God is ultimately sovereign over evil. Satan can do nothing apart from divine permission. Suffering is always used to fulfill divine purposes. Men and women are morally responsible for evil. God will save men and women who trust in him and live for another world. In this message on Revelation 6–7, Pastor David Platt reminds Christians that we will stand in heaven at the end of tribulation.
God is ultimately sovereign over evil. Satan can do nothing apart from divine permission. Suffering is always used to fulfill divine purposes. Men and women are morally responsible for evil. God will save men and women who trust in him and live for another world. In this message on Revelation 6–7, Pastor David Platt reminds Christians that we will stand in heaven at the end of tribulation.
You are listening to Radical with David Platt, a weekly podcast with sermons and messages from Pastor, author and Teacher, david Platt, revelation 6-1-8-1.
Speaker 2:Now I watched when the Lamb opened one of the seven seals and I heard one of the four living creatures say with a voice like thunder Come. And I looked and behold a white horse and its rider had a bow and a crown was given to him and he came out conquering and to conquer. When he opened the second seal, I heard the second living creature say Come.
Speaker 3:An out came another horse, bright red. Its rider was permitted to take peace from the earth so that people should slay one another, and he was given a great sword. When he opened the third seal, I heard the third living creature say Come.
Speaker 4:And I looked and behold a black horse and its rider had a pair of skulls in his hand and I heard what seemed to be a voice in the midst of the four living creatures saying A quart of wheat for a denarius and three quarts of barley for a denarius. And do not harm the oil and wine.
Speaker 3:When he opened the fourth seal, I heard the voice of the fourth living creature say Come. And I looked and behold a pale horse and its rider's name was death. And Hades followed him. And they were given authority over a fourth of the earth to kill with sword and with famine and with pestilence and by wild beasts of the earth.
Speaker 4:When he opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of those who had been slain for the word of God and for the witness they had borne. They cried out with a loud voice O sovereign Lord, holy and true, how long before you will judge and avenge our blood on those who dwell on the earth? Then they were each given a white robe and told to rest a little longer until the number of their fellow servants and their brothers should be complete, who were to be killed, as they themselves had been.
Speaker 2:When he opened the sixth seal, I looked and behold there was a great earthquake and the sun became black as sackcloth. The full moon became like blood and the stars of the sky fell to the earth as the fig tree sheds its winter fruit. When shaken by a gill, the sky vanished like a scroll that is being rolled up, and every mountain and island was removed from its place. Then the kings of the earth and the great ones and the generals and the rich and the powerful and everyone, slave and free, hid themselves in the caves and among the rocks of the mountains, calling to the mountains and rocks fallen us and hide us from the face of him who was seated on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb, for the great day of their wrath has come. And who can stand?
Speaker 4:After this, I saw four angels standing at the four corners of the earth, holding back the four winds of the earth, that no wind might blow on earth or sea or against any tree. Then I saw another angel ascending from the rising of the sun with the seal of the living God, and he called with a loud voice to the four angels who had been given power to harm earth and sea, saying Do not harm the earth or the sea or the trees until we have sealed the servants of our God on their foreheads.
Speaker 3:And I heard the number of the sealed 144,000, sealed from every tribe with the sons of Israel 12,000 from the tribe of Judah were sealed, 12,000 from the tribe of Reuben, 12,000 from the tribe of Gad, 12,000 from the tribe of Asher 12,000 from the tribe of Neftali, 12,000 from the tribe of Manasseh, 12,000 from the tribe of Simeon, 12,000 from the tribe of Levi 12,000 from the tribe of Issachar, 12,000 from the tribe of Joseph, 12,000 from the tribe of Benjamin were sealed.
Speaker 2:After this, I looked and behold a great multitude that no one could number, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed in white robes, with palm branches in their hands and crying out with a loud voice salvation belongs to our God, who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb.
Speaker 3:And all the angels were standing around the throne and around the elders and the four living creatures, and they fell on their faces before the throne and worshiped God seeing Amen, blessing and glory and wisdom and thanksgiving and honor and power and might be to our God forever and ever.
Speaker 4:Amen. Then one of the elders addressed me saying who are these clothed in white robes and from where have they come? I said to him, sir, you know, and he said to me these are the ones coming out of the great tribulation. They have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.
Speaker 3:Therefore, they are before the throne of God and serve him day and night in his temple, and he who sits on the throne will shelter them with his presence.
Speaker 4:They shall hunger no more, neither thirst any more.
Speaker 3:The sun shall not strike them, nor any scorching heat, for the Lamb in the midst of the throne will be their shepherd, and he will guide them to springs of living water, and God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.
Speaker 2:When the Lamb opened the seventh seal, there was silence in heaven for about half an hour.
Speaker 1:What a text. So do you have a Bible? And I hope you do. Maybe you've already got it pulled out, but I invite you to open with me to Revelation, chapter 6. Revelation, chapter 6, where when controversy really begins to come to the front in the book of Revelation. So these first few chapters that we have dove into, interpretation is fairly unified. Chapter 1, a glorious picture of Christ and of the gospel. Chapters 2 and 3, letters to seven churches. That certainly applied to those churches in the first century and to churches of all centuries, of all time. Chapters 4 and 5, we looked at last week this glorious picture of God on the throne, the lion-like Lamb who has conquered sin by being slain for us on a cross, taking the scroll that unfolds God's plans for redemptive history from the Father's hand. He has authority to bring it to pass, to bring to pass the consummation of the kingdom of God into the world. But then you get to chapter 6 and as the seals of this scroll begin to break, we begin to diverge in a variety of different interpretations of large and small details in the book of Revelation. So take just the first two versions of chapter 6, for example. Look at chapter 6, verse 1. John says now I watched when the Lamb opened one of the seven seals. Now pause right there. And let's realize there are some commentators, bible-believing, faithful gospel preachers, who would say that by this time the church has been raptured, is off the scene, has been taken into heaven. And Revelation 6, all the way to Revelation chapter 19, is describing a specific period of tribulation, usually described as seven years, that occurs between the first taking up the church into heaven and in the beginning of a thousand year millennial reign in Revelation chapter 20. So we could pause at this point where we're like ten words in Revelation chapter 6. So we could have hours of debate over who's actually here in this scene. Is the church in heaven, the church walking on earth in the middle of this tribulation? So then you get to verse 2 and John says I looked and behold a white horse and its rider had a bow. And we could stop there because interpretations abound over who the rider on the white horse is. Some believe that this is Jesus, because we see Jesus later on a white horse. Others believe that this is symbolic to the proclamation of the gospel among the nations. Then other people believe this is a picture of a demonic agent or a sin that leads to conquest or warfare on the earth. So the first commentary I read this week when I got to that point in my study I was looking at some different commentaries said that this rider was Jesus and commentary made what I thought was a pretty persuasive argument that this was Jesus. Then the next commentary that I read just totally refuted that argument and persuaded me in a whole different direction. And on and on I went with different commentaries and finally, when I got to a point where I was like, okay, I think this is it, I remember one commentary that I still hadn't read so I picked it up I shouldn't have picked it up because it offered an entirely different interpretation and all the others combined and I just threw it up in the air and I thought I'm never going to get this. And I was reminded at that point that we must approach this book, the book of Revelation, with a proper humility, and this is key. The variety of interpretations when it comes to the book of Revelation should drive us always drive us to humility and never drive us to despair. Let me explain what I mean. Difficulties and disagreements about the book of Revelation should never drive us to despair. We should never think, ah, no one really knows all the answers here, because someone knows all the answers, he wrote the book. So God does know all the answers and he has made some things abundantly clear in Revelation and the entire Bible Christ is going to come back for his people. He is going to usher in the consummation of the kingdom of God, where we are going to reign with Christ and enjoy the presence of God in a new heaven and a new earth forever and ever. So there's no reason for despair. We know these things. But there is reason for humility as we try to discern how kingdom consummation is actually going to come about. So a couple of basic reminders that I put to top your notes, that we talked about before, especially the first week. We started our study in the book of Revelation and if you weren't able to listen to that sermon, let me encourage you to go back, because we laid some fundamental foundations at that point. But I want to remind you of a couple of basic things. First, concerning the church, we talked in week one about how, in the church, when it comes to essentials in our faith, there must be unity, an essentials unity meaning that in order to be the church, we have to be unified around certain truths, essential truths. We believe in God the Father, god the Son and God the Holy Spirit. We believe that salvation is by grace alone, through faith alone in Christ alone. We believe in the substitutionary atonement of Christ. We believe that faith in Christ is necessary for salvation, and so on. There are essentials that I hope, I trust, we would die for. You find yourself in a foreign government where you are told to deny these truths or die. You and I take death every time as Christians, because these truths are central to our lives now and forever. So in essentials, we have unity, yet in non-essentials, our goal, our focus, our value is liberty. So there are many things, theological and practical, that the Bible speaks to in different ways, that are not essential. They're not at the same level as the essential things I just mentioned. So practical things like somebody's view of alcohol or a certain view of schooling, or theological things like interpreting the book of Revelation or the Millennium, these are not essential for unity in the body of Christ. There's room for liberty, for freedom of different thoughts and different convictions on these things, and we've got to make sure to maintain that it's good for us to have convictions, even to have strong convictions about non-essential things, but we need to realize that not every single issue is of equal importance. So we approach revelation humbly, knowing that even in this room tonight there are different people with different views on different things, and we leave room for that, we leave liberty for that, for good, healthy discussion of these things and never for division over these things. I would go so far tonight as to say that it is sin. It would be sin for you and I to divide fellowship in the body of Christ over something like a view of alcohol or a view of schooling, or a view of how to interpret revelation or the millennium, the end times. So with that reminder concerning the church, I humbly moved into a couple of reminders regarding revelation that some of you might disagree with. So I'm gonna just set that up from the start. We approach revelation six and seven tonight. I wanna help you think about how revelation is arranged Up to this point. We've seen seven letters Tonight, we're gonna see seven seals. Next week we're gonna read about seven trumpets and seven bowls, and so on and so on to the end of the book, and it seems that these series of events are arranged in cycles more than they're arranged according to chronology. So the arrangement of revelation seems cyclical, not chronological, meaning Revelation is not intended to be read as a day by day account of how the kingdom of God is going to unfold in the future in the world. One thing happening after another chronologically. If you try to read chapter six through 22 as a chronological order of events, it's going to get really confusing. Chapter six and seven are a good example of this. Chapter six ends with total devastation across the earth in the sixth seal. I mean the world completely falling apart. But then when you get to the start of chapter seven, you see a vision where everything is great on the earth. So you know that this didn't happen right after the end of chapter six. Then at the end of chapter seven you see a vision where you have all the saints in heaven worshiping God the consummation of the kingdom. But then we get to chapter eight. Next week it's gonna look like we're starting all over again with some of the stuff we see tonight in chapter six. So when you read through this, think cycles or spirals that repeat and reinforce each other. Each cycle, whether it's seven bowls or seven trumpets or seven seals, describe similar themes, similar events, from different perspectives, in different ways, and they all build in each other. So the visions and revelation gradually build toward a climactic consummation. They don't just say the same thing over and over again. Instead, they build on each other. Each one intensifies different truths and different themes that we've seen in the others. They add different details to emphasize different things, so that we get a comprehensive picture of the coming of God's kingdom into the world. One writer I appreciate the way he put it. He said the unity of John's book is not chronological but artistic, like that of a musical theme with variations, each variation adding something new to the significance of the whole composition. So just imagine the progression of a symphony. It's repeating, reinforcing, but building and building and building toward a climatic. Now the big question that so much in Revelation revolves around is timing and in a general way, we know that the timing of Revelation involves the last days. The timing of Revelation involves the last days and this tonight is the only point, probably the entire point, only point in this entire series where I am going to give you a definite date concerning the end times. So some of you have been looking for dates, had your charts ready, so pull them out. I'm gonna give you a date tonight that I am convinced of for the beginning of the end times and the last days. You might want to write this down, because this is a date you want to mark on your calendar. I am firmly convinced, after studying Revelation place, the New Testament, that I can pinpoint the beginning of the last days within a couple of years. You gotta give me a little bit of leeway. The beginning of the last days I'm convinced I can pinpoint within a couple of years. You ready? I'm gonna give you a date Sometime around 30 AD, when a crucified man named Jesus rose from the dead, walked out of a tomb. Days later, the spirit of God was poured out on the earth, where God is asserting his rule and his reign through his church. The last days began and we are in those last days now. So we're in this and some of you may be a little disappointed, but don't be disappointed. This is good news. This is good news. We live in this period of redemptive history. Where has the kingdom of God come? Well, yes, the kingdom of God has come. The kingdom of God has come in Christ. He's conquered sin and death and the grave. We know the end of the story. Satan has a defeated foe. We're not waiting to find out. Is he gonna win? No, we know who wins, because the kingdom of God has come in Christ At the same time. Is the kingdom of God coming? Yes, both in, because we know there's coming a day when Christ is going to return and assert fully and finally his rule and reign in a new heaven and a new earth. So we're living in between the times and these are the last days that we are in. Now we have all kinds of debates about what happens during these last days, but we're in the last days, we're in the end times in that sense. So timing of revelation involves the last days between the first coming second coming of Christ and the theme. Final reminder. The theme of revelation is the gospel, and I will be the first to admit that this theme is affecting the way I understand this book. I am convinced that, from the first chapter to the last chapter, the theme of the book of revelation is the gospel of Jesus Christ, and all of these visions are given by God to his church in the first century and to his church in the 21st century, primarily, primarily, to encourage and exhort and plead for them and for us to persevere in the gospel and don't believe the point of revelation is to give us charts by which we can literally interpret contemporary events in world history. I believe John literally tells us in the beginning of this book that he's giving us symbols and visions that together bring the gospel to bear on struggling suffering Christians in the first century and struggling suffering Christians in this room in the 21st century, with the intent of enabling them and us all to persevere in the gospel and proclaim this gospel with all of our hearts and all of our lives to the ends of the earth, no matter what it costs us. It's interesting. We were studying Matthew earlier this year, around around May, june, weekend of Matthew, chapter 24 and 25, when the disciples asked Jesus. They wanted to know when and where, what signs are going to accompany the coming of God's kingdom. They wanted charts and dates and locations. They wanted that in Matthew. And then, when you get to Acts, after Jesus has risen from the grave, they're asking Jesus the same question when are you going to restore the kingdom of Israel? And he told them it's not for you to know the times or dates which the Father has fixed by his own authority. What you need to know, he said to them in verse 8, is the Spirit of God is coming upon you to make you a witness of this gospel to the ends of the earth. So fulfill your purpose and redeem to history. Rise up, take your place as men and women who spin your lives knowing and proclaiming this gospel. That was the point of Jesus's words to his disciples at the beginning of the church. That's his point and this last portrait of the church that we have, jesus speaking to his church here in Revelation. The point is not to give us dates and times. The point is to cause you and I to rise up and be faithful to this gospel, to patiently endure in this world and to proclaim this gospel wherever we go around the world until the Lamb of God returns to receive the full reward of his sufferings. That's the point of the book of Revelation. So, with that theme, gospel, gospel truths, four of them that are abundantly clear in Revelation 6 and 7. So count on the heels that this vision of God and Christ. In Revelation 4 and 5, the Lamb begins to open the seals on the scroll, the scroll that contains history of redemption, god's plan for the recreation of all things. And as he opens these seals, four crystal clear truths come to the surface. Number one God is ultimately sovereign over evil. God is ultimately sovereign over evil, just like we saw God at the center of throwing the center of everything in Revelation 4 and 5. God is at the center of everything that happens in chapter 6 and following, all these seals are being opened and all these things start happening. They start happening under the authority of God and Christ. I want you to see the language here. Go to chapter 6, verse 2. Let me encourage you to underline every time you see some kind of authority given or some kind of permission given or some kind of allowance given by God in these chapters. Look at chapter 6, verse 2. This first writer I looked to the hold, a white horse and its writer had a bow and underlined this. A crown was given to him. Then go to verse 4. In the second writer, bride Red. Out came another horse, bride Red. Its rider was permitted, was permitted, was given, allowance, was given, permission, was permitted to take peace from the earth. And you get down to verse 8. Last rider, on a horse. I looked and behold a pale horse. Its rider's name was death. And Hades followed him. And they, here it is. They were given authority over a fourth of the earth. They were given. So crown was given, permission was given, authority was given. Bex. The question who's giving it? God's giving it. These riders have nothing in and of themselves. The only thing they have, they've been given by God. The only authority they have, the only permission they have they've been given by God. And this continues. Go to the next chapter, chapter 7, verse 2. Then I saw another angel ascending from the rising of the sun with the seal of the living God, and he called with a loud voice to the four angels here it is who had been given power to harm earth and sea. Four angels were given power to harm earth and sea. Next chapter, chapter 8, verse 2. Let's go a little bit past where we're even reading tonight. I want you to see this. Chapter 8, verse 2. Then I saw the seven angels who stand before God, and here it is. Seven trumpets were given to them. Seven trumpets given. Verse 3,. Another angel came and stood at the altar with a golden censor and he was given much incense to offer with the prayers of all the saints. There's chapter 8. Keep going to chapter 9. Look at verse 1 and chapter 9. These seven trumpets are being blown. It says the fifth angel blew his trumpet and I saw a star falling from heaven to earth. And here it is. He was given the key to the shaft of the bottomless pit. He was given this key. He didn't have it before he was given to him. Verse 3,. Then from the smoke came locusts on the earth and they were given power, like the power of scorpions of the earth. Verse 5,. They were allowed to torment them for five months. They were allowed to do this. Let me show you one more, one more chapter. Chapter 13,. All over chapter 13. We're going to see this in a few weeks this beast writhing out of the sea with ten horns and seven heads. Listen to this description. Verse 5, chapter 13. The beast was given a mouth. It was given that, uttering haughty and blasphemous words and it was allowed. It was allowed to exercise authority for 42 months. Go down to verse 7. It was allowed to make war on the saints and to conquer them. It was allowed to do that. An authority was given to it over every tribe and people, language and nation. Goes on. Chapter 13, the second beast. And listen to verse 14. By the signs that it is allowed to work in the presence of the beast. It deceives those who dwell on earth by the signs it's allowed to work verse 15 and it was allowed to give breath to the image of the beast. So did you get the point? These beasts and riders on horses and trumpets and angels doing this, or that it's all under the sovereign control of God, even evil. So follow this. This is what we're seeing all over revelation. It's clear Satan and his demons and revelations can do nothing apart from divine permission. He is, they are on a leash. It's the same picture we've seen in the book of Job, as Satan attacks and he afflicts Job in various ways. We know he's only doing what he's doing under divine permission. Even amidst evil, christ is in control of it all. So these four horsemen you come back to chapter six are not out of control, they are in control and ultimately, ultimately, they are actually bringing about the purposes of God. Satan can do nothing apart from divine permission, and suffering is always used to fulfill divine purposes. God's accomplishing his work, his purposes, here. So put yourself in the shoes of first-century brothers and sisters wondering what was going on when Nero crucified scores of Christians after the fire of Rome in AD 64, wondering what is going on when cities are struck by earthquakes, when evil is abounding in the world and suffering is abounding in the church. It looks like it's chaotic and it looks like it's out of control. These visions offer a vivid reminder that Christ is in control and God is ultimately sovereign even over evil and Satan suffering. See it in chapter 6, verse 10. These saints who've been slain, they've been murdered. They've been murdered because of their testimony to the word of God. Listen to what they cry out, verse 10. They cried out with a loud voice oh, sovereign Lord, holy and true. Yes, the title they use there for God, sovereign Lord. The title there is desprate. It's the word title from which we get desperate one with absolute rules, absolute authority. It's the same title the saints in Acts, chapter 4, used when they first began to face persecution. They cried out to God oh, sovereign Lord. This is the cry of saints who have experienced suffering in this world of all kinds throughout all history, and it is to be the cry of saints in this room tonight. We're walking through difficult times. Look up to heaven and see the desperate, the sovereign Lord amidst chaos. We trust that he is in control and he's working all these things in your life and my life and our church is all the world is working all of it together for the good of those who love him and who have been called according to his purpose. Even the worst things, he's working together for good. God is ultimately sovereign, even over evil, satan suffering at the same time. Second truth we see in Revelation 6 and 7 men and women are morally responsible for evil. So from one horseman to the next, in chapter 6 we see evil and sin spiraling on the earth. These images vivid colors of white and red and black and pale green images of horsemen that remind us of depictions of sin and war in Zechariah 1 and Zechariah 6 and these images show us the depravity of man on display. One writer said in these four interconnected seals we see human depravity running its course upon the earth. To picture of what we hear about in Romans 1 God giving men over to their sinfulness, from the desire to conquer one another in that first horse to civil war and slaying one another in that second horse, resulting in injustice and famine in that third horse, all leading to death. We're seeing the sinfulness of man come full circle in the deafening truth that rises to the top. For Revelation, chapter 6, it's clear men and women are decidedly sinful, decidedly sinful, progressing deeper and deeper and deeper into sin and strife, slaying one another. Men and women are decidedly sinful, and men and women are dangerously self-destructive. So see the effects of sin here. They eventually turn on one another, slaying one another, resulting in injustice among each other. This is a picture of sin. Sin always leads to self-destruction, which makes you wonder why do we keep going back? It's the foolishness of man and it's all of our tendency in this room to continue to go back to that which destroys us all. Sin, even the littlest sin that you are holding on to, that you would call little that you were holding on to, is absolutely, utterly destructive. Sin destroys you, sin destroys others. That's the importance this imagery, isn't it? After all, satan doesn't tempt us with an image of a rider on a dark horse leading us away to death. No, he masquerades as an angel of light and he tempts you and me with enticing pictures of sin. And Liz, pleasure, don't buy it. Revelation 6 urges us to remember that sin destroys, sin devastates and ultimately, sin dams. The rider on the fourth horse makes clear that men and women deserve death. This is the result of sin quarter of the human race wiped out at once. That number will become more significant as we progress. But don't miss the overall point here. In our efforts to try to figure out what is this, this rider mean, this horse, this part, this part, we can miss the whole point. Robert Mount said, reviewing the various interpretations inside of these four horsemen tends to rob the contemporary reader of the dramatic nature of the vision itself. It's good for us to place ourselves back in one of the seven churches and listen to the visions as they are being read, instead of discussing the problem with significance of each of the four colored horses. Those first listers would have recoiled in terror as war, bloodshed, famine and death galloped furiously across the stage of their imagination. So see the picture tonight. Sin is all around us, luring us, tempting us, attempting to lead us, and it is devastating, destructive, ultimately deadly in its effects. Men and women are morally responsible for evil, which leads to the third truth God will judge men and women who turn from him and live for this world. So what we're seeing unfold in these seals is divine judgment and divine justice from God toward a sinful world, upon sinners who turn from him and live for this world and I use that terminology very intentionally. Look back at chapter 6, verse 10, for a minute, when the saints who have been martyred cry out oh sovereign Lord, holy and true, listen what they say. How long before you will judge and avenge our blood on now? Maybe underline this phrase right here those who dwell on the earth, those who dwell on the earth. Now, that's a phrase we've seen it already and we're gonna see it more. Try to point it out as we walk through the rest of revelation. That's how non-christians are most often described in the book of Revelation. Non-christians are those who dwell on the earth, and the picture is that those who live for this world, those who worship the idols of this world, people who live for this world instead of living for another world, who put their hope in the things of this world instead of putting their hope in God. So it's really interesting. Believers are described as those who are living for another world, unbelievers described as those who dwell on the earth, those who turn from God and live for this world, and chapter 6 says they are under the judgment of God, a reality that becomes particularly clear in this sixth seal, in verse 12. Follow along there. Just imagine this Seem. When the Lamb opened the sixth seal, I looked and behold there was a great earthquake. The sun became black as sackcloth, the full moon became like blood and the stars of the sky fell to the earth as the fig tree sheds its winter fruit. When shaken by a gale, the sky vanished like a scroll that is being rolled up, and every mountain and island was removed from its place. These verses are loaded with Old Testament prophetic pronouncements and New Testament for that matter, of God's wrath that is coming upon sinners Isaiah 13, isaiah 24, isaiah 34, ezekiel 32, joel 2, and back in 3, matthew 24, mark 13. The same scene, this earthquake we're going to see, repeated again in the sixth trumpet in Revelation, chapter 11, and then associated with the seventh bowl in Revelation, chapter 16. And we may not know exactly when what is going to happen, but we do know this God will judge men and women who turn from him and live for this world. His scope of his judgment will be cosmic cosmic in scope. William Henderson writes Try to visualize what John saw, taking the picture as a whole heaven itself curling up like a piece of paper, rolling up like a scroll. The sun, its light, blotted out so that it resembles a black sack used in mourning. The big full moon becomes a huge, awe-inspiring bloody ball, the stars turned out of their orbits and plunging to the earth in great showers, the earth itself quaking violently so that every house crashes to the ground and every mountain and island suddenly disappears. What a picture of dread and despair, of confusion and consternation for the wicked. Just imagine, and it makes sense, doesn't it? Romans 1 tells us that the essence of sin is worshiping created things rather than the Creator, who alone is due praise. And so the Creator takes everything in creation, everything from the sun and the moon and the stars and the sky and everything underneath them, and he obliterates it all, making clear nothing in creation is worthy of worship. None of the things that you and I turn our hearts from God toward are worthy of worship. One day they will be gone. The scope of His judgment will be cosmic. All of our idolatrous, earthly securities are going to prove utterly insecure. The breadth of His judgment will be universal. Verse 15 gives a list of every type of person kings and great ones, and generals, and rich and powerful, and slave and free all without exception, all of them. They're hiding themselves in caves among the rocks of the mountains. The shaking of the heavens will strip away all social distinctions. The judgment of God will level humankind Everyone, from kings and presidents, children and the poor, all equally, will cower before the presence of God, the judge. And cower is the right word because the effect of God's judgment will be terrifying Everyone. The Bible pictures here is hiding from the face of God, from the wrath of Christ. Yes, the rice, the wrath of Christ, the lamb. Don't miss this. You don't want to meet God face to face. Apart from saving faith in Christ, you belong to escape His presence. Revelation 6 pictures the people crying out for rocks and mountains to crush them, for that would be better than facing the wrath of God and sin. Some people think or say well, hell's not that bad a place to be after all. If all these people who've lived it up in the world are going to be there, that might be kind of fun. Don't be fooled, only foolish. The effect of God's judgment will be absolutely terrifying Upon those who have turned from Him, and the duration of His judgment will be eternal. So to jump ahead and even hear the narrative, chapter 8, verse 1. The seventh seal is open and there is silence in heaven, and scholars debate what that silence signifies and we're going to talk more about it next week when we get there. But it's clear all over the Old Testament that the judgment of God evokes silence in men. You think about what do you say? What do you say to the sight of the earth evaporating and men, women and children everywhere crying out for rocks and mountains to crush them before the face of Christ the Lamb? So a horrifying scene. We're going to talk more next week about how that silence is coordinated with the prayers of the saints. But certainly part of the point of silence in chapter 8, verse 1 is to cause us, like John, just to sit back for a second and soak in this awe-inspiring horror inducing reality. God will judge men and women who turn from Him and live for this world. His judgment will be cosmic, his judgment will be universal, his judgment will be terrifying and it will be eternal. On that day the door of God's grace will be closed forever to those who have turned from Him. That's why chapter 6, verse 17, ends with a question, for the great day of the wrath has come, and who can stand? Who among men can stand before this God? And Revelation chapter 7 beautifully answers that question. God will judge men and women who turn from Him and live for this world, and God will save men and women who trust in Him and live for another world. Two pictures of the people of God in Revelation, chapter 7. The first, verses, 1 through 8, are throng of 144,000 people representing the 12 tribes of Israel. The other verses 9 through 17, are multitude that no one can count, from every tribe, people, language and nation. And not surprisingly, there's quite a bit of debate over who is included in these groups. Certainly they're both describing people of God, but this first group is literally 144,000 Israelites, representative of all ethnic Israelites, jewish people who will be saved before the second coming of Christ. Is this a figurative representation of all the people of God, jews and Gentiles alike? And the second group is this a picture of martyrs who have white robes, just like the ones in chapter 6 have white robes? This is a picture of all God's people finally united together, the consummation of God's kingdom. Again, we could spend hours here talking about that. All kinds of valid possibilities here, but I am persuaded that these two pictures are pictures of the same people from different perspectives at different times. So follow with me here. Let's start with the time we learn here. In chapter 7, verse 1, it says I saw four angels standing in the four corners of the earth holding back the four winds of the earth, which, based on Zachariah, is likely a reference to the four horsemen we just saw described at the beginning of chapter 6. Another angel calls to them in verse 3 and says Do not harm the earth or the sea or the trees until we have sealed the servants of our God on their forehands. And so what this picture is doing here? It's taken us back to before the seals were even opened, before the earth was shaken and destroyed. And so this picture depicts God before he sends this devastating judgments on the earth in chapter 6, marking his people to protect them. It's the tribulation that he was about to bring. So follow this in your notes. Revelation 7, 1-8 is showing us that Christians are secure on earth in the midst of tribulation. Secure Servants of God verse 3, a term that is always used in Revelation to describe all redeemed believers, here represented with a complete number. We've talked about symbolic numbers 144,000, a number that we're going to see, describe God's people again in chapter 14. And then later, when we get to Revelation 21 and 22, we're going to see the new Jerusalem as a city with 12 gates, which are 12 pearls, on which are written the names of the 12 tribes. The city has a wall, 144 cubes in height, with 12 foundation stones on which are written the names of the 12 apostles. It's a symbolic picture, not a part of the church or a section of the church, or even just an ethnic group among the church. Nowhere else in Revelation is there ever mention of Jewish believers, apart from Gentile believers. This is the church organized, described like an army preparing to go into battle amid suffering and tribulation in the world. What had been prophesied back in Daniel, chapter 12, and God says, before the battle even begins, I have secured them for this battle. Now, that doesn't mean the battle will be easy. Follow this in your notes. We've already seen in chapter 6 that God plans the persecution of His people. God plans the persecution of His people Chapter 6, verse 10 and 11. You want to put something on your date chart for determining when Jesus is going to come back? Write this down. Chapter 6, verse 11, says Wait until the last saint is martyred for the gospel, then Jesus will return. So write down when the last martyr dies and then, as you write it, realize it may be you. The effect is, we lay aside our charts and lay down our lives, proclaiming this gospel to the ends of the earth, no matter what it costs. That's the point here. God is telling His children in the first century and the 21st century that they will suffer as they witness. That is God's four ordained plans for the future of His people to be slain for the word of God, for His people to suffer as they proclaim Christ to the world. Jesus said the same thing in Matthew 24, which I referenced earlier. Verse 9, he's talking about in times. He says they will deliver you up to tribulation and put you to death, and you will be hated by all nations for my namesake and this gospel of the kingdom will be proclaimed as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come. So these are words from Jesus and from John here in the first century strengthen the churches. Hundreds of Christians were fed to animals, crucified, burned alive due to Roman persecution, and these are words from Jesus and John that are intended to strengthen the church in the 21st century, where persecution is a reality, when we proclaim the gospel in many places in the world and say, well, how is that protection? Security for God's people If they're going to be fed to animals and crucified and killed, if we're going to face potential suffering, persecution or death for proclaiming the gospel in the world, then how is that security in the midst of tribulation? Here's how God plans the persecution of His people. They will suffer as they witness and God promises protection for His people. They are safe from God's wrath. In other words, god's people are ultimately secure. This is the exact same thing here in Revelation 6 and 7 that we see Jesus telling His disciples in Matthew 10. He's sending them out. He's telling them they're going out like sheep among wolves. It's going to be tough, it's going to be hated. What does he say? Don't fear those who have power to destroy the body. Fear the one who has power to destroy both body and soul in hell. And the picture is what can man do to you? The worst thing man can do is kill you. You lose a few years, but God has you sealed for billions and billions and billions and billions of years. You're safe from God's wrath. That's why they're giving a white robe Chapter 6, verse 11,. We see it again in chapter 7, verse 14. We're going to talk about it in a minute, but it's a picture of identification with the Christ, who conquered sin by suffering on our behalf. Jesus has taken the wrath do the sinner upon Himself. He has endured our punishment. He has paid the eternal price for our sins. We sang about it just a second ago so that all who trust in Him and all who proclaim Him are absolutely secure. Even in a world where it's dangerous to follow and preach Christ, you are absolutely, ultimately, secure. No matter what happens to you in this world. You are safe from God's wrath forever in the world to come. So with that confidence, god empowers perseverance in His people, and this is the picture that this first half of Revelation 7 is intended to evoke. Through this vision, god's telling His people that they are sealed by His Word. God has marked them as His. The seal was a picture of ownership and belonging and security and protection To struggling saints in the first century and to struggling saints in the 21st century. Realize this, so those who are walking to struggles with sin walk to suffering tonight. Realize this before you ever began to walk through tribulation in this world, before the very foundation of this world of evil and sin and suffering. God sealed you as His child and Satan cannot overcome you. Suffering cannot destroy you, death itself cannot stop you Because you are sealed by God. You belong to God and he will keep you to the end. Christians are secure on earth in the midst of tribulation. And then remember how Revelation 6 ended the great day of the wrath is coming. Who can stand? Who can stand face to face before this holy God in His wrath? Who will look at chapter 7, verse 9, and get the answer? Follow this. After this, I looked in the holy great multitude that no one could number, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages. What are they doing? The audience participation part of our program. Revelation 7, 9. All these I'm going to build it up again. Okay, you ready? After this, I looked to follow the great multitude that no one could number, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages. What are they doing? They're standing before the throne and before the land, closed in white robes, with palm branches in their hands, crying out with a loud voice Salvation belongs to our God, who sits on the throne, and to the land. Christians are secure on earth in the midst of tribulations, and Christians will stand in heaven at the end of tribulation. All those who turn from sin and trust in Christ as the Lamb who was slain for our sin, will one day stand before Him in victory, having come through tribulation. And verse 14, these are the ones coming out of tribulation. Some people believe that's a reference to a specific time period, but every other time this word has been used to this point in Revelation is reference to suffering and the trials and the afflictions that saints walk through in this world, and the picture is by the grace of God, they've endured. They've endured to the end. And so now, time-wise. In verse 9, things shift from before the judgments of chapter 6 to after the judgments of chapter 6. So I don't want you to lose, I don't want to lose you here, follow, follow with me. We got chapter 7 here. Chapter 7 is giving us remember, it's not chronological. What chapter 7 is doing is it's giving us a pause, a parentheses, a break. We sit back for a second. We've just read about God's judgment on the wicked in the world and those who turn from Him. It begs the question what about the saints in the middle of this? And chapter 7 answers the question. Chapter 7 tells us in the first eight verses, before this all started, god sealed his people. And then chapter 7, the second half, tells us that At the end of all this, god is going to enable His people to endure and they are going to stand before Him. Now that brings us back to the question of why are God's people described as 144,000 from Israel in the first half of chapter 7 and in a multitude that no one can count, from every nation, tribe people in the last half of chapter 7. And the answer to that question takes us all the way back to Revelation, chapter 5, what we saw last week. Remember when we saw Jesus. He was depicted in two ways. First, he was depicted as a conquering lion, the lion of the tribe of who Of Judah. We saw him as the promise beside the people of Israel. So here in the first half of chapter 7, here's the people of God described as the complete descendants of the tribes of Israel, originating from which tribe? Verse 5, 12,000 from the tribe of Judah, coming from the lion of Judah. Then, back in chapter 5, the second picture we saw of Jesus was the lamb who was slain and as he was slain, he purchased men, purchased people from every nation, tribe, tongue and language. It's the same picture we see in the last half of chapter 7, multitude that no one can count, from every tribe, tongue, language and nation. So summarize here First half of chapter 7, you got God's people from the lion of the tribe of Judah, sealed and secured by God before tribulation. Last half of chapter 7, god's people from the lamb, over every nation, now standing in heaven at the end of tribulation, and there the Bible says, standing in God's presence, they will shout God's victory, salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the lamb. They love this. The angels amen the saints and then they fall on their faces and cry God, blessing and glory and wisdom and thanksgiving and honor and might and power be to our God forever and ever. Amen. All who trust in the sacrifice of Christ on the cross, all who believe in the blood of the lamb who died and rose again for you, will shout God's victory. They will serve in God's presence day and night. Before his throne they will soak in God's glory. Listen to the last part of verse 15. He who sits on the throne will shelter them with his presence. The languages. God will literally spread his presence, his glory over them. What a contrast from the end of chapter 6. People there were cowering before the wrath of God in their sin. Now, for all who've trusted in Christ, they're enjoying the wonder of God. Through their Savior. They will be satisfied by his goodness. Verse 16,. They shall neither hunger nor thirst to be more for Get this imagery. The lamb in the midst of the throne will be their shepherd. How can the lamb be a shepherd? The lamb, shepherd. The lamb will lead them, the lamb leading them to springs of living water where their souls are completely satisfied by the goodness of God, and they will be soothed by the mercy of God. God will wipe away every tear from their eyes Weep no more, brothers and sisters. Sin will one day be no more, sadness will one day be no more, sorrow will one day be no more, nothing but satisfaction and joy and peace in the presence of God. So practical takeaways this text is not intended to cause us to debate over this or that. This text is intended to beckon us to All of us. First, repent of sin with urgency. Repent of sin with urgency. Non-christian, here tonight. Non-christian Turn from sin and trust in Christ today. Be saved from sin today. The judgment of God is coming. He is holy, he is perfect, he is pure and he is just, and no man, no woman can stand before him. Every teenager, college student, single adult, husband, wife, mom, dad, senior adult, every person within the sound of my voice. The judgment of God is coming and Christ's come and he's taken the judgment, the payment you and I were due. He's died on the cross for our sins. He stood in our place. He's risen from the grave and victory over sin, so that everyone who trusts in Him turns from sin. Trusts in Him will be reconciled to God forever. Turn from your sin and trust in Him today. I urge you, don't wait any longer. Don't waste your life, play religious games, keep running after the stuff of this world. It's all going to be gone and one day you're going to stand before God. Stand before God in Christ. Revenge of sin with urgency. And Christians, stop toying with sin today. Look in your heart and your mind and your life. What are you holding onto that destroys? I don't know how little you think sin is what it's got telling you to do, that you're disobeying in. Repent of sin with urgency by the power of Christ in you. Practical takeaway number two proclaim the gospel with urgency. Christians, brothers and sisters, you and I know that the judgment of God is coming and we know the judgment of God is cosmic, universal, terrifying and eternal. So let's warn the people around us. Let's warn them of coming rough and tell them of Christ's mercy. Let us not sit silently by while people around us. People around us drift into an eternal hell. I'm going to a particular state in India this week, one of the most impoverished, most unreached places in the world. This state is less than.1% Christian and, due to poverty, this state's death rate is approximately 5000 people per day. You put that together every single day, approximately 4,995 people are plunging into an eternal hell every day. We must go with urges India to Birmingham, right here. Who do you need to share this news with this week? Who in your sphere of influence, work at school, your home, apartment, room or island? You is under the judgment of God. You know good news of the mercy of God. Speak the gospel, share the gospel. You say it's just not that easy. Well, revelation is not telling us it will be easy. It won't ever be. But may fear not keep us from giving our lives as witnesses to the Word of God. Do we believe this? If we do, this radically changes the way we live. Proclaim the gospel with urgency and, as you face opposition in various forms, humbly cry out for God's justice amidst persecution. This is what these saints were doing in chapter 6. We're going to talk about it more next week. They're crying out for things we made right in the world according to the righteousness of God. So, as you wait this here and around the world, humbly cry out for God's justice amidst persecution and then confidently cry out for God's mercy amidst suffering in all of its various forms. I was talking with a brother this last week whose wife has walked through severe depression. He described how his wife has suffered emotionally, not wanting to go on, physically needing help to get dressed in the morning. He described how, some mornings, she literally fall out of bed and crawl across the floor to a table where her Bible sat and she would just grasp God's Word and cry out for his mercy. If that's what it takes, then do it and know that he is there and he hears. You Know that he is with you and he has sealed you as his child and he will enable you to endure so confidently. Cry out for God's mercy amidst suffering. Fifth takeaway build your life and your family on that which lasts forever. Let Revelation 6 and 7 beckon you tonight not to waste your life on the things of this world. One day, all of this is going to collapse in on itself. It's going to be gone. Your house, your car, your clothes, all your stuff is going to burn up and you're going to stand before God with nothing. Be prepared for that day. Build your life on a foundation that will stand on that day and build your family on what will last forever. Parents, prepare your kids for Revelation 6. If you spend all your time getting them school and teaching them instruments and coaching them in sports, hours and hours and hours this or that on the football or baseball field or basketball court, whatever it is. If you do all of these things but you do not spend hours and hours and hours teaching them the Word of God and teaching them to fear the wrath of God and teaching them about the love of God in Christ, then you will waste their lives, because the day will come when all of their achievements in this world are going to burn up, and what will you have left them with? Build your life and your family and your kids on what lasts forever, on Christ and His Word and His truth. Teach them to love Christ. Teach them to proclaim Christ to the ends of the earth, no matter what it costs them, and model what that looks like in action. Spend and sacrifice your resources on that which brings eternal reward. How much of your bank account right now is devoted to that which brings eternal reward? How much of your schedule is devoted to things which bring eternal reward? Don't be fooled by college football this fall. None of it ultimately matters at all. Spend your time, sacrifice your money for the sake of what will last forever. Then, brothers and sisters, and come to Ometro, birmingham, alabama. Always remember that this world is not our home, so let us stop living like it is. Our home is in heaven and we await a Savior who will bring us there.