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Text: Revelation 19:1-10; 17, 18
Understanding prophecy is not that you understand how everything will happen but that God will win.
We can’t sit back and wait for God to do all the pulling!
We must understand that there is a glorious end. When we lose sight of that we get discouraged. He will defeat the violence, corruption, and evil of the world. The great system that had grown up over the whole earth will fall.
In chapters 17 and 18 we read about Babylon. It was after Babylon was destroyed that Jesus claims His bride.
You see this description of Babylon— it sounds very much like our world. Like Babel this system was organized to oppose God. This false “fellowship” was created in opposition to God.
The Church is God’s plan to bring back the scattered tribes and people into one, under the Lordship of Jesus. The righteous deeds of the Church are compared to fine linen. The Church has been desperate, not isolated.
In spite being the pure Church of God, God will still have to do some winnowing.
1) The primary purpose of the Church is to uphold the testimony of Jesus
Luke 24:19
When the testimony is only about Jesus, He has not really penetrated our heart.
2) The testimony of Jesus is a prophetic witness
The testimony of Jesus is prophetic because He knows how it will end; We are in tune with this different reality.
The world is corrupt and will be burned with fire. God has provided a way to escape the coming judgement through His Son.
Who is living in reality? Babylon or the kingdom of God? My fear for the church is that inasmuch as we have accepted Babylon we will defend it against the judgement of God.
3) The testimony comes directly from Jesus Himself
There are different ways of knowing things. Revelation conveys things that we could not have figured out on our own.
I John 2:24-27
All followers of Christ bear this prophetic witness within them.
Revelations?:14 These are they who have washed their robes in the blood of the lamb.
Jesus has given offices of leadership to the Church, yet all believers have this prophetic witness within themselves— and this is the testimony of Jesus.
Some things about prophecy:
As important as it is, to study end-time events, it is important to understand that even the ones who received it didn’t understand it.
Sometimes prophets are portrayed as truth-tellers who are harsh— that is not biblical. The spirit of prophecy grieves for the sins of the people. Jeremiah did not distance himself from the people— he was one of them.
We are prophets in the sense that we hold within us the prophetic witness of Jesus Christ.
A few questions:
Do you believe that God is going to win, or are you living a defeated life?
In the battle that you have against evil or sin are you committed to the reality taught by God in His Word? Or are we more focused on the weather, the economy, etc.
Is your testimony of Jesus a testimony about Jesus or a testimony from Jesus?
In conclusion… God is winning. Ever since the apostles, the church has tended to believe that they were witnessing the end… it will come.
