“To Him who
loves us and released us from our sins by His blood – and He has made us to be
a kingdom of priests to His God and Father – to Him be the glory and the
dominion forever and ever. Amen” (Rev. 1:5 – 6).
“Now then, if
you will indeed obey My voice and keep My covenant, then you shall be My own
possession among all the peoples, for all the earth is Mine; and you shall be
to Me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation” (Exodus 19:5 – 6).
“But you are a
chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for God’s own
possession, so that you may proclaim the excellencies of Him who has called you
out of darkness into His marvelous light” (1 Peter 2:9).
What do we “see”
when we read these passages?
“The result of
liberation from sin is that Christ has established a counterkingdom – a kingdom
opposed to the influence of the dragon and the beast, the Pharaohs of the narrative…Like
the Israelites, the hearers/readers of this book are on a new exodus to a new
promised land. Along the way they encounter other Pharaohs (the dragon and the
beasts) and are tested with idolatrous distractions in their wilderness sojourn
– namely, the temptation to settle down or compromise with Babylon. The
plot of Revelation is the story of how the Lamb leads His people out of slavery
and exile into the new promised land, the new Jerusalem” (The Revelation of
John – A Narrative Commentary, James L. Resseguie, pages 67 – 68, italics
mine).
If we have learned
to read Revelation through the lens of the entire Bible, then what Resseguie
writes make sense, we say, “Of course!” However, if we have been seduced by purveyors
of teaching on prophecy who make a sermon or book out of every current event
and headline, who focus on what the natural eye can see as opposed to the eternals
(2 Cor. 4:18), who would have us compromise with the beasts of this world – to the
point of teaching us to align ourselves with the kingdoms (or a kingdom) of
this world, who would have us believe that some “special” nations are the equivalent
of the Kingdom of Christ; if this is the way we see life and the world, then we
will not likely “see” what Revelation 1:5 – 6 is about, we will not understand
Resseguie.
Since Revelation
is a recapitulation of the entire Bible, since its plotline is that of the
preceding 65 books, since its focus is Jesus Christ the Lamb, since it is
calling us Home to that City which all of our spiritual fathers and
mothers have sought (Hebrews 11:8 – 16), it is a tragedy when those to whom it
is written do not “see” what they are reading and hearing. It is a double
tragedy when those who do not see nor hear, align themselves with the beasts
and whores of Revelation, when they insist on not only ignoring God’s call to come
out of Babylon, but teach that we should participate in her sins (Rev. 18:4 – 5).
Revelation is
not only first and foremost the story of the Lamb, Christ our Passover (1 Cor.
5:7), it is also the story of His People, but it is not only the story of His
People, it is also my story and it is your story. It is the story of our
marriages, our families, and our congregations.
A question is,
of course, “What does my story within this Story look like?” Where am I in this
story? Where are my marriage and family in this story? Where is my congregation
in this story? Where are my friendships in this story? What does my vocation and
education look like within this story? Am I taking the mark of the beast as my
way of life so that I may buy and sell and be successful in the eyes of the
world, or am I following the Lamb wherever He goes?
If we read
Revelation chapters 2 and 3 honestly, where do we see ourselves, our families,
our congregations? What sin and idolatry and complacency and self-absorption
are we practicing and promoting in our lives and churches? How are we
justifying our abandonment of the Lamb? Are we wedded to the Lamb or to the world,
the dragon, and the beasts?
Are we so
foolish as to push chapters 13, 17, and 18 (indeed the entire book) into the
future, and not “see” that it is true in every generation – and therefore for
us it is particularly true?
Let me share a
little “secret” with you, let me tell you what you can anticipate should you
live in the Lamb, follow the Lamb, and speak the truth of the Lamb. You can
expect to be persecuted as the saints in Smyrna (Rev. 2:8 – 11) and tested as
those in Philadelphia (3:7 – 13). You can look forward to joining that blessed multitude
who suffer for the Lamb (7:9 – 17) and who follow Him wherever He goes (14:1 –
5). Why you may even have such a testimony that when the world thinks it has
silenced you that it will throw a party (11:10)!
Such is the Way
of those who overcome the dragon and the beast and who come out of Babylon,
such is the Way of those who overcome “because of the blood of the Lamb and because
of the world of their testimony, not loving their lives even unto death”
(12:11).
But there is
more, so much more, for to those who “go outside the camp, bearing His reproach,
knowing that here they have NO lasting city" (Hebrews 13:13 – 14) the
glorious New Jerusalem, the Mother of us All in Christ (Galatians 4:26),
welcomes them. God Himself will be their God, and they will inherit all things
as they see His Face (Revelation chapters 21 – 22; Romans 8:17, 32).
O dear friends, those
who will know the Light of Lamb today are those who will bask in His Light
tomorrow (Rev. 21:23).
I cannot emphasize
this enough – it is a matter of life and death. We must live in the light of
the Lamb and only the Lamb. The Father says again and again and again, “This is
My Beloved Son, with whom I am well – pleased; hear Him!” (Matthew 17:5).
Elijah did not die
for us, Moses did not die for us (Matthew 17:4) your favorite preacher did not
die for us, a venerable historical figure did not die for us, an entertaining teaching
on prophecy did not die for us, a doctrine of “your best life now” did not die
for us – and for sure no political or social figure died for us, nor did a
nation or political movement purchase our salvation nor does it have a right to
claim our souls – Jesus Christ and Jesus Christ alone deserves and demands our
allegiance, our hearts our minds our souls our very bodies – and we are called
to live in His Light and only His Light.
O dear friends,
let us recall that Satan and his angels manifest themselves as agents of light
(2 Corinthians 11:13 – 15). Our Christianity is entertaining us at the cost of
our souls, it is leading us away from the Cross and the Ark, we are throwing a
party as a prelude to our own death…unless we are following the Lamb!
Well, I guess we
have two possible parties we can choose from. We can either join the party of
the world and a professing church that rejects the Way of the Cross, or we can
have such a passionate testimony for Jesus that when we die or are silenced –
that the world will throw a party (Rev. 11:10) - but we will join the Marriage Supper of the Lamb (Rev. 19:9).
Which will it
be?
Which will it be
pastor? Which will it be husband and wife? Which will it be parent? Which will
it be elder and deacon? Which will it be…you who claim to follow Jesus?
Which will it be
for me?
Which will it be
for you?
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