The sermon of this post is from the YouTube site, MLJTrust.
Title of the sermon at MLJTrust: A sermon by Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones on The Suffering and Safety of the Redeemed https://www.mljtrust.org/sermons/grea…
The sermon is part of the playlist: Great Biblical Doctrines: • The Eternal Decrees of God (Remastered)
My brief intro:
This teaching by MLJ, on the book of Revelation is very unlike the dispensationalist presentation of Revelation that we are so used to hearing by famous teachers in our midst. In a recent post herein, MLJ talked about Daniel 9. He explained Daniel’s vision of the 70 weeks…. If you heard that sermon, then you heard him address dispensationalist teaching, as having begun in 1830, propagated by Darby and others…. MLJ did not identify that teaching as dispensationalism, but he was in fact comparing it to the biblical Christianity and suggesting that it was erroneous.
This sermon is difficult to listen to because of its poor quality. It is somewhat like listening to someone talk at dinner in a restaurant, there is a background conversation. But we can all do that, so it is just a matter of realizing that the content is very worth hearing and that will make it possible to hear it through.
I have never heard anyone talk about the book of Revelation as he did in this sermon. Since I greatly respect his intellect and his faithfulness to God and the Bible, I listened through.
I am not relying on his great reputation in writing the above; I recently listened through his 23-part series on Spiritual Depression a couple of times; and this current series which, as they are still putting it together is about 50 sermons presently. I think he presents the Bible better than any preacher I have heard during my 20 years of studying the Bible….
Sermon Description [by MLJTrust]:
Symbolism is a regular part of life. Symbolism and pictures are used in language every day in order to help people better understand what they are trying to say.
In this sermon titled “The Suffering and the Safety of the Redeemed,” Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones helps the listener better understand symbolism and the general themes of Revelation. This type of poetic language is everywhere in the book of Revelation, and it can sometimes be difficult to understand. Many of the symbols in this book are repeated, and Dr. Lloyd-Jones points out that this is a type of parallelism.
He sees the book as divided into two main divisions with various subsections.
The first division is about the struggle of Christ and the church against unbelievers, while the second is regarding the struggle of Christ and the church against the devil. The battle between God and Satan, says Dr. Lloyd-Jones, is the ultimate battle, and this battle is most clearly represented through Scripture in Revelation.
The purpose of this book is to unfold the glory of the Lord’s triumph. Through its symbolism, this book serves as a beautiful reminder to the believer of the joys to come at the end of time, but also a solemn warning to those who do not believe in Christ.
Sermon Breakdown [by MLJTrust]:
- The sermon is divided into 7 sections with parallelism and repetition. The 7 sections can be grouped into 2 big divisions – chapters 1-11 and chapters 12-22.
- Chapters 1-3 show Jesus among the churches. The 7 churches represent the whole state of the Christian church.
- Chapters 4-5 show the throne room of God and Jesus as the Lamb who is worthy to open the scroll. Jesus is in control of history.
- The opening of the seals in chapters 6-7 show what happens to Christians throughout history:
- The white horse represents the spread of the Gospel.
- The red horse represents persecution and martyrdom of Christians.
- The black horse represents poverty and economic hardship for Christians.
- The pale horse represents death through wars and violence.
- The souls under the altar cry out “How long?” representing the suffering of Christians.
- The 6th seal shows judgment on the persecutors of Christians.
Chapter 7 shows that God will seal and protect his people before final judgment comes. The 144,000 represent the complete number of Christians from all ages.
- The book of Revelation shows the struggle between Christ and the church against evil powers, especially in chapters 12-22. But it also shows the final triumph of Christ and his people.
- The book of Revelation speaks to Christians of all ages because all ages have experienced suffering and persecution. It is a spiritual book that helps us live day to day.