In the old westerns everything was simple: the good guys wore white hats, the bad guys black ones. Yet young Haddon Robinson discovered that neither the world nor those in power divide so neatly, and that is exactly what Revelation speaks about (Revelation 12-14), where the same government can be God’s servant and a beast at the same time. The sermon reveals God’s surprising answer to evil, an answer that has nothing to do with the methods of politics. Listen and ask whether what you say about politics carries the voice of the Lamb or the voice of the beast.
Discussion questions
For your small group or for personal reflection after the sermon.
- In Revelation 13 the first beast receives its authority from the dragon, and the second has horns like a lamb but speaks like a dragon. What did these images tell the first readers about the emperor and the religion of Rome?
- In Romans 13 Paul calls the governing authority God's servant, while John in Revelation 13 describes the same empire as a beast. How do you understand this tension, and what does it say about every form of power?
- The sermon warns that Christians can soak up the language of politics and start speaking like the dragon. If someone listened to what you say or post about politics, whose voice would they hear?
- Worship was described as an act of rebellion against the beast, against evil and against our own ego. What does the story of North Korean believers singing silently by a single candle teach you?
- The sermon says politicians are not our saviors and law does not change hearts, the gospel does. Where do you sometimes look for rescue instead of looking to Jesus?
- This week, toward whom can you respond to evil using the King's methods: through worship, sharing the gospel, or caring for someone who has been wronged?
