Cliffwood Livestream AM Service 5 September

[Music] thank you out of darkness with us us kind in so many ways and even in giving us the opportunity to come here so i pray that we would not squander this or treat it lightly according to would be a time of great blessing as we feed on christ uh together so bless us in this way we pray in jesus name so uh so so yes uh if you're visiting with us from wherever you're from we'd like to welcome you to cliffwood presbyterian church we're so glad to have you here with us this morning for worship and we hope and pray that your time with us is a blessing and encouragement to you we have several things to announce before we begin worship this morning the first is this wednesday we'll continue our dvd series on the puritans titled all of life to the glory of god and this particular wednesday will be a character sketch of oliver cromwell who was the commander of parliament's forces in the english civil war and he was also a major figure in church history in that period of time so we invite you to join us for that uh the meal theme is italian potluck and there's a sign up sheet outside of the fellowship hall as always uh the meal will begin at 5 45 and the study at 6 30 well prayer and then study at 6 30. on friday september the 17th from 10 to 2 we'll have a care package packing party here for families with school-aged children and this is to pack care packages for the college uh students from the congregation and there'll be pizza there so if you're a family with school-aged children we'd encourage you to come and participate in this and serve our college students in that way and if you have any questions about that or if you'd like to participate please please contact karen cox about that we'll also have a church work day on september the 25th from 8 until noon and there's work to be done inside and outside we need all the hands we can get so please plan on participating in that and if you have any questions please see any of the deacons about that on the on the 25th and uh speaking of the deacons this sunday we are celebrating the lord's supper so we'll have our deacons fund offering after the service and this is to collect uh funds to help the needy and those who are in need primarily of the congregation but also those who are in our community so we encourage you to to be generous in your offering and and your support of the the work of the deacons in our congregation uh and then uh finally two things that aren't in the bulletin but the september issue of table talk is there so those are available for you they have daily devotionals for the month of september and the various articles and this particular one is on the christian way that's the theme we have enough for every family so please take those on your way out and then you've probably seen these around the building there are posters up at various places we will have a conference here october 15th through the 17th with dr ryan mcgraw who's a professor of systematic theology at greenville presbyterian theological seminary and the theme of this conference will be on covenant theology titled the sun the seed and the sacraments an introduction to covenant theology so some of these leaflets are at the both entrances by the table talks so we encourage you to take these and begin inviting your friends and family and whatnot and plan for joining us for this conference in october that's all we have by way of announcements as i said you can see that the table is set and so this morning we do have the blessing of celebrating the sacrament of the lord's supper so please silence your cell phone or any other noise making devices that you have and let's prepare to come to the table and to worship the god of heaven and earth thanks john i have one more announcement to make as well that just remind all the men of the congregation we are starting up our men's book study on the 14th and we we landed on john bunyan's book on prayer so we're going to be looking through that together tuesday morning seven o'clock in my study uh here down the hall so if you're interested in participating in that come see me and i will get you a copy a copy of that book with those announcements made this morning let us rise together for god's call to worship this morning this morning the lord calls us to worship him with first two verses of psalm 47 where it says clap your hands all peoples shout to god with loud songs of joy for the lord the most high is to be feared a great king over all the earth let's pray to our great king together as we begin our time of worship almighty god father son and holy spirit we have gathered with joy in our hearts because we understand all that you have done you have not left us in our sins in our trespasses but you've made us alive to the truth you've awakened our minds that we would know it you've awakened our hearts that we would love it you've given strength to our hands and our feet that we might apply it and for this we give you great praise we do not presume on your kindness and your grace we know our own weakness we've seen it this past week we pray o lord god that you would so strengthen us in this hour of worship by your spirit that we would learn of you all the more that we would grow in our love and our dependence that we would rejoice together with one voice over the things that we see of you in your word and over the wonderful blessings of duty that you give to us as your children do this work in us this work of making us alive do it daily fill us with your spirit also right now and we pray it in jesus name amen as we begin our worship in song we'll sing first from the hymnal hymn 305 arise my soul arise we sing out of two songbooks the psalter will be at the edge of your pew the hymnal in the rack in front of you and we sing first from the hymnal hymn 305 arise my soul arise [Music] r [Music] blue ever [Music] foreign [Music] my [Music] on the inside cover of the hymnal we just sang out together you'll find printed there the words uh the apostles crete the apostles creed a summary of the trinitarian work of redemption uh thinking specifically of his work in the church and so together with the catholic church the church of all times in all places we confess our faith in him with the following words as christian what do you believe i believe in god the father almighty maker of heaven and earth i believe in jesus christ his only son our lord who was conceived by the holy spirit and born of the virgin mary he suffered under pontius pilate was crucified died and was buried he descended into hell the third day he rose again from the dead he ascended into heaven and is seated at the right hand of god the father almighty from there he will come to judge the living and the dead i believe in the holy spirit the holy catholic church the communion of saints the forgiveness of sins the resurrection of the body and the life everlasting amen please be seated as we gather together today we do so aware of our sins and shortcomings and so uh we want to confess our sins as the body of christ we are not free from the guilt of our sin uh in a daily sense we are eternally of course forgiven in christ through faith but we do add to our guilt daily in our transgressions and so we want to reconcile be reconciled in our relationship to god that the obstacles that we have set in place would be removed and today we are called to confess our sins with the words of the second commandment found in deuteronomy 5 verse 8 through 10 where it says you shall not make for yourself a carved image or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above or that is on the earth beneath or that is in the water under the earth you shall not bow down to them or serve them for i the lord your god i'm a jealous god visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children to the third and fourth generation of those who hate me but showing steadfast love to thousands of those who love me and keep my commandments when it comes to the second commandment we're asking the question of how how are we to worship and and most often we think of this how in terms of corporate worship but it's also good for us to consider this commandment in terms of how we live our daily our daily lives we are always tempted to redefine god so that he thinks that the things that we sin uh do as sin that that they are somehow less significant or that they are all right we are we are always tempted to redefine god so that he adapts to our own preferences and the question for us today as we come to confess our sin is whether or not we have done that have we recreated god in our own image and you can tell that that's the case if god always agrees with you you ever find yourself living your life and god always agrees with you somehow he's always thinking that the things you're doing are are okay well we have to humble ourselves before him we have to worship him as he calls us to do even as we're reminded of that in the second commandment so let's turn to the lord in prayer let's confess our sins to him confident of our forgiveness in christ that the one who lived and who who who lived perfectly if we have our faith in him that he has healed us by his stripes so let's turn to the lord together in prayer almighty god and heavenly father you are holy and pure and righteous and just and you have set before us the way that we are to worship you not only here in this circumstance among your people but also in in our lives you have set before us the need to follow after your commandments and we confess to you that oftentimes we wander from that we recreate you in our own image we we have you agree with us instead of submitting ourselves to you and we pray that you would give to us a great humility that we would not presume that we are always in the right but that we would look to you and that you would be the one who who shapes us and and molds us and that when we transgress against this word of that you have given to shape us and mold us that we would see it and we see it this morning we we come to you in humility asking that you would forgive asking that you would set before us a renewed picture of what it means to walk in obedience and that you would be glorified by our walking because we do it out of love for you out of gratitude to christ we pray that where we are weak that you would strengthen us we pray that where we are dead you would make us alive and we pray that where we have some light that you would give us more light that we would glorify you in our thoughts words and deeds and we pray it in jesus name amen here now the assurance of pardon that comes to us from god's word romans 8 and verse 11 if the spirit of him who raised jesus from the dead dwells in you he who raised christ jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his spirit who dwells in you having confessed our sin and heard the assurance of pardon let's turn in our psalters now again at the edge of your pew psalm 51 d will be our selection today psalm 51 d from the psalter let's stand together as we sing this psalm [Music] oh my god [Music] right foreign oh is is hello [Music] and heavenly father we come to you today to praise you that you give to us your word your word which is a light to our feet a lamp to our path that by it we would know not only how we should walk but also who we are following that we would see you in your glory that we would see you in all of your magnificence even as we consider uh the splendor of heaven and your saving work in the lives of your children this morning from the book of revelation even as we read from old and new testament together make us to see wonderful truth in your word that we would see your glory your majesty that we would be over awed with a sense of your power and your might and that we would also see the great kindness that you have shown to us in giving jesus christ our savior we think of all the different promises in your word which remind us that he is our substitute that the guilt for our sin was laid on him that he was sinless and yet he became sin for us that we would become justified that we would become righteous through faith in his work and so as we reflect on his love and his kindness we pray that we would celebrate and rejoice that this would be a day of feast day feast day where we remember the resurrection of our savior and and the prospect of our being raised with him by faith we pray that you would make us to see this in your word and that we would not uh treat this wonderful blessing as if it were some object of boredom but that our hearts would be alive to this truth that we would desire it that we would long for it and that you would apply it to us by your spirit we thank you for the ways in which you have provided for us uh in this past week all the daily needs that we have even in the midst where there's been uh so much illness in our congregation you have given to us uh recovery in many cases and you have spared us from many serious consequences and for that we give you great praise as well we we know that our lives are in your hand and we know that there's nothing in us that makes us worthy to receive from your hand the blessings of life and the blessings of being sustained in this world and yet you have given it you have shown to us your love you have manifested it in your word and in your works and so we pray that we would love you as well that we would love you in return our love is an imperfect love our love is a child's love but bear with us lord god as as we seek to love you as as we should make us to grow in our love for you establish yourself among us uh this day that uh that we would be equipped the rest of the days of this week to love you as we should and we pray that you would do this o lord god for your own glory your glory is our desire your praise is our desire make us to see all that you have done that we would praise you all the more and we ask it in jesus name amen please be seated the old testament reading this morning is psalm 119 verses 33 through 48. psalm 119 verses 33 through 48 this is on page 513 in the pew bible hear the psalmist prays praise to the lord to teach him his statutes to give him understanding to show him steadfast love and to turn his eyes from looking at worthless things and he prays not only that god would give him the understanding but also the grace to do all that god commands and this should be our prayer as well whenever we read the word of god we should listen to the word attentively to receive it with faith and love lay it up in our hearts and practice it in our lives so hear now the word of god teach me o lord the way of your statutes and i will keep it to the end give me understanding that i may keep your law and observe it with my whole heart lead me in the path of your commandments for i delight in it incline my heart to your testimonies and not to selfish gain turn my eyes from looking at worthless things and give me life in your ways confirm to your servant your promise that you may be feared turn away the reproach that i dread for your rules are good behold i long for your precepts and your righteousness give me life let your steadfast love come to me o lord your salvation according to your promise then shall i have an answer for him who taunts me for i trust in your word and take not the word of truth utterly out of my mouth for my hope is in your rules i will keep your law continually forever and ever and i shall walk in a wide place for i have sought your precepts i will also speak of your testimonies before kings and shall not be put to shame for i find my delight and your commandments which i love i will lift up my hands toward your commandments which i love and i will meditate on your statutes the new testament reading is from matthew chapter 24 verses 1 through 14 and this is on page 829 in the pew bible here our lord pronounces the destruction of the temple and the disciples also asked jesus what the signs of the ends of the age will be and our lord teaches us here that when we hear of wars and rumors of wars when we see nation rising against nation when we experience tribulation or persecution when we see many falling away and many false teachers leading many away when we see lawlessness increasing that we should not be alarmed that these are all birth pains of the new heavens and the new earth where the kingdoms of this world will be the kingdoms of our lord and of his christ and where the whole earth will be filled with the knowledge of the glory of god so hear now the word of god jesus left the temple and was going away when his disciples came to point out to him the buildings of the temple but he answered them you see all these do you not truly i say to you there will not be left here one stone upon another that will not be thrown down as he sat on the mount of olives the disciples came to him privately saying tell us when will these things be and what will be the sign of your coming and of the end of the age jesus answered them see that no one leads you astray for many will come in my name saying i am the christ and they will lead many astray and you will hear of wars and rumors of wars see that you are not alarmed for this must take place but the end is not yet for nation will rise against nation and kingdom against kingdom and there will be famines and earthquakes in various places all these are but the beginning of the birth pains then they will deliver you up to tribulation and put you to death and you will be hated by all nations for my name's sake and then many will fall away and betray one another and hate one another and many false prophets will arise and lead many astray and because lawlessness will be increased the love of many will grow cold but the one who endures to the end will be saved and this gospel of the kingdom will be proclaimed throughout the whole world as a testimony to all nations and then the end will come the grass withers and the flower fades but the word of our god will endure forever [Music] plus [Music] me [Music] let us worship the lord together this morning in the giving of our tithes and offerings so [Music] right [Music] let us turn to the lord together in prayer almighty god and heavenly father we come to you as the only blessed one the sovereign lord the king of kings the lord of lords you are the only one who has immortality who is infinite in his existence who dwells in unapproachable light and who is so majestic and so holy and so pure that none can lay their eyes on you never have and never can because you are pure and righteous and just we come to you on our knees therefore because you are to be worshiped and adored because there is none other like you we come to you on our knees because when we look at you and then we look at ourselves we see we see the great distance that exists between us and you we know that unless you were kind and unless you were gracious that there would be no way for us to be in fellowship with you and so we thank you for your gracious condescension to us in making your covenant promises to your people that we would be able to call you our father that though you are to be feared and and though we turn our faces away from you yet when in we come to you in prayer we call you by the most intimate of names and we come as your children not fearing your condemnation but trusting your kind heart towards us that not only have we been declared righteous through faith but also we have been made acceptable in your sight pleasing in your sight we are your delight that is the great wonder of scripture that you take those who were your enemies and make them your children the children on whom on whom rest your great affection for them and we we praise you for that we we come to you when we think of our own ways of living we we think of your purity and and we see our own corruption and and we think of the parable that you told in your word of this poor tax collector who recognized his failings who recognized his sin and yet drew neared to you not desiring to see you but simply desiring your forgiveness that is how we come today because we are like him we are not worthy to be called your child we only desire that you would show mercy to us as as sinful people we pray that because of your promise through christ that that you would not remember our transgressions that that you would consider them paid for by the blood of christ that you would be the one who shapes and and and molds our posture before you that we would be humble but at the same time that we would be filled with confidence that through our faith in you that we are forgiven we come to plead our cause before you plead our cause because we are unworthy and we pray that you would remember your covenant promises we pray o lord god in thanksgiving because of the promises that you have given that those who draw near to you by faith will by no means be cast out and so we come in in that confidence grateful that the righteous and pure god would deal with us so kindly and so compassionately we thank you for the protection that you have given to your church in maintaining the witness of that gospel message throughout the centuries we thank you for the protection that we've received from your hand in our society as well that we are free to gather for worship that we are free to call on your name and we pray that that would continue for centuries and generations to come and if you would be pleased to send trials on us as your church we pray that we would receive them also with gratitude from your hand knowing that you sanctify us through the trials of life and there are many in our congregation who have struggled with trials as of late trials of illness a long-lasting illness we think of those who have recovered and we rejoice in that and and we pray for those who who are entering into those trials we think of the cox family we think of the inman family as they struggle with illness in their midst we pray that you would give to them comfort and and quick relief and that you would make them calm and at peace in you we pray for the church in afghanistan for that whole country which is so badly in need of the gospel we think of all the stories we hear of persecution and execution even of those who put their faith and trust in you and and we marvel at the strength that you have given to our brothers and sisters in that place that they would not deny your name and we pray that that strength would grow all the more that we would learn from them and that our confidence would increase because of their witness because of their testimony that their strength would be used by you to affect change in this country that is under the grips of an idolatrous religion we pray o lord god that that the testimony of your church in our land also would be strong and bold that there would be a strong gospel proclamation from the pulpits of the churches in this country as well and so we pray for the ministry of your church wherever it is gathered wherever your word is faithfully proclaimed that you would be with your people that you would strengthen them and that you would encourage them that you would bring many souls to a knowledge of the sin that they have committed and the forgiveness that is in christ and that they would humble themselves before you lord we pray even as we look at ourselves we look at the church around us we pray for reformation in your church we pray for reformation of doctrine we pray for reformation of conduct make us always humble make us always to be reforming as we know that we fall far short of your glory we know there are many sins that we don't even see in ourselves many errors that we don't even realize that we're that that we that we are teaching maybe even and we pray that you would give to us a humility and and eyes that are wide open to see to see where we are in error to see where we are walking in sin be gentle and show it to us gradually but make us to see it and make us to humble ourselves before you that we would be changed and uh and affected by your spirit that that we would walk in the truth we pray in the same way for our sister church for a new covenant presbyterian church in richmond hill we pray for their pastor david centers as he proclaims and preaches for their elders as they shepherd and and and govern your flock for the deacons as they care for the needs of your people we pray for them as they also need your life-giving spirit to grow and to be strengthened we pray that you would do that that you would give to them the great joy of seeing uh seeing the maturity of their congregation increase that you would give them the privilege of seeing people who had no faith in you come to faith in you that you would so strengthen them to be able to fulfill the ministry that you have set apart for them in richmond hill we pray that you would hear us as we pray that you would answer these prayers also according to your own good pleasure that you would be merciful to us and that you would strengthen our faith through prayer also the prayer that you taught us to pray even as we pray together saying our father who art in heaven hallowed be thy name thy kingdom come thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven give us this day our daily bread and forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors and lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil for thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever amen well let's turn together in god's word to revelation 7 revelation 7 and we're going to be looking at verses 1 through 12 revelation 7 and we'll be looking together at verses 1 through 12. your pew bible will have this on page 1031 revelation 7 beginning in verse 1 and we'll read through to verse 12. we're reading god's word so give our attention let's give our attention to it 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 the 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 the 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 and i heard the number of the sealed 144 thousand sealed from every tribe of the sons of israel twelve thousand from the tribe of judah were sealed twelve thousand from the tribe of reuben twelve thousand from the tribe of gad twelve thousand from the tribe of asher twelve thousand from the tribe of naphtali twelve thousand from the tribe of manasseh twelve thousand from the tribe of simeon twelve thousand from the tribe of levi twelve thousand from the tribe of issachar twelve thousand from the tribe of zebulun twelve thousand from the tribe of joseph twelve thousand from the tribe of benjamin were sealed 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 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 saying amen blessing and glory and wisdom and thanksgiving and honor and power and might be to our god forever and ever amen so far the reading from god's word this morning may he may he add its blessing to our hearts christianity is a liberal religion more than that it is a progressive religion now that doesn't mean perhaps the first things that come into your mind it's not liberal in the sense of the 18th century attempt to uh to be syncretistic with what's considered modern invention modern science it's not an attempt to reconfigure christian teaching in the light of modern knowledge so so it's not liberal in that sense and it's not progressive in the sense of the current preoccupation with social justice or environmentalism or those kinds of things but nevertheless the christian religion is liberal and progressive it's progressive in the sense that the central teaching of the gospel is progressively made clearer as you move your way through the biblical accounts the promise of redemption is gradually clarified according to god's own timing as he reveals his promises to the different patriarchs and through the different kings and through the prophets it's liberal in the sense that god's that god liberally grants redemption to many people all of whom are undeserving of his great gift of of redemption and that's true even as we look at the sixth seal the sixth seal we saw last lord isaiah a seal that that that speaks of the final judgment that will be for those who are outside of christ even in the sixth seal with the final judgment looming we see god's restraint we see that god graciously deals with his people we see that god's gracious covenant promises are expanded even to include all tribes and tongues and and nations they're they're expanded in the in the new covenant to include both jew and gentile and so that's what we want to learn we want to see god's gracious gracious covenant promises expanded in the new covenant to include jew and and gentile and to learn that lesson we're going to look at two parts first we're going to look at the 144 000 as they were recorded in our text and in the second place we're going to look at this great multitude that we see in verses 9 through 12. so we're going to look at the 144 000 verses 1 through 8 and then we're going to look at the great multitude in verses 9 through 12 as we seek to learn that god's gracious covenant promises are expanded in the new covenant to include both jew and gentile so let's begin by looking at the hundred and forty four thousand what what are the hundred and forty forty four thousands well we we're still in the midst of the sixth seal uh the first five seals very short two two verses each sixth seal begins in chapter six and verse twelve it won't end till the end of chapter seven so we still have some time that we're going to spend in the sixth seal and the sixth seal last lord's day and the one before that we saw kind of these uh these these cataclysmic events that that all pointed to the final cataclysmic event so so we have these these earthquakes and and and we saw the the the effect of the heavenly on the heavenly lights the sun uh turning to darkness the moon to blood the the stars all falling from the sky these other cataclysmic events they they all pointed to the final judgment they they they all warned of the final judgment that was to come now now these calamities they have been poised to start as we begin our chapter in chapter seven in verse one we see these four angels standing at the four corners of the earth now when you talk from the book of revelation about the four corners of the earth of course almost goes without saying but i'm gonna say it anyways we're not arguing for the flat earth right this is a prophecy prophecy uses symbolic literature and so when it talks about the four corners of the earth and the winds the four winds of the earth it's simply speaking of all the directions of the earth north north east southwest the winds that come from those directions they're being held back by these four angels these four angels in verse one they have been giving the specific task of carrying out this aspect of god's judgment it's not the only time in the book of revelation that we see four angels that are reserved for an aspect of god's judgment in revelation 9 and verse 14 and 15. during the seventh seal we're going to see the same thing we're going to see four angels that have been kept bound at the great river euphrates they're going to be set loose they're going to be set loose for for one purpose they're going to kill 33 of all the inhabitants of the earth that's that's their specific task given to them by god in this case chapter 7 verse 1 we have these four angels whose only task was to hold back the winds that blow on the earth as a servant of god carrying out the will of god we know that's what angels do the word for angel also could be translated as messenger the angels are the servants of god who do the will of god we know that from a place like psalm 103 verse 20 bless the lord o you his angels you mighty ones who do his word obeying the voice of his word that's that's the workings of an angel the angel exists to carry out the will of god and so when in verse 1 you see four angels holding back winds they're not acting as free agents they're not acting independently they are doing what god has assigned them to do they are beginning to implement the punishment of the sixth seal on the world there is no wind to be on the earth which means in a day before air conditioning right that's relief from heat there was no relief from heat there was to be no wind on the sea no travel in ships right no no trade routes trade routes interrupted and and there and and there was to be no wind on the on the trees either then another angel appears after these angels are beginning to carry out this judgment another angel appears in verse two he calls to these angels and interrupts their their work this angel he comes from the rising of the son he comes from the east and he comes carrying the seal of god in his hand now this is not the seal of the scroll we have seven seals on the scroll then we have the seal that this angel is carrying this is not the same seal it's of similar significance but it's not the same thing when it comes to the seals of the scrolls that the seals of the scrolls marked that message that's in the scroll as having god's authority the one who is seated on the throne held the scroll with the seals the seals are a marks of of god's authority over over the message it's the signature in the sense of the one who has the seal the the scroll in his hand the one who is seated on the scroll so the seal of the scroll is god's ownership over the message but the seal of the angel is of a different kind it's still dealing with god's authority it's still dealing with the mark of god's authority but it's not over the message now it's on people so it's not the seal of authority over a scroll but it's the seal of ownership over the people of god it's not the only time that people are discussed as god's property as the mark of his ownership being placed on them in ezekiel 9 and verse 4 the prophet says pass through the cities through jerusalem and put a mark on the foreheads of the men who sigh and groan over the abominations that are committed in it there a mark is placed on the forehead of those who are grieved over the sin of israel in this text too the mark of those who are grieved over the future abominations that we're going to read about in the text they are to receive they're to be sealed with god's mark so the one holding this seal he interrupts the four angels instructing them to wait with their judgment until all the servants of god are are marked with this seal they're to be marked as god's possession in verse 3 do not harm the earth or the trees or the sea or the trees until we have sealed the servants of our god on their foreheads they're to be marked as god's possession now we don't like that kind of language it's really talking about a branding god is branding his people putting a mark on on their forehead and when people do that to each other as they've done in the history of our own nation that's a grotesque thing because no man owns another man but it is right for god to mark his people as his possession when when god speaks of his people he actually speaks of them in terms of ownership in in first peter verse chapter two verse nine it speaks of the unique nature of the church it describes the church as a people for his own possession so the people who are saved are gods in a sense everybody is gods but god has his unique seal of ownership on his people on on his church and until the full number of those who are sealed can receive their mark there is to be a delay in the carrying out of the judgment it's important because later on in this book there's going to be a counterfeit mark there's going to be another group of people who also receive a mark on their forehead in revelation 13 and verse 17 it's going to be the mark of the beast his name his number is going to be applied to the forehead just as god's seal will be applied to the forehead of his people so so the counterfeit mark is also applied to the forehead so god's people don't receive the mark of the beast they don't receive the counterfeit sign they receive the genuine mark the differentiating mark the mark that says i am god owned by god and it is placed on the forehead well well who are these sealed ones in verse 4 it begins explaining who the sealed ones are and the prophet john under the inspiration of the holy spirit hears their number 144 thousand now starting in verse 4 we're dealing with one of the more difficult passages in the book of revelation this book which is a prophecy uh you have 144 000 and then in verse 5 through eight you have a description twelve thousand from all these different tribes uh the hundred and forty four thousand come twelve thousand from every tribe of the sons of israel now when you get to 144 thousand and you get to the 12 000 from each tribe it's very easy to get lost in numerology and trying to understand the meaning of the number by uh by being very creative about the different way the different things that this number might might mean and there's not a whole lot that we can say with certainty we can make some observations certainly the number 12 is significant in the old testament 12 sons of jacob the twelve sons of jacob that means that you're getting lots of twelves throughout all of the old testament lots of instances where the number 12 is written doesn't really tell us anything about the meaning of that number it's significant in the sense that it includes all of jacob's sons but the problem is of course that when it talks about ishmael's offspring they're also 12. and so the number 12 isn't always positive in in the bible and so you have to be careful about how much stock you put in in a number number 12 is not always good it seems here to indicate the the fullness of the number of of of of jacob's sons but that becomes even more problematic in our text because if you look through the listing of the sons of israel and you look at the different tribes if you are familiar with the listings from the old testament you'll notice that there's two tribes that are missing there's a shuffling going on the tribe of dan doesn't appear in the list of tribes at all and the tribe of ephraim doesn't appear in the list of tribes at all usually when it comes to israel joseph is excluded levi is excluded and ephraim and nasa are are plopped in they're put in well in this case ephraim's out joseph's in dan's out and manasseh is in and so it's not really the 12 tribes as as we would be familiar uh familiar with them so it's all it's a very confusing number very confusing or it could appear that this is a big problem but actually if we follow the train of thought throughout revelation this category is actually not that difficult we we can actually be fairly confident who the 144 thousand are that are in view here in chapter seven and verse 4 and following so so so follow along with me you probably should have the book of revelation open but but we're going to look at three places in the book of revelation and and we can identify this group not based on the number but based what's happening to them okay so in chapter seven and verse three it says that they are going to seal the servants of god on their foreheads the servants of god are going to be sealed on their foreheads now these 144 000 are going to show up a little bit later in the book of revelation again they're going to show up in chapter 14. and it says in chapter 14 i looked and behold on mount zion stood the lamb and with him 144 000 who had his name and his father's name written on their foreheads okay so chapter 7 verse 3 the seal is on their forehead chapter 14 verse 1 we learn what this seal is this seal is the name of the father and the son the name of the one who is seated on the throne and the lamb is written on the foreheads that is the seal then to understand finally who this group is we go to revelation 22 and verse 4. there it's talking about those who are in heaven eventually this talking about those who reside in the heavenly places and it says in verse 4 they will see his face and his name will be on their foreheads so when it comes to those who are sealed here those who have his seal on their foreheads whose whose seal is the name they are the ones who inhabit the heavenly places after the second coming therefore when it comes to 144 000 here in verse 4 you're dealing with the church you're dealing with all of god's people who are alive who are being spared the judgments that are to come from these four angels these there's a hundred and forty four thousand it's a symbolic number in verse nine it's going to be called a great multitude uh although there we're in heaven the hundred and forty four thousand are on earth but it's simply a a great number of all of those who belong to the lord who are still on the earth so then why would it talk about it as the sons of israel that's another thing that you have to solve why would they refer to it as as the sons of israel well the first thing we have to recognize and the first thing we have to be very careful of when it comes to the bible when we read scripture we should never assume that we're smarter than the people who wrote it like we should never assume that john just couldn't keep track of the 12 tribes he couldn't go back in his old testament and look at what the names of the 12 tribes are he he got confused and so he left dan out that's not how we approach scripture so we don't assume that we're more intelligent instead what we might say is the description of the sons of israel given in revelation isn't the same as the description of israel in the old testament there's something different about israel there's something that's changed about israel that's because it's talking about new testament saints and in scripture that the new testament saints are at times referred to as the sons of israel you can go to hebrews 12 and verse 22 where where old testament sinai is contrasted with the heavenly jerusalem it's not new york city it's jerusalem the capital of the hebrew people the sons of israel look to jerusalem as their capital city or you can look in romans 9 and verse 6 for a negative where it says not all who are descended from israel belong to israel see israel has become spiritualized as a as an idea so that in galatians 3 29 when it says if you are christ then you are abram's offspring heirs according to promise we understand that the the church is part of the spiritual offspring of abraham the sons of israel sealed with the seals here in revelation 7. it is the spiritual israel who is sealed on their foreheads with god's name and with the name of the lamb it is the spiritual israel who's protected from the judgments of god that are about to happen not in the sense of being separated from its effects but separated from its eternal consequences preserved because they are the special inheritance of god and that's a promise that began with abraham was carried on through israel and now is also applied to the gentile church the glorious progressive covenantal message of scripture that's the 144 thousand so so now let's look at the at the great multitude in verses 9 through 12. in verse 9 you see this the scene shifts we were on earth and and now we're we're in heaven we're around the throne room of the one who's seated on the throne and and the lamb and and it turns from one angel calling for an interruption of judgment for restraint to 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 this is this is in heaven now sometimes you might be tempted because of all the the information that gets thrown at us and and and the categories that we're used to dealing with we might think of this as as being a racial inclusion that that all races will will come it's not an ethnic statement though it's not a racial statement it's a covenantal statement there is a a racial aspect to it but it's it's not racial it's covenantal we see the liberality of god on full display see in our text it said that there was a great multitude that no one could number it hasn't always been that case about the people of god there have been seasons when the people of god could very easily be numbered when when jacob's family went into egypt it didn't take him very long to number them at all there were 70 of them and they went into egypt when they came out of egypt it was more difficult but they still numbered him 600 million men came out of of egypt they didn't number the women in that case and then when david numbers his fighting men in 2nd samuel 24 1.3 million fighting men they could be numbered they were from one nation they were one people with 12 tribes they spoke one language that's not the case today when it comes to the people of god his blessing has been blown up it's been exploded it says that there is representation from all tribes and peoples and languages standing before the throne what does that mean i don't think we can even count all the tribes that are out i i did some some quick research online in our nation alone there were four 574 tribes of native americans 574 tribes when people tried to do a count on tribes throughout the world they they found that there are even a hundred tribes which have never been contacted still in our in our time in our world a hundred tribes that have never been contacted uh within the world in our world there's an estimate of 7 100 languages 7 100 languages there's an estimate of 17 000 different peoples depending on on how you how you count that there was some some variety there and i didn't have enough time to make sense of all of that but what's the point it's expanded god's blessing visited on on some of all of those greatly expanded it's an explosion all of them are represented in the throne room of heaven before the father and before the lamb and it says that they are clothed in white robes meaning that they are purified from sin and it says that they have palm branches in their hands now we don't do that we don't care around palm branches and so that idea of what what are they carrying around palm branches for palm branches were a sign of celebration in leviticus 23 and verse 40 during the feast of booths the the beginning of the harvest time there was celebration when the people would hold palm trees and rejoice before the lord that was the function of of the palm branch it was part of their celebration and in john chapter 12 and verse 13 at the triumphal entry when jesus is going into jerusalem right before his crucifixion people meet jesus outside the city with branches of palm trees in their hands it's part of old testament celebration so what does it mean it's saying that this purified multitude that no one can number is rejoicing before the father who is on the throne and before the lamb his son this vast multitude rejoices because of something why are they rejoicing well as we've been told many times as we've been as we've grown up if you want to understand a person the first thing you have to do is listen to them well what does this vast multitude say it says salvation belongs to our god who sits on the throne and to the lamb salvation salvation is the cause of rejoicing for this vast multitude salvation is not the decision or action of a man it says so in our text it says salvation belongs to god who sits on the throne it belongs to the lamb it's his ownership it's his seal it's god who applies it to his people at his initiative through his angel it's it's provided by grace it's provided liberally throughout all the world and it's accomplished by his sacrifice it's expanded throughout the world at his command this is the work of redemption that god has given and in verse 10 it says that this great multitude cries out with a loud voice it's it must have been a roar in the throne room of heaven can you imagine it it's hard to imagine it it's hard to imagine an innumerable multitude proclaiming with a loud voice this message of joy in salvation sometimes you come across things that that give you a snapshot of what it might look like i have one of those things personal to me there's a video a marching band called the cavaliers i don't think they're christian by any stretch of the imagination but i think it's a tradition in this marching band that they warm up in tune to the doxology and there's a video that you can watch where this marching band is in a small room at a middle school and there are horns all along all the walls of this middle school auditorium maybe 60 or 70 horns of different size and the the conductor they're all tuning it's it's a cacophony and he brings them all to one note and then the doxology starts and when that doxology starts every time i watch it i get a tickle from my the bottom of my spine all the way and it ends up here on me the glory of that sound the majesty of all that coming together praise god from whom all blessings flow that is what heaven is like with his unnumbered multitude all proclaiming with a loud voice this this praise this this worship of god and then you have the angels and you have the four living creatures their response is almost predictable now we would be surprised if it didn't happen and we're only in chapter seven of the book of revelation when the angels hear the proclamation from the people they fall down and worship and they say amen blessing and honor and wisdom and thanksgiving and honor and power and might to be to our god forever and ever amen and so all of the hosts of heaven they are simply acknowledging what already belongs to god they're not adding anything to him they're not giving him information that he doesn't know their lips are simply saying what is already true amen it is true that's where they start amen it's true that's where they end the praise of god's people assigning or ascribing to god the things that already belong to him see god seals his people he makes them his own he removes them from final judgment he protects them from the harm of the seventh seal he does he makes that that salvation that that deliverance known progressively and he applies it liberally it is seen in the great rejoicing in the wonder and the splendor of heaven it's a magnificent wonder expressed by the great multitude in heaven and so we as christians we have to recapture the greatness of the salvation that god has made known to us we have to recapture a sense of the wonder of god's salvation we have to recapture in a sense the wonder of heaven we have to learn to join with the angels who are there with the innumerable hosts who are there who proclaim their worship of god now i want to ask a question and you don't have to acknowledge this in any way certainly not by voice not by hand this is just a question for you to think about how many of you are longing for heaven how many of you can't wait to get to heaven now be honest about it nobody knows what you're thinking right now how many of you are really longing for heaven recently i've been reading this little booklet on heaven where at the beginning the writer of this book admitted of a conversation that we had he had with a pastor and this pastor admitted that he was not looking forward to heaven at all because it seemed like kind of a boring place to him is that your view of heaven this morning that heaven seems to be kind of a a boring place that's not how heaven is described in revelation 7. that's not how heaven is described in the other places of the revelation where we've seen it already heaven is this place of glory and majesty where people are preoccupied with god and they joyfully worship him if that is what the church is to believe about heaven why is it that the church is hardly distinguishable from the world and how it has responded to covet now this is not meant to be something to say anything about one church or another in terms of their mandates and their their their their ways of trying to deal with it it's talking to us have you seen recently how afraid of dying you are have you come to terms with it how can that be if heaven is so glorious how can that be if heaven is this glorious place that we're to long for how can we be so afraid of dying it's not an assertion that that covet isn't a real disease it's a discussion that we have to have exactly because it is a real disease it's not a discussion where i hope at the end of it we say well i just don't care anymore and i'm just going to go out and do whatever i want it's not a it's not a call to carelessness it's not any statement really about anybody who's doing what they think is prudent but if heaven is so splendid that the innumerable hosts of heaven rejoice in the salvation of god and to the lamb why is it people of god that we seem so afraid to enter into it why is that it speaks volumes about our assessment of heaven doesn't it doesn't it speak volumes about what we think of of heaven in part that's probably because we can't really imagine heaven because of where we are and we are weak and we're finite in our understanding and so for us to imagine such a place and and all that it means and all the the good things that will be there it's difficult for us to imagine it we we have a book of knowledge of heaven but we don't have the experience of heaven and book knowledge is never the same as as experience so so that might be part of the explanation but isn't it true isn't it fair to say that that at times we prefer what we have here isn't it fair to say that that sometimes we we prefer our comfortable lives we we prefer our nice houses we prefer our smartphones and and high-speed internet we we like our entertainments we we like our shows what does scripture say colossians 3 1 if then you have been raised with christ seek the things that are above where christ is seated at the right hand of god i wish i did that better i wish i longed for heaven more and so what can i do what can i do now well certainly i must know about heaven i must study what god's word says about heaven i must make myself agree ask for god to help me agree with the things that he has said i must be in prayer i must pray that the spirit's animating power would make me agree with him that my thoughts would align with his his thoughts that i that i would seek the things that are above that i would delight myself in them i must ask god that he would prepare me to leave this world behind at times i must not hold on to this world so tightly i must delight myself in the in the things of heaven and god is a gracious god and he's a liberal god and he might make known to us by his grace the goodness of thinking his thoughts after him that's what we see here in this text this this picture of the splendor of heaven this this picture of the liberal progressive nature of the christian faith god revealing establishing his plan to include the people from all tongues and tribes and and nations god graciously giving to all undeserving people an extravagant extravagant gift of salvation through christ his people are sealed through christ they are spared his final judgment and the response in heaven and the response on earth should be the same the response should be worship amen blessing and glory and wisdom and thanksgiving and honor and power and might be to our god forever and ever amen let's pray almighty god and heavenly father we we come to you and you know our weakness whatever we answered in our hearts when we were asked about our desire to be in heaven you know that answer already and so we pray that you would so shape us that we would love the splendor of heaven that we would long for it that it would not be a fearful thing for us to think of entering into it that we would see it as a place of fulfillment where your where our understanding of you will have all the effects of sin removed where our desire to follow after you will not be stained anymore and will not be imperfect but we will be made perfectly righteous before you and so we long for this day we pray that you would bring it soon that you would cause us to have our eyes set on the things that are above that we might enter into the heavenly places and worship you there fully as you have created us to do we pray it in jesus name amen as we respond to the preaching of god's word and as we prepare for the lord's supper let's turn in our hymnals to him 257. we'll sing verses one and two that will stand as we do so him 257 verses one and two uh stricken smitten and afflicted [Music] a me foreign crazy [Music] please be seated when we come to a sacrament of the lord our god we're coming to something that he has instituted it is for the good of his people for the benefit of his people and so we come to the lord's supper to be reminded and to have fellowship with god of what he has done in the gospel and to be reminded that he is the one who institutes institutes it i want to read for us the words of institution as they're found in first corinthians 11. starting in verse 23 for i received from the lord what i also delivered to you that the lord jesus on the night when he was betrayed took bread and when he had given thanks he broke it and said this is my body which is for you do this in remembrance of me in the same way also he took the cup after supper saying this cup is the new covenant in my blood do this as often as you drink it in remembrance of me for as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup you proclaim the lord's death until he comes whoever therefore eats the bread or drinks the cup of the lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty concerning the body and blood of the lord let a person examine himself then and so eat of the bread and drink of the cup for anyone who eats and drinks without discerning the body eats and drinks judgment on himself those are the words of institution just briefly what are we doing when we come to the lord's table we are on one in the one hand proclaiming the lord's death that's what our text says proclaiming the effect that god that christ's death has on us when we think of the multitude that is in heaven and those who receive the mark of christ how do they receive it they don't receive it because they've done enough good things they receive it by the grace of god through faith it is the the the the sacrifice of christ that makes it possible for anybody to escape the the opening of the sixth seal in the final judgment and so we're proclaiming that when we celebrate together that in christ we have deliverance in christ we have salvation in a sense we're joining in the the proclamation of the heavenly courts salvation belongs to god the one who sits on the throne and to the lamb so in in one sense that's what we're doing when we come to the lord's table but we also know from first corinthians 10 that there is a spiritual union with god that comes through the lord's table when we when we uh when we eat the bread we have fellowship with the body of christ the the the cup that we drink we have participation in the blood of christ and so there is not only uh an intellectual aspect of remembering aspect to what we're doing in the lord's supper but there is a joining aspect there is a fellowship a union with christ and and because of those things it is very important to think about who should participate in this meal if the participation in the lord's supper is not only intellectual assent but it is a a spiritual union that is being longed for to participate in this meal as a hypocrite brings with a dire consequences and we see that in our text uh in in verse 29 when it talks about drinking eating and drinking judgment on yourself if if you eat and drink without um without discernment but when we think of this meal we are coming to this meal as the key for entrance into heaven all this talk about heaven it's only significant because of what's on display in this table and so in that sense this meal should be for the christian this is a great celebration this is the this is that one way that we enter into the heavenly places where we join the heavenly choirs where we leave behind the the judgment that should be ours because of our sin and so what is on display in the table is is the cause it should be the cause for great joy for all who partake by faith now who should who should come to the table anyone who's made a public profession of faith in an evangelical church a church that preaches the scriptures and and proclaims the gospel anybody who has been baptized who has a communing member meaning that they've stood before the elders of the church and and their faith has been been received as credible their profession of faith has been received as credible uh anybody who's not harboring a sin of which they are un unrepentant you can come to this table it's not a meal for those who are without sin it's not a it is an acknowledgement that what is on this table we need that because we are sinful but there is a warning that comes along uh what does it mean to to partake worthily that's the question really that we have to answer if there's this warning in verse 29 how can we be sure that we're partaking in a worthy manner so on behalf of the session of cliffwood i want to ask three questions for you to answer in your heart that you can examine yourself at this time the first question is this do you know yourself to be a sinner apart from christ separated from from god meaning do you know that by nature you and your nature that you deserve the sixth seal that you deserve what's written in that seal in the second place do you believe god's promise that your sins are forgiven only because of jesus completed work do you agree with the song that is being sung in heaven salvation belongs to our god do you believe that that you come to him only through his work on your behalf and then third as you search your conscience are you determined in your desire to live the rest of your days in new obedience to god in christ through the spirit this is not asking you if you're perfect this is asking you if your understanding of the gospel has made it has made an impact in your life have you received this great liber liberal gift from god and have you seen what it means have you seen the greatness of the gift that he offers offers to you if you cannot answer these questions affirmatively you should not participate because of the warning of first corinthians 11 29 but in that case you can stay and observe with your eyes don't partake at this time but it is our prayer that you would be able to partake with us in the future that you would come to a saving knowledge of the lord jesus christ if you can answer this question affirmatively for if you are a believer here present this morning it is our joy to share in the lord's supper that we might remember christ's work that we would have the gospel displayed for us and that we would be nourished and refreshed in our hearts through the working of the holy spirit but before we eat and drink let me pray for us almighty god and heavenly father we come to you today knowing that we need the work of christ on our behalf his blood shed for us his body broken for us that we would be among the heavenly worshipers that we would be spared from the wrath to come we know we couldn't stand under it we know we cannot stand under it and we pray that christ standing in our place would be sufficient even as you've promised and even as we remember his work we pray that you would take these common elements this bread and this wine that you would use it for a holy purpose in our lives that you would renew us in our love for you that you would strengthen us in our faith that you would make us to rejoice together even as we anticipate being being among this unnumbered multitude in heaven giving our praise and worship to you and we pray it in jesus name amen the bread that we break is our communion with the body of christ [Music] so [Music] so so [Music] so [Music] take e to remember and believe that the body of our lord jesus christ was broken for a complete forgiveness of all our sins the cup of blessing is our participation in the blood of christ i would remind you as we partake of this element that the rose tinted glasses cups are our one are juice and the clear cups are wine [Music] so so [Music] so [Music] so [Music] take drink from it all of you remember and believe that the blood of our lord jesus christ was shed for complete forgiveness of all our sins let me pray for us almighty god the living god we come to you to praise you that you have given to us life through the death of your son that you have made us spiritual spiritually alive where where once we were dead that you have given to us grace upon grace in the forgiveness of our sins we pray that we would not be those who presume upon this grace or who take it for granted that we would see in it the wonder of a love that is unmatched in anything that we've ever seen that we would not be those who who scorned that love by not wanting to be near you but that we would love you as we should that we would desire the heavenly places and that you would so be glorified among your people a people who long to be in your presence we pray that you would work this in us we ask it in jesus name amen as we respond to the sacrament and as we conclude our service let's stand and sing the remaining two verses of him 257 uh hymn 257 verse 3 and 4 stricken smitten and afflicted [Music] hear me here it is [Music] is [Music] [Applause] [Music] lost [Music] is [Music] oh [Music] amen receive the lord's blessing and go your way in peace lord bless you and keep you the lord make his face shine upon you and be gracious to you the lord lift up his countenance upon you and give you peace amen [Music] you

Channel: Cliffwood Presbyterian Church

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Length: 107min 44sec (6464 seconds)

Published: Sun Sep 05 2021