FOUNDATIONS FOR PEACE

REVELATION 12:1-6
December 20th 2009
4th Weekend in Advent
Pastor Timothy Smith

I want to bring us up to this point in Revelation. John and the seven churches have seen that God knows their faith, their challenges, and their sins; and God wants them to know that he has them in his hands. He is with us and he has not forgotten us. In the end, it will be Lamb of God who will set into motion the events that will end the world and open the gates of heaven for the bodies and souls of all believers. The whole New Testament time, from Pentecost to the Last Day, is presented in the opening chapters of Revelation with visions of seven seals (chapters 4-7) and seven trumpets announcing seven plagues (chapters 8-11).

Beginning here in chapter 12, is the fourth and central vision. The entire time of the New Testament world is again described, this time in seven shorter visions: This first one is the strange scene of a woman and a dragon:

The Dragon and the Child
12 A great and wondrous sign appeared in heaven: a woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet and a crown of twelve stars on her head. 2 She was pregnant and cried out in pain as she was about to give birth. 3 Then another sign appeared in heaven: an enormous red dragon with seven heads and ten horns and seven crowns on his heads. 4 His tail swept a third of the stars out of the sky and flung them to the earth. The dragon stood in front of the woman who was about to give birth, so that he might devour her child the moment it was born. 5 She gave birth to a son, a male child, who will rule all the nations with an iron scepter. And her child was snatched up to God and to his throne. 6 The woman fled into the desert to a place prepared for her by God, where she might be taken care of for 1,260 days. (NIV)

It isn’t always possible and maybe it isn’t always wise to try to get a definite meaning for every detail of one of the Bible’s visions. But we can discover something about God’s plan for us by looking at the big picture, and we will find that there is comfort here: Forgiveness and Peace are Ours in Jesus.

I. THE SIGN: WHO IS THIS WOMAN? John’s vision begins this way: (Rev. 12:1-2) A great and wondrous sign appeared in heaven: a woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet and a crown of twelve stars on her head. 2 She was pregnant and cried out in pain as she was about to give birth.

Our first impression of this scene is that the woman must be the Virgin Mary, giving birth to Jesus. But if that’s the case, what are her sunny clothes and why is the moon at her feet and why does she have twelve stars?

This is more like a scene from one of Joseph’s dreams in Genesis than a description of the mother of Jesus—a woman John looked after from the time of Jesus’ crucifixion. Before we commit ourselves to insisting that the woman must be Mary or that the child here must be Jesus, let’s look at some of the other images:

II. THE SECOND SIGN: THE DRAGON (Rev. 12:3-4) Then another sign appeared in heaven: an enormous red dragon with seven heads and ten horns and seven crowns on his heads. 4 His tail swept a third of the stars out of the sky and flung them to the earth. The dragon stood in front of the woman who was about to give birth, so that he might devour her child the moment it was born.

The dragon. This angry, red, destructive dragon waiting to devour the woman’s offspring is easier to identify. The dragon is the devil, of course. We don’t have any information about wings or spikes on his back or fiery breath, but this huge serpent-lizard has seven heads and a destructive tail. We see him sweeping a third of the stars from the sky, which reminds us of the angels who were corrupted by the devil’s arrogant sin and who fell along with him when he was driven from heaven.

The ten horns and seven crowns are reminders that the devil pretends to be a force of good working in the world. But the crowns are not the victory wreaths we usually see in the Bible when crowns are mentioned—like the crown, the victory wreath of twelve stars around the woman’s head. No, these are ‘diadems,’ the kind of crowns worn by a great and mighty king and really only fit for God himself to wear. The devil, we remember, wants to set himself up in God’s position.

What about the business about waiting to devour a child? Let’s read some more:

III. THE WOMAN IS THE CHURCH (Rev. 12:5-6) She gave birth to a son, a male child, who will rule all the nations with an iron scepter. And her child was snatched up to God and to his throne. 6 The woman fled into the desert to a place prepared for her by God, where she might be taken care of for 1,260 days.

I promise I’ll come back to that number of 1260 days. But first, the woman’s child rules all nations and is snatched up to God’s own throne. This child is now clearly Jesus. He sits in the seat of God, has all of God’s authority and power, and is the male child.

Before we identify the woman, let’s look at the number. 1260 days is just about a year and a half. Throughout Revelation and in two chapters of Daniel, the phrase “time, times and half a time”—or three and a half years—is used to describe the New Testament age, the age from the first coming of Christ until the Last Day and the second coming of Christ.

Mary is not living throughout the whole New Testament age; that leaves us with the only possibility that the woman who gives birth to the child Jesus is not specifically Mary at all, but the believing church, of which Mary was only a part. But remember that all the promises about the Savior in the Old Testament came to many different people, all different members of the same believing family. And Jesus’ own genealogy in Matthew and in Luke includes people from outside the nation of Judah, people like Rahab and Ruth, who came into the family through their faith. And we continue to be this woman, the church, and now that we have identified ourselves in this way, notice what God says about us: We are taken care of by God in this place prepared for us, and God will take care of us for the entire 1260 days—the whole time between now and the end of the world, the Last Day.

IV. THE COMFORT OF THE SOJOURN AS WE WAIT.
The work of the devil is in overdrive in our lives. So much of the world is already fallen away from Christ or blocked from ever even hearing of Christ that the devil hardly needs to do more than swish his tail. But we need to be on our guard. We are the ones he is after. But don’t doubt that one little word can fell him.

When you find yourself struggling with a temptation, don’t be embarrassed to call for God’s help. And do it out loud—I know that God can read what’s in your heart, but the devil doesn’t know what’s only in your thoughts. Say Jesus’ name out loud, and drive the devil away with your faith in Jesus. “Devil, I’m a Christian, and Jesus died for me. Go away and don’t come back!”

And while we have time on this earth, we wait for the Lord to return, we are comforted by how much Jesus did for us.

While we wait, we reach out to the wide world that doesn’t know about their Savior.

While we wait, we remind each other that our Savior’s work on our behalf is precious. The forgiveness he won for us has snatched us from the jaws of the dragon. The cross protects us from the sweep of the dragon’s tail. And the dragon’s fiery redness has no command over us. We are covered in another red, the blood of Jesus, who has made us his own, and taken away our sins forever.

Forgiveness and peace—our God is watching over us. Forgiveness and peace—our God keeps on blessing us. Forgiveness of our sins and peace with Almighty God—these are blessings we will treasure always, and these are gifts that shield us from the rage of the devil and chaos of the world and the uncertainty of death. We have nothing to fear because our faith is in Jesus himself. We have forgiveness and peace.

Your sins are forgiven. You are at peace with God. Amen.

Philippians 4:4-7
December 12-14, 2009
3rd Weekend in Advent
Pastor Don Sutton

Philippians 4:4-7
“Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! 5Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near. 6Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. 7And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.”

Introduction
“Be near me, Lord Jesus, I ask you to stay,” are words that many of us learned as part of “Away in a Manger”. In God’s word we focus on today the Holy Spirit through the apostle Paul emphasizes, “The Lord is near.” What does God mean? In Revelation 22 through the Apostle John Jesus said in vs. 12, “Behold I am coming soon.” In view of this and Paul’s words in Philippians 3:20 that “we eagerly await a Savior,” one might conclude that Paul’s reference is only to the final coming of Christ.

But the Lord also says in Scripture, “The Lord is near to the broken-hearted and saves those who are crushed (Ps. 34:18)”….”The Lord is near to all who call on him in truth (Ps. 145:8)…”I am with you always even to the end of the world (Mat 28:20).” Based on the whole of Scripture we can conclude that the Lord is near to come in glory at the end of time and until that time the Lord is near to help. As we in the weekends of end times and also in the first weekend of Advent have already focused on Christ’s return in glory on the Last Day and the nearness of that that, today we focus the Lord’s nearness and his spiritual advent or coming to help us. Today let’s think about the fact, “The Lord Is Near…”…1) to help us rejoice, 2) to help us be gentle, and 3) to help us have peace.

1. …to help us to rejoice
“Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again, ‘Rejoice!’” When God says “Rejoice!” to you and me this is not just a nice wish; this is God’s will. God wants you and me to daily decorate our hearts and minds with joy and gladness much as we decorate our homes with Christmas decorations.

Doesn’t it seem, however, that we people of God at times may ask God to excuse us from the ranks of the rejoicing and stand in the realm of the down-hearted? We may think, “Lord excuse me from rejoicing, “I’ve lost a loved one” … “I lost my job”….”I’ve got cancer”…. “My significant other dumped me…” “I didn’t make the team” … “Things are overwhelming.” …. “My family has problems” … “No one loves me.” ….. “Lord, you want me to rejoice? Over what?”

The truth is that while you may be ill, in mourning or feeling lonely, lousy, stressed out, overwhelmed, rejected, or dejected, these facts and feelings do not excuse you from rejoicing. God, not once but twice, says “Rejoice” and then adds “always.” In Paul’s Letter to the Romans, St. Paul even wrote, “And we rejoice in our suffering.”

How can one rejoice always? The key is in the words “in the Lord.” One cannot rejoice in a God-pleasing way unless one is “in the Lord” through faith in Jesus Christ. In the gospel God tells us he loves us, he saved us through the holy life and death of Jesus, he forgives us because of Jesus, he gives us eternal life because of Jesus, he works all things for our good, he provides for our needs, and he gives us strength. In the gospel God gives us reasons and strength to rejoice in a godly way. Through faith we receive motivation and power to rejoice even as we face sufferings and problems.

This Christmas season children all over will receive gifts. I get a kick out of the joy they show over their gifts – and sometimes more over the box or the bow than the gift itself. But they are excited to show and tell what they have received. God has given us greater reason to rejoice in that he has committed himself to us to be our Savior and has committed himself to us to be our Lord for eternity. When we find rejoicing difficult, we need to go back to God’s love that redeemed us by the blood of his Son and then set us apart as his people for time and eternity through the sanctifying work of the Spirit.
But also pray, “Lord Jesus, continue to be near me to help me in rejoicing.” That’s what in essence King David prayed in Psalm 51 when he said, “Renew to me the joy of your salvation.” The Lord hears and helps. David testified to this when he wrote in Psalm 4:7, “You have filled my heart with …joy.”

2. …to help us be gentle
And as we consider the words of Paul we are reminded the Lord who is hear to help me be gentle. The Lord wants gentleness among us. “Let your gentleness be evident to all.” Some explain that this is a consideration for others; others that this is big-heartedness; still others that this is fairness. The word that the NIV translates “gentleness” is a word that one commentator concluded, “It becomes clear that there is not a single word in the English language that fully expresses the meaning of the original (Hendriksen, p. 192.”) He goes on to explain that “gentleness” is a broad concept that in addition to the concepts already mentioned this may include forbearance, patience, geniality, kindliness, gentleness, sweet reasonableness, considerateness, charitableness, mildness, magnanimity, and generosity. Gentleness is being kind and loving to people.

Unfortunately many a Christian who condemns murder, adultery, homosexuality, rape, and robbery sees nothing wrong with being mean and surly. They have no problem with being verbally or even physically abusive. Their words may be predominantly sarcastic and cynical. They lack in giving encouragement, in showing affection, and expressing respect. They are self-centered, inconsiderate, unfair, bossy, impatient, unforgiving, and hard to live with. In Isaiah 66:24 the Lord says, “Those who rebelled against me, their worm will not die out, nor their fire be quenched and they will be loathsome to all mankind.” Those who lack gentleness deserve this as much as murderers, robbers, rapists, thieves, and adulterers.

As I thought about this I had to say, “You know, that’s me.” Is that you? …. If it is, stop this not being gentle. Turn from it. First turn to the Lord for forgiveness. “The Lord is compassionate and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in love….he does not treat us as our sins deserve or repay according to our iniquities (Ps. 103:8-10).” God has forgiven our sins because of “the Lord Jesus Christ who gave himself from our sins to rescue us from this present evil age (Gal 1:4).” Continue to focus on this fact that Christ came to be perfect in gentleness in your place and died for your lack of it to bring you peace with God. As you focus on the grace and peace of God in Jesus, the Holy Spirit will change your heart. Gentleness, or for that matter, any other Christian characteristics are fruit of the Spirit.

But also pray. The same Lord, who helped with your curse for sin, will help you overcome sin. The Apostle John wrote, “This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us (1Jn5:14).” It is God’s will you be gentle. So pray, “Be near me, Lord Jesus, to help me be gentle.”

3. …to have peace
Finally, pray, “Be near me, Lord Jesus to help me have peace.” The Lord is near to help you in this. What’s your anxiety level right now? Maybe I’m wrong but the perception I have of people is that this time of year is a high-anxiety time. We worry about end of semester assignments and final exams. We worry about Christmas decorations, cards, gifts, get-togethers, etc. Remember worry is when we have cares and fears, but don’t ask God’s blessings on the efforts we can put forth to deal with these or keep to ourselves the things we can do nothing about and don’t turn them over to God. Through Paul, God tells us what he thinks about worry: “Do not be anxious about anything

So what do we do? It’s interesting that among the many remedies for anxiety and stress that are on the market, a common denominator is meditation. Researchers maintain that during meditation brain waves change their patterns. Those who meditate often are found to have a predominance of calming alpha waves and are more relaxed. Supposedly they suffer less stress and less from illness than the majority of our country’s population. They are more stable and better able to cope in a crisis than “non-meditators.”

God didn’t need the benefits of scientific study to tell him these things. In Psalm 1 he tells us that blessings come to those who day and night meditate on God’s Word. He also assures us, “The Lord is near to all who call on him in truth (Ps. 145:18).” Therefore, God, through Paul directs us that rather than being anxious, “… in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.” God invites us to spend time meditating in prayer. But he says to do it with thanksgiving. God deserves our thanks. And when we give thanks we must first think about what it is we are giving thanks for which in turn reminds us of what a good and gracious God we have. As we pray and turn things over to God confident that the God of grace will hear and answer our prayers, God’s peace comes to us. This is peace that money can’t buy and man can’t make. It comes from knowing that the God, who loves me and took away my sins, is the God who is near to me, hearing my prayers and helping me to cope with problems.

This peace of God that transcends understanding, like an army, guards our hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Don’t we need this? Jesus said that the cares and pleasures of life have a way of choking off faith. But when we entrust ourselves to Jesus in our prayer and meditation, God puts his peace in us.

Therefore, pray, “Continue to be near me, Lord Jesus, to help me rejoice, to help us be gentle, and to give me peace.” Amen. (DRS)