Corona Chronicles - Crown of Gold

Okay. Welcome back to the Corolla Chronicles. We are still in chapter 14. We have seen in the last couple of days, 2 angels that are part of this sort of set of 3 starting in verse 6. The first angel was proclaiming the eternal gospel to those who live on on earth and was saying we need to fear God and give him glory.

The second angel simply said fall and fall in this babylon the Great. And was trying to tell the world, look these powers that you sort of you live in and you think are going to endure forever are not going to endure forever. And then the third angel now in verse 9. A third angel followed them and said in a loud voice if anyone worships the beast at its image and receives its mark on their forehead or on their hand, they too will drink the wine of God's fury. Which has been poured full strength into the cup of his rock.

They will be tormented with burning sulfur in the presence of the holy angels and of the lamb and the smoke of their torment will rise forever and ever. There will be no rest day all night There'd be no rest day or night for those who worship the beast and its image or for anyone who receives the mark of its name. This calls for patient endurance on the part of the people of God who keep his commands and remain faithful to Jesus. Then I heard a voice from heaven say, write this, blessed are the dead who die in the lord from now on. Yes, says the spirit.

They will rest from their labor. For their deeds will follow them. Mhmm. Yeah. So these second angels, the second angel when the third angel are are sort of saying 1 and the same thing in in many ways.

So the second angel is telling us that Babylon, the greatest fallen on the day of judgement. Yeah. But the third angel is really spelling out what that judgment is like, you know, not just for those who lived in the world system of Babylon. But those who actually worship the beast and its image. And I mean the language is intentionally unsettling.

Yes. Isn't it? Yeah. You know, the judgment is described in very powerful terms. Which are are meant to startle us and that's that's right, isn't it?

You know? So you've got this. They are the wrath of God which which isn't just, you know, God's anger is not just he's a grumpy, unstable God. It flies off the handle in a moment. His wrath refers to his settled hostility towards all that is against all that is against him.

And his wrath is being pulled poured full strength into the cup, which is a kind of an image of of God's wrath being poured out where they and then they will be tormented with burning sulfur in the presence of the holy angels. It it it's picture language and the language itself is frightening enough. How much more so the reality -- Yeah. -- of of facing and and so The same just trying to say, look, you you need to know that God is holy and that he hates sin -- Yeah. -- and that he hates the system of this world which is opposed to him and he is going to judge it in in the most in the most incredible incredible way.

And that is something that we just need to humble ourselves and pause and reflect on. You know, 1 of the 1 of the things the old testament false prophets did all the time was to say peace peace when there is no peace. Yeah. Your affliction is not serious. Your disease is not bad.

Don't worry. Yeah. You know? Satan, you will not surely die. You know, it -- Yeah.

-- all of it is a denial of God's judgment. But actually we need to know that if we belong to this antichrist system and we die in that state, we are gonna face the the terrors of God's of God's judgment. And we we just need to know that that's coming. Yeah. And I guess it's it's it's a It's a it's a blessing that there are these angels proclaiming these things.

Yeah. Because we don't know these things inherently. Yeah. I think I'm alright. Yeah.

It was only when the message was proclaimed to me. Actually, Ben, you're not alright. Yeah. You are you are a sinner. God is a holy god.

Well, I have no idea what I think holy just means like wearing nice robes. Yeah. But actually, holy means completely perfectly set apart. Yes. Like unlike anything else -- Yeah.

-- total perfection. And it's really difficult to to to to to understand that without being without hearing the gospel or hearing you are a sinner. So It is. That's right. And I think we because instinctively, we want to recreate god in our own image.

Yeah. So how we often think is, well, here are the things that I value and think are important. And here's how I would define love and then I project that onto God. Yeah. So God must be just a slightly better version of me.

And he Because I don't think it's right to punish anybody. Yeah. Then God must also think it's not right to punish anybody. But that's just craziness. You know, I've gotta take my cue from God.

He's gotta I've gotta let him reveal himself. And as you say, look, we're not we're not, you know, better than anyone here. And this is the beauty of the gospel because on the cross, you know, we know that Jesus is actually drinking full strength. Well, yeah. A cup of God's wrath in our place.

So we we deserved that, didn't we? Yeah. And isn't that amazing. Yeah. When you look at this, you're horrified by it.

Yeah. And then look at the cross. Yeah. And actually understand more clearly what was going on there. Yeah.

That the the equivalent of what was happening there is smoke rising forever. Yeah. I mean imagine that on this on the son of God, who himself was pure and perfect. Yeah. Yeah.

He was all was in perfect relationship with the father. Drinking the full strength of the of the fury. Yeah. I mean, the yeah. Yeah.

I mean, he's probably got his grace to us. Yeah. It's amazing. And and I think you know, we're meant to read this and it is meant to unsettle us, but it's meant to then point us back to the first angel, isn't it? Yeah.

If that's true, then I need to fear God and I need to keep his commands and I need to trust his son because, you know, I don't wanna I don't wanna find myself find myself there. So that's part of this third angel's proclamation, isn't it? He's revealing what the judgment upon the beast and its worshipers is going to be like. But then verse 12, you know, what what does this mean for the God's people? Well, this calls for patient endurance on the parts of the people of God.

Who keep his commands and remain faithful to Jesus. What what's that what's that about? Do you think? Well, we we know that we've seen from all the different scrolls being opened and we've seen from the beasts coming out the sea and the earth that there is torment on on the and we've seen that actually in verse in chapter 13, we saw that the beast was given authority to conquer sort of the world and and Christians as a result of suffering. Mhmm.

But the encouragement here is we know how it ends. So we can endure what we see now. Yeah. There is safety and security because of the cross in Christians and we also know that the the the sins sort of against us, the evil in the world -- Mhmm. -- is going to be dealt with 1 day.

Mhmm. So therefore, Christian, you know, be patient. Yeah. It will be resolved 1 day. Yeah.

And and I think again although that may be difficult for us to understand because we're so comfortable, you know, if you imagine living you know, in Syria or in some parts of Africa where you're a Christian and you know that in the next village, are militants who are going to come and burn your houses down and kill your wives and children because you're a Christian. Yeah. There there is a sense in which you are you are absolutely longing that that system which is opposed to you would be wiped out completely. That you would never have to deal with that again. And God promises that that will be the case 1 day and therefore we can we can patiently endure as you know as difficult as it might be.

And then in verse 13, then I heard a voice from heaven say write this, blessed of the dead who die in the lord from now on. Yes, just the spirit. They will rest from their labor, but their deeds will follow them. And You know, if you look back to verse verse 11, 1 of the things that happens to those who face judgment is that they will have no rest. But those who die in the lords will find rest.

Yeah. And so in the face of this judgment, you've got 2 commands to the saints, haven't you? You know, endure and be patient because this system is coming to an end and know that your rest is coming. Yeah. Yeah.

They won't have rest but the spirit says to you, you will enter the rest of your master -- Yeah. -- at 1 day and and therefore you can you can keep going. And it's those who die in the law. Yeah. It's not those who die spotless life.

Mhmm. You strive to follow all the laws and because we can't do that. Mhmm. So it's simply you're in the lord, you know. Do you do you submit to him?

Do you follow him? Mhmm. Are you counting on him? Mhmm. And yeah, you you need to.

Yeah. Yeah. So we've come to the end of a little midi section here in Romans 14. We've spent the last through sorry, Revelation 40, but Row 40. And we spent the last 3 days considering these angels, the eternal gospel fallen is babble on the great.

Judgment is coming. It's real. It's terrible. But the saints can keep going knowing that their rest is coming and we'd love you to join us tomorrow as we get into verse 14 of chapter 14.