Revelation 7, please follow along as I read 9 through 17 of Revelation 7. We're hiking through the Yellowstone Park of the book of Revelation, and now we've reached this blessed site describing the great multitude. 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. And one of the elders answered me, saying, These aren't robes. Who are they, and from where have they come? And 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 shall spread his tabernacle over them, and they shall hunger no more, neither thirst anymore, neither shall the sun beat down on them or any heat. For the lamb in the center of the throne shall be their shepherd and shall guide them to the springs of water of life. And God shall wipe every tear from their eyes. Let's pray together. Our Heavenly Father, we thank you for the great truth that earth has no sorrows that heaven cannot cure. And we pray that we would open our mouths wide and you would give to us the medicine of this passage. And we would leave here with bright eyes, healthy, resolved to follow hard after the Lamb. So we need your Holy Spirit if we would have this. We pray he would be here opening eyes and opening ears and stirring up our hearts. We pray that you would keep us from a barren, desert-like experience. We pray that there would be sweet fruits for us to eat from this hour. We pray it in Jesus' name, amen. A dog sled musher. You know what that is? The climate well brings our minds to such a picture. A dog sled musher has many challenges dealing with his temperamental team of canine pullers. Now this is especially true in bad weather and tough terrain. Driving the reluctant team of dogs up a steep hill and into the teeth of gale force blizzard winds requires much whipping and scolding. But regardless of the terrain and the weather, turn that dog sled toward home and the dogs realizing that their food bowls and their water buckets and their warm beds are just over the horizon and they run hard with a high spirited delight that needs more so reigning in than spurring on. Now, this turning of our hearts toward home is the theme of Revelation 7, 9 through 17. Here we're able to see this picture of a great multitude that's come home to heaven. The 144,000 of the first eight verses of this chapter depicts, listen now, the church embattled on earth. You see there, the 144,000 in verses one through eight, that's depicting what's called the church militant. on earth embattled but sealed. And we saw that last Lord's Day morning. But now we find in Revelation 7, 9 through 17, this depicts the church victorious in heaven, which is called the church triumphant. They've gone through the battle. They've won. They're victorious. Now, these sweet contemplations of our heavenly home, carefully considered, will hopefully go a long way in mushing our souls homeward through this tribulation-filled pilgrimage of life that we're now engaged in. And may the Lord make it to be so. So I want to expound this passage now, verses 9 through 16 really, under six main headings. You can't get lost that way. Six main headings come to our first heading and that is the great multitude described in verse 9. The great multitude. It says there a great multitude which no one could count. from every tribe and from every tongue, people, and nation. There they are. Now look at this great multitude a moment. Look how it says in verse 9, it says, after these things. He's just described the 144,000 from every tribe, sealed. And now he says, after these things he beholds a great multitude. This is a logical transition that's taking place. We're moving from the symbolic depiction of the church, the 144,000, the people of God embattled on earth. And notice how we said last week that the church, the 144,000 from every tribe, is depicted in Jewish wardrobe. The book of Revelation focuses much on this Jewish flavor. In fact, consider with me elsewhere in the book of Revelation, It says in 2.9, describing the church in Smyrna, I know your tribulation and your poverty, but you are rich, and the blasphemy of those who say they are Jews but are not, but they are a synagogue of Satan. See, the issue of being a true Jew isn't ethnic anymore in the eyes of the Apostle John and the giving of Revelation, but rather the issue is being a true Jew You're circumcised in the heart. Or look at 3.9 where it says, Behold, I will cause those of the synagogue of Satan, that would be Jews meeting there in Philadelphia, ethnic Jews, who say they are Jews, but they are not. Who are the true Jews? the true church in Philadelphia. So this 144,000 is describing the church of the Lord Jesus Christ. In fact, just to review, Revelation 21, look with me there. Revelation 21, the new Jerusalem is described. 21 too, the bride of Christ adorned for her husband. That's clearly the church. The church is the bride of Christ. But notice how the church is dressed in Jewish wardrobe. She's called Jerusalem. Further, look what it says there in verse 12, describing this new Jerusalem, the church, the bride of Christ. Look, it says in verse 9, I shall show you the bride, the wife of the Lamb. And look at verse 12. And it had great and high wall with twelve gates, and at the gates twelve angels, and the names were written on them, and these are the twelve tribes of Israel." You see that? The church is described as what? 12 tribes of Israel because we see Israel is clearly being presented as the church is the spiritual Israel. This is what is being depicted here. This is no surprise to us as Paul says in Galatians 3 29 if you belong to Christ you are Abraham's seed That's the church. Heirs according to the promise. And that's why Paul, in describing the church, expresses the church saying this way, and peace be upon the Israel of God. So, beloved, we are of the 144,000. We are the church embattled, the people of God embattled. 144,000, it means a great number, 12 times 12 times 1,000, symbolically described. This is the picture of the church militant. But now, look, we're transitioning, as the Apostle says, after these things He beheld, this vast multitude. As now we see in transition logically, the sealed souls on earth have now made it home safely to heaven. And though it's true that they were counted as 144,000 previously, now they're described as being uncountable. The Lord knows those who are His, for they are written in the Book of Life, Revelation 13, 8. God knows how many there are. He's got them numbered. But when it comes to man's view, who can count them? They're as many as the sands on the seashore, which is exactly what the Lord promised to Abraham. How many stars in the sky? Can't count them. So, Abraham, shall your offspring be as many as the sands on the seashore. You see, as verses 1 through 8 describing the 144,000, depict the people of God's Jewish heritage. They are heirs of the covenant with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Verses 9 through 12 highlights the people of God's international flavor. Yes, they are children of Abraham, but they also will be from every tribe and people and tongue and nation. There is a piling up of expressions here to describe the universality of the people of God. And this is the fruition of the promise to Abraham. Turn with me to Genesis chapter 12. We notice how the church is being described in Jewish wardrobe. And it should be no surprise to us. Because really in the book of Revelation, in chapter 7 here, we're finding so many of the trains that were sent out in ancient days, promises to Abraham and Isaac to Jacob, the promises like trains are all coming back into the station now, right at the end. The fulfillment of the promises. Look what we find in Genesis chapter 12 and verse 3. The Lord promises to Abraham long ago, when he was still Abram in fact, and I will bless those who bless you, Abram, and the one who curses you I will curse. Now listen, and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed. You see, the promise to Abraham was not just to his physical offspring, But he says all of the families of the earth, those who are Polish, and those who are German, and those who are Dutch, and those who are English, and those who are Ethiopian, all the families of the earth will be engrafted into the body of the people of God. And this is further emphasized in 17.5 of Genesis. Look there. It says, no longer shall your name be called Abram. but your name shall be Abraham. Now listen, for I will make you the father of a multitude of nations. So what is this countless multitude, but the fulfillment of the promise to Abraham? Does it not say in Romans four and verse 11, Abraham is the father of us all. who believe without being circumcised. You see, this countless multitude is a fulfillment of the Abrahamic covenant. The church is the people of God. The 144,000 on the earth, the church militant, and eventually the countless multitude, the church trumpet in heaven, we are the people of God. We are the offspring of Abraham, a multi-ethnic multitude. Abraham was promised Look at the stars. How many do you see, Abraham? Lord, I can't count them. And so shall your offspring be. And so it's fulfilled. How many will be saved? It seems you can't count them. So God fulfilled His promise to make the people of God, the seed of Abraham, to be uncountable. So it says here, as we look at this great multitude in verse 9, no one can count them. Well, somewhat of a figure of speech because we know the Lord can count them. As it says in 2 Timothy 2.19, the Lord knows those who are His. Every name the Lord wrote right there in the book of life before the foundation of the world. If you wrote the name, if your name is Jesse and you believed, Jesse was written down there before the foundation of the world. If your name is Joe, And you're saved now. Joe is written down before the foundation of the world. The Lord knows those who are His, but though He can count them, it seems there are so many that they can't even be numbered. That's the theme here. And by the way, it's a very promising and encouraging theme. This summer we had a bad drought here in western Michigan. especially to the north of Holland, very little rain. I would take my early morning walks out around my yard where farmer Geerlings had put in his corn seed early on in the spring. And by the time August rolled around, those walks, which I thought would be refreshing and encouraging, became downright depressing because I would look at the dry, scrawny stalks. They were pathetic. The ears were barely visible. They were so dwarfed. And I pitied Farmer Gearlings that he'd have nothing to show for his toil and his investment. But then when late September rolled around, Farmer Gearlings fired up his combine and he rolled through those fields. In fact, some said, it's not even worth harvesting. They might as well just plow it up this year. But old Farmer Gerlings, he rolled through the field and then he rolled up alongside a grain cart and the combine belly, which I thought was going to be empty, just after a three or four swaths through some rows, the belly of that combine was full and swollen golden kernels began to gush on and on and on out of the arm of that combine to fill cart after cart. I was amazed. It seemed that the harvest would be so pathetically small, but instead it was quite substantial. No way I could number all those kernels. One commentator says this, When John was on earth, he saw but a few believers. Imagine how difficult it was planting churches there in the first century. The church was like a lily in a field of thorns, lambs in the midst of wolves, but now quite different. The thorns have been plucked all away and the lilies are innumerable, blanketing the field. And John was able to behold in this vision that God gave to him an uncountable number of saved souls in heaven. Very encouraging thing for a gospel minister. You think of old Adoniram Judson decades ago laboring in Burma. He labored year after year without even seeing a single convert. And he thought to himself, Lord, the harvest of souls here in this place is going to be so pathetic. My toil and my labor investment is going to barely bring out a crop at all. My life's labors are a fool's errand. But you imagine old Adoniram Judson reading during his toil in Burma, Revelation 7 and verse 9, where it speaks about this vast multitude, which no one could count from every tribe and tongue and kindred and nation. Encouragement to Judson in years gone by, you Adoniram, you are the sower. You go out and you spread the seed. And all the seed isn't going to fall on the good soil. but some of it will. And there will be a harvest, though the ground may be hard and the conditions may be drought-like, I will see to it that there will be a bumper crop harvest for the labors of my sowers. God gives the increase. There will be a vast multitude that is harvested from the earth, souls that will be saved. This is important not just for Judson's long ago but for pastors today. We as pastors see these gnawing insects in the field of the world seemingly devouring any true crop. We see these wolves out there. If you flip on the television, you see these ministers who are supposedly preaching and ministering to our age. You go to oftentimes big churches where people are being packed in. And sadly, when you boil down what they're teaching, they're false prophets. They're wolves in sheep's clothing. They're devouring the sheep. And we can be very concerned as ministers in this day, Lord, will there be any crop to put in the cart to bring to heaven? Will there be any sheep who survive these false leaders that actually make their way home to the celestial city? We minister to a generation that's addicted to pleasure and entertainment. And there are con artists out there who are peddling a false gospel on every corner, appealing to that same principle. Come here, we'll give you pleasure and we'll give you entertainment. And the pastor wonders, how will any be saved in this climate, in these conditions? Mr. Trench, he writes, He writes a number of generations ago. Listen to what he says, commenting on this passage, commenting as a pastor. He says, we are tempted to be all out of heart. The world seems so strong and the church seems so weak. Christianity itself, almost a failure, unable to enlist the affections of men, at least of men in this generation. impotent to contest the battlefield of earth with the powers which are arrayed against it." Trent says, put away all thoughts like these. He says, for these are thoughts born of unbelief and laziness. Look at this passage, he says, there may be only but a few souls here or there, but let them be all gathered into one. and they'll constitute an innumerable company that cannot be counted from every tribe and tongue and kindred and nation. And we, beloved, ministering in this generation, sometimes seeing paltry fruits for our labors, we need to have this vision, that God will bring home A vast harvest, a great multitude will be saved. So that's the first of our six headings, the great multitude. Come with me now secondly. And that is the standing position. the standing position that is of this great multitude. And that's found there in 9b. A great multitude which no one could count from every tribe, tongue, kindred, and nation. Look what it says there. Standing before the throne and the Lamb. And that's what we want to focus in on here. Their standing position. Really, this answers the cliffhanger question that ended the sixth chapter. Look at there, 617. Remember, the sky was rolling up like a scroll. The Lamb of wrath appeared. Judgment was about to come. And the question is asked in 617, for the great day of their wrath has come, and who, pray tell, who is able to stand? Who will stand in the midst of this while others are cowering and crawling on the ground trying to find rocks to hide under? Who will be able to stand? That's the word histemi, stand. And the same word histemi is used here in the Greek, this great multitude. Who will be able to stand? A great multitude will be able to stand, withstand the day of judgment before the throne and before the Lamb. See, the reality is that when the sky rolls back like a scroll, this is judgment day. And the scriptures paint a picture for us in the book of Revelation, like Revelation 19 in particular, where it speaks of the Lord Jesus will come back as a white rider. He'll have a double-edged sword coming out of his mouth. He'll have on his thigh written, King of Kings and Lord of Lords. And as he comes riding from the sky into history, he'll have a whole host of white cavalry with him. These will be the executioning angels. And these executioning angels with the Lord Jesus will ride down from heaven and they'll hit the earth galloping from the east to the west? It says in Matthew 24, the coming of the Son of Man would be like lightning which flashes from the east to the west. They're going to come from the east and they're going to come as a slaughtering tidal wave of sword-swinging wrath mowing down sinners just like you and sinners like me. And we're going to be standing there as this wave of wrath is coming. But, as we think of those 144,000, if we have the seal of God on our forehead, we may hear the hoofbeats coming at us, and we may see the sword seemingly swinging at us, and we may feel the breeze when they pass by, But the other sinners who don't have the mark on the forehead will be dashed to pieces and their blood will come up as high as it says to the horse's bridles. We will be able to stand untouched. Not a hair of our head will be harmed. For we will be enabled to stand when others are destroyed in the massacre of God's wrath on the last day. Who will be able to stand on the last day? only those who have the seal of the Lamb on their foreheads. And how many will that be? A vast multitude. Dennis Johnson comments this way, Who is able to stand? These visions assure the Lamb's flock that nothing in the present or in the future will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus. He goes on, Those marked as God's treasure by His seal, are secured and sheltered from His burning wrath to come. They are the people of His covenant, portrayed as twelve complete tribes, now embracing all nations, peoples, and tongues. The Israel secured by God's seal is a multi-ethnic multitude. We'll be able, beloved, to stand on judgment day when others have been mowed down in God's wrath. Left standing. We'll be the last ones standing. Now there are many contests in today's society that are governed by the concept of being the last one standing. For instance, the spelling bee. When I was young, we'd oftentimes put the, this is before the days of sensitivity when it comes to sexual distinctions, all the boys on one side, and all the girls on the other side, and the issue was who, which gender would be the last gender standing. It was kind of a contest. You'd fight with all your might to be the last one standing. And that principle is in play when it comes to, say, football championships. Didn't the Grand Valley State College, there were hundreds of schools that began at the beginning of the year in Division II NCAA And at the end of it all, after yesterday's game, there was one team standing as the national champions, and it was Grand Valley State University. To be the last one standing is important. Or there may be a tennis tournament. You want to be the last one standing. Or maybe there's one West Point cadet scholarship to be given, and the hundreds of young men are vying for the scholarship, and, oh, to be the last one standing. Or when a job interview competition is in play, or when companies are bidding for a single bid on a certain contract, You do whatever it takes, right, to be the last one standing. You see, people consume themselves with such contests, right? Driving relentlessly to do whatever it takes to make sure I'll be the last one standing! Now listen to me. That's all fine and well. And it's good to have a sense of ambition. But you know what? There's only one issue needful in life, wherein you must make sure that you will be one of the last ones standing. And that is the Judgment Day showdown. Because every one of us, as it were, in this contest, And if people consume themselves and obsess themselves, and they do rightly, to get the contract, to get the scholarship, to get the championship, and we understand what kind of adrenaline and what kind of missile, heat-seeking missile focus they have for their goal to be the last one standing, all fine and well. But beloved, All of that stuff doesn't even matter on the last day. You think if you turn it to me, who cares on the last day whether it's Southern Missouri State or Grand Valley State that won the 2005 NCAA Division II Championship. No one's gonna care. You're not gonna care if you got that scholarship as a cadet at West Point or not. You're not gonna care if you won that tennis championship or not. But the one thing needful, is making sure on the last day you are standing safe with the blood of the Lamb smeared in the doorpost of your soul. And I warn you, the Lord Jesus, you say, well, I got to taking care of Pastor Chansky. When I was 13 years old, I made a decision. That's all fine and well. But the Lord Jesus says in Matthew 24 and verse 13, because of the increase in wickedness, the love of most grows cold. but he who endures to the end will be saved. Are you saying I can lose my salvation? No, no one can ever lose their salvation because if you're saved, your name is written in the book of life from before the foundation of the world. But I'm telling you, the mark of being saved is not that you just began well, but that you continue on the perseverance of the saints standing at the end. So we see this countless multitude in the standing position. Beloved, that's the one thing needful to make sure that we're focusing our attention on. That our waking hours should be consumed and driven by this theme. So help me God by His grace, I will be standing on the day of the judgment showdown. So we've seen the great multitude and the standing position now come with me thirdly to the palm branches the palm branches that's in 9c uncountable multitude standing before the throne that says look clothed in white robes and palm branches were in their hands palm branches Do you know what these palm branches symbolize? In Greek and Roman culture, a palm branch symbolizes victory, military triumph. But there's a Jewish flavor to the book of Revelation. And we should look to the Jewish implication of carrying palm branches. Turn with me to Leviticus chapter 23. Leviticus chapter 23. Here we're going to find a reference to palm branches. It's describing the Feast of the Tabernacles or the Feast of the Booths. Look what it says there, Leviticus 23, 39 and 40. On exactly the fifteenth day of the seventh month, now listen, when you have gathered in the crops of the land, The Feast of Tabernacles was the harvest feast. When you've gathered in the crops of the land, you shall celebrate the Feast of the Lord for seven days, with a rest on the first day and a rest on the eighth day. And on the first day, you shall take for yourselves the foliage of beautiful trees, palm branches, ah, there we are, palm branches, and the boughs of leafy trees and willows of the brook, and you shall rejoice before the Lord your God for seven days." This is what they would do at the Feast of the Tabernacles. Harvest time. You'd carry palm branches. There's a sense in which this uncountable multitude being harvested from the earth, what is the multitude doing? They're celebrating the bumper crop harvest. that the Lord has brought salvation to more than we can count. But I think there's more to it when you think of the theme of their carrying palm branches beyond a mere harvest. Because look at the next two verses there in Leviticus 23. Let's look at 42 and 43. It says there, Leviticus 23, 42, and you shall live in booths for seven days. All of the native born in Israel shall live in booths. Children, kids would love the feast of the booths or the feast of the tabernacles because they take those palm branches and other leafy limbs and they would build camps. They would live in a nice house during the rest of the year, but for one week, they would go out beyond the city limits, out into the open field, and they would live in camps. If your wife doesn't like camping because she likes faucets and dishwashers and hairdryers, you tell her you have biblical warrant for camping. they would go out and they would live in the booths. And why do they live in these booths? In these camps, ramshackle huts. Look in verse 43. So that your generation may know that I had the sons of Israel live in booths, that would be intense, when I brought them out from the land of Egypt, I am the Lord your God. What was the Feast of Tabernacles about? Yes, it was harvest, and they would carry palm branches because of harvest, but it was also because they would go and live in huts or tents or camps, reminding them what? We, the people of God, were in Egypt. And God, for 40 years, we didn't always have these luxuries. For 40 years, God took care of us in the wilderness. It was a reminder of their spiritual heritage. So the young children, they would love to be camping out, but Dad would use this as a spiritual moral lesson to say, God took care of us out there in the wilderness. And then Dad would begin to talk as the palm branches were being held and were over their heads. They'd talk about, God parted the Red Sea for us, my son. And we got out of that desert. God gave us manna every single morning. And when we didn't have any water and we were by Marah, which was the place of bitter waters, we tossed a tree in the waters and the water became sweet and God gave for us to drink. And later on, when we were thirsty, God caused my son a rock, a rock to burst open and a river of cool water flowed from that rock. And we also had Sihon, king of the Amorites, and Og, the king of Bashan. And the Lord destroyed them when we were without weapons. And then the Lord heaped up the Jordan River, and we were able to pass over. You see, what was the Feast of the Tabernacles, living in these booths? It was reminiscing how God cared for them during their wilderness, dangerous pilgrimage. I believe that's what's going on when the Saints arrive in heaven. They're waving palm branches and they're expressing in the waving of those palm branches thankfulness to God as they're reminiscing how God cared for them during their long wilderness experience of moving from redemption having been saved on the day of their new birth for the many years during their pilgrimage through the wilderness of the Christian life. They've arrived now to the promised land and they're reminiscing. McLaren says this, they who have passed into heaven Now look back on the darkness and dreariness, on the struggles and dangers, on the drought and deserts, on the foes and fears, and out of all, find occasions for rejoicing and reasons for thankfulness to God. And so it is. When we become part of the countless multitude and we get to heaven, what are we going to be doing? We're going to be sharing stories of how God rescued us in many of our harrowing wilderness travels. In fact, look at 714 of Revelation. And I said to Him, My Lord, when He asked, Who are these of the countless multitude? These are the ones who came out of the great tribulation. You see, the vast multitude that gets to heaven, they've all passed through the Great Tribulation. Now understand, the word in the Greek is the word, Phlepsis. The Great Phlepsis, the Great Tribulation. I do not believe this is referring to any specific season. Revelation 20 speaks of Satan's little season, and I believe there is a great outbreak of evil right near the end. But as this describes the Great Tribulation, the Great Flipsis, I do not believe it is referring to that end-time tribulation just before the coming of the Lamb, at the second coming of the parousia. I believe this is referring to general tribulations and struggles that every saint must pass through. And in the book of Revelation we see this word flipsis is used just that way leading up to this passage. Note with me. in Revelation 1.9, the word phlipsis is there. It says, I, John, your brother and fellow partaker in the tribulation and kingdom and perseverance which are in Jesus, was on the isle called Patmos. See, John is saying, I am encountering tribulation. What's happening? Well, he's been exiled to the Isle of Patmos for his testimony of being a believer in the Lord Jesus Christ. Further look, it says in 2.9. John, the Lord Jesus, writes to the church in Smyrna. He says, I know your tribulation and your poverty, but you are rich. They're being abused in Smyrna. They're in tough times in their Christian life in Smyrna, and it's called what? Tribulation. It's called flipsis. And so I believe, as it says, these, the countless multitude, they have come out of the great tribulation is meaning they've passed through the wilderness of the Christian life. And as Jesus said in John 16, 33, in this world, you will have much tribulation. but be of good cheer, for I have overcome the world." You ever encounter any tribulation? Oh, you say, the things that I've gone through, the stories I will have to tell on the last day when I'm waving my palm branch in heaven the way God cared for me. In fact, frankly, at this point in my sermon preparation, I had to leave my office And I went off to Grand Rapids, and there I visited the Vanette family as Grandma Mink, the Vanette's grandma, had died. And I went to the funeral parlor there to be able to see the family. And as I went there, oftentimes going to the house of mourning, you get great blessing. And as I went there, I was able to behold this lady. Do you remember when Mrs. Mink used to sit with us? She sat right about where Rachel is sitting right there now. And there sat Mrs. Mink. She was about 90 years old when she sat here. And very old woman. Her back was hunched over a bit. She walked with a cane. But when I preached, she had fire in her eyes. and she listened so attentively. In fact, when I actually got there to the funeral home, they had all these sweaters that had been laid out on the various coffee tables at the funeral parlor. I felt like I was at Dorcas' funeral, Tabitha's funeral, because I was told any little baby that was born in her church, even into her 90s, she would knit a sweater for each little baby. And furthermore, Deb told me how she had her grandma's Bible. And before Grandma Mink died, Deb got the Bible, and it's all worn out. It has little writings in it. You see, this woman, beloved, she had the seal of the Spirit on her forehead. She was marked out. You could see that she had the mark of the Lamb. And so, as I was there, I was able to contemplate all this. In fact, John, on Wednesday night, John wasn't at our prayer meeting, Pastor Burnett, because he had gone off. Because on Wednesday night, it was thought that Bupa, they called her grandma, that Bupa would die. Well, he came back, he rushed back for the elders meeting, and we had a long drawn out elders meeting. And after the elders meeting, I said, hey, wait, what about Bupa? John's response to me was, she's home. She died that night. Bapa was home. And so, beloved, she is one of those who is now standing. She's standing. Think of it. She sat right here. She sat. She was sitting here and she was hunched over and back. But now she's standing upright with palm branches in her hand. And you can imagine how many stories she has to tell. about her reminiscences of her wilderness days. In fact, my ears were open as I was there. And I was told that this Bapa, she had tribulations that she encountered. When she was in her mid-twenties, she married a man who was a widower. And she had found a very beautiful dress to wear at her wedding, but she was told, no, no, no, this is back in the Netherlands. And you marry a widower, you come down the aisle, not in a pretty dress, but in a black dress. Oh, for a woman in her mid-twenties, that might have been a very discouraging thing. A little tribulation! And the Lord was no doubt with her, and she can tell stories about this in heavenly places. And later on, as I listened about her life, it turns out that into her marriage, just a few years, what happened in the Netherlands, there back in the late thirties, Well, the Nazis invaded her land. You imagine the harrowing stories she has to tell. In fact, her family was in the Dutch underground and she was involved in hiding Jews. And I wonder now what stories of rescues in the wilderness that God provided for her that she is able to tell. When eventually the war was over and her husband decided they would move off to the States, the relative said, if you go to the States, you will damn your children! That godless place. Can you imagine the weight on her as she took her husband and her children with her and came across in a boat in 1952 to the United States of America? The fear of, will I damn my children? But God was with her through that and she can tell stories of that wilderness, desert-like, thirsting experience. She can tell God cared for her. And then I'm told that she had one of her sons that wasn't converted into his 60s. And he still lived with her. And I was told by Deb's dad that she, Bapa, considered this son to be her mission field. Imagine the ache in the heart of a woman who's a lover of Christ, who knows she has a child who still has the mark of the beast on his forehead. You know what it's like now, don't you, to have that? But a son in your 60s, and finally the Lord saved this boy in his 60s when he still had cancer, and just before he died he embraced the Savior. And Buppa can tell what the Lord did to help. And then when Buppa was 91 years old, she fell down. And the last three and a half years in her life, you know what? She couldn't talk. Her eyes were still like fire. And you knew she had so much to say. But she couldn't talk. She had a Zechariah-like experience. She couldn't say what she wanted to say. Imagine how difficult that was? But now she is standing there before the throne with her palm branches and she's telling people how God helped her through that home stretch of her wilderness experience. This is what I mean. You see, we will all, when we get there, have stories to tell. In fact, you know what? Some of you are sitting here right now, and you are going through some deep, dark, drought-like wilderness valley that I know nothing about. It's like one of those underground experiences that are secretive, and no one knows what you're going through. But I tell you what, yea, though you walk through the valley of the shadow of death, He will be with you. His rod and staff will comfort you. And right now, you may not be able to see anything good by way of reason for being where you are right now, but I'm telling you, When you get there, when you get home, and you got that palm branch to wave, you'll have a glorious story to tell. That gives praise to the Lord, how He helped you through that difficult mara, bitter experience of life. So you don't have to be afraid of the dark and the wilderness, because He will carry you. He will carry you. And just to close out this section of this palm branches, turn with me to Isaiah 46. Isaiah 46. Buppah is able to tell people how the Lord carried her all the way through. Look at this passage. Isaiah 46 and verse 3. Listen to me, O house of Jacob, and all the remnant of the house of Israel, you who have been born by me from birth and have been carried from the womb, even to your old age, I shall be the same. and even to your graying years, I shall bear you, I shall carry you, and I shall bear you, and I shall deliver you. You know that old story that's told, we've heard it so often? The footprints in the sand thing? There are two sets of footprints, and then when the terrain really gets difficult, it's only one set of footprints, and then two again, then one. And the person who is looking over his life in footprint form says, Lord, when he gets to heaven, why was it? Why was it? When the times were most difficult, there's only one set of footprints. And the response is, you know, I'd never leave you. The Lord says, during your times of trial and suffering, when you see only one set of footprints, it was I that carried you. And that's that principle here. The Lord will carry us even down to our old age, the years of our graying hairs. And we'll be able to tell people how God carried us through the wilderness. Now come fourthly, I promise six headings. Fourthly, the double amen of verse 12. The double amen. Revelation 7. We find there in verse 10 that they're crying aloud this multitude that is a loud voice saying salvation to our God who sits in the throne and to the Lamb and then we find that the elders and the four living creatures and the angels are worshiping there too and they say in response to what the great multitude is worshiping they say what? Amen! and then they go on with a seven-fold doxology to God, blessing, glory, wisdom, thanksgiving, honor, power and might be to our God. The multitude is saying that salvation is to God. They're saying that salvation is all of God, from His writing our names in the Book of Life, to His in-breathing spiritual life in us when we were dead in transgression and sin, to His bearing us and carrying us through the decades of our Christian life, to His enabling us to finish the race faithfully, salvation from beginning to end is all of grace, salvation to the Lord, and the elders and the angels and the four living creatures of the cherubim say, Amen! You see, they are affirming what was said in worship, right? They're confirming, they are validating, they're endorsing the great truth of praise to God. Then they give their own praise, and then they bookend that with another, Amen, in agreement, declaring God's glory. Now, beloved, think with me as we're looking at this double Amen. What we're viewing here is perfect worship in heaven. This is the way it ought to be done. This is a pattern for us. And we see here, we'll even look over at 4.14, because we looked at this a few weeks ago. Look at 4.14, this Amen thing. Those cherubim up there, they like to say the Amen. Not Amen Charlies, but their Amen cherubim. And it says there, after the praise, to him who sits in the Lamb, and to the Lamb be honor, glory, dominion forever and ever, verse 14. And the four living creatures kept saying, Amen, Amen, Amen, Amen! They said Amen, it says there. Oh, is this just something that takes place in heaven? Well, that's the pattern of perfect worship. In 1 Corinthians 14 and verse 16, Paul says to the church on earth that you are to be able to say the amen in the church to those who make declarations of truth. Beloved, let me say this. Amens ought to season all worship to God. In heaven, the worship is seasoned with amens. On earth, our worship should be seasoned with amens. Let me ask you this. Are you like me? I like scrambled eggs, but they have to have salt and pepper. Without the seasoning, they're bland and they're tasteless. I don't like bland eggs. Beloved, listen to me. I don't like bland worship. I don't like worship that isn't seasoned with amens. I don't like to go to a prayer meeting where there isn't amens seasoning the worship. I don't like to preach. I'm not asking for amens. I don't like to preach when there isn't amens. I don't like to sit there and listen when there isn't amening. And you know what, beloved? This just isn't my taste of what I like. this is God's taste. He likes the Amen. It's glorifying to Him when a truth about His Word, a truth about His glory, a truth about His Son is stated. He loves it when we season that worship with the Amen. One commentator says this, God desires such a worshipful response when according to His Word we sing, pray, or preach. God wants the validating Amen, He goes on, not merely the outward voice. Anybody can do that. But the inward ascent, that is what God craves. And how can it be present when we allow ourselves, as so many do, in listlessness and inattention and indifference? Listen now. But if it be present, that is the amen from the heart, how precious, how uplifting, how full of help that worship becomes to those who unite in it. The Amen. The verbal expression of ascent. Amen! Hmm! Amen! This is something that helps us. When we worship, our minds can begin to be full of cobwebs. And you know how if there are cobwebs in the way, you take your arm, you swing it away, you clear away the cobwebs. So it is with the swiping away of the hand. And sometimes we have cobwebs in our mind when we're worshiping. And sometimes we can swipe them away with the Amen. You can help your brothers and sisters. In Genesis chapter 15, Abraham was offering up these sacrifices. Remember, he split the ox, and he split the lamb, and he split the birds, and there they were out in the field, these carcasses. What happened? It says, birds of prey swoop down upon his sacrifice. They were messing up his sacrifice. What did Abraham do? It says he went out and he swooshed them away. He flayed his arms. He shouted at them. He pushed them away. Beloved, listen to me. Whenever we would be offering sacrifices to God, the blackbirds appear. Parable of the sower, Matthew chapter 13. The seed is sown and then comes the devil, the black birds. Whenever we're worshiping, offering sacrifices to God, the black birds come. And even now they may be coming because you're thinking of something else that's going to happen tomorrow or something happened yesterday. You need to swish them away. And I frankly believe that the amen When Kevin Filsop says amen from row 3, and I'm sitting over in row 8, and I hear his amen, his amening helps me to push away the blackbirds of inattention, listlessness, and laziness. Listen to me, beloved. Do you know what it's like when you're praying alone in your closet, and you have all these scattering thoughts that come into your mind? I have found that as the Lord Jesus says in Matthew chapter 6, He knows when you're praying what you're thinking before it even comes to your lips. The point is Jesus knows you are to pray with your lips. I use my lips. I could sit and pray quietly and just think my prayers, but why do I use my lips? To whisper my prayers. or if I'm out in the field by the corn, to speak my prayers. Lord, listen, tell me, why do I use my mouth? Because my mouth enables my mind to concentrate and gird up. My mouth engages my mind. It's embodying my whole being. Not just silent mind, but verbal voice, getting my mouth involved, my ears involved too. Now, when you're sitting there worshiping, it's a lot of the same dynamics. Use your mouth. Have yourself so engaged that you're ready to say the proper amen at the proper time when something is strikingly relevant and resonates with your soul. Amen! And I'm not saying amen Charlie's right and left. But I'm saying, beloved, this is a model of what God-pleasing worship is supposed to be. Seasoned with amens in heaven. And beloved, I think ours ought to be seasoned, not bland, but seasoned with amens here on earth. I'm going to throw out our last heading, but let's just go to the fifth heading. Let's just go to the fifth heading. The fifth heading is the satisfying bliss. The satisfying bliss. And that's found in verses 15 and 16. They're not just worshiping in heaven. They're not just waving palm branches in heaven. But they're enjoying satisfying bliss. in heaven look what it says here 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 shall spread his tabernacle over them and they shall hunger no more neither shall they thirst anymore neither shall the sun beat down on them nor any heat this is satisfying bliss that's being described here When we get to heaven, here we're in the wilderness. Here we're enjoying some pleasure, just foretastes of what we'll be able to drink down deeply in heaven. Here man is born for trouble as the sparks fly upward. Here our lives are pained and pocked with daily sorrows because we're still cursed. But there, There, it says, neither shall they hunger or thirst anymore. You see, there, the gnawing pain of yearnings unmet that now gnaw pits in our stomachs and give us anxieties. You know what I'm talking about? Here, those hungers and those thirsts, when we get there, we'll be satisfied. Do you think the specifics of this? They shall not hunger and thirst anymore. Here, we're obsessed with concerns regarding feeding and clothing ourselves and our loved ones. That's true. Concerns. How will we provide today? How will we provide tomorrow? If it's cold outside, The heating bill is a very expensive thing, and people are being laid off. General Motors laying off thousands to the right, thousands to the left, and their subcontractors are laying off to the right and left here in Michigan and West Michigan. Things are very difficult. We have these gnawing anxieties. But there, those anxieties will be gone. It says we'll be tabernacled. We'll be in the shelter of God. We're not going to have the heat of the sun, nor the cold of the winter on us. We'll be fed with the richest fare, and we don't have to worry about putting food on the table. They shall neither thirst, nor shall they hunger anymore. Here, we're harassed by dissatisfaction on every side. Here, when it comes to dollars, anybody here got enough dollars? You can raise your hand. Do you have enough dollars? You're satisfied? It says in Ecclesiastes 5.10, He who has money never has money enough. This too is meaningless. That's the nature of living in this world. Here we're dissatisfied because we don't have enough things. Here we're dissatisfied. Am I right? Here we're dissatisfied because we don't have enough recognition. Now, there may not be many who amend that one. We all know in our hearts there's this pride. There's this pride monster that's got to be fed, fed. And you give it something, and it needs more fed, fed, fed. Thirsting and hungering, but beloved there, we're going to get these gold crowns, you see. Once we get the gold crown, we'll have enough. In fact, the whole pride thing, it won't be a problem because we'll take the gold crown off and we'll lay it before the throne and say all glory to the land. Not unto us, not unto us, but unto thy name be glory. Won't it be a glorious thing when that pride thing, that monster, will be done away with. We'll be satisfied that Christ is glorified. Who cares about me? No hunger and thirst for my recognition anymore. Here, here we crave kindred spirit relationships, don't we? Here we want intimacy. You know those romance novels? You know why they sell so well? Because souls crave intimacy. Souls crave the ideal romance. You know what? I don't care what man you marry. Don't amen too loud, ladies. I don't care what man you marry or what woman you marry. Here there will never be that full satisfaction of perfect kindred spirit intimacy. You just ache for it. That's sometimes why you read these novels. Be careful about them. Even you watch these chick flicks. Be careful about them, too. But the point is, there, when you behold your husband, when you behold the Lamb, you will have perfect, kindred spirit in Tennessee, and you will no longer long for anything, because you'll be fully satisfied. You won't hunger and thirst anymore. Here, Here we hunger and thirst, the Beatitude says, after righteousness. That's one of the biggest pains and sorrows in this life as a Christian. When I would do good, there is evil right there with me, so they don't do the good that I would do, but the evil I would not do, that I do when a wretched man am I. It's one of the aches. We hunger and thirst after righteousness, but we fall so far short of it. I used to be a mailman in college, and I would go into inner city Grand Rapids, and sometimes I'd be followed for a block or two by a German shepherd. And he would bark, and he would bark, and his fangs would look at me and my bag and my letters. And I hated Him being there. I wanted wings to fly away. That's the way I feel like in this life. I'm doing work for the Lord Jesus, but my own indwelling sin, my own besetting sins bark at me and their fangs snap at my heels. But I long for the day when that dog is shot dead and I'm given wings and I can fly to heaven and I don't have to deal with Him anymore. And that'll be satisfying. no more sin, no more sorrow, no more suffering, satisfied when we get to heaven. Here, here we pine, we ache, we yearn to know for sure that we're really Christians. Anybody can relate to that? Well, sometimes in the dark of night you may say, I wonder, am I really saved? Will I really reach the eternal paradise or am I just deceived? That's the way it is here. But beloved, when we get there. All those fears are gone. When we get there, I'm basking, basking in the sunshine of God's favor, which will, when we've been there 10,000 years, bright shining as the sun, we've no less days to sing His praise than when we first be done. All those gnawings and fearings and wonderings and thirstings for assurance they'll be satisfied then. Won't it be glorious to be there? Let me ask. Bapa's gone. Do you want her back? You don't want to bring her back from where she is. How glorious it will be to get to heaven. Spurgeon says this, we can't too often turn our hearts heavenward for this is one of the great cures of worldliness. The way to liberate our souls from the bonds that tie us to earth is to strengthen the cords that bind us to heaven. Listen to this now. It's Burden's Wise here. You will think less of this poor little globe when you think more of the world to come. See what the Lord does in giving us this description. You ever hear that saying, fight fire with fire? Like fighting a forest fire, you plan to backfire to fight fire with fire. The devil and the dragon and the beast use a certain tactic in the war for our souls, and it is pleasure. I offer you forbidden fruit pleasure, forbidden fruit pleasure, forbidden fruit pleasure. With this kind of revelation about what is to come, the Lord fights fire with fire. He fights pleasure with pleasure. And you contemplate it, we screw our heads on right. What is the pleasure that this world offers? What paltry, what petty pleasures this world offers. The forbidden fruit of this world, you eat it, and it may be sweet in the mouth for a few seconds, but it is sour in the belly for a few eternities. But oh, the pleasure of eternity in heaven. You'll never hunger. You'll never thirst again. What kind of a fool would forfeit heavenly pleasure for earthly forbidden fruit? Beloved, think much of heaven. This is such a good passage for us. Think much of heaven. And I close where we began. Spurgeon says this. You know how well your horse goes. He had horses instead of vehicles back then. You know how well your horse goes when you turn its head homewards. Perhaps you had to flog him a bit before. But when he begins to know he is going down the long lane which leads home, he will soon lift up his ears and away, away he will go. Beloved, think of home. Think of where you're going. And those kind of contemplation may help us to do less whipping and less scolding of our souls when we contemplate the pleasure that is ahead for the vast multitude who believe in the Lord Jesus. Let's pray together. Our Heavenly Father, we thank You for Your Word. We thank You how it shouts us to us in a world that is so full of propaganda selling us forbidden fruit folly. And we pray that this would make us wise. We pray that this would screw our heads on straight. We pray even for some here who is holding forbidden fruit in his or her hand, and the juice is running down the mouth and onto the chin. We pray, Lord, that there would be a repenting, a throwing away, and a wiping away of sin. We pray for those apart from the Savior who haven't yet believed in Christ. May they smear the blood of the Lamb on the doorpost of their soul this morning. Heavenly Father, we pray Your Word would do good. In Jesus' name, Amen. Amen.