Adult Bible class at William Booth Corps

Glory and Doom – Revelation 14

The portrait of the beast in Revelation 13 is ugly, but not fantastic – this realism about the monster of evil. He storms and rages for he knows his end is near. Christ’s witnesses are not intimidated. They have to choose between worshipping the beast or die. Faced with these stark alternatives and pressured by the economic monopoly of the Antichrist some caved in, others triumphed.

These last two Sundays, we focussed our thoughts on Chapter 14. The first vision is one of assurance of the struggling church. The Sermon on the Mount claims that rejoicing in persecution is possible, sustained by the hope of future reward. (Matt. 5: 11) John’s visions encourage us with foreviews of ultimate glory.

This morning we concentrated on the message of the three angels. The first calls the world to worship. The message is the eternal gospel. There is hope still for all before the final trumpet is blown – the seventh trumpet.

The second angel announces the everlasting doom of the lost. We are given the messages of ‘fire and brimstone’ – traditional symbols of destruction, dating back to the fate of Sodom of Gomorrah in Genesis 19. The doctrine of hell is not a popular one in our generation. We cannot avoid it simply because we do not like it.

Torments meted out to the impenitent, the rebellious, the wicked are self imposed. They do not express Divine vindictiveness. God is love and does not delight in the suffering of His children.

John is not writing to frighten pagans, he is writing to fortify Christians. The beast had set before them the ultimatum “Bow down or die.” God through John has His alternatives “Refuse the beast and suffer physical death” or “Reject the gospel and Christ and suffer eternal death.” This message in John’s vision reinforces the teaching of Jesus in the gospels.

Let us keep God’s commandments, heed His warnings. The lesson ends with a beautiful verse often used at funerals, “Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord. They will rest from their labour…” This is where we get the phrase, “Rest in peace” in short RIP.

What we take with us into eternity is not material possessions; but our faith and character. Let seek His grace to keep us faithful even unto death.

The hour passed very quickly. I’ve been much encouraged by the response from our folk who love the Scriptures and feel it is worth their while to get up early to join us in searching the Scriptures.