1. "It's all happening, mate. It's all happening. I've pondered this greeting for many years. It strikes me as almost like a Zen koan—a metaphysical riddle where if you ponder it long enough, it doesn't look like it'll ever make sense, but then somehow it'll just open up to you, and the secrets of the universe will be revealed."

2. "It's not that there's no justice in this life, but everywhere you look, you see injustice too."

3. "Whether you're a believer in Jesus or not, every trial you face in your life is a pre-trial—a pre-test of a test that will one day come. One day, the final exam is coming. There will be a day of complete reckoning."

4. "To be a Christian is to decide in advance that Christ is worth giving everything for."

5. "The one who made all of creation is one day going to unmake all of creation. Where will you be when that happens?"

6. "On the day of judgment, no earthly advantage will be any advantage. The rich and powerful and everyone else will look for places to hide, but they won't find any."

7. "God so preserves His people from harm that even being executed as part of your witness to Christ does you no final damage."

8. "Every believer in Jesus has divine security amid earthly insecurity. Whatever suffering or hardship comes your way, you can know that you are God's possession."

9. "Every good desire you've ever had will be fulfilled. Now we hunger and thirst physically and spiritually. But we are heading to the new creation, where we'll be fully satisfied."

10. "Trials don't come to you from random fate, but from the pierced hand of your Savior. Trials aren't senseless wastes, but purposeful tests."

Observation Questions

1. Revelation 6:1-8: What are the four judgments represented by the horses, and what impact do these judgments have on the earth?

2. Revelation 6:9-11: What question do the martyrs ask God, and what is His response?

3. Revelation 6:12-17: Describe the reactions of people when faced with God's judgment. Who attempts to hide?

4. Revelation 7:1-8: What purpose does the sealing of the 144,000 serve, and from what are they protected?

5. Revelation 7:9-17: How does the multitude standing before the throne describe their salvation?

6. Revelation 8:1-5: What happens in heaven at the opening of the seventh seal, and what significance does this silence hold?

Interpretation Questions

1. Considering the chaos and judgments described in Revelation 6, how do these events align with Jesus' predictions about the end times in Matthew 24:6-8?

2. Why do the martyrs cry out for justice, and what does their plea reveal about God's character and the certainty of His judgment?

3. How should believers interpret the cosmic upheaval described in Revelation 6:12-17 as symbolic of God's authority over creation?

4. In Revelation 7:1-8, what does the act of sealing communicate about God's relationship with His people during trials?

5. How does the description of eternal salvation in Revelation 7:9-17 clarify the ultimate purpose behind the trials and tribulations believers experience?

Application Questions

1. Reflecting on the martyrs in Revelation 6:9-11, when was a time you had to stand firm in your faith despite potential consequences?

2. Considering the fear described in Revelation 6:15-17, have you ever experienced a situation where earthly status or advantage proved meaningless?

3. What specific trial are you facing now that you can begin viewing as a "pre-test" of your faith, as described in the sermon?

4. In what practical ways can you remind yourself this week of God's protective "seal" over your life, especially during difficulties?

5. What aspect of the promised new creation described in Revelation 7:15-17 most deeply resonates with your current spiritual longings, and why?

Additional Bible Reading

1. Matthew 24:3-14 – This passage parallels Revelation 6, reinforcing the concept that trials and chaos will characterize the time before Christ's return.

2. Luke 21:10-19 – Expands on the theme of perseverance through trials, emphasizing Christ's promise of spiritual protection and eternal life.

3. Romans 8:18-30 – Connects the reality of present sufferings with future glory, offering deep encouragement aligned with the sermon's message of hopeful perseverance.

4. Psalm 23 – Complements Revelation 7:9-17 by vividly illustrating God's personal care, guidance, and ultimate fulfillment in eternity, reinforcing believers’ hope.

Sermon Main Topics

I. The Question of God's Activity in a Seemingly Random World

II. Testing (Revelation 6:1-11)

III. Judging (Revelation 6:12-17)

IV. Sealing (Revelation 7:1-8)

V. Saving (Revelation 7:9-17)

VI. Hearing (Revelation 8:1-5)

Detailed Sermon Outline

- It's all happening, raising questions about God's role.
- The presence of both beauty and ugliness, order and chaos.
- The problem of injustice and suffering.

- The passage addresses the question of God's activity.
- It follows the vision of God's throne and the Lamb with the scroll.
- The question arises: If God is in charge, why the chaos?

    - The rider has a bow and is given a crown.
    - He goes out conquering and to conquer.
    - This represents war.

    - The rider takes peace from the earth.
    - People slay one another with a great sword.
    - This signifies conflict and violence.

    - The rider has a pair of scales.
    - There is a voice stating prices for wheat and barley.
    - This represents economic hardship and famine.

    - The rider's name is Death, and Hades follows him.
    - They have authority to kill with sword, famine, pestilence, and wild beasts.
    - They are given authority over a fourth of the earth.
    - This signifies widespread death.
- These four horses represent God's judgments in history.
- This echoes Jesus' teaching in Matthew 24 about the period between his ascension and return.

    - Jesus speaks of wars, rumors of wars, famines, and earthquakes.
    - These are the beginning of birth pains.
- These are recurring cycles, not specific events.

    - These hardships are meant to jolt people awake.
    - They provide a foretaste of coming judgment.
    - They teach people not to place all their hope in this life.

    - Tribulation is hardship for the purpose of testing.
    - Christ is testing faith, not punishing sin.
    - Every trial faced in life is a pretrial for the final reckoning.
    - Trials reveal what you are made of spiritually.
    - Trials provide an opportunity to learn and redesign spiritual weaknesses.
    - Every trial is a revealing test, not a random accident.

    - These are those slain for the word of God and their witness.
    - They cry out for justice: "How long?"
    - They are not seeking private vengeance but public justice.

    - Each martyr is given a white robe, signifying God's approval.

    - They are told to rest until the number of fellow servants is complete.
    - There are more martyrs to come.
    - Martyrs are models for all believers to give Christ ultimate allegiance.
    - Decide now that Jesus is worth giving everything for.
    - Understand the life and death consequences of following Christ.
    - You will only know what’s worth living for when you know what’s worth dying for.

    - A great earthquake occurs.
    - The sun becomes black, and the moon turns to blood.
    - Stars fall from the sky.
    - The sky vanishes like a rolled-up scroll.
    - Mountains and islands are removed.
- The sixth seal marks the end of history as we know it.
- Creation comes unglued by God's sovereign act.
- Where will you be when this happens?

    - Kings, the great, generals, the rich, the powerful, slaves, and the free hide themselves.
    - They seek refuge in caves and among the rocks.
    - They call for the mountains and rocks to fall on them.

    - They seek to hide from the face of God and the wrath of the Lamb.
    - The question is asked: "Who can stand?"
- On the day of judgment, no earthly advantage will matter.
- Consider the perspective of those who have suffered injustice.
- Recognize God's perfect holiness, righteousness, wisdom, and goodness.
- Reflect on your own heart and what you deserve from God.
- God's final judgment will be terrifying, total, and irreversible.
- Flee to Jesus now as your refuge.
- Repent and trust in Christ while there is still time.
- Members of the church should help each other prepare for this day.
- Confess sins and be transparent about struggles.
- Remind each other of the coming final exam.

    - They hold back the four winds.
    - This prevents harm to the earth, sea, and trees.

    - He instructs the four angels to wait.
    - The sealing of God's servants must occur first.
- This vision interrupts the sequence of seals, offering a different perspective.
- The restrained winds are another way of describing the judgments of the four horsemen.
- This is a theological priority, not strictly temporal.
- This imagery comes from Ezekiel 9, where the repentant are marked for protection.
- It also echoes the Passover in Exodus.

    - Twelve thousand are sealed from each of the twelve tribes.
- This number is symbolic, representing the fullness of God's redeemed people.
- By the first century, many of these tribes no longer existed as distinct entities.
- God is marking his people as his own for preservation and protection.
- This protection does not mean freedom from suffering but preservation in the midst of it.
- God's supernatural power prevents ultimate spiritual harm.
- This is like Jesus' promise in Luke 21:16-19.
- Even in death, not a hair of your head will perish spiritually.
- Divine sealing provides security amid earthly insecurity.
- Trials are for testing, not ruining.
- God will preserve and keep you safe for the final day.

    - They are from every nation, tribe, people, and language.
    - They stand before the throne and the Lamb.
    - They are clothed in white robes with palm branches.
    - They declare, "Salvation belongs to our God... and to the Lamb!"

    - All the angels worship God, ascribing blessing, glory, wisdom, thanksgiving, honor, power, and might.
- This vision provides a fuller description of the people of God symbolized by the 144,000.
- It shows God's people after passing through trials.
- The question from chapter 6, "Who can stand?" is answered: every believer in Jesus.
- Victory is shared with Christ.
- Standing, white robes, and palm branches all signify victory.
- Praise recognizes who God is and what he has done.
- The Christian life is a battle that God promises believers will win.

    - They are the ones coming out of the Great Tribulation.
    - The Great Tribulation is the whole period between Christ's ascension and return.
    - They have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.
    - Sin stains us, and we cannot cleanse ourselves.
    - World religions often emphasize self-purification, which the Bible says is impossible.
    - We are corrupt and enslaved to sin.
    - Christ's sacrifice cleanses us from sin, freeing us from its penalty and power.
    - Repent and trust in Christ to be cleansed by his blood.

    - They are before the throne of God, serving him day and night in his temple.
    - God will shelter them with his presence.
    - There will be no more hunger or thirst, no scorching heat.
    - Every need will be met, and every desire fulfilled.
    - Jesus will be their shepherd, guiding them to springs of living water.
    - God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.
    - This is a picture of the new creation, our ultimate destination.
    - We will be in God's presence, face to face.
    - The whole new creation will be a temple filled with God's presence.
    - This fulfills Psalm 23.
    - In the new creation, perfect happiness in God will be eternal.
    - Whatever you are struggling with, turn it into a longing for the new creation.
    - Pray, "Come, Lord Jesus."

    - There is silence in heaven for about half an hour.

    - Seven trumpets are given to them.
- The silence implies reverence before God's judgment.
- It also suggests an opportunity for another voice to be heard: prayer.

    - He offers much incense with the prayers of all the saints.
    - The smoke of the incense with the prayers rises before God.

    - The angel throws fire from the altar onto the earth.
    - This results in thunder, rumblings, lightning, and an earthquake.
- The prayers of God's people go up to heaven, and judgment comes down.
- This echoes God's appearance at Mount Sinai.
- Pray, "Your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven."
- God answers prayer, though it may not always be in expected ways.
- Keep praying, knowing God hears and will act in his time.

- Even in seeming randomness, God's purpose is clear.
- Trials are purposeful tests from a loving Savior.
- Christ is our refuge from coming judgment.
- God preserves and seals believers, preventing ultimate harm.
- The new creation ensures no suffering is eternal.
- God hears prayers and will answer them perfectly.
- If you trust in Christ, "it is well with my soul."

When I was in grad school in England, I studied every day in a research library called Tyndale House. Tyndale House is a common room where people come out and gather for tea time, for lunch, for other social occasions. It's a great way to get to know scholars from all over the world who are studying there, sometimes for years, sometimes for a short season. One semester, a scholar was visiting from Australia named Marty. Marty was a real friendly guy, super warm, big personality, always fun to talk to.

And whenever I would see Marty, at tea time or lunch, I'd say, Hey Marty, how you doing? And he would reply, It's all happening, mate. It's all happening.

Every time, without exception, no variation, no deviation, it's all happening, mate. It's all happening.

I have pondered this greeting for many years. It strikes me as almost like a Zen koan, you know, a metaphysical riddle where if you ponder it long enough, it doesn't look like it'll ever make sense, but then somehow it'll just open up to you and the secrets of the universe will be revealed.

In all the times I ever greeted Marty, I never worked up the courage to ask him exactly what is happening.

Who's making it happen? Why is it happening? And is the fact that it's happening good or bad or some mix of both? So many questions and I never had any answers. And I wonder about it to this day.

For many people today, one of the most pressing objections to the Christian faith is that this world's apparent randomness and senselessness makes it seem godless. It's all happening. Is that good, bad, a mix of both? Is there any rhyme or reason? Why do good people suffer?

Why do people in power abuse it? Why do so many good things go wrong for no good reason? Sure, it's all happening, but that's the problem. Beauty is happening and so is horrible ugliness. Order is happening and so is chaos.

Joy is happening and so is unspeakable pain. As one writer put it, Every instant brings some creature closer to a fate it cannot escape. Bear. It's not that there's no justice in this life, but that everywhere you look you see injustice too. Because life doesn't make sense and the world doesn't make sense, it seems natural to draw the conclusion that God doesn't make sense.

If he's really up there, if he's really in charge, if he's really good, shouldn't this world make a little bit better sense? This morning we return to the New Testament book of Revelation. It's the last book in the Bible. We're gonna study chapter 6, verse 1 through chapter 8, verse 5. The passage starts on page 1,031 of the Pew Bibles.

You can turn there now.

If you don't have a Bible that you can easily read, feel free to take one from the pews, take it home with you. We'd encourage you to read it and consider it a gift from us.

So far in Revelation, we've seen John himself have a vision of the risen Christ and be commissioned by him as a prophet. We've heard Jesus rebuke and encourage churches throughout Asia Minor through a series of messages to them. We've seen a vision of God's throne where he reigns in heaven and where Christ as the Lamb who's been slain and who's risen again has received a scroll from the right hand of God. And on that scroll is written all of history. That the risen Jesus is about to unfold.

But this raises an acute question. If God's on the throne and if Christ is up there and he's the one unrolling all of history, why doesn't it make more sense? What is God doing right now? What's he up to? If he's really in charge, why is this world such a jumbled mess?

Our passage begins to answer that question and we'll consider its answer in five parts. The question The question is, what on earth is God doing? Point one, testing. Testing. We see this testing in chapter 6, verses 1 to 11.

Back in chapter 5, the risen Jesus, pictured as a lamb, takes a scroll from God's hands. The seven seals on this scroll are gonna be progressively opened and they represent God's purposes for history. And our whole passage that we're gonna study this morning is structured by Jesus's act of opening these seven seals one by one. So just to give you a quick note on the structure of the passage before we jump in, we'll see a quick sequence of the opening of the first four seals. That happens quickly in verses 1 to 8 of chapter 6.

Then there's more detail given about the fifth and sixth seals in chapter 6, verses 9 to 17. Then there's a break. There's a kind of interlude in all of chapter 7 where we get a different perspective on what's happening now. Then finally, the seventh seal is opened in chapter 8:1-5. So four seals, then two more, then an interlude, and then the final one.

That's not just the structure of our passage but if you go and read next week's passage from 8:6 to 11:19 and the passage for the week after that from 12:1-14, chapter 12 through the first part of chapter 15. It's the same structure. Four plus two plus a long interlude and then the final one. As we'll see, the first five seals in our passage picture events that take place throughout the whole period between Christ's ascension and his return, while the sixth and seventh seals picture the final judgment. Let's jump into the passage.

Look first at verses 1 to 8. Revelation 6:1-8. Now I watched when the Lamb opened one of the seven seals, and I heard one of the four living creatures say with a voice like thunder, Come. And I looked, and behold, a white horse, and its rider had a bow. And a crown was given to him.

And he came out conquering and to conquer. When he opened the second seal, I heard the second living creature say, Come. And out came another horse, bright red. Its rider was permitted to take peace from the earth so that people should slay one another. And he was given a great sword.

When he opened the third seal, I heard the third living creature say, 'Come!' and I looked, and behold, a black horse! And its rider had a pair of scales in his hand. And I heard what seemed to be a voice in the midst of the four living creatures, saying, 'A quart of wheat for a denarius, and three quarts of barley for a denarius, and do not harm the oil and wine!' When he opened the fourth seal, I heard the voice of the fourth living creature say, Come. And I looked, and behold, a pale horse, and its rider's name was Death, and Hades followed him. And they were given authority over a fourth of the earth, to kill with sword, and with famine, and with pestilence, and by wild beasts of the earth.

These four horses on four riders are a set. Each of them carries out some kind of judgment on the earth at Christ's behest, on behalf of God, to judge the world. The first one brings war. The second one causes conflict between people and violence. And then in the third, the references to the prices of wheat and barley, which would be basic staples, these prices reflect severe inflation, which would come during a time of scarcity or famine.

So the third horse brings economic hardship, perhaps through, you know, some type of ecological disaster. And the fourth brings death by all sorts of means, war, famine, disease, and so on. The language of a fourth is meant to just symbolize a portion, a fraction. It's not meant to be a literal accounting of all the souls alive at that time, it's just saying it's inflicting these judgments that will lead to people's death. This passage echoes Jesus's own teaching in places like Matthew 24 about what will take place in the period between his ascension and his return.

For instance, there are striking parallels with Matthew 24:6-8. Jesus says, and you will hear of wars and rumors of wars. See that you are not alarmed, for this must take place, but the end is not yet. For nation will rise against nation and kingdom against kingdom, and there will be famines and earthquakes earthquakes in various places. All these are but the beginning of the birth pains.

In both Revelation 6 and Matthew 24, the point is not that these predictions correspond to some highly specific event where once the right thing happens, it's kind of front page news and we know, okay, well now this thing has come to be. Instead, it's talking about repeated cycles of events, the general course of things. This is what life will be like until Jesus comes back. Jesus says this has to happen, but that doesn't mean the end is right now. This has to happen but that's just the beginning of the birth pains heralding the end.

Now, our passage in Revelation does not explicitly tell us why Christ is unleashing these hardships on earth. It doesn't explicitly answer that question. But I think we can discern two purposes from other similar parts of the book. One purpose of these hardships elsewhere in Revelation is to bring those who don't believe to repentance. So chapter nine, verses 20 and 21, we see that that's the design of some of these hardships.

We'll look at that next week. These hardships Christ inflicts are meant to jolt people awake. They're meant to shock people out of the normal course of worldly events, to give them a foretaste of coming judgment, to teach them not to put all their hopes in this life. If you want more on that, you can see the way Jesus responds to a question about a fatal accident in Luke chapter 13. Another purpose of these hardships we see elsewhere in Revelation is to test believers' faith.

For instance, back in Revelation 2:10, Jesus says to the church in Smyrna, Behold, the devil is about to throw some of you into prison, that you may be tested, and for ten days you will have tribulation. We're going to see in chapter seven that Revelation uses the word tribulation to describe the whole period that we're living in now. Tribulation is hardship for the purpose of testing. That's what Christ is doing in believers' lives through these hardships. He's not punishing sin, he's testing faith.

Civil engineers often construct scale models of structures they intend to build so that they can subject them to stresses that will anticipate the kind of stress on a large scale that this building will have to hold up to.

The stress test is a pre-trial. They're building something small now for a small cost to test it out so they don't spend millions of dollars building something that's going to fall apart. They're gaining knowledge of the structure now, ahead of time, so that it holds up when the day comes. Whether you're a believer in Jesus or not, every trial you face in your life is a pre-trial. It's a pre-test of a test that will one day come.

One day the final exam is coming. There will be a day of complete reckoning. There will be a day when you have to offer an account of yourself to God that covers everything. And the pre-test now shows you what you're made of. It can give you spiritual insight.

Into how you're doing, how you're doing now, which will tell you how you will do then. It shakes you up now so you learn what needs to be redesigned, retrofitted, and rebuilt. The hardest things in your life are not random, but carefully calibrated, divinely applied pressure to shake you up and show you what you're made of.

Spiritually. Every trial is not an accident, but a revealing test. What have trials taught you about yourself lately? What should you be learning from the trials in your life that maybe you haven't yet?

Verses 9 through 11 show us the opening of the fifth seal. Again, it's a little bit different from the first four, but it does continue the theme of testing. Verses 9 through 11, When he opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of those who had been slain for the word of God and for the witness they had borne. They cried out with a loud voice, O Sovereign Lord, holy and true, how long before you will judge and avenge our blood on those who dwell on the earth? Then they were each given a white robe and told to rest a little longer until the number of their fellow servants and their brothers should be complete, who were to be killed as they themselves had been.

Here John sees in heaven Christians who have given their lives for the sake of the gospel. They've borne public witness to Jesus at the cost of their life. These are believers who passed the ultimate test in this life. And John hears them crying out in the words of so many Psalms, How long, how long, O Lord, will you allow your people to be executed for their faithfulness to you? How long?

It's important to discern that these martyrs are not calling out for private vengeance but public justice. They're asking God to right the wrongs that afflict this entire broken world. They're asking God to give evil its due and to give evildoers their due. This world has condemned them as wicked, but in response to their faithfulness, God grants them this white robe, which shows his verdict, his approval, his endorsement. The world sees them as wicked, but God has clothed them with his own righteousness.

The world has seen them as harmful, wrong, bad, out of whack and they've caused them to pay the ultimate price because of it. But God grants them rest, security, shelter under his throne. They're told to rest a little longer. And the answer to their question is that there are still more martyrs who will seal their witness with their blood. It's a number that only God knows.

That's how long it'll take. Not every believer will be martyred, but every believer is called to bear witness to the truth. Throughout Revelation, martyrs are models for all believers. Not all of us pay the ultimate cost for following Christ, but all of us are called to give Christ our ultimate allegiance and we will all pay costs for faithfully following him. To be a Christian is to decide in advance that Christ is worth giving everything for.

That's what these martyrs teach us. To be a Christian is to decide in advance that if you are called upon to bear witness to Christ at the cost of your life, you will. That's part of the package deal. Of following Christ. Kids and teens in the congregation.

I think it could be easy growing up in church to kind of treat it as like a religious dress-up act. You know, we kind of do the same thing every week. Maybe you put on nice clothes, maybe you don't. You know, you show up, you go through the motions, right? There's kind of a religious performance taking place here.

But there are life and death consequences to what we're teaching. We, as pastors, your parents, your Sunday school teachers, this is not dress-up. Does not pretend. This is deathly earnest. What we want for you most of all is to decide now that Jesus is worth giving everything for.

We want you to decide now to give him your ultimate allegiance. We want you to decide now to follow him, whatever costs come. You will only know what's worth living for when you know what's worth dying for. That's what these martyrs teach us. Point number two, judging.

What is God doing? He's judging. Not yet, but soon.

Now we see temporal judgments. What's coming is a final judgment and his coming final judgment puts everything in this life into perspective. We see this judgment in chapter 6, verses 12 to 17, the sixth seal. Look first at verses 12 to 14.

When he opened the sixth seal, I looked, and behold, there was a great earthquake, and the sun became black as sackcloth, the full moon became like blood, and the stars of the sky fell to the earth as the fig tree sheds its winter fruit, when shaken by a gale, the sky vanished like a scroll that is being rolled up, and every mountain and island was removed from its place.

The opening of the first five seals shows us what takes place throughout history. And now the sixth seal brings us to the end of history. It shows us what's written on the very final page. The world as we know it is not simply going to continue going on and on. Instead, what we see in verses 12 to 14 is creation coming unglued.

The various parts of creation are coming unstuck from each other. Like a book that's gotten so old, the glue's dried out and the bindings and pages are just falling apart. But this time when the creation comes unglued is not going to be a symptom of the universe's old age. It's going to be a sovereign, decisive act of the world's maker. The one who made all of creation is one day going to unmake all of creation.

And where will you be when that happens? When heaven and earth as some great scroll shall from God's holy presence roll, where shall I be? Look at verses 15 to 17.

Then the kings of the earth and the great ones and the generals and the rich and the powerful and everyone, slave and free, hid themselves in the caves and among the rocks of the mountains, calling to the mountains and rocks, 'Fall on us and hide us from the face of him who is seated on the throne and from the wrath of the Lamb, for the great day of their their wrath has come and who can stand?

This is one of the scariest passages in the Bible. On the day of judgment, no earthly advantage will be any advantage. Verse 15 starts with those who have power and status now in this world. Kings and generals, the rich and the powerful, they're used to getting their way. They're used to flexing and getting whatever they want.

They're used to other people bearing the brunt. While they get to reap rewards, but no longer. And it's not just them, but everyone. When this day of judgment comes, the rich and powerful and everyone will look for places to hide, but they won't find any. They'll be so terrified of God's wrath that they would prefer a mountain to fall on their chest rather than have to look God in the eye.

To many people, this kind of graphic language seems harsh, exaggerated, leering, like it's a product of some kind of primitive, uncivilized imagination whereas we in the modern West have progressed far beyond all this kind of bloody seeking of vengeance and judgment and all this sort of thing. If you're inclined to view God's judgment that way, I've got three challenges for you.

Number one, how much injustice have you suffered? Injustice looks very different when you're contemplating it from a safe distance versus when you're the object of it. How much oppression have you been the victim of? And what exactly do you think it would take to right all the wrongs of this world? A second challenge: How well do you know God?

Over and over again, Scripture proclaims that God is perfectly holy, completely righteous, utterly wise and good and pure. What should his response to this world's evil be? And a third challenge is: How well do you know yourself? How well do you know the hidden recesses and motives of your own heart? What do you think your life deserves from God?

This judgment that God will carry out on all creation on the final day will be terrifying, total, and irreversible. There will be nowhere to flee, Nowhere to hide. That's why we all need to flee to Jesus and hide in him now as our perfect refuge. If you're not a believer in Jesus, I urge you, repent and trust in Christ while there's time. Now God holds his hands out to you in mercy.

You can come to him freely and be forgiven, reconciled to him, restored to him, safe from his wrath forever. But that offer will expire, that time will run out. You can only accept that offer this side of the final judgment, which means you can only accept that offer in this life and who knows how long you have left.

Brothers and sisters, members of CHBC, how can you help each other prepare for this great and awesome day? One way is whatever you'll be tempted to hide on that day, Unhide it now. Confess it to God and others. Speak to each other about the final judgment, the day that's coming. Remind each other that we're all preparing for that final exam.

Confess your sins, be transparent with your struggles, volunteer what's embarrassing about yourself, make it easier and safer, lower the bar for other believers to do that with you. It's worth a thousand awkward conversations now.

To help someone prepare to face that final day with joyful confidence. In verse 7, the question that those who are being judged ask is haunting. Looking at it in verse 17, For the great day of their wrath has come, and who can stand? Who can stand? Is the question that all of chapter seven answers.

Point three, sealing. Sealing like sealing something up. What is God doing now? Amid all the chaos of this life, he's sealing his people. We see this in chapter seven, verses one to eight.

To summarize in advance, we'll see in these verses that God restrains the timing and scope of his providential judgments in history. And he does that in order to claim his elect as his own and to preserve them from ultimate harm. In the midst of all these earthly temporal judgments, God is sealing up a people for himself. Look first at verses 1 to 3 of chapter 7.

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. Then I saw another angel ascending from the rising of the sun with the seal of the living God. And he called with a loud voice to the four angels who had been given power to harm 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. This is a new vision and it interrupts the sequence of seals. There's no seal here.

But the fact that it's sandwiched between two of the seals gives us a clue that it's speaking about the same events but from a different perspective. Now verse three explains the image in verse one. In verse one, the angels hold back winds so they don't blow on the earth. And then verse three explains that these winds would harm the earth if they were to be released. In other words, this image is a different way of of describing the same judgments that the four horsemen of the first four seals bring to earth, harming the earth, casting judgments on it.

Here the image is not of these judgments being unleashed but being held back. Not yet. Until when? Until we have sealed the servants of our God on their foreheads. So this vision is something of a flashback.

It's logically and theologically prior to the judgments unleashed in the first four seals. But this is not a strict temporal sequence. It's giving us an insight into the way God works but we can't exactly plot it on a timeline. This image of sealing God's people comes from Ezekiel chapter nine. In Ezekiel nine, God is going to execute judgment on unbelievers and he first has an angel pass through the city to mark all those who are repentant, all those who are mourning over idols instead of worshiping them.

And he seals them so that no judgment will fall on them. An even deeper biblical background here is the Passover in Exodus, where the mark of blood on the home of every Israelite caused God's destroyer to pass them by in safety. Now who is sealed? John learns in verses 4 to 8, and I heard the number of the sealed, 144,000 sealed from every tribe of the sons of Israel. 12,000 from the tribe of Judah were sealed, 12,000 from the tribe of Reuben, 12,000 from the tribe of Gad, 12,000 from the tribe of Asher, 12,000 from the tribe of Naphtali, 12,000 from the tribe of Manasseh, 12,000 from the tribe of Simeon, 12,000 from the tribe of Levi, 12,000 from the tribe of Issachar, 12,000 from the tribe of Zebulun, 12,000 from the tribe of Joseph.

12,000 from the tribe of Benjamin were sealed. For some reasons I'll give now and some reasons I'll give in the next point, I think this 144,000 is a symbol for the fullness of the redeemed people of God. For one thing, this is a highly symbolic number, 12 times 12 times 1,000. Another factor is that in the first century AD, many of these tribes essentially no longer existed. There were no people who could trace their ancestry back to a number of these tribes.

So I think this is a stylized way of picturing the fullness of God's people. More on that soon in the next point. But the point in this whole section is that God is marking his people as his own. He's claiming them. He's putting his seal on them to set them apart.

And that seal serves to preserve and protect them. It serves to preserve and protect them from his judgments that are about to fall on the earth. But that doesn't mean that God keeps his people free and clear of suffering. Instead, it means he preserves us in the midst of it. The suffering falls on us as well as on the unbelieving world.

But by God's supernatural preserving power, it does us no final harm, no spiritual harm, no ultimate harm. It's just like Jesus's promise when he's teaching about the woes to come in Luke 21:16-19. You will be delivered up even by parents and brothers and relatives and friends, and some of you they will put to death. You will be hated by all for my name's sake, but not a hair of your head will perish. By your endurance you will gain your lives.

Some of you they will put to death, not a hair of your head will perish. How can those two things be true? It's because even in being put to death, not a hair of your head perishes. God so preserves his people from harm that even being executed as part of your witness to Christ does you know final damage. He preserves you spiritually now and he will raise you immortal and incorruptible on the last day.

Think of God's act of sealing someone, like the way someone seals a jar of jam or preserves. To seal a jar, you have to get an airtight lock. That's because the point of sealing is to keep out anything floating around in the air, the bacteria, all the kind of stuff that could come in and corrupt the jam and make it rot and ruin so you can't eat it in six months. You have to seal it up tight to keep what's outside from spoiling what's inside. The point of this divine sealing here is that every believer in Jesus has divine security amid earthly insecurity.

Whatever suffering or hardship comes your way, you can know that you are God's possession. Because you're God's possession, he will preserve you. And protect you. Your safety and security come entirely from God. He tries you to test you, not to ruin you.

You know trials are no sign of His hatred or displeasure. God will not let trials spoil you. He will test you and preserve you and keep you safe for that final day.

Point four, saving. What God is doing now, He's saving His people. We see this in verses 9 to 17 of chapter 7. So the second half of chapter seven continues this interlude between seals and the perspective shifts again. Verses one to eight considered God's redeemed people from the standpoint of our present trials here on earth and being preserved in the midst of them.

We're suffering yet sealed, we're preserved by God's protection. But verses nine through 17 consider God's chosen people as we will be.

In the new creation. And these verses tell us how we'll get there. Look first at verses 9 to 12.

After this I looked, and behold, a great multitude that no one could number, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed in white robes, with palm branches in their hands, and crying out with a loud voice, Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne and to the Lamb. And all the angels were standing around the throne and around the elders and the four living creatures, and they fell on their faces before the throne and worshiped God, saying, Amen! Blessing and glory and wisdom and thanksgiving and honor and power and might be to our God forever and ever. Amen.

These verses give us another instance of a pattern we saw back in chapter five. Often in Revelation, John first hears something and then he sees something. What he hears and what he sees are different ways of describing the same reality. So back in chapter five, verse five, John hears that the lion of the tribe of Judah has conquered and can take the scroll. And then in the very next verse, he sees a lamb standing.

The lion and the lamb are one and the same, the Lord Jesus Christ. But the two images interpret each other. And there's even a sense in which the first image gives an old covenant category, an old covenant prophecy or promise, and the second gives a new covenant fulfillment. So here in chapter seven, we should understand this multitude that no one can number from every nation to be a fuller and more literal description of the people of God symbolized in the 144,000 who are sealed. The ones sealed are all of God's people from every nation.

And here we see them not being sealed before trials, but after they have passed through every trial. The question at the end of chapter six, who can stand before God and the Lamb? Is now answered explicitly in verse nine. 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. Who will stand? Every believer in Jesus from every nation. Just like the Lamb stood before the throne, victorious, having conquered death and risen from the grave, so all who believe in him will share that same posture and stand before God, having triumphed over sin, the devil, and death itself.

Victory is what the Lamb's people will share with him. Victory is the key word of this whole image. Their posture, their clothing, their equipment all declare victory. First, standing is a posture of success, of triumph. Then their white robes that all the people are wearing are a sign that they've defeated their enemies and come through every trial unscathed.

And then palm branches were a common emblem of victory in both Jewish and Greco-Roman culture. Everything about this multitude declares they've made it. They've won. They've passed through every trial. They've defeated every enemy.

There's no more threats, no more harms, no more battles. They've conquered. They've conquered in and with Christ. Now, There's nothing left for them to do but join the angels in praising God forever. Look at the angels' praise in verses 11 and 12.

All the angels stand around the throne. They worship God saying, verse 12, Amen! Blessing and glory and wisdom and thanksgiving and honor and power and might be to our God forever and ever. Amen. By praising God in this way, we're not giving him something he doesn't have already.

We're rightly recognizing and responding to who he is and what he's done for us. Those are the two great pillars of praise. Who God is in himself from all eternity and what he's done for us in the redeeming work of Christ. This list of seven perfections, seven blessings that they ascribe to God are based on both, who he is in himself and what he's done for us in Christ. The whole Christian life is a battle against sin and Satan.

It is a battle that will end. It is a battle that God promises every believer will win. Throughout the whole book, Revelation uses complex visions to proclaim a very simple message: Through the death and resurrection of Christ, God wins. And all who trust in Christ win.

With him. That's the message of the whole book. In verse 13, an angel gives John a little quiz to see if he's tracking, see if he's paying attention to the vision. Then one of the elders addressed me saying, 'Who are these clothed in white robes and from where have they come?' I said to him, 'Sir, you know.' Even if John had a hunch, It's probably safest to let the angel tell him. And the angel does.

In verses 14 to 17, the angel proclaims the identity, origin, and destiny of this redeemed multitude. First in verse 14, their identity and origin. These are the ones coming out of the great tribulation. They have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. The angel is referring to the whole multitude.

He's describing all of God's redeemed people, which means the period of time he calls the great tribulation is not a three and a half year window immediately before the return of Christ, but the whole time between his ascension and return. The great tribulation is the whole Christian life and the whole age of the church's existence. That's what the Great Tribulation is. That's what you are living in right now. Our whole life is a series of trials that test us and once that test is complete, we enter our rest.

This whole life is a trial but this life is not the only life we have. And then the angel tells what qualifies us for this victory. They have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. That is a deliberately strange detergent, a strange metaphor of cleansing. How do you get white from blood red?

How does that work? How does that happen? The metaphor here is that sin stains us. Sin sticks to us. It's something we can't get off ourselves.

It's something we can't get rid of ourselves. There's nothing we can do to clean up ourselves in God's sight. One of the great pillars of every world religion besides Christianity is that somehow or other we can work on ourselves, clean ourselves up, and present ourselves to God or the forces of this universe or whatever it is that's going to get us into harmony and into rightness. We do it to ourselves, on ourselves, and somehow get ourselves into the right state. But the Bible tells us that's impossible.

It tells us that God is our creator and ever since the first human beings sinned against him, we've all been incorrigibly corrupt. We've all been enslaved to sin. We can't try to work on ourselves because the selves we're trying to work with are deeply wrong in the first place. Not only that but the record of our sin is overwhelming. Even if we could somehow cleanse ourselves, there's still an objective wrongness.

We're still criminals in God's sight. There's still a sentence to be paid. There's still a wrong to be righted. And what we can do about that is precisely nothing. That's what the whole Bible teaches.

And the better you come to know yourself, the more sense that will make. So the message of the whole Bible, the message that comes to glorious expression here all throughout Revelation, especially in this verse, is that God sent Jesus into the world to do exactly that, to give his life to pay the penalty for our sin. To give his life on the cross, to shed his own blood, that we might be cleansed from sin, released from its stain, freed from its penalty and power. This judgment that's threatened, that will start on the last day and last forever. That's exactly what Christ bore in himself on the cross, in the place of all those who had turned from sin and trust in him.

So now he calls you today to put your faith in him, to repent of sin and to trust in Christ, to allow his blood to cleanse you, to wash you, to get rid of the stain you can never get rid of yourself. If you have any questions about that, there's nothing I would like more than to talk to you at that door afterwards or talk to anybody, any of the pastors or at the doors or anybody who you came with, any member of this church. We'd be delighted to help explain how you can wash your robes and make them white in the blood of the Lamb.

That's our identity and origin, all of us who trust in Christ. Now for our destination, verses 15 to 17: 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 shelter them with His presence. They shall hunger no more, neither thirst anymore; the sun shall not strike them nor any scorching heat, for the Lamb in the midst of the throne will be their shepherd, and he will guide them to springs of living water, and God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.

Revelation 6:12-17 is one of the scariest passages in the Bible. And this right here is one of the sweetest. It's a picture of the new creation. It's every believer's ultimate destination. In the new creation we'll be in God's presence with him face to face.

Verse 15 refers to a temple but ultimately we learn that in the new creation the whole thing is a temple intimately and utterly suffused with God's presence. In this new creation we'll be sheltered with God's presence. He himself will be our perfect everlasting security. There will be no more hunger or thirst, no burning sun or scorching heat will be delivered from every threat, from every lack, every harm. Every need will be met, every want satisfied.

In the new creation, every good desire you've ever had will be fulfilled. Now we hunger and thirst physically, and spiritually. And even the Lord's Supper that we're about to celebrate together both looks back to the fullness of what Christ has accomplished for us and also stokes our hunger, reminds us that we're on the way. We're heading to this new creation where we'll be fully satisfied, but we're not there yet. We're looking ahead through this foretaste, this appetizer, together of the marriage supper of the Lamb to come.

In the new creation, we'll be with Jesus. He himself will be with us as our shepherd, our leader, our guide. This is a new creation and fulfillment of Psalm 23. This is when my shepherd will supply my need. He does so faithfully here.

He'll do so fully and finally then. And then we will be perfectly happy. In God forever. God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.

What in your life are you most eager to see changed?

What in your life are you most eager to be done with? What are you the most fed up with? It might be hard to pick just one.

Brother or sister, right here in the new creation is where all of that ends.

This is where it all ends for good, forever. This is the destination to which all of your trials are leading you. No matter how long, every trial is short. Remember what God said to the martyrs back in chapter 6 verse 11?

How long do they have to rest until the full end comes? A little longer.

A little longer. And God's kingdom will come. A little longer and every trial will be a memory. A little longer and every pain will give way to pleasure. A little longer and every heartache will be behind you.

A little longer. And God himself will dry the tears from your face a little longer. You'll be no more a stranger nor a guest, but like a child at home. Brother or sister, whatever you're struggling with, whatever you're fed up with in your life, turn that into a longing for the new creation. Turn whatever you're tempted to complain about into a petition in which you say, Come, Lord Jesus.

And one really good reason to pray that prayer, Come, Lord Jesus, is you know it's a prayer He's going to answer. And that is the point of our last and final section, briefly, chapter 8, verses 1 to 5, 0.5, what is God doing now? He's hearing.

He's hearing our prayers. Chapter 8, verses 1 to 5. Look first at verses 1 and 2.

When the Lamb opened the seventh seal, there was silence in heaven for about half an hour. Then I saw the seven angels who stand before God, and seven trumpets were given to them. The next section of Revelation, which I plan to preach next week, is structured by the blasts of these seven trumpets. So this little paragraph here is both wrapping up this section and introducing the next one. But what's going on with the seventh seal?

All we get, all it says is that there was silence in heaven for about half an hour. What should we make of that? It's tough to be certain. I'm not 100% sure, but I think it probably implies two realities and these realities are linked. One is God's judgment.

Often in Scripture, when God is about to judge, he calls for silence. For instance, Habakkuk 2:20, the Lord is in his holy temple, let all the earth keep silence before him. God is about to act finally and decisively, stop talking and pay attention is what the prophet is saying. So I think we have here a picture of heaven in a state of absolute reverence. Even the angels and the creatures who are always praising God fall silent.

To recognize the infinite solemnity of God's act of judgment. So I think that the seventh seal, like the sixth seal, refers to God's final judgment. But it also seems, second, that this silence allows another voice to be heard. God isn't just about to execute judgment but to hear prayer. And it seems that he's going to to execute judgment in answer to prayer.

That's what the next three verses show us, verses 3 to 5.

And another angel came and stood at the altar with a golden censer, and he was given much incense to offer with the prayers of all the saints on the golden altar before the throne, and the smoke of the incense with the prayers of the saints rose before God from the hand of the angel. Then the angel took the censer and filled it with fire from the altar and threw it on the earth. And there were peals of thunder, rumblings, flashes of lightning, and an earthquake. What's happening here? The prayers of God's people are going up to heaven and the effect of those prayers is coming back.

Down. The thunder and rumblings and lightning and an earthquake are all reminiscent of God's appearance at Mount Sinai when he gave his people the law. That law is the basis of his judgment. And throughout Revelation at key points, these echoes of Sinai picture the final judgment. Every time we see echoes of Sinai throughout Revelation, it's in conjunction with the final judgment.

So here, God's people are praying and God is responding with judgment.

Prayers go up, judgment comes down. That's ultimately what's happening when we pray, you, Kingdom come, you, will be done on earth as it is in heaven. That's what God's people are praying in this passage and that's what God does in response. It's like Jesus' teaching when he talks about the persistent widow. In Luke chapter 18, the moral of that parable, Luke 18:8, Luke 18:7, Will not God give justice to his elect who cry to him day and night?

Will he delay long over them? However much it might seem like your prayers aren't being answered, however much it might seem like God is answering your prayers in ways you don't particularly appreciate, Keep praying. You know that he answers. You know that he hears. He always listens.

He always hears and he will act. He will answer in his own way and in his own time.

So what would Revelation 6 to 8 say to my friend Marty? There's a lot happening in this passage. One might even say, it's all happening. Is this what Marty meant all along? Maybe it is.

He teaches in Singapore now. If I ever get to go there, I'll ask him. It's all happening but it's not random. It's all happening but there is a method to what seems like madness. For everyone who believes in Jesus, trials don't come to you from random fate but from the pierced hand of your Savior.

Trials aren't senseless wastes, but purposeful tests. Judgment is coming, but Christ is your refuge. No evil can finally harm you because God has preserved you and sealed you. No harm will last forever because the new creation is coming. However silent heaven seems now, God hears your prayers and one day he will answer them.

Perfectly. For all those reasons, if you trust in Christ, you can say, It is well with my soul. Let's pray together.

Heavenly Father, we thank you for this glimpse into your wise purposes in judgment and deliverance. Father, we thank you especially for this glorious promised picture of what you will do for all who put their faith in Christ. Father, we pray that we would trust Trust in youn and so come safely to that final shore. We pray in Jesus' name. Amen.