The Tribulation Believers
Revelation 7:9-17
October 16, 2016
As you know we are currently in the middle of
A parenthetical section here in the book of the Revelation.
That is to say that we have taken a break from the natural chronological flow of the book
In order to answer a very important question.
As the wrath of the Lamb was unleashed on humanity at the breaking of the 6th seal, humanity fell into a very hopeless condition.
Revelation 6:15-17 “Then the kings of the earth and the great men and the commanders and the rich and the strong and every slave and free man hid themselves in the caves and among the rocks of the mountains; and they said to the mountains and to the rocks, “Fall on us and hide us from the presence of Him who sits on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb; for the great day of their wrath has come, and who is able to stand?”
And the question that is asked is the reason for this parenthetical chapter.
God is answering the question, “Who is able to stand?”
We’ve been talking about this for a couple of weeks now.
Trying to figure who is able to stand before God
Is a very important question to answer.
• If there is a supreme authoritative deity who reigns supreme over all this world (and creation testifies that there is).
• Then it is imperative that all created beings seek to know what it takes to please Him since He has the power and authority to do with us whatever He desires.
So asking “Who is able to stand?” is a very important question.
And it is a question that God pauses to answer in Revelation 7.
And we’ve already given that answer.
Those who are able to stand are those whom God causes to stand
Through the work of Christ and the preaching of the gospel.
We made that point a couple of weeks ago.
Now we are seeing that fleshed out through the study of chapter 7.
We saw the first 8 verses last week.
#1 THE SEALING OF SLAVES
Revelation 7:1-8
Here we saw God sovereignly seal 144,000 Jews.
• God, by His sovereign will, chose to make these Jews off limits to the destruction and judgments of the great tribulation.
And we know that because in Revelation 14
When the Lord returns and is standing on Mt. Zion
All 144,000 are present and accounted for standing with Him.
Now ONE OF THE POINTS that we had to make,
And I want to state again so as to make sure you didn’t miss it is this.
• The seal they received here was a seal of divine protection from the current
judgments on earth.
• They were not affected by the judgments of God and they could not be
touched by the persecutions of the enemy.
But it is important for you to understand that this type of protection
WAS NOT UNIVERSAL TO ALL BELIEVERS.
There are many believers who do in fact die during the tribulation.
That is made clear even in this passage today.
There will be many believers die either as a result of the world wars, or famines, or sicknesses, or wild beasts, or earthquakes, or meteor showers, or just because of the persecution of the antichrist.
Many believers will die as a result of these things, but not the 144,000.
THE QUESTION WE HAD TO ANSWER WAS WHY?
Why would God make them off limits but allow other believers to die?
These 144,000 were SEALED FOR A PURPOSE,
And that purpose was to maintain a gospel presence
Throughout the great tribulation.
That is not to say that those believers who were martyred did not share the gospel,
I am confident that they did, and thus this is why they were killed.
But it is to point out the sovereign prerogative of God
To MAINTAIN A GOSPEL WITNESS that is untouchable by the enemy.
The sealing of the 144,000 DOES NOT THEN INDICATE
That God had some love for them which was greater than
The love He had for the rest of the believers.
The sealing of the 144,000 indicates God’s commitment to the gospel.
They were not sealed because God valued their comfort,
But because God values His gospel.
And we then made the obvious analogy of remembering why we are here.
The church remains for the purpose of spreading the gospel.
• We certainly aren’t left here for comfort
• We certainly aren’t left here for riches
• We certainly aren’t left here for pleasure
(if that is the goal then take me to heaven right now)
We are also sealed for a purpose, we remain to proclaim the truth.
God is maintaining a gospel presence on the earth.
And before we move on I want to illustrate that a little more.
TURN TO: JOHN 17
You know this as Jesus’ High Priestly prayer for believers.
This is really “The Lord’s Prayer”
Without working through this in detail
There are some things I want you to grasp regarding what He prayed.
The prayer begins with Jesus requesting a return to His state of glory.
That is unmistakably clear (READ VS 1-5)
Jesus wants to be glorified.
Make sure you catch that
Because THIS PRAYER IS GOING TO END THE SAME WAY.
Look down at verse 24 where Jesus prays that those who are His would be with Him “so that they may see My glory which You have given Me”
He wants to return to glory and He wants His people to see it.
This motivation has much to do with what He prays for.
Then He identifies His own. (READ 6-10)
And we see who are His.
• Those who are chosen of the Father (6)
• Those who were given to Christ by the Father (6)
• Those who have been entrusted with the word of God (8)
• Those who have been given for the glory of Christ (10)
That says a mouthful about who we are, and why we are here.
But Jesus is leaving and so He has a PRAYER REQUEST. (READ 11-19)
Jesus is praying that the Father “keep them”
And not let them “perish” like Judas did.
Incidentally “perish” does not mean die for Judas was not yet dead.
Perish would be to face eternal damnation which Judas did face.
The issue is not to make them off limits from pain and death,
But to not let them fall away from their commitment to Christ
Regardless of the difficulty.
In fact Jesus is adamant that
• We not be taken out of the world,
• But that while in the world we be protected from the evil one.
• That is not a protection from hardship but a protection from apostasy.
• His simply wants His own to be sanctified in the truth in this world
So things are becoming clear.
I’m leaving My own in the world but it is important Father
That You keep them in the truth even though they are being left there.
WHY?
Because their proclamation of truth is what will bring in My other children.
(READ 20-24)
Do you see the purpose there?
• Keep My own in the truth, keep them proclaiming the truth, because this is how
all of My other children will be drawn in.
And the total effect will be that one day all who are mine,
After having been drawn in through the preaching of the truth,
Will one day be with Me and will see My glory.
Does that help you understand your purpose a little better?
We are here for a purpose just like the 144,000 were.
Now, we may not be preserved from death like they were.
(And as we said, they had to be or Satan would have most certainly killed them)
We may not be preserved from death, but we are here for a purpose.
That is why your life continues.
Paul said it like this:
Philippians 1:21-26 “For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain. But if I am to live on in the flesh, this will mean fruitful labor for me; and I do not know which to choose. But I am hard-pressed from both directions, having the desire to depart and be with Christ, for that is very much better; yet to remain on in the flesh is more necessary for your sake. Convinced of this, I know that I will remain and continue with you all for your progress and joy in the faith, so that your proud confidence in me may abound in Christ Jesus through my coming to you again.”
He understood what was favorable,
But he also understood why he was still here.
He was chosen and saved and sealed for a purpose
And that purpose was the proclamation of the gospel.
Colossians 1:24-29 “Now I rejoice in my sufferings for your sake, and in my flesh I do my share on behalf of His body, which is the church, in filling up what is lacking in Christ’s afflictions. Of this church I was made a minister according to the stewardship from God bestowed on me for your benefit, so that I might fully carry out the preaching of the word of God, that is, the mystery which has been hidden from the past ages and generations, but has now been manifested to His saints, to whom God willed to make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory. We proclaim Him, admonishing every man and teaching every man with all wisdom, so that we may present every man complete in Christ. For this purpose also I labor, striving according to His power, which mightily works within me.”
YOU GET THE PURPOSE.
Here in Revelation 7 we learned that
• God specifically sealed 144,000 with a special seal
• He made them immune to the attacks of the enemy
• So that they might proclaim the gospel during the great tribulation.
To the end that all those who are Christ’s might be with Him
Where He is, seeing His glory and worshiping Him accordingly.
Just like Jesus prayed in His High Priestly prayer.
So it underscores for us how important the gospel is.
That was the sealing of slaves.
This morning we begin to see THE OUTCOME of their ministry.
#2 THE SALVATION OF SINNERS
Revelation 7:9-17
Verses 9-17 are the effect of the ministry of the 144,000.
And that point is explicitly made to John by one of the elders.
It begins just with a tremendous heavenly scene.
(READ 9-12)
Here we have “a great multitude which no one could count, from every nation and all tribes and peoples and tongues”
That is pretty remarkable.
Every nation, every people group, every language, every remote tribe, every indigenous people…every single one of them is represented here before the throne.
And it is so important that you recognize what they are doing.
They are “Standing before the throne and before the Lamb”
Wasn’t that the question of chapter 6?
“Who is able to stand?”
This is hope interjected into a hopeless situation.
Those sinners in chapter 6 who were begging for the mountains and rocks to fall on them and hide them from God evidenced a hopeless situation.
If you think your best option is to have a mountain fall on you,
You have reached the utter pit of hopelessness.
They ask “who is able to stand?” not because they want to know the answer, but because they think there is no answer.
They don’t think anyone could pull this off.
It was a type of rhetorical question
Where they thought the answer was obviously “no one”.
And so God answers and says that is not true.
Look here!
There are people standing before God.
It is possible!
Well let’s examine these people a little
For surely these must be exceptional people.
Scripture says they were “clothed in white robes, and palm branches were in their hands;”
These two descriptors speak to their purity and their victory.
Garments always represent character in the Bible.
• Filthy garments represent sinful character, white garments represent holy character.
Their “white robes” indicate their purity.
“palm branches” indicate victory or triumph.
On one hand you could link it back to the Feast of Booths
• Every Jewish male was required on the 15th of the 7th month (after harvest)
• To appear before Jerusalem, cut branches, build a booth or tabernacle
• And live in it for a week.
This was a remembrance of when God delivered from Egypt
And had the children of Israel live in booths.
It was also a prophetic feast looking to the day
When all then nations would flock to the Lord in Israel and do the same.
Zechariah 14:16-18 “Then it will come about that any who are left of all the nations that went against Jerusalem will go up from year to year to worship the King, the LORD of hosts, and to celebrate the Feast of Booths. And it will be that whichever of the families of the earth does not go up to Jerusalem to worship the King, the LORD of hosts, there will be no rain on them. If the family of Egypt does not go up or enter, then no rain will fall on them; it will be the plague with which the LORD smites the nations who do not go up to celebrate the Feast of Booths.”
So you can see a remembrance here, and I think that fits,
BUT IT IS EVEN MORE THAN THAT.
Do you remember the triumphal entry of Jesus into Jerusalem just before His crucifixion?
John 12:12-13 “On the next day the large crowd who had come to the feast, when they heard that Jesus was coming to Jerusalem, took the branches of the palm trees and went out to meet Him, and began to shout, “Hosanna! BLESSED IS HE WHO COMES IN THE NAME OF THE LORD, even the King of Israel.”
Now the timing here was Passover, not the Feast of Booths, so what where they doing here?
This was a tradition that began during the intertestamental period
(time frame between the Old and New Testaments)
When Simon the Maccabee recaptured Jerusalem from the Syrians,
They “entered it with praise and palm branches” (1 Macc. 13:51)
(sited in: MacArthur, John, [MacArthur New Testament Commentary, John 12-21; Moody Publishers, Chicago, IL, 2008] pg. 16)
The palm branch was a symbol of victory.
• Certainly as Jesus entered Jerusalem this was the picture in mind.
• They were waiving palm branches and shouting Hosanna!
• As Jesus came in appearing to be the conquering hero.
These in heaven are doing the same.
They are “clothed in white robes, and palm branches were in their hands” thus indicating their triumph and their purity.
And if that is all we had, ONE MIGHT ASSUME that
These people are standing before God
Because they are clearly “a cut above”
These are just more capable people, who are stronger, tougher, more focused, more pure, etc.
And by reason of their own efforts and will
They have triumphed and made themselves able to stand before God.
If that were the assumption, it would be a false one.
That is made clear once we hear what they have to say.
(10) “And they cry out with a loud voice, saying, “Salvation to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb.”
They aren’t waiving those palm branches because they had the strength to triumph, they are waiving those branches on behalf of someone else.
They didn’t win the victory, someone saved them.
WHO?
• God saved them.
• The one “who sits on the throne” saved them.
• And “the Lamb” saved them.
They didn’t earn the right to stand, the right to stand was GIVEN to them.
It is as we said from the beginning.
Those who stand before God
Are those whom God makes to stand before Him.
When they stand before God they are giving God all the credit.
They are giving the Lamb all the praise.
They are not there by their own doing.
And HEAVEN AFFIRMS this to be true
Because after their declaration heaven joins them in their worship
And affirms their declaration.
(11-12) “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.”
Those standing before the throne proclaim that the only reason they are there is because they were saved by God and the Lamb
And all of heaven gives hearty agreement.
“Amen” they say. You’re right!
All “blessing and glory and wisdom and thanksgiving and honor and power and might” belong to “our God forever and ever.”
ONLY GOD GETS THE GLORY FOR SALVATION.
One of the things we talk about with our youth,
And will do again during the upcoming Disciple Now is this.
Why do you suppose that God determined salvation to be the way it is?
That is to say,
• Why is salvation by grace alone through faith alone in Christ alone?
• Why did God make salvation apart from any human effort or ability?
• Why did God save sinners purely by grace apart from any works that they may
do?
BECAUSE IN THAT WAY, GOD ALONE GETS THE GLORY.
There is not a person in heaven who will be able
To take one ounce of credit for their being there.
AND WE SEE THAT HERE.
• It is a great heavenly scene.
• A multitude of people in heaven only because God saved them.
• They are able to stand because God made them able to stand.
BUT THE CHAPTER DOESN’T END THERE:
(There is another very important piece of information that John must understand)
(13) “Then one of the elders answered, saying to me, “These who are clothed in the white robes, who are they, and where have they come from?”
We know they are saved.
We know they are saved from every nation on earth.
But it is apparently also important that we know WHEN they were saved.
(14) “I said to him, “My lord, you know.”
The elder wasn’t asking John because John knew,
The elder brought it up because he wanted John to know.
(14) “And he said to me, “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.”
Where did these come from?
They came from the great tribulation.
Think about it.
• We just saw people in the great tribulation (ch. 6)
• Feeling the weight of God’s fury
• And assuming that under such circumstances no one could stand.
And yet God reveals that this isn’t true at all.
• There is a multitude which no one can count from every corner of the earth who is able to stand
• And they are coming from the exact same circumstances that those sinners in chapter 6 were in.
WELL HOW THEN DID THEY DO IT?
How were they able to stand?
“they have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.”
In short, they found forgiveness and imputed righteousness
In the sacrificial death of Jesus Christ.
They trusted in Jesus.
(obviously someone preached the gospel to them)
• Jesus Christ lived a righteous life
• And then died a shameful death on the cross.
• In this death the sin of God’s children was imputed to Him and He paid that debt in full.
• The flip side was that His righteousness was then imputed to all those who are His.
To say “they have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb” is another way to say they trusted Christ for His saving work
And Christ saved them.
Christ bore their sin and imputed His righteousness to Him.
He in effect made their garments white.
And this alone is why they are standing.
(15) “For this reason, they are before the throne of God;”
That is to say, that this is the only reason
That they are able to stand before God.
It wasn’t that they were stronger people or better people or more self-disciplined people, it was that they were forgiven people.
They are people whom God made to stand through the work of Christ.
And if you will notice they are doing more than just standing.
THEY ARE ALSO SERVING
“and they serve Him day and night in His temple”
• This speaks of their gratitude.
• They have also (like the 144,000) become slaves of Christ.
• They serve Him because He is the only reason they are there.
THEY ARE ALSO SATISFIED
“and He who sits on the throne will spread His tabernacle over them.”
This means God accepts them under His provision.
Remember when Ruth went to Boaz to see if he would accept her?
Ruth 3:9 “He said, “Who are you?” And she answered, “I am Ruth your maid. So spread your covering over your maid, for you are a close relative.”
That is what God is doing here, and the ramifications of that acceptance
Is PURE ETERNAL SATISFACTION.
“They will hunger no longer, nor thirst anymore; nor will the sun beat down on them, nor any heat;”
That is to say their days of pain and hardship are over.
The curse is finished for them.
“for the Lamb in the center of the throne will be their shepherd, and will guide them to springs of the water of life; and God will wipe every tear from their eyes.”
You’ve heard that before haven’t you?
Psalms 23 “The LORD is my shepherd, I shall not want. He makes me lie down in green pastures; He leads me beside quiet waters. He restores my soul; He guides me in the paths of righteousness For His name’s sake. Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I fear no evil, for You are with me; Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me. You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies; You have anointed my head with oil; My cup overflows. Surely goodness and lovingkindness will follow me all the days of my life, And I will dwell in the house of the LORD forever.”
That is the reality here.
NOW LET’S DO A LITTLE WORK OF COMPARISON AND CONTRAST.
Let’s look at those great men and kings and sinners of chapter 6
And let’s look at these here in chapter 7.
What do they have in common?
• Well they are both in the great tribulation.
• They both began with filthy garments.
• They both felt the fury of God’s wrath.
How are they different?
• Those in chapter 6 are begging to be hidden from God choosing to live in a cave,
• These in chapter 7 are drawing near to God enjoying His full favor and provision.
One came to the Lamb for the cleansing of his sin,
The other chose to hold their sin and merely hide from the Lamb.
Do you remember what Jesus told Nicodemus?
John 3:16-21 “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life. “For God did not send the Son into the world to judge the world, but that the world might be saved through Him. “He who believes in Him is not judged; he who does not believe has been judged already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. “This is the judgment, that the Light has come into the world, and men loved the darkness rather than the Light, for their deeds were evil. “For everyone who does evil hates the Light, and does not come to the Light for fear that his deeds will be exposed. “But he who practices the truth comes to the Light, so that his deeds may be manifested as having been wrought in God.”
There is the same difference isn’t it?
• One ran to the light, the other hid from the light.
• One turned from sin, the other turned from Christ.
SO LET’S CLOSE THE CHAPTER NOW AND GET THE POINT
• We heard a terrified sinner ask “who is able to stand?”
• God began the answer by sealing those 144,000.
• And we saw that they were sealed for the gospel.
• Those who were saved out of the great tribulation believed the gospel,
• Those who were judged rejected it.
That is why when we ask “Who is able to stand?” We say:
Those who God causes to stand through the work of Christ
And the preaching of the gospel.
Even during the darkest time the world has ever known
There was only one message that was able to genuinely save sinners
And that message is the gospel.
• That God sent His Son, born of a virgin, into this sinful world.
• He was in fact God made flesh, and He lived a perfectly sinless life, fulfilling the Law and the prophets.
• He then submitted Himself to death on a cross where He bore in full the sin of all God’s elect and suffered the full punishment for that sin before God.
• He bore the sin of God’s children that they might bear His righteousness and stand redeemed before God.
• The success of this transaction was proven when 3 days later Jesus rose from the dead validating His atoning work on the cross,
• So that all those who by grace through faith in Him might find forgiveness, righteousness, and the ability to stand before God.
This is the message of the gospel and this is the only reason
Sinners are ever able to stand before God.
This is also the truth we celebrate today.
1 Corinthians 11:23-26 “For I received from the Lord that which I also delivered to you, that the Lord Jesus in the night in which 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 He took the cup also 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.”
This morning we lift high the atoning death of Jesus Christ.
• We confess our need
• We confess His ability
• We relish in the fact that we can now stand before God solely because of what Christ accomplished on the cross and to Him goes all the glory.
That is also why this is a sacred time.
1 Corinthians 11:27-32 “Therefore whoever eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner, shall be guilty of the body and the blood of the Lord. But a man must examine himself, and in so doing he is to eat of the bread and drink of the cup. For he who eats and drinks, eats and drinks judgment to himself if he does not judge the body rightly. For this reason many among you are weak and sick, and a number sleep. But if we judged ourselves rightly, we would not be judged. But when we are judged, we are disciplined by the Lord so that we will not be condemned along with the world.”
We don’t view the work of Christ as a trivial thing.
We don’t despise it, we honor it.
We partake through the honest examination of our lives.
We are not worthy to be here on our own,
But we certainly partake in a worthy manner,
Which is to take serious what He did and what He expects.
Failure to do this brings discipline from the Lord
In the form of weakness, sickness, and even death.
God intends for His church to honor the work of Jesus Christ.
So this morning we have a time of preparation.
A time for you to examine your heart (with the help of God’s Holy Spirit)
And to recommit your heart to the glory of Jesus Christ.
