“Finding Security in God Alone” (Rev 6:12-17)

Shelter in the Time of Storm
D. L. Moody, the man of God, made the resolution, shortly after he himself was saved, that he would never let 24 hours pass over his head without speaking to at least one person about his soul. One night he got home late and went to bed. Then, he realized that he had not spoken to a soul that day about accepting Jesus. He said to himself, “Well, it is no good getting up now; there will be nobody on the street at this hour of night.” But anyway, he got up, dressed and went to the front door. It was pouring rain. He said, “Oh, there will be no one out in this pouring rain.” Just then he heard a man’s footsteps as he came down the street, holding an umbrella over his head. Then, Mr. Moody darted out and rushed up to the man and said: “May I share the shelter of your umbrella?” “Certainly,” the man replied. Then, Mr. Moody said, “Do you have any shelter in the time of storm?” and preached Jesus to him.[1]

When the World Collapses 
Let me ask you the same question, “Do you have any shelter in the time of storm?” The main point of today’s passage is this: There is no security, no firm ground to stand on, nothing in the universe to depend on except God himself. The rest of creation will pass away. As we explore the Book of Revelation, we need to remember that the visions in Revelation are symbolic, not literal. In verses 12-14 John sees six parts of the cosmos destroyed: earth, sun, moon, stars, heaven, and “every mountain and island.” Who can even imagine that the sun would become black as ink, moon all bloody, stars falling out of the sky? This vision tells us that even the sun, moon, stars, mountains, and basically every creation on earth are temporary, passing away, wearing out. There is no security. There is nothing in this world to depend on. If we put this vision in our everyday language, it’s something like: “Do not put your security in anything that is temporary. You can lose your money, your job, your health, your reputation, your spouse, your family, and even your mind. But you cannot lose your relationship to God eternal. Put your security in God, God alone.”

In Psalm 62 David sings, “For God alone my soul waits in silence, for my hope is from him. He alone is my rock and my salvation, my fortress; I shall not be shaken!” (6) David lived a difficult life. Because of his affair with Bathsheba, David had to accept the consequences of sin: the sword never left his house. There was a rape and murder between his children. Absalom, one of his sons, even claimed the throne for himself. But as he was going through all these trials, he learned to trust God. He learned to find security in God alone. So David exhorts the people of Israel and us today, “Trust in him at all times, O People; pour out your heart before him; God is a refuge for us” (8) Yes, God alone is our security.

The Wicked and The Righteous
Now we move on to next vision. From the next vision we learn what it means to put our security in God. Now in verses 15-17 John sees six classes of humanity who are hiding themselves from God’s presence and about to be judged: kings, great ones, rulers of thousands, the rich, the powerful, and “every slave and free man.” Though these six groups of people are diverse, they have one thing in common: they are those who live as they see fit. They are those who do whatever seems right in their own eyes (cf. Jg 17:6).

In Psalms they are called, “the wicked.” In particular, Psalm 1 tells us there are two ways of life – the way of the righteous and the way of the wicked. The righteous are those who love God, treasure His word and order their lives according to His word. In contrast, the wicked are those who don’t love God, don’t take God seriously and thus disregard His word. The psalmist says the wicked are like chaff. What is chaff? Chaff has no substance. It has no root. It constantly moves around wherever the wind blows. So do the wicked! They easily move with the times. They easily jump on the bandwagon. They live a wind-driven life like chaff. They go wherever they want. They do whatever they want. They love to consider themselves “free spirit.” But in reality, they are constantly swayed by the wind. They may be successful and great before people, but before God they will be blown away life chaff. And in the final judgment they will not stand.

The righteous are not so. They delight in the word of God. I love the word “delight.” In the Old Testament the word delight is used of a man delighting in a woman. I still remember the times when I had a date with Joyce. I was so excited. At that time I was busy with preparing to study abroad. So I had a heavy schedule. But because I delighted in Joyce, I rearranged all my schedules, all my priorities, so that suddenly I had plenty of time to spend with her. I did that not because I had to, but because I got to. Now let me ask you: Do you delight in God’s word in that sense? Do you set aside time and rearrange your priorities to spend in the word because you delight in it? Do you have your devotional time because you have to or because you get to?

Not only do the righteous delight in the word of God, but also they mediate on it day and night. The word “meditation” in Hebrew means to speak or to mutter. So meditating on the word of God day and night means to speak to yourself the word of God day and night and to speak to yourself about it. Meditating on the word of God day and night is like digesting food: chewing on the word, letting the word become part of you. As we mediate on the word day and night, our minds and hearts are being shaped by God. As we mediate on the word day and night, we become like sturdy trees, planted by streams of living water, yielding the fruit in its season.

Wonderful Words of Life
So how do we put our security in God? By delighting in and mediating on the word of God! Let me give you one example to encourage you and spur you more meditation and more delight. Here is the testimony of George Muller:[2]

Before this time my practice had been, at least for ten years previously, as a habitual thing, to give myself to prayer, after having dressed in the morning. Now I saw, that the most important thing I had to do was to give myself to the reading of the Word of God and to meditation on it, that thus my heart might be comforted, encouraged, warned, reproved, instructed.

The first thing I did, after having asked in a few words the Lord's blessing upon His precious Word, was to begin to meditate on the Word of God, searching, as it were, into every verse, to get blessing out of it; not for the sake of the public ministry of the Word; not for the sake of preaching on what I had meditated upon, but for the sake of obtaining food for my own soul. The result I have found to be almost invariably this, that after a very few minutes my soul has been led to confession, or to thanksgiving, or to intercession, or to supplication; so that though I did not, as it were, give myself to prayer, but to meditation, yet it turned almost immediately more or less into prayer.

And yet now, since God has taught me this point, it is as plain to me as anything that the first thing the child of God has to do morning by morning is to obtain food for his inner man… and after having now above forty years tried this way, I can most fully in the fear of God, commend it. How different when the soul is refreshed and made happy early in the morning, from what it is when, without spiritual preparation, the service, the trials, and the temptations of the day come upon one!

Psalm 1:6 summarizes today’s passage, Revelation 6:12-17, in essence: “For the Lord watches over the way of the righteous, but the way of the wicked will perish.” Jesus said, “Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will never pass away” (Matt 24:35). Friends in Christ, let us put our security in God and His word alone. May the Lord increase your desire for His word and enable you to delight in it and meditate on it day and night!

Sing them over again to me,

Wonderful words of life,

Let me more of their beauty see,

Wonderful words of life;

Words of life and beauty

Teach me faith and duty.

Beautiful words, wonderful words,

Wonderful words of life;

Beautiful words, wonderful words,

Wonderful words of life.

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[1] R. A. Torrey, Why God Used D. L. Moody (Billy Graham Center, 2005), 38-40.
[2] John Piper, “Delighting in the Law of God,” https://www.desiringgod.org/messages/delighting-in-the-law-of-god

“How Long?” (Revelation 6:9-11)

If I Could Have Seen the Shore…

Florence Chadwick was an American swimmer who was the first woman ever to cross the 21-mile-wide English Channel both ways. But on July 4, 1952, Chadwick attempted something never done before. She had set her goal to swim the 26 miles between Catalina Island and the California coastline. As she began this historical journey and had spent about fifteen hours swimming, a thick, heavy fog set in. All she could see was a wall of fog. Chadwick was afraid she was swimming in circles, and began to lose hope. Finally, in desperation, she did something she’d never done before. She asked her safety crew to pull her into the boat. She was done. But then, Chadwick soon discovered that she had stopped swimming less than half a mile away. At a news conference the next day she said, “All I could see was the fog.…I think if I could have seen the shore, I would have made it.”

Fog of Life

Can you relate to Chadwick’s words? Have you ever got so tired and weary because you don’t see the shore? Have you ever felt like you just wanted to give up because you don’t have the strength to stay afloat any longer? The truth is that sooner or later everyone of us in this room gets tested by the fog of life. At some point of our life some of us have to go through a fog of worry and depression. Some a fog of unemployment. Some a fog of financial uncertainty. Some a fog of difficult relationships. And all of us eventually have to go through a fog of disruptive moment of aging, health problems, and loss of loved ones. As we are lost in the fog of life, where can we find a source of strength to stay afloat and keep moving forward?

Martyrs and White Robes

This question is actually raised by our spiritual ancestors. In today’s passage (v. 9) we meet the saints who had been slain for their faith in Christ Jesus. In the immediate context they refer to literal martyrs, but in the broader context they also represent “all saints” who suffer for the sake of their faith. And they ask God, “How long, O God? How long do we have to wait until you judge and avenge our blood?” Still today, all faithful Christians who want to live a godly life meet all kinds of opposition and a lot of trouble. There’s no exception. There’s no getting around it (cf. 2 Tim 3:12 MSG). But as we meet life challenges – storms and fog of life, we get weary and reach the point that we just want to give up, because we don’t see the shore. We don’t find hope and strength. And we ask, “How long?” There is our desire behind the question. Our longing is that somehow God would come quickly to fix problems and end suffering and evil in our lives.

But God’s ways, God’s thoughts are different. Instead of providing a quick fix, God gives himself. He gives his presence as a source of strength and hope. In verse 11 each of the saints is given a “white robe.” And they are told to rest a little longer until God’s time fully comes. Here a white robe symbolizes a new status in Christ. In ancient Israel (and even today) clothing often shows our status – who we are. For example, if someone wears a military uniform, we know he or she is a serviceperson. In the same way, in the Bible if someone wears a white robe, that person is considered holy and pure. In Revelation 7:13 one of the elders asks John, “Who are these people wearing white robes?” John says, “Sir, you know.” Then, he says to John, “These are the people who are coming out of the great suffering. They have washed their robes in the blood of the Lamb and made them white.” In other words, white robes are God’s gift for those who endure and suffer for their faith in Christ. White robes represent our new identity, new being, new status, new affections and wills in Christ. White robes represent our union (oneness) with Christ. So, when we struggle and suffer, when we are lost in the fog of life, instead of pulling us out into the boat, Jesus gives us himself, so that we may find rest and strength in him to finish the race.

Before Jesus ascended to heaven, his disciples asked, “Lord, is this the time for you to free Israel and restore our kingdom?” Here the disciples were saying, “Lord, I am tired and weary. I just want to skip this part of life and get to the end and see God’s glory now.” But basically, what Jesus said to them is this: “You don’t get to know the time. Timing is the Father’s business. But what you’ll get, what you’ll need is the Holy Spirit. When the Holy Spirit comes on you, you will be able to keep going and finish your race strongly.”

In the Garden

When storms come and a thick fog sets in, what we need most is Jesus – His Word, His Spirit, His Presence. At one Christian Conference a Chinese pastor who had spent 18 years in prison for his faith gave his testimony. The authorities in the camp put him to the hardest and dirtiest work – emptying the human waste cesspool, because they knew he was a pastor and a Christian. But they didn’t know in those years how he actually enjoyed working there. In the labor camp all the prisoners were under strict surveillance 24/7 and no one could be alone. But when the pastor worked in the cesspool, he could enjoy the solitude. He could be alone and could pray and sing to the Lord as loudly as he needed. The guards kept a long way off because of the strong stench. One of his most favorite was “In the Garden.” He always liked this hymn, but he didn’t realize the real meaning of this hymn until he worked in the cesspool. There, he knew and discovered a wonderful fellowship with Jesus. Again and again he sang this hymn and felt Christ’s real presence with him:

I come to the garden alone

While the dew is still on the roses;

And the voice I hear falling on my ear;

The Son of God discloses.

And he walks with me, and he talks with me,

And he tells me I am his own,

And the joy we share as we tarry there

None other has ever known.

The pastor said, “Again and again as I sang this hymn in the cesspool, I experienced the Lord’s presence. He never left me or forsook me. And so I survived and the cesspool became my private garden.”[1]

Seeing the Light of God through the Fog of Life

As I close, I want to go back to the story of Florence Chadwick. Two months later, Chadwick stepped off the Catalina shore once again. The same thick fog set in, but this time was different. She swam from Catalina Island to the shore of California in a straight path for 26 miles. She made it because she said that while she swam, she kept a mental image of the shoreline in her mind. Although she couldn’t visually see the shore, she never lost sight of the shore in her mind. For Christians, that shore is a person called Jesus. That shore is a private garden where we have a sweet fellowship with Jesus. Are you weary and tired? Are you lost in the fog of life? Come to the garden alone every morning. And you will hear the voice of the Son of God saying, “Arise, my love, my fair one, and come away with me!” (Sg 2:10) There he will walk with you, and talk with you. There you will see the light of God through the fog of life. Amen.

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[1] Gordon MacDonald, The Life God Blesses: Weathering the Storms of Life That Threaten the Soul (Thomas Nelson, 1997), 226.