Revelation 14:6–13 - Heed the Warnings

In 1950, race car driver Juan Manuel Fangio won the very first Formula One championship. And along the way to the title, he won the famous Monaco Grand Prix race. But how he won that race is interesting.

He started in first place, and he led the first lap, but on the second lap, as he looked up at the spectators in the stands, he noticed that they weren’t looking at him as he approached. Instead, they were looking in the other direction, around the dangerous corner that he was about to navigate.

He later said he thought to himself that if they weren’t looking at him, they must be looking at something more interesting. In fact, they were — a multi-car pile up just around the corner that he was able to avoid because he had been warned.

The warning saved Fangio’s race and may have saved his life.

We need and benefit from warnings. We see them everywhere. On our medicines and our home appliances and our cleaning supplies. New automobiles today will warn you if you’re about to hit something. We get weather warnings. Parents warn children, teachers warn students. We see warnings on the streets as we drive. Our bodies and minds even give us warnings too. If we get hurt, we feel pain.

The Scriptures are filled with warnings as well, for both non-believers and believers. Even those who profess faith in Jesus need warnings. In Colossians 1, the apostle Paul wrote that he proclaimed Christ, “warning everyone and teaching everyone with all wisdom, that we may present everyone mature in Christ.”

God’s warnings help us grow spiritually. Jesus set His people free from sin so we could heed the warnings and live for God. This next section of Revelation 14 contains warnings. They’re directed at the world, but each one contains a warning for the church as well. Today, we often hear the phrase “put God first.” Put God first in your life, and live for God. To do that, you must heed God’s warnings. Notice the outline on pg. 6.

To live for God – to put Him first – there are four things you need to do: Embrace the holy purpose of God, enjoy the holy pleasures of God, experience the holy presence of God, and endure with holy patience from God.

In this passage, John sees three angels. The first one has “an eternal gospel to proclaim.” This is a message for people all over the world who are not born again. They should do three things. First, fear God. This is a warning not to bow our hearts to other people. Second, give God glory, This is a warning not to have an opinion of others or yourself that is higher than your opinion of God. And third, worship God. This is a warning to recognize God as the One who deserves highest honor and respect.

All three of these speak to the purpose for which humans were created.

There’s nothing more inappropriate or unnatural than for the creature to be proud rather than humble before its Creator. And for those who don’t humble themselves before God, there will be a consequence: judgment. There will be a reckoning.

Another word for “reckoning” is “opinion.” On the Last Day, an opinion will be rendered. Now, throughout our lives, we render our opinion of God by how we live. However, on Judgment Day, God will render His opinion of us.

The primary purpose of your life is to be reverent toward God and to respect Him for who He is, and to then honor and obey Him with your whole life and offer Him all of your worship. 1 Corinthians 4 says that when the Lord comes, He “will bring to light the things now hidden in darkness and will disclose the purposes of the heart.” At that time, all of your true inner motives will be revealed.

What motivates you inwardly? What drives you? What defines your life? We naturally seek purpose in something we do or something we’re good at. We tend to find our sense of meaning and worth in various dreams and goals or activities we love, and through these things we find a reason to live.

Many of them are fine things, and we should do our best to be good stewards of God’s gifts. But your purpose as a creature of the living God is much greater and longer lasting than any of these outward trappings of your life. You exist because God made you, and your purpose is to know Him deeply, honor Him above all else, worship Him. And because this is your purpose in life, it will offer the most lasting fulfillment. Then all other things in life will begin to be put in their right places in your heart and mind.

If other things in life feel more important than knowing and honoring God – if the triune God seems boring or irrelevant to you – that is actually a red flag. If prayer seems unhelpful, or the Scriptures seem distant and cold, those are warnings, because these things are how we come to know God better. You see, to live for God, you must embrace the holy purpose of God.

Now look again at verse [8]. The second angel says, “Fallen, fallen is Babylon the great.” The Babylonians captured Jerusalem in 586 B.C. However, beyond that event, in Scripture Babylon as a city and an empire is associated with all kinds of immorality and godlessness and any place that promotes and champions those things. For example, Rome is compared to Babylon and is sometimes referred to as Babylon. “Babylon” is kind of a catch-all term for all the temptation and corruption thrown at us.

This is a warning not to delight in sin or indulge in immorality, but to delight in God. Many will fall for Babylon, but in the end, they will fall with her, because sin will not stand. This world offers many sinful pleasures that will only dehumanize and destroy you.

But there is another route to take in life. Hebrews 11 says, “By faith Moses, when he was grown up, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh’s daughter, choosing rather to be mistreated with the people of God than to enjoy the fleeting pleasures of sin.”

There’s no doubt that our culture is enamored with sexual desire and fulfillment. God created sex for procreation and for intimacy and joy within marriage, but it’s rampantly perverted and misused. And that isn’t anything new. That’s Babylon. But the meaning in verse 8 seems to have greater metaphorical meaning than just that. It refers to all idolatrous pleasures.

A simple way to think about idolatry in your life is ABC. The idolatrous heart wants Anything But Christ. Babylon makes us drink and gets us drunk. It lures us in and hooks us on sinful pleasure. And when you’re drunk, you can’t think straight.

Do you know how it feels to delight in God? To take joy and satisfaction in turning from sin and knowing the fulfillment of walking in His ways? Do you know the delight of feeling whole inside because Christ clothed in His glorious gospel is your guide? To live for God, you must enjoy the holy pleasures of God.

Now look at this third warning. This angel also speaks about worship, but of God’s wrath as well. The angel addresses those who “worship the beast and its image.” This is from Revelation 13: the worship of governments that stand against Christ and His church. All who do so – who stand against Christ – bear the mark of the beast. And anyone who carries that mark to death will spend eternity in hell.

Now, you should understand that all people naturally bear this mark. We are born sinners. This is the mark of sin and of hostility against God and the gospel. It’s the mark of God’s enemies. We bear this mark until God graciously works in our lives. We have Satan’s mark on us until God places His mark on us.

Receiving a mark is something we see throughout the Bible. It’s not new to Revelation. Abraham was commanded to mark the males in the covenant family and the Israelites continued that marking in the covenant community. The mark was circumcision. It was the mark not of faith, but of inclusion and belonging. We know this because not all who received it would demonstrate true faith. But it does symbolize God’s saving work that only He can do.

Now, this mark was so important that God told Abraham, “Any uncircumcised male who is not circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin shall be cut off from his people; he has broken my covenant.” This is how closely God associates His marking with our belonging. The Israelites understood that learning about God and His ways included knowing that they had been marked with God’s mark.

Again, all people are born with sin’s marking, but God set the Israelites apart to receive His marking. Therefore, they belonged to God, “a people for God’s own possession.” The strong language of being “cut off” reiterated that this was God’s will for those who came into the covenant community, whether through faith in God (like Abraham) or through birth (like Abraham’s son, Isaac). But – it was an outward marking.

Earlier this morning, an outward marking or sign was applied to a sweet little baby boy. The roots of that ritual are in the OT. When someone comes into the NT covenant community – whether by faith or by birth – they are treated as set apart by God, and therefore, they receive the marking of God. They naturally have sin’s mark, but God’s mark is placed on them. However – just as with the OC mark of circumcision, the outward marking of baptism does not save a person. We know a person doesn’t need to be baptized to be saved.

The thief on the cross who trusted in Christ is an example of that. He was never part of the covenant community on earth. He died there and went to heaven. But under normal circumstances, this outward marking or sign should be placed on a person, and it’s so important that even Jesus received it when He inaugurated the New Covenant. He told His disciples not to circumcise but to baptize and then to teach – to apply the outward marking of God. Take a look at Matthew 28:18-20. The marking is the sign of belonging. And it’s a blessing to receive it. It’s one way that we experience the holy presence of God.

Now, back to the mark of the beast and Rev. 14 – those with Satan’s mark belong in Satan. This third angel warns the people that when this life is over for you, if they still bear sin’s mark you will endure the unending wrath of God in hell. It will be awful and it will be eternal. You will endure the wrathful presence of God forever. And yes, God’s presence is felt in hell.

God is omnipresent – there’s nowhere He cannot be. Scottish minister R.A. Finlayson explained it this way. He wrote, "Hell is eternity in the presence of God. Heaven is eternity in the presence of God with a mediator." 1 Timothy 2 says, “There is one God, and there is one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus.” Hell is God’s unceasing wrath toward sin,

I’m sure none of you want to go there. You don’t want your children or your loved ones or friends to go there. But anyone bearing sin’s marking belongs there. By that logic, we all belong there. Only God’s grace can save us.

Those who currently belong to Satan and bear His mark are not necessarily damned to hell. If they definitely were, there would be no reason to pray for them or evangelize them or try to warn them. If a person is still alive, there is still time for them to shed the mark of the beast.

Examine yourself and ask, “Do I bear the marking of God’s enemy?” It’s a marking that you can’t see. God’s outward marks – circumcision in the OC and baptism in the NC – are visible signs of an invisible work that God must perform. God must cut away your sin; He must wash away your sin. Those who belong in the covenant community should have God’s marking. They belong in the church. Are they necessarily saved? No. Judas was baptized but not saved. And yet the outward marking is a very important thing to God.

If you’re a member of this church by profession of faith in Christ or by way of your parents, that’s very good. You are in a good place. But you shouldn’t trust in the outward mark. The mark does not save, and it’s not even an absolute sign of salvation.

What good is it then? It tells us that God does the work of salvation, and we must trust in Him. The inward mark of God is faith. Without faith in Jesus – a faith of your own – eternal torment awaits you. But if you trust in Jesus, you can be rid of the enemy’s mark. Christ washes away the marking of sin, and rather than experiencing the wrathful presence of God, so you can live for God and experience the holy presence of God.

There’s one more warning in this section. It comes not from an angel but from “a voice from heaven.” It’s a call to endurance for those who rest in God’s grace and respond with obedience to His moral law. In other words, it’s a call to those who want to live for God.

John hears, “Write this: Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord from now on.” “Blessed indeed,” says the Spirit, “that they may rest from their labors, for their deeds follow them!” There’s a warning embedded here as well. It’s a warning to stay the course with God. It’s a warning to persevere with Him. We do that by enduring with patience. And patience doesn’t always come easy.

But in Galatians 5, Paul writes that patience is a fruit of the Holy Spirit. It’s something that God generates in His people. God produces it in us. How? As we embrace God’s holy purpose, and enjoy His holy pleasures, and experience His holy presence, we will endure with holy patience from God. He will see to it.

One thing about warnings, though, is that they are easily dismissed. It’s in our nature to ignore them. We think, “That doesn’t apply to me” or “I’ll do that later.” That’s the inner conflict we run into, even as Christians. To heed God’s warnings, we must do what the Bible calls “dying to self.”

But Paul says something very eye-opening about this. In Colossians 3, he tells the believers, “You have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God.” How is it that they have died? He sheds more light on this in Romans 6. He writes, “Are we to continue in sin that grace may abound? By no means! How can we who died to sin still live in it? Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life.”

That verse is sometimes used as a proof that the only right mode for baptism is full immersion. But logically, it can’t mean that, because Paul isn’t talking about water baptism. He’s not referring to every person who gets baptized in water because not every person who gets baptized is truly saved or will be saved. In Florence and the Pee Dee alone there are tons of people who have been baptized at some point in their lives but they aren’t born again. Paul is talking to those people who have been truly brought into relationship with Jesus Christ by the Holy Spirit.

They are the ones who have died with Christ, been buried with Him, and risen with Him. His point fits well to end this sermon: before you can live for God, you have to die with Him.

Have you trusted that the death of Jesus Christ for sins was your death for sins? Have you laid down your life to follow Him? Can you trust that the old you died with Jesus, and the new you rose with Him? You should believe it – because that is the gospel.

Heed God’s warnings – believe His Word – and live by faith for Him.

Let’s bow in prayer.