Those Who "Stand"
The Revelation of Jesus Christ Series • Sermon • Submitted • Presented • 41:54
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As we closed out Chapter 6 peeling back the sixth seal… those running from God shake their fist crying out… “who is able to stand?”
Chapter 7 takes the reader to an interlude as we find the answer to the question of “who is able to stand”…
Today in our reading we will look at:
2 Different Scenes
2 Different Groups
***REMEMBER: as we go through Revelation we are to READ, HEAR, & HEED what is being written for us. This means that a great deal at we are reading is meant to be understood!
CONTEXT is key to this understanding
We find the context as... we read and study the text in a literal, grammatical, and historical approach.
As we look at our two groups, & scenes today we will see another depth of our God & Savior’s LOVE, PROVISION, FAITHFULNESS, and GRACE… Join with me as I begin to read in Revelation 7:1-8
After this I saw four angels standing at the four corners of the earth, holding back the four winds of the earth, so that no wind would blow on the earth or on the sea or on any tree. And I saw another angel ascending from the rising of the sun, having the seal of the living God; and he cried out with a loud voice to the four angels to whom it was granted to harm the earth and the sea, saying, “Do not harm the earth or the sea or the trees until we have sealed the bond-servants of our God on their foreheads.” And I heard the number of those who were sealed, one hundred and forty-four thousand sealed from every tribe of the sons of Israel: From the tribe of Judah, twelve thousand were sealed, from the tribe of Reuben twelve thousand, from the tribe of Gad twelve thousand, from the tribe of Asher twelve thousand, from the tribe of Naphtali twelve thousand, from the tribe of Manasseh twelve thousand, from the tribe of Simeon twelve thousand, from the tribe of Levi twelve thousand, from the tribe of Issachar twelve thousand, from the tribe of Zebulun twelve thousand, from the tribe of Joseph twelve thousand, from the tribe of Benjamin, twelve thousand were sealed.
Our First Scene
Our First Scene
God’s Control in Chaos vs 1-3
“After this”… I imagine after watching the first six seals peeled back John needed a respite. CHAOS is ensuing the earth, man is cursing God, believers are dying, and in the midst of it all…
We see our God in Control!… Look!!!
There are angels given authority to “harm the earth and sea & trees”
We see them holding back, waiting, to bring what they will bring on earth…
This first scene shows us behind the scenes God’s ultimate control of these events here on earth during this time!!!
NOTICE: they are to pause or wait long enough for something to occur… even disaster cannot thwart God’s plans and timing
More wrath is to come
More devastation will be dealt out
But this cannot come UNTIL…
Verse 3 states “until we have sealed the bondservants of our God on their foreheads.”
Revelation 14 tells us that this seal is the name of God the Father and The Lamb on their foreheads
Notice they are sealed on purpose for a purpose! They will be “bondservants”
A complete willingness and surrender to be a slave of someone. Giving over full control to ONE!
These would be ones who give themselves courageously over to God to be used for His Glory during earth’s darkest of days!
God is going to use them in powerful ways in this tribulation time, and their sealing will protect them from His Wrath to come…
Verse 4 tells us both WHO they are and their NUMBER…
Our First Group
Our First Group
God’s Promise & Protection vs 4-8
When we read the text we get both the answer of who and how many…
These are the sons from the tribes of Israel
As we continue through Revelation we discover that these 144,000 Israelis are men chosen by God to STAND for Him in testimony
The church, the bride of Christ has been gathered up to her groom Jesus Christ
God is now once again working with and using His people Israel!!!
The list has puzzled scholars as to the order and omissions and additions
Dan is omitted, Levi is listed (no land portion), Ephraim is not listed but Joseph is, and Judah is first
Some have suggested it is because of Ephraim and Dan’s idolatrous ways and leading
Other list have various orders and omissions (18 other list),
Why God listed this way is His prerogative & purpose!!!
These are the ones He chose for this task of STANDING in testimony through the tribulation
We see God working with His people Israel in the tribulation period to restore them as a nation!
He has to!!! He is a God of His Word…
If we cannot trust God to keep His Word with Israel Jeremiah 31:35-37
Thus says the Lord, Who gives the sun for light by day And the fixed order of the moon and the stars for light by night, Who stirs up the sea so that its waves roar; The Lord of hosts is His name: “If this fixed order departs From before Me,” declares the Lord, “Then the offspring of Israel also will cease From being a nation before Me forever.” Thus says the Lord, “If the heavens above can be measured And the foundations of the earth searched out below, Then I will also cast off all the offspring of Israel For all that they have done,” declares the Lord.
The we cannot trust Him to keep His Word with us Romans 8:35-39
Who will separate us from the love of Christ? Will tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? Just as it is written, “For Your sake we are being put to death all day long; We were considered as sheep to be slaughtered.” But in all these things we overwhelmingly conquer through Him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing, will be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Charles Swindoll writes this concerning these chosen Israel tribes…
Because they will be miraculously preserved from harm during the tribulation, God will use them to fulfill the ancient Old Testament calling of the Hebrew people to be God’s witnesses among the nations (Isa. 43:1–12). God’s plan for Israel was always for the people to serve as the light of truth for the Gentiles. In the tribulation they will serve as Christ’s servants who finally fulfill this mission. This believing remnant from ethnic Israel will not only be sealed for power and protection, but they will also survive the tribulation period and become the firstfruits of the nation of Israel when it is restored to the land during the coming millennial kingdom.
They are numbered 144,000 thousand...
Twelve-Thousand from each of these tribes listed here
Here listed for us are twelve tribes, listed by name and number.
These will STAND for Him!!!
This is NOT too difficult of a task for our God
What a blessing that God will use His people Israel in this time… and there is no doubt He will use them to have an impact on the lives of many in the next scene and group we look at today… Revelation 7:9-17
After these things I looked, and behold, a great multitude which no one could count, from every nation and all tribes and peoples and tongues, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed in white robes, and palm branches were in their hands; and they cry out with a loud voice, saying, “Salvation 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.” 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?” I said to him, “My lord, you know.” 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. “For this reason, they are before the throne of God; and they serve Him day and night in His temple; and He who sits on the throne will spread His tabernacle over them. “They will hunger no longer, nor thirst anymore; nor will the sun beat down on them, nor any heat; 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.”
Our Second Scene
Our Second Scene
Wonderful Worship of God vs 9-12
“After” John witnesses the sealing of the 144,000 he is given a front row seat to a spectacular and encouraging scene of WORSHIP in Heaven!
Here the scene describes a “great multitude” too great to number “standing before the throne”
Allow this image to sink in… these are ones from all over the earth
Illustrate: Jesus loves the little children… “red and yellow black and white”
Men, women, children, Jew, and Gentile STANDING before the Throne of God
Wearing cleansed (in the blood of the Lamb!) white robes, joyous with palm branches, praising God & The Lamb!!!
There is more to the scene… now AROUND the throne are:
Angels, the twenty-four elders, the four living creatures
The praise of the Great Multitude prompts further worship of God on the throne and to the Lamb!
Our praise of God should inspire others to worship HIM!!!
This image of worship here demonstrates so beautifully how “God so loved the world...” and we see His Grace, His Care, and His Comfort given to this second group…
Our Second Group
Our Second Group
Care & Comfort from God vs 13-17
I find it interesting as we read through our text that there is no question of who the first group is since they are named and listed out even in number for us… BUT, we see one of the elders ask “who are they, and where do they come from?”
There is a clarity that needs to occur here for John and his readers…
These are ones who come out of the Great Tribulation who have believed, and placed their faith in Jesus Christ
Salvation always has been through FAITH, not through ones works or merit!
These are those who have been in the Tribulation and have been martyred for their faith…
BECAUSE of their faith, “for this reason” … being washed in the blood of the Lamb (His Work of Salvation) observe their blessing that they receive:
They stand before God (in His presence)
They serve God in His temple (purpose)
They have shelter / cover (God’s protection)
They no longer hunger or thirst (persecution on earth & suffering)
They receive His comfort (no heat or scorching sun)
They have the Lamb shepherd them (He is center of existence now)
They are cared for by the Shepherd (grief and tears no more)
Notice the closeness, the intimacy with God the Father and the Shepherding Lamb of God…
As we close up this interlude I want us to PAUSE and PONDER some crucial things we see and learn about our God…
A Pause to Ponder
A Pause to Ponder
As we READ, HEAR, and HEED God’s Word today may we understand our God and Savior all the more… Consider these two groups and the scenarios they are in…
Our God is unchanging, we observe those able to STAND not because of themselves but because of OUR GOD!
God is… Working
He has a heart for His people Israel
He has a heart for the people of the world
God is… Patient
He is waiting desiring that none perish
He will keep His PROMISE!!!
God is… In Control
In the CHAOS of your life some of you need to hear this
God is… Gracious
His GRACE knows no bounds!
He CARES soooo deeply and offers His COMFORT
He is seeking after mankind in such a powerful and beautiful way
God is… To Be Worshiped
May we as we see a more complete picture of our Jesus, our Savior, our God…
Praise Him in such a way that it causes those around us to WORSHIP HIM!!!
Final Charge
In Revelation 7, we see 144,000 on the earth and a multitude in heaven. What do they have in common? They all belong to the Lord.
A number of them are standing as a testimony of righteousness in an unholy world
A multitude stands as a testimony of praise in the holiness of the throne room of the Lord.
Are you and I who belong to the Lord now, willing to STAND for Him as a testimony and as a vessel of praise in our time?
