Why Christians must fight on against the devil's calls to surrender
Revelation 22:12-21
The Siege of Bastogne, December 20–27, 1944. One of the great battles of World War Two.
German armour and infantry, in their last offensive gasp, attempted to divide and cripple the Allied forces on the Western Front by driving across the Ardennes forest to the main Allied supply port at Antwerp. This was the Battle of the Bulge, and German success depended on taking the vital crossroads at Bastogne.
They surrounded the American soldiers there, outnumbering them more than two to one. They bombarded them night and day with tanks, mortars, and artillery. The deep snow and bare birch trees of deep-midwinter Ardennes formed the dramatic backdrop to the violence.
On the third day, General von Lüttwitz called on the American commander, one-star General McAuliffe, to surrender:
To the U.S.A. Commander of the encircled town of Bastogne.
The fortune of war is changing. This time the U.S.A. forces in and near Bastogne have been encircled by strong German armoured units....
There is only one possibility to save the encircled U.S.A. troops from total annihilation: that is the honourable surrender of the encircled town. In order to think it over a term of two hours will be granted beginning with the presentation of this note.
If this proposal should be rejected one German Artillery Corps and six heavy A. A. Battalions are ready to annihilate the U.S.A. troops in and near Bastogne. The order for firing will be given immediately after this two hours term.
All the serious civilian losses caused by this artillery fire would not correspond with the well-known American humanity.
The German Commander.
McAuliffe’s reply is legendary:
To the German Commander.
NUTS!
The American Commander.
Imagine the head-scratching among the German commanders as they tried to make sense of this obscure American idiom.
The cheeky “you-know-what-you-can-do-with-your-surrender” arrogance of McAuliffe’s response was grounded in his contempt for the Nazis, and the certainty that General Patton and his mighty Third Army were well on the way to help.
American troops held on for five days until the promised relief arrived.
It’s an inspiring story. I picture those American troops, low on ammunition and food, hungry, hell-freezing cold, outgunned, under constant bombardment, facing at every minute a powerful enemy bent on annihilating them.
Their job was to hold fast, to hang on until the irresistible might of the Third Army arrived.
This was the first readers of Revelation. They too faced a violent enemy, and held out day after day under siege and attack, struggling and suffering, longing for relief.
This is the church of every age.
And to the church then and now Jesus has made a great promise.
Revelation 22:12 “Look, I am coming soon! My reward is with me, and I will give to each person according to what they have done.”
This promise, with verse 20, bookends this final section.
Suffering Christians, holding on under violent attack, are to look up, expectant, eager, and ready for the return of Christ.
Let’s look more closely at the One who is coming soon:
Revelation 22:13 I am the Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last, the Beginning and the End.
This is a threefold emphatic way of saying exactly the same thing. Jesus is the uncreated and eternal one. Jesus was there at the beginning of creation, and he will return to wrap up this age.
In fact, “By him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things were created by him and for him” (Col 1:16).
He is the most important person in the universe. It is a monumental mistake and tragedy, an awful perversion, to try to live life without knowing Him, and without wanting to know him.
To be severed from him is to be separated from your Creator, the Light of the World, the Bread of Life, the great I AM.
He will judge us on the Last Day. He will determine our final and eternal destiny in heaven or in hell. So it is vital that we receive him and wash away our sins in his blood.
Revelation 22:14-15 “Blessed are those who wash their robes, that they may have the right to the tree of life and may go through the gates into the city. Outside are the dogs, those who practice magic arts, the sexually immoral, the murderers, the idolaters and everyone who loves and practices falsehood.
Washing refers back to Revelation 7:14, to Christians who have “come out of the great tribulation; they have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.”
Our “robes” represent our moral condition, our standing with God. By nature our robes are stained and filthy with sin and vileness. Even our best deeds are tainted with pride and greed, “all our righteous acts are like filthy rags” (Isa 64:6).
There’s only one way to become clean, and that is to wash our clothes in the Lamb’s blood. Only his death can make us righteous in God’s sight. His death alone brings salvation from sin.
“I resolved to know nothing while I was with you except Jesus Christ and him crucified” (1Co 2:2). This has been my email tagline for twelve years now. This is what I stand for. I aim to make this the foundation and focus of every sermon, every Bible study, every pastoral encounter. It expresses the constant reminder and reset that we need, for how easily we stray from the Gospel. Even Peter began to forget! (Gal 2:11-14)
There are those who do not want to be washed from sin. They want to stay as they are and persist with their sorcery, sexual immorality, murder and hatred, idolatry, and lies.
These will have no place in the Heavenly City. “No one who lives in him keeps on sinning. No one who continues to sin has either seen him or known him” (1Jo 3:6).
Revelation 22:16 “I, Jesus, have sent my angel to give you this testimony for the churches. I am the Root and the Offspring of David, and the bright Morning Star.”
Everything we have heard and learnt from the book of Revelation has come from the mouth of Jesus. He is the great Promised King, the offspring of David who rules over all nations for all time.
Isaiah 11:10 In that day the Root of Jesse will stand as a banner for the peoples; the nations will rally to him, and his place of rest will be glorious.
He is the Morning Star. This refers back to a promise made to Israel right back in Numbers 24:17 as they struggled to survive against the sheer numbers and violence of the pagan Moabites. “A star will come out of Jacob; a sceptre will rise out of Israel. He will crush the foreheads of Moab, the skulls of all the sons of Sheth.” (This in turn refers back to the Genesis 3:15 Protoevangelium, “He will crush your head, and you will strike his heel.”)
The rising of the Morning Star heralds and guarantees that night is coming to an end, and that day is about to begin. It is about certain hope.
How do we respond?
Revelation 22:17 The Spirit and the bride say, “Come!” And let the one who hears say, “Come!” Let the one who is thirsty come; and let the one who wishes take the free gift of the water of life.
One of the great Netflix surprises of 2018 was American Gospel, the documentary written and directed by Brandon Kimber. I encourage all Christians to watch it, if only because it makes so clear what the Gospel is and is not.
The Gospel is not about us stepping forward into “our best life now.” The Gospel is not about “my passion for Jesus.” The Gospel is not “learn to live this new and victorious life.” The Gospel is not acquisitiveness.
The Gospel is: “You are dead in your sins, but Christ has died for your sins, and risen to give you new life.”
One of the presenters, (was it Bryan Chapell?) reminds us that a euangellion was an announcement of a military victory. There you are in your city. A powerful enemy approaches to pillage and rape. You send your army across the horizon to engage and destroy them. After five days a messenger runs back to the city from the battlefield: “Our army has won! The enemy is destroyed! We're saved!” Hearing that euangellion, that Good News, you are keenly aware that the victory was won for you, apart from you, and without you. The Good News is that others have done what you could not do and have saved you.
That is the Gospel. Jesus Christ went to the cross for us, apart from us, without us, and won for us a salvation that we could never have secured for ourselves.
This salvation blessing is described here as a River of Life.
The Holy Spirit calls us to the River of Life. The Bride, the church through the ages, calls us to the River of Life. Everyone who hears and understands these words calls us to the River of Life.
Are you thirsty for light, eternal life, forgiveness, cleansing, reconciliation, the new heaven and earth, salvation? Come and drink from the water of life. It is free!
Isaiah 55:1 Come, all you who are thirsty, come to the waters; and you who have no money, come, buy and eat! Come, buy wine and milk without money and without cost.
Romans 3:24 We are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus.
Romans 8:32 He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all—how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things?
Ephesians 2:8 For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God.
Back to Revelation 22:
Revelation 22:18-19 I warn everyone who hears the words of the prophecy of this scroll: If anyone adds anything to them, God will add to that person the plagues described in this scroll. And if anyone takes words away from this scroll of prophecy, God will take away from that person any share in the tree of life and in the Holy City, which are described in this scroll.
Here is a warning that applies specifically and proximately to the book of Revelation, but which applies generally and ultimately to all Scripture.
The Scripture is from Christ and so it is perfect. How arrogant to think that it can be supplemented or improved. Or that there are certain parts that can be removed, skipped over, or obscured?
This is to put ourselves above the author. This is to mar the text, and to obscure it from others.
Back at the beginning of 2009, in my first sermon at Cornerstone, I preached from Mark 6:34, “When Jesus landed and saw a large crowd, he had compassion on them, because they were like sheep without a shepherd. So he began teaching them many things.”
Jesus showed us that what the church most desperately needs is his teaching. I promised in that first sermon to always teach his Word, to teach to the best of my ability “many things” from the lips of Jesus.
This is what every church must demand and insist from their pastors. And every church must, as my church has done, give their pastors the time and resources to do this.
Revelation 22:20-21 He who testifies to these things says, “Yes, I am coming soon.” Amen. Come, Lord Jesus. The grace of the Lord Jesus be with God’s people. Amen.
These are the final words of Revelation and of the Bible. They express an urgent longing for the return of Christ. Maranatha! “Our Lord, Come!” This should be our natural greeting to one another (1Co 16:22). It should spring from our hearts.
See how the Bible ends with urgent reliance on the grace of Christ. Grace is the Gospel. We are saved by grace. This is the beginning, middle, and end of Scripture, and of the Christian faith.
You must know grace. You must find grace.
In this time of siege and struggle, surrounded by a powerful and deadly enemy, Satan calls us to surrender. “Stand down. Give in. Stop fighting and your life will be so much easier.”
But Christ is coming soon. He is the Alpha and Omega, the Bright Morning Star. We have washed our robes in his blood. We have drunk from the River of Life. We are righteous in his sight. We bear his living words.
So when Satan calls for surrender there’s only one thing to say. “NUTS!”
Hang on. Stand firm. Fight on. Christ is coming soon.