God Has The Last Word
GOD HAS THE LAST WORD
REVELATION 14:6-13
To the very end, men and women have the opportunity to hear the gospel and turn back to God.
It is probably best to see in 14:6-20 the climax of the vision of 12:1–14:5, and its inevitable outcome. The Victorian period with its frills and knick-knacks loved complication, and so many saw in the “eternal gospel” (14:6) a special and different one for the world after the rapture of the church. Today we are learning that God’s greatness is seen above all in a simplicity too great for humanity to grasp. The expression of the gospel at any time takes on a special form, for it should always be adapted to the circumstances of the hearers, but essentially it is eternal and unchangeable. A preaching of the cross that neglects the eternal sovereignty of God is always less than the gospel.
Here in the face of the apparent triumph of the beast the abiding sovereignty of God is proclaimed. This is reinforced by the fall of “Babylon” (14:8), both ecclesiastical and commercial, which means the humbling of human pride. So then the third call is for mental and spiritual revolt against the enthralment of the beast (14:9), which for so long had bedazzled people. True Christians do not and will not worship the beast. Those who have been misled and have worshiped him in ignorance are given the opportunity of repentance.
We tend to smile indulgently at the practice of “keeping up with the Joneses,” but we repeatedly fail to see what it hides. It puts what I have before what I am, and makes possessions the standard of judgment; it exalts the temporary above the eternal. It is the implicit rejection of all that Jesus’ life meant. When such people are faced with the realities of eternity, it means torment.
The last mile of the road, the last lap of the race, the last round of the fight, is always the hardest. The clear evidence that the systems of this world are breaking down and chaos is coming in will be the most taxing for the church. Even today, many feel that there should be rest rather than light at evening. It will be especially hard for those who die just as they think they can see the light of Christ’s return on the horizon. So there is a special word of encouragement for them (14:13).