white. They're symbols that

point to truth. The blood on him is pointing us to the blood that he shed, which was the means by which

he won the victory over Satan. It is symbolic. And so when we look at this passage in front of us,

we need to try and wade past the getting stuck on details and understand what is Jesus trying to say

to us? What is this vision trying to point us to? And I think there is a clear emphasis.

We see Satan bound at the beginning of chapter 20. And I think that's pointing us back to what

Jesus achieved on the cross. Last week, we saw him cast out of heaven and being effectively bound

and limited. I believe that's what's going on there. But then it shifts in verse 4. And this is

where the pastoral word comes in, I believe. Verse 4 says, I saw thrones on which were seated those who

had been given authority to judge. I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded because of their

testimony for Jesus and because of the word of God. They had not worshipped the beast or his image

and had not received his mark on their foreheads or their hands. They came to life and reigned with

Christ a thousand years. The rest of the dead did not come to life until the thousand years were ended.

This is the first resurrection. Blessed and holy are those who have part in the first resurrection.

The second death has no power over them, but they will be priests of God and of Christ and will reign

with him for a thousand years. Now, we've got to remember that this letter, this book of Revelation

was first written to a first century church, to a martyr church, to a church that was very familiar

with its members being killed simply for trusting in Jesus. We have a much more comfortable version of

what it is to be God's church. But even today, our experience of being a Christian is the exception

rather than the rule. God's church faces opposition in the world and this church, when it was receiving

these words, knew what it was to have their brothers and sisters and mothers and fathers and husbands and

wives and children killed for refusing to bow down and worship the Roman Emperor.

The victorious vision of Jesus in chapter 19 rubs with that experience. The idea that he is riding in to

restore all things rubs against the experience of burying a loved one. Maybe it even rubs against your

experience of following Jesus now. It rubs against the times where you fail in temptation again and again.

It rubs against the times where you doubt God's faithfulness, where you wonder whether or not he could

really love you. And so again, God wants to remind us, as we look at the end and it may seem distant,

remember, God will vindicate his people. Although they are dying, although they're being tossed aside

and treated like they are nothing and worthless, they will reign with Christ in victory and authority.

God will not forget those who trust in him, who remain faithful to him. He is taking the hope of

future and transforming the present with it. Those who have lost loved ones, those who may face death

themselves, are being reminded that your hope means death is no longer to be feared.

Don't fear the first death, Jesus encourages us in Luke's gospel.

Fear the one who can throw body and soul into hell.

When we trust in Jesus and our eternity is secure, there is nothing to fear in this life.

Because our end remains secure.

The victory of the cross and its future benefits give us hope now.

Not just an idea, not just something to look forward to, but it redefines our experience now.

It redefines our reality now.

So that even as we suffer, even as we find difficulty in life,

we have a hope that is stronger than anything life can throw at us.

Stronger even than death.

Christian hope allows us to see the right finish line.

And it's not our death.

Because that will come for everyone.

It is what is talked about in these last few verses here.

One of the things that I like to do, although I'm liking it less and less the older I get,

is running.

It tricks me into thinking that I'm sort of healthy

and that maybe I'll get even healthier.

And occasionally, when I run, because I'm in so much pain

and just thinking this is ridiculous, why did I do this?

I play mind games with myself.

And so I create finish lines that I have to get to

and then I give myself permission to walk or to have a break.

One day I got particularly ambitious

and I decided that I would run to Gordon and back.

For those playing at home, it's about 10k.

I was feeling extra ambitious,

so I thought I would do it on the other side of the train line,

which basically goes like this, from here to Gordon.

The problem with this is,

you can only see as far as the top of the next hill.

And so in agony, I would start my way up a hill thinking,

this must be the last one.

If I just get to the top of here, I'll be at Gordon

and then I can have a break and turn around and come back.

And it must have been seven or eight times

that I was absolutely devastated to discover

that there was another hill.

The downhill didn't soften the blow

of knowing that there was more work to come.

When we have the wrong finish line in view,

we will only be disappointed.

Because as I got to the top of each hill,

I'd achieved what was my goal,

but it wasn't actually my goal

because the real finish line was getting to Gordon

and then getting back.

A danger for us as Christians

is we get distracted by right now.

We get distracted by the reality of death

and think that it's the finish line.

And so we think that everything

that's going to satisfy us

and make us happy

has to be achieved between now and that line.

And so we try things,

we grab things that we think will make us happy,

and the reality is we're disappointed

because it's not where we're going.

It's not what we were designed for.

It's not the end point.

It's not the finish line.

Our hope for eternity gives us the ability

to see that the true finish line comes

when we face God.

Physical death will be a reality for all.

But Jesus says,

do not fear those who can only harm the body.

Fear the torment of eternal judgment

because that is the finish line for everyone.

Have a look with me at verse 11.

These are some scary and difficult verses to read.

Having seen the final victory,

having seen Satan cast into the lake of fire,

John sees this.

I saw a great white throne

and him who was seated on it.

Earth and sky fled from his presence

and there was no place for them.

And I saw the dead, great and small,

standing before the throne

and books were opened.

Another book was opened,

which is the book of life.

The dead were judged

according to what they had done

as recorded in the books.

The sea gave up the dead that were in it

and death and Hades gave up the dead

that were in them

and each person was judged

according to what he had done.

Then death and Hades were thrown

into the lake of fire.

The lake of fire is the second death.

Everyone will face God's judgment.

The good and the bad.

King, slave, small, great, man, woman,

all will stand before God

and give account for the lives they have lived,

the good and the bad.

Did you catch there?

Earth and sky disappear.

There will be nowhere to hide.

Those who have died are brought back

from the sea and death and Hades

and then those places are destroyed.

Remember, this is symbolic.

The point is,

there is nowhere else except for

in front of the judgment seat of God.

Everything that exists

and everything that has ever existed

will stand and be held accountable

for the lives that they have lived.

This is a scary thing to talk about.

Judgment is a word that we try and avoid as Christians.

We avoid it in a room like this

even when we're among friends.

We especially avoid it

when that helpful non-Christian friend

asks whether or not we think they'll be judged.

We like to water down that possibility.

We like to step around it.

And there's a rightness to that

because there is a gravity of this

that we must understand.

This judgment is final.

This judgment is an eternal fork in the road.

It's the difference between

eternal delight in heaven with our maker

or eternal torment.

This is the finish line

which should dictate how we run.

This is the finish line

that should dictate how we live.

This is the great equaliser.

It doesn't matter if you're rich or poor.

all will stand and face their creator.

It's good and right

that we feel the weight of that.

Especially for those of us

who have loved ones

who we know right now

are on the wrong side of that ledger.

It's good and right

that there is something to be feared.

Judgment is scary.

Unless

verse 15

if anyone's name was not found

written in the book of life

he was thrown into the lake of fire.

If your name is in the book of life

judgment is not to be feared.

It might be embarrassing

as your life and your deeds

are made public and laid bare

but if you have placed your trust

in the death and resurrection of Jesus

then your name is in the book of life.

And this will not be your finish line.

This will be your entry

into heaven.

Our judgment

is in no way based on the good or bad

that we've done

even though they're going to be there

and they're going to be in the books

the difference between the lake of fire

and eternal delight in heaven

is one thing.

Those who have their name

written in the book of life.

And so if you are trusting Jesus

then judgment is not something to be feared.

It's something to be excited about.

It's something to be anticipated.

Even as we wrestle now

with the pain of people in our lives

who don't know Jesus

and this is all of my family right now

my brothers, my sisters, my mum, my dad

we must understand

that even in these few verses

there is incredible hope

because it doesn't matter

what they have or haven't done

to this point.

It doesn't matter

what they will or won't do

from this point forward

all that matters

is that they accept

the offer of Jesus

to forgive them

and wash them

and have their names

written in this book of life.

So long as there is breath in them

there is hope

and there is opportunity.

And if you're sitting in this room tonight

and you hear about judgment

and it is something that scares you

I want to encourage you

that Jesus invites you

to trust him

so that judgment

is not scary but exciting

because judgment

becomes the beginning

of heaven

for those whose names

are in the book of life.

This is the final act.

What we see

as we jump into the next chapter

and we're going to next week

is that the new heaven arrives.

And so this judgment

is actually a part

of God preparing

a perfect eternity for us.

This is an essential part

of God removing

all that is sinful

and sick

and all that is opposed to him.

This is a necessary part

of God fulfilling

all his promises to us.

This is part of God

giving us all that we have hoped for

and all that he has promised.

This final judgment

will mean the end

of the old way of things

and the beginning

of God's perfect

new creation.

And so if you believe

that Jesus died

to forgive your sins

then the idea of judgment

is not something

to be shy about

or nervous about.

It's not even something

to be afraid of.

It's something

to look forward to

because it marks

the beginning

of heaven for you.

It marks the arrival

of everything

that God has promised

and everything

that you could ever want.

This passage

in Revelation

is the moment

that we've been building

to the whole way

through this book.

We've had little glimpses

of heaven on the way through.

We've seen the lamb

on the throne.

We've seen the churches

gathered around.

We've had these little bits

of excitement

but now as we're getting

to the end

John is no longer

having to look

from earth to heaven

because heaven

has come to earth.

Earth and sky

have been destroyed.

Justice has come.

The finish line

is in view

and it is inevitable.

Jesus' final,

complete,

full,

glorious victory

is here

and it's not scary.

Everything will be

okay in the end

and if it's not okay

then it's not the end.

It's not a bad

summary of Revelation

but it probably

doesn't do it

justice really.

Everything will not

be okay in the end.

Everything will be

perfect in the end.

Everything will be

beyond our deepest

desires and hopes.

God's perfect creation

for all eternity.

And so maybe

a better summary is

that picture in

chapter 21

and verse 1.

Then I saw

a new heaven

and a new earth.

That's the summary.

That's where we're going to.

That's the point

of all of this.

Everything that we've

looked at

is that that is

the guaranteed

finish line

for those who know

Jesus.

A new and better

heaven and earth.

A new and perfect

heaven and earth.

That is our hope.

So that means

right now

as you suffer

you know

that it will not

last forever.

That means that

right now

as you face

difficulty

and hardship

you know

that there is

nothing that

anybody can do

to you

that will take

away what is

best

and that is

your eternal

home in heaven.

What a hope

we have

in this king

who rides

the white horse.

What a hope

we have to share

with those

who don't yet

know it.

You don't have

to do anything.

You just

have to trust

this king.

What a hope

we have

to rest

on no matter

what life

throws at us.

Because the

victory is won

and the end

is inevitable.

Let's pray.

Father God

we want to ask

that you would

help us

help us

as we

struggle

help us

as we

doubt

help us

as we

feel the

pain

of those

around us

who don't

yet know

you.

Help us

as we

deal with

persecution

in our

own life

as we

deal with

temptation

as we

deal

with

failure.

Help us

to understand

that it's

not a

battle

that can

be

lost.

That you

have won

the victory

irreversibly

and all

we await

is that

final

ceremony

that final

celebration

our

eternal

home.

Father if

there are

people in

this room

who don't

yet know

the hope

that we

have been

talking about

who don't

know what

it is to

be forgiven

who don't

know what

it is to

feel safe

even in

that final

judgment

I pray

that right

now

you would

give them

the assurance

that you

have forgiven

them in

Jesus.

I pray

that you

would give

us boldness

to speak

about the

hope that

is in

you.

Protect

us from

being timid

or shy

or apologetic.

May we

boldly declare

that there

is a finish

line for

all creation

but that in

you there is

the offer

of life

and forgiveness

for more

than just

now.

Father

thank you

so much

for Jesus.

Give us

this vision

of Jesus

this vision

of our

King

victorious

and powerful

and may

it release

us to live

lives of

peace

and joy

and hope

that bring

all glory

to you.

In Jesus

name we

pray.

Amen.

We have had

a great

challenge

placed before

us in

the end

here.