Fearless Living in a World of Fear

Sunday, August 9, 2020 “Fearlessly Living in a World of Fear” Revelation 14:1 Idea: Believers do not have to live in fear because God stands with and for them. Intro: Psalm 46 was Martin Luther’s favorite psalm. The great reformer used to tell his church, “Let’s stand and sing Psalm 46 and let the devil do his best.” Listen to the words of this great psalm. Read Psalm 46. Is there a more comforting word than what we find in Psalm 46? God is our refuge and strength. He is our fortress. Over the last six months or so, we as a nation of people have been hit by a perfect storm. This storm has three parts: coronavirus, social rioting, and economic collapse. Every day our news feeds have been inundated with politicians and medical experts telling us what to do and what not to do in order to stop the spread of the virus. They have jerked us around and changed directions numerous times, so that now we don’t really know what to do or who to believe. On top of that, we watched a man suffocate to death while in police custody. His death sparked civil unrest that has rocked and ravaged nearly every major city in America for the last two and a half months. The riots have burned down buildings and businesses, defaced public property, killed innocent people, and launched a movement to overturn society. In the wake of all of this, tens of millions of people have lost their jobs, and small businesses have shut their doors never to open again. This trifecta of storms has created great fear in the hearts of many Americans. People are scared. Despite there being a less than 1% chance of dying from the virus, COVID has got people terrified today. You walk into a room without a mask and people look at you like you are the Grim Reaper, and don’t you dare cough in a store. People cling to their mask, face shield, and the promise of a vaccine like they are shields and armor protecting them from an assailant. The civil unrest and anarchy taking place is causing a boom in firearm sales around the country. Gun stores cannot keep certain ammunitions and firearms in stock. It is absolutely crazy right now. People, apparently, are stocking up for the apocalypse. The economic rollercoaster is also devasting and causing fear. Millions of people are still out of work because many small businesses have not reopened or been able to fully reopen. The service industry has been gutted. Add to this tragedy schools opening up with virtual instruction and there does not seem to be an end to the economic slide. All this chaos and uncertainty has created fear in a lot of hearts. The CDC warns of the stress, fear, and anxiety that are naturally generated during a pandemic. These can lead to substance abuse, sleep disorder, worsening of chronic health problems, worsening of mental health, and suicide. This fear is understandable, but should fear be the reaction of Christians to all that is going on today? The answer is, “No, we should not live in fear.” We do not have to live in fear because we have a God who stands with and for us. He is a very present help in time of trouble. There has never been a greater time of trouble than what believers will experience during the Great Tribulation, yet the Bible depicts them as confidently and fearlessly standing with the Lord despite the war being waged against them. Why then does there seem to be so much fear among Christians and within the church today? Why are we fearful of a virus that by all estimations has a very limited chance of taking our lives? Even so, the worst it can do is bring death. Why are we scared and fearful of the future in America? Are our hopes and dreams tied to what happens here? Should they not be set on our heavenly home? Should we not have confidence in God and the future He has promised? I love America as much as anyone, but nations rise and fall. Only the kingdom of God lasts forever. I believe our affluence and freedom has caused us to become soft. We have forgotten that God is our provider and protector. We have lost our resolve. In the face of the slightest persecution or difficulty, we lose faith and surrender. Back in March I posed a set of questions to you in response to the pandemic. Here is what I asked: “Could it be that the Lord has brought this pandemic upon us to open our eyes and hearts? Could it be that He has caused it as an act of judgment and grace in order to lead us to repentance and faith?” I then offered a statement. I said, “Regardless of how long this pandemic lasts, I believe the goal is not a return to normal but a return to God.” Have we returned to God during this chaos? Have we found renewed confidence in the Lord and His provision? Or is our confidence in the hope of a promised vaccine? Is our confidence in the hope that our economy will return to what it was a few months ago? Is our confidence in the hope that society will survive the civil storm slamming against the foundations of our nation? Unfortunately, I see more fear than faith in the church today. We need to observe and learn from the faithful resolve of believers clinging to Christ as they are hunted down by the antichrist. Read Revelation 14:1. Inquiry: Allow me to set the context. Revelation 12 offers a highly imaginative vision of the heavenly warfare between God and Satan. This war has its counterpart in history in the conflict between the church and demonic evil. Chapter13 continues this interlude in the revelation between the sounding of the seven trumpets (Rev 8-9) and the outpouring of the seven bowls of wrath (Rev 16). The seventh trumpet will bring history to the last days of the age, when the mystery of God, both in salvation and judgment, will be fulfilled (10:7). This is the time of the end, which is characterized by two outstanding features: the outpouring of divine judgments, which include the seven bowls and the judgment of a rebellious civilization (Babylon), and the final persecution of the church. What we discover in this time of the end is the final climatic struggle between God and Satan. This struggle will be waged by Satan against the people of God. The vision of chapter 12 ends with the dragon failing to devour the male child, His mother, and the people of God. As the chapter ends, he is pictured standing on the sand of the sea. Chapter 13 begins with a beast with ten horns and seven heads rising up out of the sea. He is followed by another beast rising out of the earth, forming an unholy trinity. The first beast is the antichrist (ajntivcristoV) and represents military and civil power. The second beast represents religious power employed to support civil power, for this reason he is called the false prophet (Rev 16:13). The objective of the false prophet is to capture the loyalties of men and women for the antichrist. This loyalty will be represented by a mark on the right hand or forehead of each person (13:16). No one will be able to buy or sell without the mark. All cultures and economies will be controlled by this mark. Chapter 14 reveals the actions of God and His people in response to the physical, spiritual, and economic war against them. The Church is alive and well as they enjoy the presence of God and bear His mark. This does not mean that life is easy for them. They suffer greatly at the hand of the beast, but they continue to be faithful to Christ and His gospel. They continue to worship, pray, serve, preach, and meet together as the body of Christ regardless of the threat from the antichrist or false prophet. They fearlessly live in a world of fear. Believers in the Great Tribulation demonstrate faith rather than fear. Paul told the church in Rome that “whatever does not proceed from faith is sin” (Rom 14:23b). The opposite of faith is fear. What then is faith? According to the writer of Hebrews, “faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen” (Heb 11:1). Faith is the calm trust in the Bible’s teachings about God and His Church. Faith is not a blind or empty hope. It is confidence in what God has revealed in His Word. It is faith that enables believers to live fearlessly in a fearful world. The suffering church in Revelation 14 teach us three things about living without fear. The people of God can live without fear because: 1. The presence of God is ever with His people. John sees the Lamb on Mount Zion. He is in Jerusalem. The description symbolizes the presence of God among His people, specifically on the Temple Mount. Prophetically, Mount Zion is the capital of the renewed kingdom of God to be established by the Messiah (Joel 2:32; Ps 48:2-11; Isa 2:2; 24:23; Micah 4:1-8). The early verses of Revelation 14 contrast the dragon with the Lamb. The dragon stands on the shore of the sea awaiting the emergence of the beast (12:17-18), while the Lamb stands with His people on Mount Zion to give them victory over the enemy. Jesus is pictured with His people. The Bible teaches that God is omnipresent. He is always present with His people, and this fact will never change because He is immutable. God does not change. Over and over the Bible reminds us of this truth. He does not and will not forsake His people. He is a very…an ever present help in time of trouble (Ps 46:1). Despite the challenges that may arise in life, we can trust that God will be with us through them all. We can trust in the God who is present through the threat of coronavirus, economic depression, civil unrest, persecution, natural disaster, or anything else this fallen world may bring against us. We can trust that God will ever be with His people. 2. The conquering Savior stands on our behalf. John sees the Lamb “standing” (iJvsthmi) with the Church. The idea of standing is a military metaphor and pictures the Lamb as a divine warrior ready to annihilate His enemy. What a comfort this will be for those present during the Tribulation! Everything and everyone in the world will be against the people of God. They will not be able to buy and sell because they lack the mark of the beast. They will not be able to enjoy previous freedoms or even travel without risk of exposure. The beast will war against them (Rev 12:17). Without faith in the ever-present God of Scripture, believers would be overwhelmed with fear and most likely walk away from the gospel. In this hostile environment, however, Jesus stands as a conquering Savior on behalf of His people. Today, Jesus stands for you. Do you believe that? Do you believe that nothing and no one can touch your life without first going through Him? Coronavirus can’t touch you. Cancer can’t touch you. A declining economy can’t touch you. The demons of hell cannot touch you. Nothing can touch your life without the blessing and permission of Almighty God. If you don’t believe this, then read the story of Job. On two different occasions the devil sought God’s permission to harm Job. God allowed it but with stipulations. The Lord is in control of the what, when, where, and how of your life. Your life will not end one second before He has in eternity past determined your life span to be. We learn from both Job and the eschaton that Jesus stands as a Warrior for His people. Today, He stands on your behalf; therefore, there is no need to fear anything or anyone in this world. Victory belongs to the Lord. Your victory belongs to the Lord. 3. We share in His victory through redemption. Standing with the Lamb are the 144,000. These are the same 144,000 pictured in Revelation 7. They represent the church. Primarily, they represent the victorious saints of the Great Tribulation. Secondarily, they represent the people of God down through the ages who faithed into the coming Messiah. They bear the mark of Christ and the Father on their foreheads (cf Rev 7:4). The work of Jesus on the cross and the shedding of His blood has brought them victory. This vision in chapter 14 will not be realized until chapters 20-22, but here it is given as an encouragement to faithfully endure to the end. “Visions of what will be strengthen the believer to endure the reality of what for the present must be.” – Robert Mounce This truth enables believers to endure in spite of the evil that comes against them. Today, we can and must live fearlessly in this world of fear because the victory is already ours. It was won by the Lord Jesus on Calvary as His blood was shed to purchase and redeem us to God. We are no longer under the tyranny of the enemy or in bondage to our sin. We are free. As always this is an already/but not yet truth. We are free from sin and the enemy, but we are not free from their temptations and assaults. The war against the people of God is raging. It is gruesome. We, however, have nothing to fear because Jesus is our Victor, and we share in His victory through redemption. Conclusion: There is much fear and frustration in the world today because of this perfect storm. It is understandable that those who do not know God would be fearful. The child of God, on the other hand, should never be overcome with fear. We are a people of faith. It is not a blind faith. No, our faith is a calm assurance in what God has said. It is simple trust in the Bible’s record of what God has done for us on the cross and what He will do till the end of time. Today, my hope is not in a mask or a vaccine. My life on this earth will end at some point. My hope is not in the American economy, the American dream, or even in American freedoms. My hope is set on the finished work of the cross. It is fixed on the promise of the Lord’s soon return. It rests in the glorious gospel that has the power to turn fear into faith. Do you have faith today? Are you offering faith to others who are filled with fear? Faith comes through the gospel. What is the gospel? We talk about it in three parts. Good News – You were made by God and for God (Col 1:16). He loves you. He has a plan and purpose for your life. Bad News – Sin has broken God’s design. The sinful nature that overcame Adam and left God’s design in him broken has been passed on to us. It has separated us from God. Today, in our sin, we are on the wrong side of the great chasm. Our sin condemns us before God, so that we are deserving of His judgment. This brokenness should not surprise anyone; because if we are honest with ourselves, we recognize it. We feel it in our anxiety, fears, and broken relationships. We know there is a deep need that we cannot meet ourselves. Best News - The gospel declares that God the Son has paid the penalty for our sin so that we can be set free (Rev 1:5). He offered His life as a substitute for you and experienced the wrath of God the Father against your sin. So that now, you can experience forgiveness for sin by placing your faith in Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior. You are given a choice to make? As a follower of Jesus, you have experienced His grace and forgiveness. And thankfully you can never exhaust His grace. Forgiveness is always available if you will turn to Him in faith and repentance of all sin. What prevents you from placing your faith in Jesus and turning from your sin today?