The Grace of the Lamb or the Wrath of the Lion
Sermon Notes
Before we get into today’s message I want to celebrate three things as a church. The 1st thing is we have 4 people who’ve experienced the grace of Jesus and want to publicly declare their faith in Jesus today, which means we’ll be doing 4 baptisms after church today. So let’s praise God for that!...The 2nd thing is we had an incredible Easter celebration last week. Our goal was to have 200 people in attendance, and we ended up having over 230 people! We also had over 50 guests, and roughly 25 people raised their hands to either receive Jesus or restore their faith in Jesus. So let’s praise God for that too!...The 3rd thing is I had some friends, a husband and wife who live in south Florida, and they said they really believe in what our church is doing. They said they felt Jesus prompting their hearts to help support our church, and so they sent us a check for over $27,000!...City Awakening that check is an affirmation that Jesus wants us to keep growing, keep working towards having our own building. It’s an affirmation that Jesus wants us to keep being a place that sees skeptics and believers seeking truth, finding joy, and living with a purpose in our city. So let’s not get comfortable after Easter, instead let’s keep growing the church! Let’s keep growing the church by taking the invite cards on your seats and inviting more people to our church, so we can see more people come to faith in Jesus. It’s invitations that leads to transformations, so let’s invite, let’s pray for those we invite, and see more people come to experience the life transforming grace of Jesus.
Now as for today we’re continuing our teaching series on a book of the bible called Revelation, and it’s a series about finding peace in a world of chaos. The text we’re studying today is about finding peace when it comes to God’s wrath. I know we don’t like talking about God’s wrath, but we need to talk about it because just like there are consequences when people break societal laws, there are consequences when people break God’s laws. Both skeptics and believers are smart enough to realize the importance of having societal laws and consequences for breaking those laws. Both are smart enough to realize if we didn’t have any societal laws and consequences for breaking those laws, it’d be disastrous for society. So as both skeptics and believers, we believe in the importance of having societal laws and consequences for breaking those laws, which aligns with the biblical belief in the importance of having God’s laws and consequences for breaking God’s laws. You’re aligned with the importance of having God’s wrath, which is the consequence we deserve for breaking God’s laws. The good news is Jesus offers us grace, even though we deserve God’s wrath, and that’s what we’re talking about today. So let’s turn to Revelation 6 and get into it. You’ll find Revelation in the back of the bible, it’s the very last book of the bible, and we’ll be in Revelation 6:9-17. Title of the message is The Grace Of The Lamb or Wrath Of The Lion. The big idea of the message is people will either receive the grace of the lamb, or the wrath of the lion...In the end people will either receive the grace of the lamb, or the wrath of the lion...
Here’s your context. The book of revelation is about the 2nd coming of Jesus, and what will happen at the end of history when Jesus finally returns. We divided the entire book into four major sections based on four major visions Jesus gives to John the author, and right now we’re in the 2nd vision, which is about Jesus and the Cosmos. It’s about Jesus ruling over the entire cosmos, and his wrath being poured out against sin and evil. In ch 6 Jesus is giving John a glimpse of the future tribulations that are coming at the end of history, and a few weeks ago we studied vs 1-8 where Jesus opens four seals, releasing four different tribulations known as the Four horsemen Of The Apocalypse. In today’s text Jesus opens two more seals, releasing two more tribulations, and as we study this text we’ll learn about the grace of the lamb, and the wrath of the lion. Let’s check it out.
Revelation 6:9-17 states, “When he opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of those who had been slaughtered because of the word of God and the testimony they had given.” These are people who had been slaughtered, meaning it’s believers who had been slaughtered in the past, and are now resting in heaven with Jesus. John says the reason they were slaughtered, the reason they were persecuted and killed, was because they kept their faith in the word of God and the testimony of Jesus. They refused to compromise on the truth of God’s word and the testimony of Jesus, even to the point of persecution and death. But if you notice John mentions he sees their souls, not their bodies. It’s because those who persecute Christians can kill the body, but they can’t kill the soul. Jesus says in Matthew 10:28, “Don’t fear those who kill the body, but aren’t able to kill the soul; rather fear him who is able to destroy both the body and the soul in hell.” Jesus is saying he’s the one who can save or destroy both our bodies and our souls. He’s saying when we die our bodies will temporarily remain on earth, but our souls will immediately go to heaven or hell, until he returns to resurrect our bodies with our souls. So what John the author is seeing isn’t the slaughtered bodies of believers, he’s seeing their souls finally resting in heaven with Jesus where persecution and death can’t touch them anymore. In the words of Matthew Henry, “Persecutors can only kill the body. But after that there’s nothing more they can do, because the soul lives! God has provided a good place in a better world, for those who are faithful unto death.”
Vs. 10, “They cried out with a loud voice, ‘Lord, the one who is holy and true, how long until you judge those who live on the earth and avenge our blood?’” John says they cried out, meaning they cried out in prayer to the Lord. If you notice they aren’t praying with frustration, instead they’re praying with expectation. They aren’t praying with frustration over the Lord letting them go through suffering, hardship, persecution, and death. Instead they’re praying with great expectation that God will avenge them, that God will bring justice for the wrongs that have been done to them. It’s because they know God is holy and true like the text says, which means God won’t ignore the injustices that have been done to them. They have a holy expectation to see Satan, the Antichrist, all sinful injustices eradicated, and for Jesus to bring restoration to creation again.
Vs. 11, “So they were each given a white robe, and they were told to rest a little while longer...” Jesus responds to their prayers by comforting them with a white robe, which is symbolic of the grace and purity they now have in heaven with Jesus. It’s symbolic of their eternal reward, which is having eternal life and joy in heaven with Jesus. But he also comforts them by telling them their prayers for justice will be answered soon. He tells them it’ll only be, a little while longer.
Again vs. 11, “So they were each given a white robe, and they were told to rest a little while longer, until the number would be completed of their fellow servants and their brothers and sisters, who were going to be killed just as they had been.” Notice in vs 9 John’s talking about those who had been killed, which is past tense. But here in vs 11 he’s talking about those who are going to be killed, which is future tense. The implication is more Christians will be persecuted and killed in the future, which further supports the post-tribulation view that Christians will still be around during these tribulations. This 5th seal is considered the midpoint of these tribulations, and Jesus is clearly saying more Christians are going to be killed during this time. Satan, the Antichrist, and their followers will persecute us for trying to lead more people to Jesus. But we need to stand firm in our faith like the Christians in vs 9 stood firm in their faith. We need to stand firm and trust our eternal reward is coming too. What we’re learning is when this 5th seal is opened, Christians should expect to face suffering, persecution, even death for our faith in Jesus. But I’m not sure American Christians are prepared for this, because we’re living a very comfortable life compared to other Christians in the world. As American Christians we’re living a very comfortable life, and it’s caused many of us to expect Jesus to give us a comfortable life. We expect Jesus to give us a pre-tribulation, mid-tribulation, suffering free life, which is a theology of comfort not a theology of the cross. But Revelation 6 is teaching us we need to expect suffering, persecution, even death.
Corrie Ten Boom was a Nazi Concentration Camp survivor, who was thrown in prison for helping to hide Jews from the Nazis. She faced a lot of suffering in her life, but never abandoned her faith in Jesus. Corrie Ten Boom states, “In America the churches sing, ‘Let the congregation escape tribulation,’ but in China and Africa the tribulation has already arrived. This last year alone more than 200,000 Christians were martyred in Africa...We need to think about that when we sit down in our nice houses, with our nice clothes, to eat our steak dinners. Many members of the Body of Christ are being tortured to death at this very moment, yet we continue right on as though we’re going to escape the tribulation.Several years ago I was in Africa in a nation where a new government had come into power. The first night I was there some of the Christians were commanded to come to the police station to register. When they arrived, they were arrested and that same night they were executed. The next day the same thing happened with other Christians. The third day it was the same. All the Christians in the district were being systematically murdered. The fourth day I was to speak in a little church, and the people came, but they were filled with fear and tension. All during the service they were looking at each other. Their eyes were asking, ‘Will this one I’m sitting beside be the next one killed? Will I be the next one?’” Her point is this idea of Christians escaping suffering and tribulations in this life, is an American theology of comfort not a theology of the cross. Jesus never promises a comfortable life on earth, he promises a comfortable life in heaven. So we shouldn’t expect a comfortable life, instead we should expect to face tribulations in life. Jesus warns us in John 16:33, “In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world.” He says we will have tribulation, but we need to take heart in him, stand firm in our faith in him, like the Christians in vs 9 stood firm.
Vs. 12, “When I saw him open the sixth seal. A violent earthquake occurred; the sun turned black like sackcloth made of hair; the entire moon became like blood.” What we’re learning here is when the 6th seal is opened, there will be cosmic destruction that’ll affect the entire world. There will be violent earthquakes, more violent than any other earthquakes in history. He also says the sun will turn black, and the moon will become like blood. Dr. Henry Morris is known as The Father of Modern Creation Science, and he’s the founder of The Institute for Creation Research. He’s written over 60 books on the topics of science, creation, evolution, the origins of life. He’s even written a book on how science affirms the biblical record of a great flood, and he uses data from hydrology, geology, and archeology to prove it. Here’s what he says about the cosmic destruction in Revelation 6. Dr. Morris states, “Seismologists and geophysicists have learned a great deal about the structure of the earth and earthquakes. The earth’s solid crust is traversed with a complex network of faults, all resting upon a plastic mantle whose structure is still largely unknown...In any case, the vast worldwide network of unstable earthquake belts around the world, will suddenly begin to slip and fracture on a global basis, and a gigantic earthquake will follow. This is naturally accompanied by tremendous volcanic eruptions spewing vast quantities of dust, steam, and gases into the upper atmosphere. It’s probably these things, that’ll cause the sun to appear darkened and the moon to appear blood-red.” Some people believe all this is symbolic, but Dr. Morris is saying there are scientific explanations to support what John’s saying. The point is when this 6th seal is opened, it’ll be cosmic destruction that affects the entire world.
Vs. 13, “The stars of heaven fell to the earth, as a fig tree drops its unripe figs when shaken by a high wind; 14 the sky was split apart like a scroll being rolled up; and every mountain and island was moved from its place. 15 Then the kings of the earth, the nobles, the generals, the rich, the powerful, and every slave and free person hid in caves and among the rocks of the mountains.” In the original Greek the word stars is asteres, and it means any large or small object in space like a star or asteroid. What John’s seeing is most likely a bunch of asteroids hitting the earth, because stars are too big to fall on the earth like this, and they’re too hot. Their heat would incinerate the earth before even hitting the earth. So it’s most likely a bunch of catastrophic asteroids hitting the earth, which scientists agree would be devastating to the earth and human civilization. It would affect everybody on earth, and everybody will try running for their lives. John mentions the rich, the poor, the powerful, the military generals, everyone will try running for their lives to hide in caves. The caves can shelter them from asteroids, but it can’t shelter them from God’s wrath. As scared as they are of these tribulations, they become even more scared of God’s wrath in vs 16.
Vs. 16 states, “And they said to the mountains and to the rocks, ‘Fall on us and hide us from the face of the one seated on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb, 17 because the great day of their wrath has come! And who is able to stand?’” What we’re learning here is people are afraid of the wrath of the Lamb. The bible often refers to Jesus as the sacrificial Lamb, who sacrificed his life for our lives. He sacrificed his life on the cross, for the forgiveness of our sins. So the Lamb is a reference to Jesus, and what’s interesting is the people are scared of the wrath of the Lamb. That’s interesting because when have you ever been scared of a lamb?...When have you ever seen a lamb that’s scary?...Nobody’s scared of lambs, nobody’s intimidated by lambs, which is why we don’t call our football teams The Little Lambs! “Hey let’s give it up for the UCF Little Lambs!” Doesn’t sound very exciting or scary does it?...Nobody calls their football teams The Little Lambs, because lambs aren’t scary or intimidating! It’s why some parents tell their children to count sheep to fall asleep, instead of lions! It’s because sheep aren’t scary, lambs aren’t scary, but lions can be very scary! In the bible Jesus is often referred to as both a lion and a lamb, so the phrase the wrath of the Lamb is really a reference to both the wrath and grace of Jesus. It’s a reference to Jesus being tough and wrathful like a lion, but also tender and graceful like a lamb. The phrase the wrath of the Lamb, really captures both the tough and tender character of Jesus.
Now the reason these people are afraid of the wrath of Jesus, is because they haven’t received the grace of Jesus. Christians don’t have to be afraid of the wrath of Jesus, because we’ve already received the grace of Jesus. Jesus already took the wrath we deserved for our sins when he died for our sins on the cross, so we don’t have to be afraid of his wrath anymore. We’ll still face tribulations in life, but we don’t have to face God’s eternal wrath which would be way worse than any tribulations we could ever face in life. We should be thankful for the grace of Jesus saving us from having to face God’s eternal wrath like the people in the text. The people in the text are more afraid of having to face the wrath of the lamb, than these tribulations. It’s because they haven’t received the grace of the lamb. If they’d repent of their sins and turn to Jesus they’d receive the grace of Jesus, but they refuse to repent and turn to Jesus. The text says they’d rather have the mountains crush them, than have Jesus save them. They’d rather run from Jesus, than run to Jesus. They’d rather die, than have a relationship with Jesus. So instead of receiving the grace of Jesus, they’ll receive the wrath of Jesus. C.S. Lewis states, “To those who object to the doctrine of hell, what are you asking God to do? To wipe out their past sins and at all costs give them a fresh start? He did that, when Jesus died on the cross...You want God to forgive them? But they don’t ask for forgiveness...You want God to leave them alone? That’s what hell is!..Look there’s only two kinds of people in the end. Those who say to God ‘Thy will be done,’ and those to whom God says in the end ‘Thy will be done.’ All who are in Hell, choose it.” What C.S. Lewis is saying, is Jesus gives you two options when it comes to God’s wrath. You can either have him pay for your sins, or you pay for your sins. You can either receive the grace of the lamb, or receive the wrath of the lion.
The big idea of the message is that people will either receive the grace of the lamb, or the wrath of the lion...In the end people will either receive the grace of the lamb, or the wrath of the lion...Like I said in the intro both skeptics and believers agree it’s important to have societal laws and consequences for breaking those laws. Revelation 6 is God’s wrath being poured out on those who’ve broken his laws and rejected him as their God. But those who put their faith in Jesus will receive God’s grace instead of God’s wrath. We’ll receive eternal life and joy in heaven with Jesus, instead of eternal punishment in hell without Jesus. What Revelation 6 is teaching us is those who are skeptics need to put their faith in Jesus, and those who are believers need to stand firm in their faith in Jesus. If you put your faith in Jesus you aren’t promised a comfortable life on earth, you’re promised forgiveness of sins and a comfortable life in heaven. Anyone who puts their faith in Jesus will receive the grace of the lamb, but anyone who doesn’t will receive the wrath of the Lion.