Day #363

Sermon - Audio
Rev 6-11 - Reading
Rev 6-11 - Audio

Daily Insights - Please Comment

Rev 6

In Rev 6 we see that the martyrs are asking God to judge the living for their deaths. It's important to remember that God is the one who will judge the living and the dead. It is our call to leave judgment in the hands of God. The reality is that judgment is coming, but it is our call as a people gathered by God to turn our faces toward the world and proclaim a way of reconciliation for those who are perishing. If we fail to do this, we take the grace that God has given to us in vain...of which, we will have to answer to as well. We leave Rev 6 asking, then "Who can stand?"

Rev 7

Rev 7 answers the final question of Rev 6. The people "who can stand" are those who have been sealed by God as his children. In v 15-17 we see some future implications of being one of these people. What does this mean for our neighbors around us? What are the implications for our co-workers? Is there any sense of urgency to serve, to love, to care for those around you in light of these truths?

Rev 8

We see the prayers of the saints being used to propel the purposes of God forward. How important is prayer among God's people. I feel as if someday we will find out just how important it is, and at that time become very sad that many of us neglected it so. If you're interested, there are many opportunities to pray in community at EverGreen (Contact the church for prayer group times), or go ahead and take the first step and call some people together to pray with.

Rev 9

The reality of Hell. We get a picture here in v 5-6, just as we did in Rev 6:12-17. Why do you think God gives us such views of Hell? RC Sproul says this about Hell, "There is withdrawal in terms of the blessing of the radical nearness of God. His benefits can be removed far from us... It is the absence of the blessedness of His unveiled glory that is a delight to the souls of those who love Him, but it is the presence of the darkness of judgment. Hell reflects the presence of God in His mode of judgment, in His exercise of wrath, and that’s what everyone would like to escape" (Truth of the Cross 157-158).

Rev 10

The angel with one foot on land and one in the ocean is declaring God's message to the entirety of creation. Remember, from Colossians 1 that God is reconciling all things back to Himself. The scroll that John is asked to eat is the very Words of God. This is some of the same imagery used from Ezekiel 3 where Ezekiel is asked to eat a scroll filled with judgments. The scroll's contents brought destruction, but were sweet to himself and to those who turn their faces toward God.

Rev 11

Much of the pictures and imagery used in Revelation comes from the Old Testament. The two witnesses follow the familiar patter of faithful living - suffering, death, and vindication. What does this pattern mean for us today? How do we seek to live faithfully instead of comfortably?