Sermon Cloud

June 26th, 2001, my 23rd birthday. That was the day I knew I had to make a decision. I was being forced to chose one side or the other. No more riding the fence.
I had been a fence rider for long time. Growing up, I was just following the crowd. Pretty nominal in my commitment, just following the crowd. Felt more committed on big days, days like opening day, the occasional playoff appearance. Growing up, I was a nominal Cardinals fan.
Moved to Kansas City and started following baseball a little more. It was easier to follow baseball living in a Major League city. And for a few years, I lived in under an illusion. I believed I could be both a Cardinals fan and a Royals fan. I know that there are many of you living under the same illusion; today's your day to get right with God.
But as I took my seat in Kaufman stadium, next to my Cardinal fan brother-in-law and his whole family wearing red. And the whole Cardinal nation taking over the "K" and pumped up about their roid-boy superhero Mark McGuire. I realized the time of riding the fence had ended, I needed to make my choice. I couldn't have a split allegiance. Remembering Jesus' words "the last will be first" I grabbed my blue rally towel and declared my allegiance to the Royals.
One of the most important themes of the book of Revelation. John keeps hitting us with it over and over and over, is the idea of allegiance. You must choose! There is no fence riding, you must choose. Will you live your live for the lamb? Jesus Christ who was slaughtered but has conquered death? Even if it costs you your very life? Or is your allegiance bound to evil? Are you following the beast and the dragon?
John declares the end of riding the fence by showing us that living for anything other than Jesus Christ is to live for the beast. To give your life to some counterfeit, whatever that may be - work, family, money - to place anything above your commitment to Christ is to take the mark of the beast. To be aligned with evil.
We will live our lives as an act of worship to something. Will it be Christ, or will it be something less than Christ?
As he's been doing throughout this entire book, pastor John is giving them images to show what happens when we commit to Christ or if we commit to something else.
144,000 - 14:1-5
This great crowd that has God's mark on their forehead. We talked about that mark last week. We're all marked as followers of Christ or followers of evil. These are the people who have turned from sin and been relentless in their commitment to living for Jesus.
The number 12 is used to represent God's people. 12 tribes, 12 apostles. Here we have 12x12x1000. A poetic way of saying "all of God's people." 144,000 would've been a massive crowd in the first century. Almost unfathomable number of people. All of these people, from all over the world have been marked as a follower of Christ. If you're a follower of Christ, you're one of the 144,000. You're among those who win the victory.
But if we're not among the 144,000 committed to Jesus, we're a part of Babylon - 14:8-11. Babylon conquered the people of Israel centuries before John wrote the Revelation. Babylon itself had fallen but the city still acts as a metaphor for the opponents of God. Represents everyone who has said "no" to God. In his typical politically correct way, John says "if you're not marked by Christ, you're marked by the beast."
And what happens to Babylon? What always happens with sin, it ends up destroying itself. 14:8-11. I've heard people take this passage and act as if it shows God with a cosmic magnifying glass and he's burning up all the little ants that dared oppose him. That's not the God revealed in our Bible. This burning is what happens when God gives people over to their sin. God says, "you don't want to follow me - fine. Go your own way." And God allows his creation to walk away from him and right into hell.
I've seen it this week. I've been talking with several families who have made some sinful decisions and as a result are going through a personal hell. There are things worse than being lit on fire. Sin burns up everything good in our life. And leave us holding the ashes. And if we deny God our entire lives, we'll burn up everything we value in this life will walk right into an eternity without God. Vs. 11
We're given another image of why we can't ride the fence through the image of The Harvest - 14:14-20. You can't be sitting on the fence, because God's judgment is coming. I explained judgment a couple weeks ago. God does not judge by taking out his frustrations on sinner, taking out pounds of flesh. God's judgment is pointing out the sin and the righteousness that already exist in a person's life.
We see God's judgment as a sickle being swept across the earth. The first sickle collects the crops that are ripe. Gathers them all in. These are those to whom God can point and declare, "yep, they're mine. Bring them home."
The second sickle swings and grapes are collected. These grapes are brought into the winepress. Not to produce sweet wine, but so they can be crushed and destroyed. These are the people God points at and declares, "no, they're not mine. Send them away."
Notice there are only two types of harvests. We are in one group or the other. We are either living for God or we're being crushed because of our sin.
God doesn't want any of us to be in that second harvest. Which is why we see these 7 Bowls of Wrath - 15:5-16:21 unleashed on the world. This is the same as the last set of 7 plagues we looked at a few weeks ago. God is allowing havoc to happen in the world, to wake people up. These images of 75 pound hailstones are metaphors for the destruction that comes with sin. Sin brings carnage. But God allows it to happen.
If it takes your spouse kicking you out of the house to wake you up, then God will let it happen. If it takes bankruptcy to help you break free from the bondage of consumerism, God will let it happen. If it takes public humiliation to expose a secret sin, God will let it happen. He'll do whatever necessary to show your need to repent and live for him. 2 Peter 3:8-11 So we can know that it breaks God's heart that all throughout chapter 15, people refuse to repent of their sin. And they continue to live for self.
And it will keep happening in our world. People will continue to live for sin, sin will continue to destroy and wreak havoc in our world, until that day when God says "that's enough. No more sin." John gives us a glimpse of God's final destruction of sin in 16:16. Armageddon - 16:12-16
This image of Armageddon is one of the things in Revelation that late-night TV preachers love to get all worked up about. You know the spiel, WWIII, nuclear destruction. All that good stuff meant to scare people.
But what is John really doing here? The word literally means "Mount Megiddo." Megiddo is a town in the northern Israel. Several times in the OT, the enemies of the people of God were defeated at Megiddo.
But the twist is that there is no place as Mount Megiddo. Megiddo is actually located on a plain, no mountain anywhere near. Which shows us that rather than giving us the location for some future battle, he's giving us a metaphor that points to a deeper reality.
Armageddon is a symbol of the destruction of God's enemies. The symbol of Armageddon declares that despite evidence to the contrary, Christ will win in the end. That someday evil will be completely wiped out.
Notice that there's no actual battle here. Sin is no match for God. God may be allowing sin to continue because he wants more people to repent. But once God decides sins done, it's done. No battle. No contest. Which is why there can't be any riding the fence.
One other image you need to see, it's The Song of the Lamb - 15:3-4. This is God's endgame. God's desire is that all the people of the world, from every nation, from every corner, would offer their lives in worship to Christ. That they would stand before Jesus Christ and say, "I'm yours. All yours."
And we all know people who have yet to make that decision. John would say to them, (maybe to some of you here today) "you're choosing for Christ or against Christ. No middle ground."
And so we've been praying. Every Sunday. Their names are right here in this box. Two people whose names I know are in that box, made decision to follow Christ this week. I had the privilege of praying with them. They told me, "I'm done with sin, I'm ready to follow Christ." These are people we've been praying for. This is not a coincidence!
Your prayers are changing people's eternity. You prayers are helping lead people to the throne.
If you are still trying to ride the fence, then choose your allegiance today. Choose to follow Christ. If you're hurting for people that haven't yet made that decision, keep praying. Choose or pray. That's how we respond this morning.

prayer