Salvation and the Tribulation (#12) - November 4, 2020

tonight's message is titled salvation and the tribulation and i want you to turn with me to revelation chapter seven as we continue moving forward in our study of the book of revelation before we get into the chapter itself i want you to think with me about some of the reasons for which revelation can be such a misunderstood or such an intimidating book one of the reasons is because there is such mystery over how we should interpret the book of revelation now one of the most important questions we have to ask when we go to interpret a passage of scripture or a book of the bible is what did the in what did the author intend when it was written this is one of the foundational rules for interpreting the bible is is determining the author's intent when he wrote the words and then i would say an even greater question is what was god's intent for inspiring the particular human author who penned the words of our books in the bible what was the divine intent for the book so when we're studying the book of revelation we've already seen that john told us it was given in signs and one of the interpretive questions is should we just dismiss any idea of literal fulfillment from the words of revelation and see it as merely a symbolic depiction of the conflict between good and evil in the universe and good ultimately wins if we interpret it that way we would just dismiss it as somewhat of an allegory which means it has no literal fulfillment that was intended to be conveyed by either john who wrote it or by god who inspired john to write it but then another interpretive question is if you if you say no there's got to be more than the fact that these symbols and signs were just intended to to depict some conflict between good and evil no there had to be through these signs and symbols given some intended understanding that these symbols were prophesying literal events and literal people who would play a part in those events unfolding if you believe that that the symbolism and signs through which the message of revelation is encoded if you believe that god intended and john the human messenger intended these things to depict literal people and literal events for the future another question would be as we're studying in 2020 have the events that were prophesied in the book of revelation already taken place and i don't know how anyone who sees any literal sense of possible fulfillment could interpret any of these events as having already taken place another question then would be do these signs and symbols depict future events from when john wrote them 2 000 years ago do they depict future events which have yet to take place as we study it tonight and i would say the answer is yes i also believe we have to ask the question could it be that the book of revelation contains some things that are encoded as signs and symbols which do denote abstract ideas and not literal people and events as well as signs and symbols that do depict literal people and events in other words what i'm saying is is it possible there's a mixture of both that some of the signs and symbolism in revelation are to to characterize yes the idea of good versus evil as well as some literal people and events and i believe we have to find in revelation both the question then is how do you answer all of the questions i've just posed on what basis do your do you draw your conclusions and if you think revelation is a combination of both of symbols that denote ideas like good and evil in conflict as well as literal events and people that will be fulfilled in history as it plays out how do you know the difference between what's just symbolically depicting ideas versus what is literal well these these are the kinds of questions that people who study the book of revelation are plagued with and depending on who wrote the commentary a commentary is a scholarly volume that you purchase written by a bible scholar that helps you give you guidance for understanding the book and you read the various authors who have penned commentaries on revelation and it is startling how divergent how broad and varied their interpretive postures are and if if you want to just simplify it the differences in perspective on revelation have to do with how differently each person answers those questions that i mentioned at the outset and what i like to do is to see in the symbols and signs as much possibility of literal fulfillment because that would give the the book of revelation the most viable meaning and sense of significance for god having included it in our scripture now here's some things some of the different ways that those questions are answered present you know bones of contention between believers and between people in the scholarly community of biblical study but we have to be very careful about allowing these things to divide us as christians and i you know i've mentioned before when you're watching this on youtube or facebook you can see uh comments that come up i can't see those i'm in the room all i can see is a camera with a red light on it and a bunch of empty seats but um every now and then our ministry team will take snapshots of some of the comments and i'll get to go over and look at them and some of them they have to delete because you have not heads that come on and make comments they shouldn't make and every now and then you'll have somebody who comes on there and wants to turn the comment into a debate with me as though i can see what you're saying and how you're critiquing what i'm saying the only way i see is if they take a picture of it and show me or if somebody calls me and says on my way home you wouldn't believe what that bonehead put in the comments before they deleted it well i'm i'm saying all of this tongue-in-cheek but what i want you to know is whether you agree with my interpretation or not we can still be fellow christians and we can still love jesus together and we can still believe the bible is the word of god but here's some things that i think we have to understand as conclusions everyone must draw from reading the book of revelation whether you lean heavily to the side of it just being symbolic and signs to connote ideas or you believe it actually refers to literal prophetic events that will be fulfilled here's here's what i know god put this in our bible for a reason can i get an amen on that not only that but for us to have it situated as the church placed it the last book of the bible it constitutes god's final word to his people through the ages so the fact that it's in our bible means is very important the fact that it's the last book in the bible means it's exceptionally important and not only that but i want to remind all of you that when we were opening the first verses we read where it gave a promise of blessing to everyone who reads it and listens to it being taught and studies it very seriously it's the only book in the bible out of all 66 that opens in that way and so it's a promised blessing just for just for listening to it being taught and just for reading you're going to get blessed tonight don't we need a blessing tonight yes we do but i'll tell you something else however you interpret the book of revelation what we see is that the throne of god is the seat of all power and dominion in the universe that is an inescapable conclusion of the book another thing we must conclude from reading the book of revelation that is that the lamb of god who takes the scroll who is none other than jesus jesus christ is the centerpiece of the book of revelation symbolic or literal jesus is is the sum and total of the book i'll tell you something else that we see from this book either heaven or hell one of those two is the eternal abode of every person of the human race that is inescapable from looking at this book i'll tell you something else that's inescapable as a conclusion and that is that all human rebellion will one day be crushed by the wrath of god however it happens and i believe we have a good picture of it in revelation but however it happens god will get the last word on wicked mankind and then here's the last thing i want to say among other conclusions that i could highlight and that is this all who are saved by faith in the blood of the lamb of god will be spared from the wrath of god that is abundantly clear so apart from conclusions like the ones that i've just outlined what i'm saying to you tonight is we have to be very careful about drawing dogmatic conclusions about the specific details of the events and of the timing and whether the church is raptured before the tribulation as as many people believe including me or whether the church is raptured as as one of the growing positions is in the middle of the tribulation or if the church is raptured at the end of the tribulation those are the kinds of things we we cannot just fight and squabble over we can we can present different interpretive views and i can tell you what i think is the right view but when it's all said and done we need to be very cautious about straining at a gnat on details that are open for debate so by way of review the period of the tribulation is what most of the book of revelation is devoted to and god symbolized it he gave it to john in signs in a c in in in three series of seven and the sequences of judgments are the seven seals that would would be broken by the lamb the seven trumpets that would be sounded by angels and seven bowls that would be poured out from heaven to earth where we are now as we move into chapter seven is that the lamb has taken the scroll and i thought i'd show you just a a depiction of the scroll it is just parchment that has been rolled up and wax hot wax has been dropped onto the seam of the scroll with a signet ring implanted in the hot wax and the wax is dried and so this is the scroll that was in the hand of god and jesus has the scroll in his hand and where we are in our study is that he has broken six of those seals and there's still one remaining now one of the things that i wanted to point out to you tonight about the breaking of the seals is that we're not even going to talk about the seventh seal yet but when you when we study this what we're going to see is that when the seventh seal is broken then the see the next set of sevens the trumpets will ensue and then when the seventh trumpet sounds the sounding the seventh trumpet will commence that final set of seven judgments which are the bold judgments so i wanted you to look at this little chart because you can understand it this way the seventh seal includes the sounding of the first of the seven trumpets so i've put a bracket around seal seven and trumpet one and then as john describes the sounding of the seventh trumpet i put a bracket around the seventh trumpet and the first bowl because it is the sounding of the seventh trumpet that commences the pouring out of wrath from the first bowl another way to think of it is this way notice this chart that is you've got seals one through seven when you get to seal seven under seal seven you can safely and accurately say that all of the trumpets and all of the bowls are housed under the seventh seal so i wanted you to see two different ways of looking at it so my question is as you think about that is it possible as many scholars have suggested that the seven seals on this scroll represent the entirety of the tribulation since the trumpets and bolds which follow the breaking of the seventh seal could could accurately be said to be included within that seventh seal it could be that the trumpets and the bowls which follow the breaking of the seventh seal simply elaborate on the intensity and the worsening of conditions which will take place in the last half of the tribulation and i believe this is a very likely and accurate way of interpreting that the seven seals represent the tribulation it's just that everything under that seventh seal trumpets and bowls break it down in detail and help us to realize that the last half of the tribulation is when the worst of things are going to happen on planet earth now here's what i want us to be reminded of if you'll remember when we when we moved out of chapter 3 and into chapter 4 we left the church age and entered into the tribulation period which based on the way we're outlining the book of revelation we put chapter one into the first category the things which john had seen we put chapters two and three into the second division of the book which are the things which are the letters to the seven churches which represents church history or the church age that we're still a part of today and then beginning in the fourth chapter the things which will take place in the future now i want to put a graphic on the screen for you and base our outline that i just went over remember it comes from chapter 1 and verse 19 where john was told to write the things which you've seen that's the first chapter it's what he wrote then the things which are that's the church age chapters two and three and then he was told to write the things which will take place after these things and as you're looking at this graphic i want you to realize that the first verse of chapter 4 begins with that exact phrase after these things which clues us into chapter 4 begins the final division of the book how did chapter 4 begin well it led us into both chapter four and chapter five john describing for us his visit to the throne room of god and what did he see in the throne room of god he saw that the the creatures around the throne were crying out holy holy holy is the lord god almighty and he saw the elders bowing down and casting their crowns around the throne of god and before the lamb who's jesus so god's holiness was magnified god's sovereignty and power were magnified and god's glory was magnified as the four creatures the 24 elders and even angels were worshiping god because of and giving glory to him because of who he is so chapters 4 and 5 tell us that the backdrop for everything that would happen in in the book of revelation the backdrop for all of it is the throne room of god in heaven then when we cross into chapters 6 through 19 which is the majority the bulk of the book this these chapters depict the tribulation the seals the trumpets the bowls about which we've spoken and what happens with the breaking of the seals the sounding of the trumpets the pouring out of the bowls we have all types of calamity on earth upheaval death and destruction and the reason i wanted you to see this is because as bad as it gets on earth john will revert back from focusing on calamity on the earth he will revert back to heaven to show us what's going on that while hell is breaking loose on earth guess what in heaven god is worshiped throughout the tribulation as still being holy still being sovereign still being glorious and that god is seated on his throne even when stuff on earth is falling apart so i just wanted you to see that that no matter what we see happening during the tribulation and we've already looked at the breaking of the first six seals and widespread death and destruction in all types of atmospheric up evil god is still on his throne the four creatures are still crying holy the elders are casting their crowns and prostrating themselves before him so it's a wonderful reminder starting with chapters 4 and 5 that all of the gruesome details of chapter 6 through 19 the backdrop is still our glorious sovereign god on his throne in heaven no matter how dark no matter how grim it looks during the worst of times on planet earth so back to where we are tonight that was a little bit of introduction that was a little bit of review hope it wasn't too much i'm trying to just kind of smooth it all out to get us ready to move into our next chapter now now if you'll remember we we ended the sixth chapter with the breaking of the sixth seal on that scroll and what we find now is that between the breaking of the sixth seal and the lamb or jesus breaking the seventh seal there is a pause you would call it an interlude it's interesting because when you look at the seals and the trumpets and the bowls there is a pause between the sixth and seventh of each of those sequences so tonight we're seeing there's a pause between the sixth and seventh seal that jesus breaks on the scroll when we get to the trumpets we will see the same thing there's a pause or an interlude between the sounding of the sixth and seventh trumpet same is true between the pouring out of the sixth bowl and the seventh bowl that's just so you know there is a parallel that we'll see but what i want us to do is to go ahead and think about um where we are now some scholars believe that the breaking of the sixth seal actually marks the halfway point of the tribulation and that everything after the sixth seal is all about the last half the last three and a half years of the tribulation which we know if all seven years are the tribulation the last half of that is called the great tribulation so when we get into chapter seven we're in that pause between the sixth seal having been broken and the seventh seal with which jesus is about to break and it is in this pause that john describes for us these four angels who are at the four corners of the earth who have control over the four winds of the earth they are told to press pause and to not allow any harm to come to the earth or to the sea until the servants of god on earth have been sealed with god's mark of ownership which will mean god's protection over them during the tribulation now this reference to four corners of course it's not that the earth is squared god knows the earth is not squared but the reference to the four corners and the four winds is just symbolic of the four navigational directions on the compass we describe our our orientation on planet earth in reference to north south east west the four navigational directions and symbolically john sees four angels at these four points and they are told not to allow anything to happen within the atmosphere on planet earth until a certain uh certain of god's servants had been marked out for god's protection what this means is that these angels this vision is intended to symbolize these angels having power over the earth's atmosphere they are commanded to allow everything within the atmosphere to come to a standstill until god's purpose for his servants a set number of his servants to be fulfilled and verse number three i want you to see it where a fifth angel speaks to these four angels at the four corners saying do not harm the earth the sea or the trees till we've sealed the servants of our god on their foreheads now this fifth angel came from the east john tells us and commanded the other four not to harm the earth and the sea because somebody a large group of people would need to be sealed now this idea of god protecting certain people from from calamity while allowing others to suffer this is god's prerogative and it goes all the way back to the book of genesis remember where when there was a man named noah and the whole world perished in the flood except for noah and his family who were allowed to get on the ark well there wasn't a seal but there was still this idea of god setting them apart and protecting them i also think about how when the children of israel during the plagues and the death of the firstborn pat you know the the angel of death passed over god had told moses to tell the people to put the blood over the doorpost that blood was a seal of protection that protected the firstborn in the household of all the israelite families from from the wrath of god's judgment and then you know just if you've studied the book of joshua you might remember how when prior to the conquest of jericho rahab was promised protection it was as if she and her household were sealed like these servants of god are going to be sealed in the book of revelation now there's several things for us to note about these who are going to be protected and they are mentioned in verse 4 but they're they're spelled out in verses 5 through 8. in this prophecy a reference is made to 12 tribes of israel that's what verse number 4 says 144 000 of all the tribes of the children of israel were sealed and this reminds us that there are 12 tribes of israel now most israelites today have no idea to which tribe they belong but i want to make something very clear to you god knows to which tribe every jew belongs whether that jewish person knows it or not and this whole notion of the lost tribes of israel can i just tell you something god doesn't lose anything god knows where the jewish people are and he knows to which of the tribes each one of them belongs now the names of these 12 tribes have been a source of frustration for bible scholars because the list of these tribes in revelation is not consistent with the listings in other places throughout scripture i was reading last week that there are 29 different lists of the tribes of israel in scripture 29 different lists and there is variation in those lists so we shouldn't be troubled as many people are about what some scholars see as a discrepancy in the particular list here of the 12 tribes in revelation chapter 7. god has a reason for listing them and for including certain names and leaving out other names as he has here and some of these reasons may have to do with the history of a particular tribe or of several tribes and their association with idolatry throughout their history or even in the time since they've been scattered so it's just something to realize don't be surprised if you were studying this and you find some critical comment oh these tribes are not listed the same way they are in other places in scripture it's a mystery we don't know how to interpret it but we know god has a reason for listing them the way he did here's another question about these 144 000 of the tribes of the children of israel mentioned in verse number four and then outline through verse eight um is are there literally twelve thousand and no less no more literally twelve thousand who will be sealed from each of the twelve tribes or could the twelve thousand from each of the twelve tribes be symbolic and simply be meant to indicate a number of jewish people during the tribulation sealed for protection a number that will exceed you know a hundred thousand well these are the kinds of questions that i talked about at the beginning of tonight's message now if you've ever seen someone who knocks on your door and gives you a watchtower magazine they're called the jehovah's witnesses they have a particular hang up on these 144 000 and their goal is to hope that they are one of the chosen 144 000 as though only 144 000 are going to make it into the throne room of god i'm glad to report to you tonight that is just one of many ways in which that cult is misguided now that being said a common mistake is to interpret these 144 000 of the 12 tribes of israel as symbolizing the church now you've got to really stretch it to make this somehow refer to the church still being in the tribulation and for god choosing to identify the church being sealed with a protective seal that somehow god's going to conflate the church with the 12 tribes of israel i want you to understand something very important tonight are you listening say amen the church is never referred to as israel in the bible not only that but the church is never said to have taken the place of israel in the bible the church is the church israel is israel and the references to either the children of israel as they are mentioned in verse 4 or to the 12 tribes quote unquote mentioned in verse number four whenever you see those references everywhere else in scripture this is referring to the literal descendants of jacob whose sons were the first heads of the twelve tribes so we're not talking about allegory symbolism when in the scriptures israel is mentioned the children of israel are mentioned the 12 tribes are mentioned we are talking about biological descendants of jacob and of course we know ultimately of abraham i want you to remember something else that after chapter 3 with the with the with the laodicean letter the last of the seven when we cross into chapter four those who are saved on the earth after the third chapter of revelation are never called the church they are only referred to as the saints the saints of god or in this case the sealed 144 thousand are called the servants of god but the fact that church is never again mentioned to refer to those who are on the earth during the tribulation indicates to me that the church age has ended and when the church age is over it it's its consummation point is when or its termination point is when god raptures takes the church away because church is never again mentioned during the tribulation so it's just one more reason for us to discard this idea that this 144 000 is referring to [Music] people who can be described as belonging to god's church now i believe that we should lean towards a more literal interpretation of these 12 000 from each of the twelve tribes and i'm going to tell you why because when we get over into the 14th chapter we see them again and i want you to notice in verse 1 of chapter 14 john says i looked and behold a lamb standing on mount zion you know where mount zion is mount zion is jerusalem and who is the lamb the lamb is jesus and with the lamb there were 144 000 having his father's name written on their foreheads so when you get to the 14th chapter there are 144 000 with jesus on mount zion which is jerusalem now we're going to learn a lot more about these 144 000 when we get to chapter 14. but we got to come back here to where we are now where these 144 000 are just getting the seal placed upon them which is god's mark of ownership and protection now here's what i want to say about these 144 000 that we see that you've probably heard reference to whether it's from jehovah's witnesses or christians this this is a group that gets talked about a lot well i believe there will be more than 144 000 jews who come to christ during the tribulation but for whatever reason god has chosen in his sovereignty and in his perfect wisdom he has chosen that out of all the jews who will be saved during the tribulation period he is only going to providentially seal and protect this set number of those jews who come to faith in jesus christ so so just just so you know there will be jews who come to christ during the tribulation they put their faith in jesus these 144 000 are among the jewish masses who will come to christ during the tribulation but they have been set aside with special protection for a special purpose and many people who interpret revelation from a more literal perspective and from an an entirely futuristic perspective okay they often refer to these as the jewish evangelists of the tribulation the jewish evangelists of the tribulation and what is an evangelist an evangelist is someone who goes around itinerantly preaching the gospel of jesus christ so if it is true that these 144 000 are itinerant evangelists 12 000 from each of the 12 tribes imagine their impact having been unbelieving jewish people the church raptured out the gospel still being preached through residual forms of witness even though the church is gone and god in his sovereignty bringing a multitude of jewish people to faith in jesus christ and now 144 000 of them are i want to say rabidly preaching the gospel because let me tell you something jewish people who resist christ resist christ wholeheartedly but jewish people who come to faith in christ they have no rival when it comes to zeal when it comes to passion when it comes to energy a jewish christian we call them a messianic believer a messianic believer is someone who is on fire for god and for the lord jesus christ and imagine during the tribulation a hundred and forty four thousand such jewish messianic christians going about everywhere preaching the gospel much to the chagrin and dismay of the one world government and its wicked leader who will hate them who will detest them but guess what no matter how much they incur the hatred and the anger of the antichrist in the one world one world government they've been sealed here in chapter seven they've got god's mark of protection on them that's how this chapter starts tell the four angels in charge of the atmosphere pause don't even let the wind blow until these representatives from among the tribes of israel who have put their faith in christ are sealed for their mission of sharing the gospel during the time on planet earth when it will be the most difficult than of any other time in christian history think about it let that soak in so remember we're in this interlude between the sixth seal that the lamb broke on the scroll and the seventh seal which is about to be broken and god has set his mark on these special jewish people so now that john is seeing this take place on earth where the angels in charge of the atmosphere symbolically are being told to pause while these jewish people are being sealed and protected his attention then shifts back up to heaven look in verse nine after these things i look and behold a great multitude which no one could number of all nations tribes peoples and tongues standing before the throne and before the lamb clothed with white robes and with palm branches in their hands and crying out with a loud voice saying salvation belongs to our god who sits on the throne and to the lamb now i want you to contrast this with the 144 000 jews and now john is looking back at from earth to heaven and he sees people from every nation tribe and tongue now i want to ask some questions where are they you know where they are they're around the throne that's what he tells us in verse number nine they're standing in front of god's throne so they're in heaven not only that where are they from he tells us they are from all peoples tribes and tongues from every nation which tells us they are from every people group on planet earth so they're in heaven but they came from among all the nations of the world what are they wearing verse number nine tells us they are in they're clothed in white robes which is symbolic of the washing of our sins away by the blood of jesus this tells us they have been washed and made clean by the blood of the lamb so they were saved on the earth and the connection is that most probably it is because they were saved that they were killed and now their souls are in heaven and this idea of wearing white robes we find it in revelation chapter 3 and verse 4 where jesus promised to the church at smyrna that all who overcome will be clothed in white a symbol of their purity through the shed blood of christ in chapter 6 and verse 11 you may remember the fifth seal was broken and john saw souls under the altar of god they were the martyrs out of the tribulation they were said to be clothed in white and then the being clothed in white is mentioned here in verse 9 and again in verse 13 of chapter 7 and then it's mentioned finally in the 19th chapter of revelation verses 8 and 14 as the bride is said to be adorned in white for the marriage of the lamb the marriage feast of the lamb when the bride is seated with christ so the white robes you find them throughout the book of revelation they symbolize salvation and those who've been made clean by the blood of christ now let me ask you a question we've looked at where they are we've looked at where they came from we've looked at where what they're wearing but my question is what are they doing are they whining are they saying well you sealed those 144 000 why didn't you seal us are they up there screaming because god didn't choose to seal them the way he sealed the 144 000 who will not succumb to death but he's letting all these people that john now sees who are martyrs in heaven they succumb to death are they crying equality equality equality no they're not saying any of that you know what these martyrs are doing they're worshiping they're worshiping they're acknowledging that only from god to salvation come that's what they said when they were worshiping that salvation is from our god and our god alone and verse 9 tells us that not only are they robed in white but they're waving palm branches and if you'll remember when jesus rode into jerusalem for the final week before calvary before he died they were waving palm branches when he rode in on the back of the donkey you may remember if you've studied the old testament feast of tabernacles that they waved palm branches as a sign of their worship and celebration and the palms are not just being held by these that john sees in front of the throne in revelation 7 there they're not just a symbol of worship but they are symbols of the fact that although these who were from every people group on earth during the tribulation got saved and were killed even though from earth's vantage point they were the victims and they were murdered because of their faith their palm branches were symbols of their triumph because where they are in heaven they are so much better off than where they were down on earth so they're worshiping and what happens when this as john describes them an innumerable host of people cannot be counted by him for sure what happens when these martyred believers start worshiping well verse 11 says all the angels respond standing around the throne the 24 elders the four living creatures john says they fell on their faces before the throne and they worshiped god saying amen blessing and glory and wisdom thanksgiving and honor and power and might be to our god for ever and ever you know what's interesting is that when you count the number of attributes in verse number 12 where these angels and the 24 elders and the four living creatures start ascribing to god all of these virtues and qualities how many do they ascribe to god seven no no accident there and we saw the same thing happen when they were worshiping over in revelation chapter 5 and verse 12 they they ascribe to god seven qualities of honor and glory and and virtue seven qualities in revelation 5 12 and seven qualities here in revelation 7 and verse 12. so what i want you to remember is this remember that image of the throne above the earth that we showed you a moment ago remember that john has seen the sealing of these 144 000 and now he looks up to heaven and sees all of this vast host of martyred saints from the earth and they're worshiping god and when they worship god thousands of angels worship god the 24 elders worship god and the four living creatures worship god worship in front of the throne of god is 24 7 nonstop at all times even as countless thousands and maybe even millions are being killed for their faith in jesus during the tribulation but the good news is we see them immediately ushered into heaven that's what john sees and you know it's it's good for us to see this because what they left on earth was chaos and upheaval and darkness and evil and cruelty and abomination and we we need to remember that what they left on earth was earth falling apart but what remains true is that god is still worthy to be praised so the fact that they died and are in heaven didn't change anything going down going on down on earth but they're worshiping god because god is always worthy of praise down on earth innocent people will still be dying when these believers are in front of the throne but they're up in heaven now saying worthy is the lamb there are still unjustices down below but worthy is the lamb above they're they're saying the ungodly are ruling the world but now they're in front of the throne they're saying but we see that as ungodly as world leadership is almighty god is righteous in all his ways and he is on his throne before which we stand now down on the earth there is no end to what people are getting away with but standing before the throne they realize jesus is moments away from going down to earth to straighten it all out it's all a matter of your perspective you know what you should do what i should do when we feel like we're living in times of tribulation we should worship we should worship that's one of the greatest messages of the book of revelation is that no matter what is going on down on earth up in heaven it is always about worship and if it's about worship there god wants it to be worship here within our hearts now some of you tonight you're watching and you want joe biden to be our next president some of you watching tonight you want donald trump to be our next president and based on how this all plays out you will see yourself as living in the tribulation because you feel so strongly i have a certain way i feel about it you have a certain way you feel about it the good news is we can all love each other and we don't have to divide our friendship over it the way some of you probably would do if i told you how i really feel but you know what the fact is i know i've been a church where a lot of people disagree uh over political matters but i'm still content to worship god together not be a little crybaby and not pick up and walk out of a church service because something said i don't agree with i'm willing to say we can put our arms around each other and we may not vote the same way but we love the same jesus amen that's where you got to be so what if your candidate loses you know what you ought to do if your candidate loses when all the votes come in worship god that's what you ought to do what do you want what do you do if this country goes in a direction that grieves you worship god that's what you ought to do and what if you just feel so discouraged and disillusioned and angry when all of this is said and done can i ask you a question is god still worthy of praise is god still on his throne if he is whether it's a democrat or a republican i'm telling you god is neither and god is worthy of our praise we need to praise him no matter what that's what they're doing in heaven right now and john gives us a glimpse into it now who are these people that are in front of this throne well in verse 13 one of the elders said to me john says an elder one of those elders said who are these arrayed in white robes and where did they come from i it's almost like john is saying why are you asking me he said sir you know and john says the elder said back to me this is who they are these are the ones who come out of the great tribulation and they have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the lamb i've inserted they have because the new american translates that they have to more accurately depict the tense of the verb now the elder identifies these as those who have come out of the great tribulation that lets us know that by this point in the sequence of events in this interlude between seal six and seal seven we're not just in the tribulation but the elder tells john this innumerable multitude from every nation tribe and tongue and all the people groups of the earth they are the saved and martyred out of the great tribulation we're in the last half jesus referred to the great tribulation in matthew 24 21 he said then there will be great tribulation such as has not been since the beginning of the world until this time no nor ever shall be so these are the believers who've lost their lives during the last part of the tribulation period now how do these believers who are tribulation martyrs how are they connected to the first tribulation martyrs we saw when the fifth seal was broken in chapter 6 and verse 11. well i want us to look at that verse chapter 6 and verse 11 from the breaking of the fifth seal john tells us a white robe was given to each of these remember these are the souls who were hiding under the altar and it was said to them they should rest a little while longer until both the number of their fellow servants and their brethren who would be killed as they were was completed so i want you to think about this for a moment back there in the sixth chapter when the fifth seal was broken and john saw these saints huddled under the altar of god crying out for vindication god told them wait a little while longer until the full number of tribulation martyrs has been completed or fulfilled so what john is now describing for us in the seventh chapter in this interlude is he's showing us that what god told those first fruits of tribulation martyrs under the fifth seal under the altar in heaven what god told them was wait a little while there are many more who have to die now we are seeing those many more who will die because of their faith in christ during the great tribulation the last half when as jesus said it'll be a time unlike any other now from a handful of martyred believers under the altar in chapter 6 to now this uncountable multitude who are in front of the throne both of those groups are tribulation martyrs those who have lost their lives because of their faith and this is a reminder that many many many many people will be saved during the tribulation the bible scholar of prophecy that i love so much the late dr john walvoord said this the main facts are clear during the tribulation countless people of all nations will come to know christ it will be a time of salvation for them in spite of persecution and even martyrdom all right so dr walvord even tells us based on just this passage and others that many many many many people oh yes people will be saved not only during the first half of the tribulation but even during the last half well i want you to look at the comforts that these tribulation martyrs now enjoy verse 15. it says they're now before the throne of god they serve god day and night in his temple and he who sits on the throne will dwell among them and they shall neither hunger any more nor thirst anymore the sun shall not strike them nor any heat for the lamb who is in the midst of the throne will shepherd them and lead them to living fountains of water and god will wipe away every tear from their eyes so as you think about those final verses of this chapter these saints who were saved during the the tribulation time on earth they were before the antichrist but in heaven they are now before god on earth they serve god by faith but god seems so far far away but in heaven they serve god in his temple which is his eternal house and god is said to be among them which means he is not far away anymore he is very very close on earth they were hungry because they were deprived of food refusing to worship the antichrist or to be part of the world system but in heaven they are generously fed on earth they were parched and dehydrated from their torture and from their overexposure to the rays of the sun but in heaven they are forever protected from the scorching heat living in god's house on earth they were wandering and thirsty but in heaven the lamb will shepherd them they're no longer wandering they're now being guided and nurtured by jesus of whom david said the lord is my shepherd and it says that he leads them to refreshing waters that sounds a lot like psalm 23 and then finally think about this as these people get saved during the tribulation the price they will pay will cause them to shed many tears many tears but when we read about them in heaven it says god will wipe away every tear from their eyes and they will never cry again and before i pray tonight i want you to understand that everything that is said by way of the descriptions of their comfort in heaven applies to all of us who know jesus christ but here's what i want you to also understand it applies only to those who know jesus christ and how i pray that those promises can be claimed by each one of you watching tonight father thank you for allowing us to have an escape from all of the chaos the turmoil the friction the anxiety and to give us a glimpse into the throne room of god to know that that's our ultimate place of refuge that's our eternal abode you've made it possible because like the tribulation saints we too have washed our linens in the blood of the lamb and you've made us clean how we praise you for heaven and how we pray that throughout the coming days no matter what the outcome in our country that we will keep our eyes riveted on the lamb and that we will live lives of worship come what may in jesus name amen you

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Length: 55min 8sec (3308 seconds)

Published: Wed Nov 04 2020