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“Mercy In A Time Of Judgment” • 8.30.20 • Calvary Christian Fellowship, Sunday Morning Service
Intro.
- Revelation chapter six deals with the unveiling of six of the seven seals of God's judgment upon a Christ rejecting planet.
- Deception, war, famine, death to a quarter of the Earth's population, government sanctioned Christophobia and cosmic disturbances will occur without restraint over a seven year period.
- In chapter 8, John will return to unveil the seventh seal. What we have in chapter 7 is a parenthesis. Against the rebellious, God has been severe. What about those that were converting?
- Does God intend to abandon those that are seeking to follow Him? Do those who turn to Christ in the Great Tribulation have any hope of mercy? Chapter 7 provides us with an answer!
- It begins with His appointment of a select group of "People." Verse 1.
Text
• Revelation 7:1 : "After these things I saw four angels standing at the four corners of the earth, holding the four winds of the earth, that the wind should not blow on the earth, on the sea, or on any tree." : John is brought to a new vantage point where he is able to observe four angelic beings stationed at the "four corners of the earth."
- These four corners correspond to the four points of the compass: north, south, east and west.
- You will notice the recurring motif of "natural" occurrence. Naturally, without righteous opposition, government will turn wicked. Earthquakes and meteors are natural occurring phenomena.
- Here, God restrains the "four winds of the Earth" in order that they might not blow on the earth. There will be neither disaster, nor relief through the wind.
- One could celebrate the lack of tornadoes, but consider the alternative as well. For a time, there won't be a gentle breeze to relieve from the heat or to clear out the air.
- When you study figures like this in scripture, it's wise to see if there is a correlation elsewhere. In this case, we'd turn to the book of Daniel.
- There, you'll discover the "four wind" motif in Daniel 7:2 and 8:8. Both times, these winds are present at the prelude to action.
- These are reserved by the Lord to bring about a rapid change in conditions or to augment His ends. For example, recall when Israel was "trapped" at the Red Sea.
- The east wind blew all night to open the way for Israel to cross. (Exodus 14:21) Imagine all that we have seen thus far.
- There is a possibility of nuclear exchange. Imagine the dust cloud that will inevitably rise from a meteorite impact without the wind to counter it!
- These judgments will be enhanced by the lack of wind. Men will wish for a simple breeze!
- God will suspend the use of the wind for a season of time for a specific purpose related to what we are about to see in verse 2.
• Revelation 7:2,3 : "Then I saw another angel ascending from the east, having the seal of the living God. And he cried with a loud voice to the four angels to whom it was granted to harm the earth and the sea, saying, 'Do not harm the earth, the sea, or the trees till we have sealed the servants of our God on their foreheads.'" : With the angels holding back the winds, another angel appears who is in possession of the "seal of the living God." A seal, as we have remarked, was a mark of ownership.
- In a business transaction, the seal is a downpayment and a promise of possession. You and I as Christians are "sealed" by the Holy Spirit. (II Corinthians 1:22, Ephesians 1:13 & 4:30)
- This angel proverbially has the Lord's signet ring and is set to mark out those that belonged to the Lord! These "four corner" angels cannot let the wind bring harm until they were all sealed.
- Even here, in the Great Tribulation, God is making a distinction between those that are His and those that are not! When God brought judgment against Egypt, we saw the same policy in place.
- Whether it was the swarm of biting flies or the plague of hail, God set apart the land of Goshen where His people lived as a safe zone to make a distinction. (Exodus 8:22,23, 9:25,26)
- Harm is determined against the Earth, the planet, because the overwhelming number of the poplulace will have snubbed their nose at the God of the Universe.
- They will have rejected His rule and would now be subjected to His wrath. But because there is a group of people on the planet that have been converted post-rapture, there is mercy to be found.
- This "marking" brings to mind an event in the book of Ezekiel. In Ezekiel 8, God gave the prophet a vision on the "6th year, 6th month and 5th day."
- Ezekiel was able to peer into the inner workings of the Temple and the abominations that were taking place therein. For those unfamiliar with Ezekiel, consider this.
- He is one of the people of Israel who have already been taken into captivity by the King of Babylon, Nebuchadnezzar. Babylon's army still sat outside of the walls of Jerusalem.
- If you were a part of God's people still living there, what do you think you would be doing? Wouldn't you be pure before God and prayerful? It's shocking to see what they were actually doing!
- Ezekiel saw Priests offering incense to foreign gods and women weeping for Tammuz, who was accounted as the god of shepherds. "Have you seen this Son of Man?"
- God is asking His prophet in Babylon, by the river Chebar, if he can believe this!?
- One would think that God would simply wipe out all of Jerusalem, but that is never our God's way. Before He allows His full judgment to prevail, He makes this decree:
• Ezekiel 9:3,4 : "Now the glory of the God of Israel had gone up from the cherub, where it had been, to the threshold of the temple. And He called to the man clothed with linen, who had the writer’s inkhorn at his side; and the Lord said to him, 'Go through the midst of the city, through the midst of Jerusalem, and put a mark on the foreheads of the men who sigh and cry over all the abominations that are done within it.'" : In every episode of judgment, there is always a remnant of people that God reserves as His own!
- In the case of ancient Jerusalem, there were people who sighed and cried over what their Temple had become and God saw this as an expression of faith.
- Here in the Great Tribulation, before God continues His onslaught against our rebel planet, He carefully marks out those that He finds faith in! Who are these people? Verse 4.
• Revelation 7:4-8 : " And I heard the number of those who were sealed. One hundred and forty-four thousand of all the tribes of the children of Israel were sealed: of the tribe of Judah twelve thousand were sealed; of the tribe of Reuben twelve thousand were sealed; of the tribe of Gad twelve thousand were sealed; of the tribe of Asher twelve thousand were sealed; of the tribe of Naphtali twelve thousand were sealed; of the tribe of Manasseh twelve thousand were sealed; of the tribe of Simeon twelve thousand were sealed; of the tribe of Levi twelve thousand were sealed; of the tribe of Issachar twelve thousand were sealed; of the tribe of Zebulun twelve thousand were sealed; of the tribe of Joseph twelve thousand were sealed; of the tribe of Benjamin twelve thousand were sealed." : If you simply read this slowly, it will lead you to one conclusion: These are men of national Israel.
- Those that hold to other eschatological positions believe this to be the full composition and government of the church. Different cults have also hijacked this as their identities.
- The fact that specific tribes are mentioned makes this an easy interpretation. This is Israel sealed and marked as His own. 144,000 strong, 12,000 from each of the 12 tribes of Israel.
- Interestingly, you'll note that Dan is left out, as is Ephraim, though technically, they are likely included under Joseph's name. Most suggest that they are ommitted because of their idolatrous ties.
- Dan was a center for the designer religion of Jeroboam and Ephraim is rebuked by Hosea for similar provocations against the Lord. Read Hosea 12-14 for your own edification.
- God's law called for a curse upon any that would traffic in idolatry! (Deuteronomy 27:15)
- Here, in the Great Tribulation, God mercifully secures a remnant for Himself that will not bow to the idol of Antichrist! According to Revelation 14:1-4, they will be male virgins.
- They will be sealed with their Father's Name written upon their foreheads, the "firstfruits" to God and to the Lamb, who follow the Lamb wherever He goes!
- Still, this numbering presents a definite "problem" for you and I. We have remarked in the past that nobody could stand up today and genuinely claim to be the Messiah.
- There are no reliable ways to trace ancestry to David, much less Abraham. Those genealogical records were destroyed when the Romans sacked Israel in A.D. 70.
- How does one get around this difficulty? Today, if you visit Chabad's website, they will tell you directly that the Messiah will reveal this information when He comes.
- Their view however, opens up an interesting set of questions for those who believe for Israel.
- Will the Antichrist have some kind of genetic test available to him that will help people identify their particular tribe? All such trails are speculative. We are safest when we stick closest to the text.
- Suffice it to say, whether he does or does not have the capacity to identify tribesmen, God does not require any help with record keeping!
- God knows exactly who belongs to what tribe, where they are and what it will take to secure them for their greatest moment of service! This brings us to their "Purpose." Verse 9.
• Revelation 7:9,10 : "After these things I looked, 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, 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!'" : After witnessing the sealing of the Jewish remnant, John looks and sees another group gathered together.
- He labels it a "great multitude which no one could number." Nobody has the ability to calculate the amount of people that stood in this crowd before the Throne and the Lamb.
- What John can see is that they are members of other nations, tribes, peoples and tongues. Every ethnicity, culture, people group and language are represented among the throng!
- Contextually, the 144,000, empowered by the Holy Spirit, through the dissemination of the gospel message, will have touched people from every part of the Earth during the Great Tribulation!
- If you have ever been discouraged by the daunting nature of evangelism, breathe in this verse! Imagine the hearts of those who were suffering for this cause at this very moment!
- They probably wondered, as you do, "Is it worth it?" "Is it worth the humiliation?" "Is it worth imprisonment?" "Is it worth my death?" John tells us that the answer is a resounding "Yes!"
- There were those that crossed ethnic lines to bring the good news of Christ's salvation to a tribe not their own. There are those that learned languages, just for the privilege of sharing Christ!
- Think of the men that left their own culture to adopt a foreign one, just for the chance of establishing Christ's work in the hearts of that culture!
- The enterprise of evangelism is going to produce a number that cannot be counted, both of that that will be raptured, as well as those who will be saved out from the Great Tribulation!
- These special servants will be activated during this period, as God rescues His from judgment. Look at what John sees and consider.
- Look at them, clothed in white robes. What were they clothed in before? Before Christ, our only righteousness as humans is as "filthy rags." (Isaiah 64:6)
- Sadly, too many Christians evaluate people based upon what they are wearing now!
- Filthy rags are what you wore before you met Christ! If you have a hang up about their clothes and refuse to witness to them because of their perceived dirt, you'll never witness to them!
- Instead, look at the clothes that they could be wearing, the same clothes that you exchanged your rags for! See them not as they are, but as what they can be in Christ!
- They are the way that they are because they are exactly as you once were! Have mercy!
- Look at the palm branches in their hands. This immediately draws our attention back to the "Triumphal Entry," "Palm Sunday," as we know it.
- Jesus, entering into the city of Jerusalem, was greeted by a mass of people laying out palm branches before Him, reciting the words of Psalm 118:26.
- "Blessed is he who comes in the Name of the Lord!" Read the entire Psalm later today and you'll see a beautiful picture of the victory of the Messiah!
- Here, these people wave their palm branches, adoring their victorious Messiah. Whatever they had in their hands pre-conversion, they've laid down for the palm frawns of gospel peace!
- Look at their clothes. Look at what is in their hands and listen to their song! The language indicates that they are continually "mega phoning," this confession out.
- "Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the Throne and to the Lamb!" This crowd explodes with praise for the salvation that is "of" our God!
- This is how this crowd has come to be in the Lord's presence! It is because He has saved them for Himself! Salvation doesn't belong to or come from "us."
- It doesn't originate in us and we can't take credit for it! The saints that stand before the Throne know all about true grace and salvation!
- I can't help but think that their song will be just a bit sweeter. These will have been converted well after having rejected Jesus. The sting of that regret at the rapture will be painful.
- Can you imagine what you will feel the first second after the rapture if you are left behind?
- Shocked and hopeless! The fact that He still sought them, saved and sealed them in the Great Tribulation, will bring an even more fervent level of praise! Verse 11.
• Revelation 7:11,12 : "All the angels stood around the throne and the elders and the four living creatures, and fell on their faces before the throne and worshiped God, saying: 'Amen! Blessing and glory and wisdom, thanksgiving and honor and power and might, be to our God forever and ever. Amen.'" : The praise of these saints will tip off yet another round of worship in Heaven!
- These magnificent beings, these angels, elders ans creatures are content to stand around the throne of God, until it is time to worship, when they are just as content to lay flat before God!
- They seven more dignified responses to the Lord. All of their accolades, anything that they can bring, belongs to God!
- Consider the duration: They exist to worship God forever and ever! A Christian who rightly considers what they were before they knew Christ and what they are after, never has to be told.
- They want to worship the Lord with greater expression and for a longer duration!
- When we worship here on Earth, that is what we are building in our hearts! That anticipation that there will be better and more quality worship comes from heaven! We are being prepared!
- Imagine that feeling being THE impulse that drives our existence for all of eternity! There will never be a moment when God is not worshipped!
- These beings make it their goal to fill the halls of heaven with their continual praise! We have seen the "People" that God sealed for the "Purpose" of evangelism.
- Please take note now of their convert's "Position" before the Throne! Verse 13.
• Revelation 7:13-15 : "Then one of the elders answered, saying to me, 'Who are these arrayed in white robes, and where did they come from?' And I said to him, 'Sir, you know.' So he said to me, 'These are the ones who come out of the great tribulation, and washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. Therefore they are before the throne of God, and serve Him day and night in His temple. And He who sits on the throne will dwell among them." : John is trying to comprehend the number and identity of the people that he is seeing.
- He knows that they are all distinct. He knows that they are from varying nations and people groups. What he is unsure of is their origin!
- They are unified by one distinctive piece of clothing: They are all wearing white robes! These are all clothed in the righteousness of Christ, but where did they come from?
- John is wise enough to acknowledge just how little he knew. The elder makes what John suspected clear: This innumerable multitude came out of the Great Tribulation!
- You can't read it any other way. It literally reads in Greek, "The Tribulation, The Great One."
- These are Tribulation saints which have undergone a profound transformation given their troubled sojourn on Earth. Think about all of these contrasts between Earth and Heaven.
- On Earth, their final moments issued in their clothing being stained in their own blood at their death. In heaven, their clothing has been washed in the blood of the Messiah!
- These people are not saved simply because they died! Some will die because they won't bow to any government! Those people are just stubborn! That doesn't save you eternally!
- These Tribulation saints are saved by their faith in Jesus, issuing in His applying His blood to their guilty stains, thus their clothes are white and it's not just any color of white.
- It is the same word that described the bright white clothing that Jesus displayed at His transfiguration! (Mark 9:3) It is shining, pulsating bright!
- When these saints were on Earth, they had been hunted and could not find shelter. In Heaven, they are before the Throne of God!
- On Earth, they served Him faithfully until death. In Heaven, they serve Him continually with their eternal life!
- The Temple in Heaven will be managed by Tribulation saints, who will serve Him openly and joyfully forever! As members of the church, we will rule and reign with Christ.
- These will serve Him day and night in His Temple and they won't feel at all slighted! King David once wrote of the privileged position that they will hold.
• Psalm 27:4 : "One thing I have desired of the Lord, that will I seek: That I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to behold the beauty of the Lord, and to inquire in His temple." : The Tribulation Saints will take their place in this house of beauty and joyfully serve the Lord that saved them!
- On Earth, the Tribulation saints wandered about, hoping for fellowship, only to find betrayal and perpetual threat. In Heaven, God dwells with them and they will never again be moved!
- One commentator mentioned that the words suggest that the Lord would "dwell over them" or that He would cast Himself over them like a Tabernacle! Listen to the "Provision" in verse 16.
• Revelation 7:16,17 : "They shall neither hunger anymore 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 waters. And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.'" : To be a Christian in any age has
required sacrifice. To be one in the Great Tribulation must rank near the highest cost!
- These would have had to suffer at the hands of a regime that will already be suffering to find enough food and drink for itself! These had died "hungering." It was a repeated condition.
- The word reflects a person who is pining away or craving after food. The word for "thirst" could be considered in the same light. They will have died famished.
- Additionally, these were continually exposed to the sun and the heat of a scorched planet. They will be forced to endure the elements on Earth. The elder says that those days are over!
- The Lamb, the Lord Jesus Christ, the Savior of their souls and the One whose power emanates from the Throne will "shepherd," or literally "feed" and lead them to abundant water!
- Living fountains of water will splash all around them. They will never desire refreshment again, nor will they every experience another moment of sadness. Verse 17 requires no explanation.
- This is a verse worth remembering when it comes to suffering of any kind, but especially martyrdom and injustice for the sake of the gospel.
- God Himself will be so close to those that suffer that He will be able to personally wipe away every tear from the eyes of those that shed them!
- Mentally, physically, emotionally, these Tribulation saints will be delivered whole in the presence of God!
Conclusion
- When you think of this concept of mercy and judgment, think first of
"The People." God will
reserve 144,000 male Jews, who will not be defiled by the world or destroyed by
the Antichrist.
- Consider "Their Purpose." They will successfully bring the gospel to an innumerable host of people from every nation, rescuing an innumerable host of people!
- God could simply have made it impossible for people to be saved "Post Rapture," reasoning that they "had their chance!"
- There is truth to this saying: "God is not willing that any should perish, but that isn't the problem. Men are not willing to live!" But God's way is never to allow men to have the final word!
- His mercy continues to make a way where there wasn't a way, therefore, consider "Their Position." They will be righteous servants in the Lord's Temple, the Lord dwelling over them!
- They will have been outcasts in the world, left for dead by a system that opposes God. In Heaven, they will behold the beauty of the Lord! Note finally at "Their Provision!"
- They will never hunger or thirst or exposed to danger! God's promise is that they will always be comforted by the Lord Jesus Himself!
- In every way, God will honor these who have honored Him, as He saves them whole for Himself! Mercy extended and promise fulfilled!
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