Intro / Review:
Who Can Stand When God's Judgment Comes Down?
- 144,000 ISRAELITES (Rev 7:1-8)
- Countless MARTYRS. (Rev 7:9-17)
The Comfort in Judgment:
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God SAVES. (Rev 7:10-14)
Ezekiel 18:32 - For I have no pleasure in the death of anyone, declares the Lord God; so turn, and live.
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God SEALS. (Rev 7:2-3)
2 Corinthians 1:22 - ...and who has also put his seal on us and given us his Spirit in our hearts as a guarantee.
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God PROMISES. (Rev 7:15-17)
Isaiah 65:17 - For behold, I create new heavens and a new earth, and the former things shall not be remembered or come into mind.
- So We WORSHIP. (Rev 7:12)
Sermon Notes (PDF): BLANK
Hint: Highlight blanks above for answers!
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01:07-01:10
Open up to Revelation 7 with me, please.
01:11-01:20
Just to get us all caught up, especially missing last week, where we are at Harvest Bible Shop, we are going through the book of Revelation verse by verse.
01:20-01:26
And we started in chapter 1 where we saw the apostle John, who was exiled on the island of Patmos for preaching the gospel.
01:26-01:33
Jesus Christ showed up in all His majestic glory and told John He wanted him to write.
01:33-01:37
Write down the things that you see, the things that are, and the things that will take place after this.
01:38-01:40
That's sort of the outline for Revelation.
01:40-01:43
The things that John saw was the glorified Christ.
01:43-01:45
The things that are was sort of the state of the church.
01:46-01:48
That was Revelation 2 and 3.
01:48-01:51
Jesus had messages for seven churches in Asia Minor.
01:52-01:58
And like the other letters to churches in the Bible, they're really messages for all churches of all time, right?
01:58-02:03
So after the messages to the churches, John in Revelation 4 is taken to heaven.
02:03-02:13
John sees the throne and describes the One seated on the throne and what's happening around the throne and the worship that is going towards the throne.
02:14-02:24
In Revelation 5, we saw the One on the throne, God Himself holding a scroll, which is the title deed to the earth.
02:24-02:35
And the question was posed, "Who is worthy to take the scroll and open its seals?" And the question is more than just who's worthy to unroll a piece of paper.
02:36-02:45
The question is, who's worthy to claim the earth back from Satan, back from sin, back from evil and wickedness?
02:45-02:47
Who's worthy to take it back?
02:47-02:49
Who owns this anyways?
02:50-02:55
And Jesus Christ, the Lamb, steps forward and He takes the scroll to thunderous worship.
02:56-03:05
And two weeks ago when we were in chapter 6, we saw the Lamb opens the scroll, Jesus opens the scroll, and every time He breaks the seal, it unleashes judgment on the earth.
03:06-03:07
Revelation 6 is when it got real.
03:08-03:17
Because peace turned into war, which brought famine, and 25% of the earth's population is going to be killed.
03:17-03:24
People who come to Christ during the tribulation, but are killed for their faith, cry out to God to avenge them.
03:25-03:39
God tells them to wait on His timing, and then at the end of chapter 6, The whole earth is shaken, the sky is darkened, meteors pummel the earth, and at this point, the unsaved on the earth realize these aren't just natural disasters.
03:39-03:42
At this point, they realize this is God.
03:42-03:47
This is the Creator whom we've rejected bringing judgment on the earth.
03:47-03:52
Well, that sixth seal must have left John reeling.
03:52-03:53
Could you imagine?
03:53-04:02
I mean, it's heavy just to read it, but could you imagine John actually seeing things take place, He was probably shaken to His core.
04:02-04:06
And if this is what's going to happen, who can stand?
04:06-04:07
And really, that's the question, right?
04:07-04:09
Look at the end of chapter 6.
04:09-04:13
You remember the unsaved crying out for the mountains and the rocks.
04:13-04:21
Verse 16, "Fall on us and hide us from the face of Him who is seated on the throne and from the wrath of the Lamb." Do you see that?
04:21-04:23
Instead of crying out to God, "Oh, forgive me!
04:24-04:25
Have mercy on me!
04:25-04:26
I'm sorry, God!
04:26-04:30
Please forgive me!" Instead of crying out to God, they cry out to the rocks.
04:31-04:35
"Cover us! Hide us!" As if death is some sort of escape.
04:35-04:36
But look at this last verse.
04:36-04:41
This is important because this verse, I believe, is the reason we have Revelation chapter 7.
04:42-04:48
Because the question is this, "For the great day of their wrath has come, and who can stand?" That's the question. Who can stand?
04:48-05:03
God is pouring out His judgment on the earth, and the question is, "Who's going to be able to stand when the Almighty has had enough?" I see that question at the end of chapter 6, and I wonder if that sort of echoed in John's head.
05:03-05:05
Who can stand? Who can stand?
05:07-05:18
Revelation 7 takes John to two more places to see two more visions to answer that question for him, and to answer that question for us.
05:18-05:19
Who can stand?
05:20-05:22
Who can stand when God's judgment comes down?
05:23-05:32
Chapter 7 in Revelation is a reminder despite these awesome judgment events, people will come to Christ during the tribulation like never before?
05:32-05:34
I get asked that question all the time.
05:34-05:40
"Pastor Jeff, what if the church is raptured out and my unsaved relative is still on the earth?
05:40-05:48
Is there a chance that that person is going to come to Christ?" And the answer is, during the tribulation, there are more people coming to Christ than any other point in history.
05:49-05:50
And we're going to see that today.
05:51-05:54
So yes, countless people come to Christ.
05:54-06:01
And some live through the tribulation, but most of those people who come to Christ are going to be killed for their faith.
06:01-06:14
So chapter 7 is sort of a parenthetical chapter breaking from the action, so to speak, and it answers the question on your outline, "Who can stand when God's judgment comes down?" That's the question, right?
06:15-06:16
The wrath of the Lamb has come.
06:16-06:18
Who can stand? Who can stand?
06:18-06:25
Chapter 7 answers the question, "Who can stand?" There's two groups we're going to look at that can stand.
06:26-06:29
The first one, Jot this down, 144,000 Israelites.
06:29-06:31
Israelites, like how do you spell that?
06:32-06:34
Capital J-E-W-S, all right?
06:35-06:36
Let's look at verse one.
06:36-06:51
"After this, I saw four angels standing "at the four corners of the earth, "holding back the four winds of the earth "that no wind might blow on earth or sea "or against any tree." Four corners, what are the four corners?
06:51-06:53
like, "Oh, the Bible's so archaic.
06:54-06:57
Didn't they know that the earth isn't a square?" Yeah, you know what?
06:58-07:00
God knew that, by the way.
07:00-07:01
He knew that before we did.
07:02-07:09
And actually the Greek literally is four quarters, is how that literally translates.
07:09-07:15
In other words, north, south, east, and west, there was an angel position.
07:15-07:21
And they said, "Stop the winds." They had some sort of ability that God gave them.
07:21-07:24
God authorized for them over creation.
07:24-07:25
Stop the wind.
07:25-07:28
Because we're taking a break in the judgment events.
07:29-07:36
It's almost like God - to put it in a concept well understood - it's almost like God pulled out the remote control and just hit pause on everything, right?
07:37-07:38
Let's just stop here for a second.
07:38-07:40
Stop the judgment for a second.
07:40-07:41
Look at v. 2.
07:41-07:46
"Then I saw another angel ascending from the rising of the sun..." Which direction is that?
07:47-07:47
East.
07:48-07:50
"...with the seal of the living God.
07:50-08:16
And He called out with a loud voice to the four angels who had been given power to harm earth and sea, saying, "Do not harm the earth or the sea or the trees until we have sealed the servants of our God on their foreheads." And I heard the number of the sealed - 144,000 sealed from every tribe of the sons of Israel.
08:16-08:19
So this angel from the east had a seal.
08:19-08:23
They had God's seal. What is that?
08:23-08:27
Well, in those days, a king would have a signet ring.
08:27-08:32
And that signet ring had the mark of that king.
08:32-08:39
So when the king was sending an official document, you just put a little wax on it, and you put your ring on it, and that was a sign of authenticity.
08:39-08:46
That says "ownership." That says, "This belongs to the king." And apparently, God has one of those.
08:47-08:55
God has one to mark ownership of these specific Jewish people that come to Jesus Christ during the tribulation.
08:56-09:07
So the judgments that are about to come - we're going to get to those next week - the judgments that are about to come are delayed because God wants to seal 144,000 Jews.
09:08-09:10
So why are the judgments delayed for this?
09:10-09:11
I don't know.
09:12-09:16
Is it to give them time to understand their faith?
09:17-09:24
Is it to give them time to study God's Word and grow in their knowledge of what the Bible says?
09:24-09:28
Is it to give them time to prepare for the task that's ahead?
09:28-09:38
You're like, "What task? What do these 144,000 do?" Well, these 144,000 Jews are the first fruits of the redemption of Israel.
09:38-09:40
We see that in chapter 14, verse 4.
09:41-09:43
We're going to be talking about this group of people again.
09:43-09:53
I believe these 144,000 people are going to be the witnesses and the evangelists and the preachers proclaiming the Gospel of Jesus Christ during the tribulation.
09:54-09:55
I believe that's their purpose.
09:55-09:58
And again, we're going to talk about that because they come up again.
09:59-10:02
We'll see that in 14.1-5.
10:02-10:04
Who are these 144,000?
10:04-10:06
Well, look at 4-8.
10:06-10:11
Wherever you saw verse 4, they're sealed from every tribe of the sons of Israel.
10:12-10:15
12,000 from the tribe of Judah were sealed.
10:15-10:17
12,000 from the tribe of Ruben.
10:17-10:19
12,000 from the tribe of Gad.
10:20-10:22
12,000 from the tribe of Asher.
10:22-10:24
12,000 from the tribe of Naphtali.
10:24-10:26
12,000 from the tribe of Manasseh.
10:26-10:27
12,000 from the tribe of Simeon.
10:28-10:29
12,000 from the tribe of Levi.
10:30-10:31
12,000 from the tribe of Issachar.
10:32-10:33
12,000 from the tribe of Zebulun.
10:34-10:35
12,000 from the tribe of Joseph.
10:36-10:39
12,000 from the tribe of Benjamin were sealed.
10:39-10:42
This is obviously intended to be taken literally.
10:43-10:49
And I say that because I do a lot of reading and trying to understand what God's Word is communicating.
10:49-10:56
And there's a lot of people that say, "This 144,000 people mentioned here refers to the church.
10:56-11:02
This is the church during the tribulation." And I just got to tell you, I don't see that in the text.
11:02-11:07
What is it in the text that indicates that this has anything to do with the church?
11:07-11:26
God says, "These are people from the tribe of Israel, and by the way, I'm going to label the tribes that they're from." And He gives us a list of the tribes that they're from, the Jewish tribes, and then after the fact, they're like, "I wonder what God meant by that, it must be church people." I'm not the sharpest tool in the shed, but come on.
11:27-11:32
I mean, what else did God need to say to communicate these were Jewish people, other than what He had already said?
11:32-11:35
So I don't believe that this refers to the church.
11:35-11:36
We had a whole sermon about that.
11:37-11:39
I believe the church is gone at this point.
11:39-11:41
The word "church" isn't even in here.
11:41-11:43
So I believe these are Israelites.
11:44-11:50
And you know, Jehovah's Witnesses say that only 144,000 people go to heaven.
11:50-11:51
Did you know that?
11:51-12:02
The Jehovah's Witnesses teach that 144,000 people go to heaven, everybody else stays on the earth, and nobody goes to hell, according to Jehovah's Witness doctrine.
12:02-12:09
and their hope in all of their door-knocking is to earn their place as one of the 144,000.
12:09-12:11
That's why they do that.
12:11-12:24
"Hopefully I have enough good works, do enough good things that God sees me." It's like, "All right, now you're one of the 144,000." Do I need to explain to you why there's no exegetical reason in the text to believe that?
12:24-12:30
I mean, the idea that only 144,000 people go to heaven, it's baffling.
12:30-12:33
But there's no biblical reason to believe that.
12:34-12:35
God's Word is clear.
12:35-12:43
If you're reading the Bible straightforwardly, these are very specific Jews, sealed for a very specific task.
12:43-12:49
You're like, "Wait, wait, wait. Why are there 144,000 of them?" Right? You're wondering that, aren't you?
12:49-12:54
"Why are there 144,000?" I don't know. I'm just going to be honest with you. I don't know.
12:54-13:03
And I tried to find a reason, but there's just no convincing reason that I found that gives any significance to the numbers.
13:03-13:08
So I just wrote down in my notes, we'd ask why if there were four of them, right?
13:09-13:17
We'd ask why if there were 144 of them, and there's 144,000, and we're like, "I wonder why there's that many." I don't know. But I do know this.
13:17-13:21
God has a reason for everything, even if we don't know what that reason is, right?
13:22-13:23
I don't think God was arbitrary.
13:24-13:29
Like, "Eh, just pick a number." He's very specific. God does everything perfectly deliberately.
13:29-13:33
And even if we don't understand why, God says, "Here's my plan.
13:34-13:35
Mass evangelism during the Tribulation.
13:36-13:40
I'm going to pick 12,000 from each of these tribes of Israel to do it." We're going to see them again in chapter 14.
13:40-13:43
So apparently the people in this group are invincible.
13:44-13:45
They're unable to be killed during the Tribulation.
13:46-13:47
So those are the 144,000 Israelites.
13:47-13:49
Who can stand when God's judgment comes down?
13:49-13:51
Secondly, countless martyrs.
13:52-13:53
Countless martyrs.
13:53-13:55
Let's pick up verse 9.
13:55-13:56
We have another shift.
13:56-14:03
John sees these 144,000 sealed God's mark on their forehead, holding the winds back.
14:03-14:04
You got the whole picture there?
14:05-14:08
Now John is taken again back to heaven.
14:08-14:46
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 four living creatures, and they fell on their faces before the throne and worshiped God, saying, "Amen!
14:47-14:56
Blessing and glory and wisdom and thanksgiving and honor and power and might be to our God forever and ever!
14:57-14:59
Amen!" Sounds familiar, doesn't it?
15:00-15:10
Just like chapters 4 and 5, we see the angels and we see the elders and we see the four four living creatures who are four special angels around the throne worshiping.
15:11-15:15
But here we have the addition of a multitude of people.
15:15-15:16
Did you see that?
15:16-15:20
From every nation, all tribes and peoples and languages.
15:21-15:21
Awesome!
15:22-15:26
You're like, "Who are these people?" That's a really good question.
15:26-15:28
Look at the text. Verse 13.
15:28-15:36
"Then one of the elders addressed me, saying, 'Who are these clothed in white robes, "From where have they come?" The elder asked John.
15:37-15:40
Not because the elder didn't know, because he wanted to tell John.
15:41-15:45
Basically, he was saying, "Hey, do you know who these people are?" That's that question.
15:46-15:55
Verse 14, "I said to him, 'Sir, you know.' And he said to me, 'Look at this. These are the ones coming out of the great tribulation.
15:56-16:06
They have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.'" So this elder tells John that these are people who are saved They're coming to tribulation, but then they're killed for their faith.
16:07-16:10
Interestingly, the phrase "coming out of" - did you see that in verse 14?
16:10-16:16
These are the ones "coming out of." That Greek phrase denotes a prolonged process.
16:16-16:23
In other words, this is a group of people that keeps growing and growing and growing throughout the tribulation.
16:23-16:33
People from everywhere - every tribe, every nation, every ethnic background, every place on earth are coming to Christ.
16:34-16:37
I believe as a direct result of the people that were just mentioned - the 144,000 Jews.
16:38-16:42
And these people come to Christ at the evangelism of these 144,000.
16:42-16:48
These people come to Christ and they're killed during the tribulation, and now they're standing before God, praising Him.
16:49-16:51
These are the same people we saw in chapter 6, verse 9.
16:51-16:54
Remember the people under the altar praying for vengeance?
16:55-16:56
But they're not under the altar now.
16:56-17:01
Now they're standing before the throne, but many more people have been added.
17:01-17:02
What's the point?
17:03-17:05
who can stand when God's judgment comes down.
17:05-17:15
God's got 144,000 that He sealed, and those people are going to bring countless people all over the world to the saving knowledge of Jesus Christ.
17:16-17:21
Look at v. 15, "Therefore, they are before the throne of God, and serve Him day and night in His temple.
17:22-17:25
And He who sits on the throne will shelter them with His presence.
17:25-17:29
They shall hunger no more, neither thirst any more.
17:29-17:36
The sun shall not strike them, "For any scorching heat, for the Lamb in the midst of the throne, He will be their shepherd." Think about that.
17:37-17:42
"For the Lamb in the midst of the throne will be their shepherd." The Lamb is the shepherd.
17:42-17:43
Isn't that awesome?
17:43-17:55
"And He will guide them to springs of living water, and God will wipe away every tear from their eyes." These people suffered so much during the tribulation, and now their suffering is over forever.
17:56-17:57
So, what did we learn today?
17:58-18:04
We've learned that despite the judgment being poured out on the earth, people are going to come to Christ during the tribulation.
18:05-18:08
But this chapter is so much more than information.
18:09-18:16
You see, it would be a fail on my part if you left here today, like, "That was interesting." This is more than just information.
18:17-18:19
Like, "Well, what is the point?" Here's the point.
18:20-18:26
We're going through Revelation verse by verse, and honestly, two weeks ago is really when the judgment portion started.
18:26-18:31
If you were here a couple weeks ago just reading through the text, you could have heard a pin drop in here.
18:31-18:37
Because if you've ever read Revelation, you know it's pretty horrifying and awesome things that are happening.
18:38-18:42
And spoiler alert, it's going to get exponentially worse from here.
18:43-18:45
So what's the point? The point is this.
18:45-19:00
Seeing and reading and hearing judgment, judgment, judgment, judgment, "And then God did this, and then God judged this way, and then the Lamb judged this way." Over and over.
19:01-19:04
It can be so heavy on your soul.
19:04-19:05
It just can.
19:05-19:20
And this is the point of chapter 7 that we, church, we need reminded as John did when he was witnessing all of this, we need reminded that there is comfort even in the face of judgment.
19:20-19:22
There's comfort for God's people, to be clear.
19:23-19:25
There's comfort for God's people even in the face of judgment.
19:25-19:27
And that's why I want to close this message today.
19:28-19:30
Because chapter 7 is so much more than information.
19:31-19:38
It's comfort for the heavy soul reading about these awesome judgment events that God is bringing on the earth.
19:38-19:39
Here's the comfort in judgment.
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Letter A. Comfort in judgment is God saves.
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God saves.
19:44-19:48
You're like, "You mean we didn't have church last week, Pastor Jeff, and that's the best you came up with?
19:49-19:52
I mean, it sounds like you kind of talk about that every week.
19:52-20:09
And I would reply with, "Let the familiarity of the message dull its impact." Because as we're going through Revelation, I want you to keep in mind that all of these events take place with God pouring out His final judgment on the earth.
20:09-20:15
This is something that God has had circled on His calendar for a very long time.
20:16-20:21
That the day is going to come that the Lamb is going to take the scroll, and it's over!
20:22-20:23
God has been ready for this.
20:24-20:35
And at this point in Revelation, at this point in human history, you might think, somebody might think at this point, God would say, "You know what? To hell with all of them!
20:35-20:37
I've had enough! I've had enough!
20:38-20:43
I'm just going to ping this whole thing straight to hell." You would think that. You would think that.
20:43-21:00
But instead, don't miss this, instead, what we see is God taking special measures to make sure that His gospel goes out and everyone has the opportunity to be saved even while the earth is being judged.
21:01-21:02
Isn't that awesome?
21:03-21:04
Who's with me? Come on!
21:04-21:07
This is what God has said about Himself, church.
21:07-21:10
Ezekiel 18.32, do we have that? Thank you.
21:10-21:15
God says, "I have no pleasure in the death of anyone," declares the Lord God.
21:16-21:16
So turn and live.
21:17-21:33
"I have no pleasure in the death of anyone." Let's be honest, for us in our flesh sometimes, we'll hear about some terrorist or somebody does this crime to other people, and we're like, "I hope that person burns in hell." Who's been guilty of saying something like that or thinking that?
21:33-21:34
Come on, don't leave me up here.
21:34-21:35
I have.
21:35-22:51
And I want you to know, for those of us who have thought that, that that is not the heart God. This is our God. God must judge, but He would rather save. And if you have been living your life far from God and you think, "Yeah, I guess someday I'm gonna get what's coming to me," I want to tell you something. God would rather save you than judge you. God loves you. And God has done everything in Jesus Christ to purchase your redemption. Everything. Do you know what you have to do? You have to believe and accept in the work that God's already done. There's not a checklist, there's not a hoops to jump through. God has done all the work and says I love you, I want you to receive the gift of eternal life, I want you to receive the gift of forgiveness and sin in Jesus Christ. So why wouldn't you come to Him today if you haven't yet received Him? Why wouldn't you? What's your compelling reason that you wouldn't run to a God who loves you and has run to you? Because right now, or you're listening to this on the podcast down the road, whether it's this week or in five years from now after this message is given, or whatever, if you're listening to this message during the tribulation, God would rather save you than judge you.
22:51-22:52
That's comfort and judgment.
22:53-22:58
Secondly, God seals. God saves. God seals.
22:59-23:03
When God's seal is on you, that's a mark of ownership.
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That means nothing can take your salvation.
23:06-23:15
Brothers and sisters in Christ, I think sometimes we think, yes, salvation is a gift of God, but we get in our head that we have to perform in order to keep it.
23:15-23:16
And that's not true.
23:17-23:22
You are saved by grace, and you are sustained and preserved by grace.
23:22-23:27
You can't hold on to your salvation any more than you could have earned it in the first place.
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God not only saves you, He seals you.
23:30-23:34
And you're like, "I know, Pastor Jeff, but you're talking about future events here.
23:34-23:36
These people were sealed on their forehead.
23:36-23:40
I don't know about you, Pastor Jeff, but I don't have a mark on my forehead.
23:40-23:42
Actually, I do have a mark on my forehead right here.
23:42-23:43
Actually, I'm not pointing it out.
23:45-23:47
I don't have a seal of God.
23:48-23:48
Yes, you do.
23:49-23:52
If you're a born-again believer, you do have God's seal.
23:52-23:53
And no, it's not on your forehead.
23:54-23:55
He's in your heart.
23:55-23:56
Look at 2 Corinthians 1:22.
23:57-24:02
It says that God has also - look at this - put His seal on us.
24:02-24:06
Yes, God seals His people, but that's not just an end times thing.
24:07-24:11
He has put a seal on us and given us His Spirit in our hearts as a guarantee.
24:11-24:13
God's Holy Spirit in you is His seal.
24:14-24:17
God has stamped His fingerprint on you.
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He's put His signet ring on you to say, "You belong to Me." But it's not just a mark, it is actually Himself, His presence, His Holy Spirit.
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So not only does that mean God's presence is in you, and not only does that mean He and He empowers you, God's Spirit within you also means your salvation is eternally secure.
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But I can say with certainty, I know that I'm going to heaven.
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And it's not arrogant for me to say that because it's not up to me.
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I know I'm going to heaven because of how awesome my God is and what He's done for me.
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And He's given me His Spirit as a guarantee, as a seal.
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That's the comfort in judgment.
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Not only does God save His people, but God seals His people.
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Third comfort is found in God's promises.
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I could preach a whole series of sermons on these things.
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We're not going to do that.
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But I want you to see quickly that these promises are not just for these people who come to Christ and die during the tribulation.
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These promises aren't just for them.
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And I know that because all of these promises here in chapter 7, verses 15 through 17, all of these promises are repeated in Revelation 21 and 22 for all people redeemed in Christ.
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So these promises aren't unique just for this group of people.
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They're repeated for everybody.
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I want to say so much about it, but I'm not going to.
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I just want to say, can I give you three awesome things about these promises?
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Three awesome promises that are comfort for God's people.
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Can I do that?
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All right. Here they are, straight from the text.
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The first one is presence. God's presence.
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God's presence. That's the first promise.
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That is, by the way, that's the greatest joy in heaven.
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People talk about it. In heaven I'm going to get to see, you know, I was really close with my aunt who passed away.
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or I was really close with my grandmother who passed away and I can't wait to see them, or a child that passed away and I can't wait to be reunited with them.
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And yeah, there's joy in that, not denying that, absolutely.
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But the greatest joy in heaven is going to be being in the presence of God.
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That's the joy of heaven.
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Never again will you ever feel like, "God, where are you?" Never again will you feel like, "God, I just wish I was closer to you.
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God, I just wish I felt your presence in a more tangible way." We'll never say that because the Bible says that God, verse 15, will shelter us with His presence.
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Second promise is satisfaction.
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Never hunger or thirst again.
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Never hunger or thirst again.
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Did you see that, verse 16?
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Every day in heaven is feeling completely 100% fulfilled and satisfied.
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Nobody's kicking around heaven going, "Yeah, this place is all right, but it would be better if..." from the earth that I had that I really missed that would make this place." Nobody's saying that in heaven. Everybody's walking around heaven going, "This is awesome! I have more than everything I'll ever need!" Like, "Is there something I can get for you?" "No, I don't need a thing! I have everything." And I tried so hard this week to think about what that must be like or how I could illustrate that or explain it and I just can't because there's There's nothing on earth that we can compare that to.
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But in heaven, you are satisfied.
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And I think that's connected to the previous promise of being in the presence of God.
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One more promise is, I got to say this, is consolation.
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It's consolation.
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It says, last verse, "God will wipe away every tear from their eyes." Every tear brought about from pain, from rejection, from disappointment, from discouragement.
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and your pain brought about when you've had to watch a loved one die.
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All of the sum total of pain and hurts, and God just wipes it away.
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I've had people say, "You know, Pastor Jeff, I know there's no crying in heaven, but don't you think that people will think back to life on earth?
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Maybe sins that happened, or things that have been done to them, or maybe things that they've done to other people that have been wrong and hurtful?
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"Don't you think that in heaven I might look back at my life on the earth and be sad sometimes?" And biblically the answer to that is no.
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Because Isaiah 65.17 says, "For behold, I create new heavens and a new earth, and the former things shall not be remembered or come into mind." Like, how in the world does that work?
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How can the former things not come into mind?
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And the only way I can explain that is an illustration that I know is going to make sense to this church in general, but it's like when a woman gives birth to a baby.
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The labor pains are terrible. I mean, so I've heard.
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And I know even sparking up this tree is like, "Where do you have room to talk about that, Pastor John?" I'm just saying, I know ladies, okay? And this is what they've told me.
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The labor pains are horrific, but the labor pains are forgotten in the joy of the presence of that baby.
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That's something my mom always said.
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She said the labor pains were the worst, but they're also the most forgettable.
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Because as soon as you're in the presence of that baby, you're like, "What pain? What hurts?" I believe that's how it is in heaven, in the presence of Christ.
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You are in such joy of being in the presence of your Creator and your Savior.
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The joy of that presence has made the pain of the earth just completely pushed out of your mind.
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God saves, God seals, God promises, so we worship.
Small Group Discussion
Read Revelation 7
GROUP
What was your big take-away from Revelation 7? What stood out to you?
Who are the 144,000 (Rev 7:1-8)? Who makes up the “multitude” (Rev 7:9-17)? How are you able to identify them? <Note to leaders: their identity, when drawn from other sources besides the Bible itself, leads to crazy and weird beliefs. This is not a throw-away question, this is an “interpret the Bible with the Bible” question.>
Why do you think the Holy Spirit took a “break from the action” that started in chapter 6 to insert this content of Rev 7? Why this parenthetical interlude?
How do these promises of heaven encourage you personally (Rev 7:15-17)? How do they motivate you to share the Gospel / invite to church? How do they affect the way you think of loved ones who have died in Christ?
BREAKOUT
Pray for each other.