So let's begin with a prayer. Our Father, Eternal Father, Glorious Father, we come as your people before you and we thank you that you have chosen us for yourself. You have redeemed us for yourself by the precious blood of Jesus Christ who loved us and who who rescued us from the dominion of darkness, that we will have access to the very throne of God. And so we come, and we pray, and we bring our supplications, we bring our praises and our thanksgivings to you alone. To you alone be the glory. And so, Father, help us during this time that we will hear your word, that we will understand it, that we will know you are good. You will know that your promises are sure and steadfast. And that this will change us. And that we will be exhorted to become more like Jesus Christ. For one day we shall see him as he is. And Father, it's to your glory that we give you thanks. Amen. Well, welcome on this Sunday morning. Now, we've been progressing through the book of Revelation, and we are in chapter 7, in this interlude between the 6th seal and the 7th seal judgments. So I want to talk about just what is an interlude. And I also want to talk about something else as a way of introduction, just to remind us why we are here, just to remind us why we are interpreting revelation the way we do. Because, that goes through here for a little bit. Why do we interpret revelation the way we do when Some others don't. Let's go back in time 500 years to Europe. And we would be in the midst of the beginnings of the Protestant Reformation. And the Reformers called themselves Reformers because what they wanted to do was they wanted to reform the one church. And they were not interested in starting a new church, but they were forced out and so that's what they did. But now, why did they do this? Well, they had a rattling cry. It was the word of God alone is the basis of our faith and practice. It's not tradition, it's not church councils, even though in some ways they do have their place. But it was scripture alone that would guide faith and practice, and it was by It was by grace alone we were saved, through faith alone, through Christ alone, and all to the glory of God. Those were the routing cries of the Reformation. Eschatology was not there. they thought almost nothing about eschatology. So what they did was, as they came out of that Catholic church, they brought a lot of things with them from the Catholic church, including their eschatology. Because at that time, the church was basically what you might call all millennial, which means that Whatever the Bible speaks about a kingdom, it's a spiritual kingdom. And the scriptures that deal with that kingdom are to be allegorized. They represent something else. They represent something symbolic, something spiritual. But it was not actually going to happen physically on Earth. It was not until later that theologians began to look at this book of Revelation and interpret it in the way that we do, and that is we have a literal, grammatical, historical hermeneutic. And that's basically what they did throughout all of scripture except for prophecy, except for the end times, except for eschatology. It was literal in that we seek the author's intent. That's the meaning of any passage, what the author intended it to mean. It is grammatical in that we interpret the words in light of the genre, in light of the syntax, in light of the context. Words mean something. Phrases mean something. The grammar means something. And also, we interpret it historically in that we interpret it in light of the historical setting. That is, the author wrote in a certain period of time to a certain audience, and the historical background of that setting does impact the interpretation. We interpreted the way the author intended it to be interpreted before we begin to apply it to us today. Now, this literal, grammatical, historical, humanitic does not lend itself to spiritualizing or allegalizing the text, except if that's what the author intended. So those who interpret it revelation different from us, what they have to do is they have to use the literal, grammatical, historical interpretation on most of what the Bible says. But when it comes to prophecy, they change their methods. But we are interpreting revelation just like we would interpret any other passage. Now, of course, it is prophecy. It is this genre, so we have to take that into account. But whatever the genre is, this is what we, this is how we intend to interpret. Now, the revelation that John receives in this book is essentially chronological. But there are some sections, some chapters that are what we call interludes. These sections will look back in the past to give us some background material that we need to know, or it gives us what's happening elsewhere. Because if you just looked at the judgments, we would think that's all there is, judgment. But there's a whole lot more going on than judgments, because God is saving people. And though there is great judgment, there's great salvation. And so even though we're given reasons for why there are judgments, we know God is still at work. He's a saving God, and that's what He's going to continue to do. So let's go back to the purpose of today. We are in chapter seven and we are looking at the jubilation saints. So we want to learn how they're described, where they are, what they are doing, how they associate with the other saints that have gone before them, namely us, how they originate, what their function is, how God protects them and provides for them. So let's go on to Revelation chapter 7 beginning with verse 9. And John writes this. After these things, I looked, and behold, a great multitude, which no one could count, from every nation, and all the tribes, and the peoples, and the tongues, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed with white robes, and palm branches were given into 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 the faces before the throne and they worshipped God. Same. 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 saying to me, these who are clothed in the white 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. And 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 any more, neither shall the sun beat down upon them, nor any heat. For the Lamb in the center of the throne shall be their shepherd, and shall guide them to springs of the water of life, and God shall wipe away tears from their eyes." So this is the word of the Lord. Now, there's been many revivals in the course of church history. I mean, going back to the time of the apostles, that was a revival. as the church was being persecuted, there was still a revival back in those days. And then you can think of the Reformation as a revival. And there's been several others, mainly local ones, such as the Great Awakening in America, in which there seemed to be a special outpouring of God's grace upon those who heard the preaching of the word and many made confession of their faith. But the greatest revival will still be yet future, in which even during this great tribulation, this time of great judgment, when God's wrath will be poured out upon the inhabitants of the earth, many will come to Christ. We saw last week that God would seal 144,000 of these Jews from the various tribes And these who are sealed would be the beginnings of this preaching of God's word in such a way that many will come to Christ. Even though there is great persecution, many of them will be martyred. Many of them will die for their faith. But the gospel will go forth. And this is actually prophesied in the Old Testament. For example, in Isaiah chapter 49, verse 6, God promised a servant, who is the Lord Jesus Christ, that people would come from the nations and be added to his flock, saying, is it too small of a thing that you should be my servant to raise up the tribes of Israel? and to restore the preserved ones of Israel, I will make you a light to the nations, so that my salvation may reach to the end of the earth." And so this passage in Revelation will speak of the vast multitude of people from every nations who will be saved during the coming time of tribulation. And this includes both Jews and Gentiles. Again, it's from every nation. So, let's go back to verse 9. And after these things I looked, and behold, a great multitude, which no one could count, from every nation, and all the tribes, and the peoples, and tongues, standing before the throne, and before the Lamb, clothed with white robes, and palm branches were in their hands. And again, notice this phrase, after these things. It's a very common phrase in the book of Revelation. It means John is going to see something else. There's something next. This represents a new portion of the Revelation. And then, this is actually preceded by the verb, by the word behold, an explanation point. This is something surprising. This is something significant. This is something to pay attention to. I mean, John has seen Gentiles come to Christ. Yes, he did. But this time, he's going to see a vast multitude, even more than he could count. So this must be really surprising to the Apostle John. Because back in his days churches were usually pretty small and they had their issues. They were sometimes weak, always threatened by persecution and by patterns of sin. But now he's going to see a vast multitude singing The praises to God was a profoundly thrilling experience for John. And so this group is distinct from that 144,000, and it's evidence from several considerations here. Note, again, after these things, so John's going to then pick up another portion of the revelation, something else, and he's going to see a great multitude which no one could count. Now, no specific number is mentioned here because as John sees this great crowd, even then, more are continually being added to it. And so this group comes from every nation and all the peoples and all the tongues. Every people group is going to be represented. You know, no one's left out. Well I should say, no people group is left out. Obviously, not everyone in every people group will be saved, but that gospel will reach all peoples, no matter what the language, no matter where they are geographically, no matter how well they relate to everything else that's going on. The gospel will go forth. And this group that John sees are going to be standing before the throne and before the Lamb. That is, they already have passed away, either through martyrdom or just by natural causes. And so this group has actually now reached beyond the reach of any of the persecutors that have plagued them. And these redeemed were clothed in white robes. And white represents something dazzling, something bright, shiny, and also they are redeemed. Now, in ancient times, such clothing was worn for festivals and celebrations. Robes is from the word stole, which depicts a long, full-length robe. And these are the same that are worn by the martyrs back in Chapter 6. And now, this fact suggests that the group in this view in the passage is not part of that earlier group of martyred believers. As tribulation wears on, the number of martyrs will increase, as will the number of believers who die naturally or violently, eventually accumulating into the vast, uncountable multitude depicted in heaven in this passage. Because back in chapter 4 and 5, we saw this worship service, this throne room. Now we saw the multitudes of angels, millions and millions of them. They come in and they have their praise, their songs of praise, how they worship God. And then added to that, millions of angels, what marches in are the saints. that have passed away up to that time, or have been raptured, depending upon what's the chronology there. So the saints, they come in, they have their own songs of praise. Now, there's going to be a third group marching in. these saints that have come out of the great tribulation. And they'll have their songs to praise. So this is a glorious time now. And so there's this vast, uncountable multitude that are now joining what we saw in Revelation 4 and 5. And so the robes, the white robes picture their exhortation, their victory, and their rejoicing. And these robes are symbolic of unholiness. They were symbolic of those who are reserved for Christ. They've been purchased, yes, okay, so the saints have palm branches in their hands. And that's representative of celebration, deliverance, and joy. We call Palm Sunday when Jesus rode into Jerusalem on that donkey. He was presenting himself as the king. And many of the people kind of gathered in and praised him. They had their palm branches. It was a celebration. Well this is going to be a celebration. But this is going to be a real celebration. The people who are waving these palm branches, you know, they know what's happening. So somehow these got out of sequence. John saw this vast, victorious saint standing before the throne of God. And they were in the presence of the Lamb, which John saw in his earlier vision, that is in chapters 4 and 5. And they held their palm branches. Again, just a moment, a time of celebration and joy. And of course we do recall the crowd waving palm branches on Palm Sunday when Jesus rode into Jerusalem. Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord, even the King of Israel. That's what they said. So again, it's very fitting that they would celebrate because now they are rescued, redeemed from the world, from Satan, from Antichrist, from the sin, death, and the hell provided for them. And it's all because of the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ for the glory of God. So this is the ultimate conclusion of our salvation. Yes, we've been justified. We've been declared not guilty. We've been indwelt by the Spirit of God. We are His. We've been rescued from the purity of sin. As we are, we are going through this process of sanctification. We're being saved not just from the purity of sin, but from the power of sin. But one day, we'll be glorified. We'll be saved not only from the purity of sin and the power of sin, we'll even be saved from the very presence of sin. Hallelujah. Yes, hallelujah for this. And they cry out with a loud voice in joyous, exuberant worship. This is a wonderful worship service. And their prayers of intercession have ceased, and they are glorifying and praising God, the one responsible for their triumph. And salvation is a theme of their worship, as it is throughout Revelation. And so, and John, in chapter, I'm not sure why that's 12, but John heard a loud voice in heaven saying, now the salvation, the power, the kingdom of God and authority of his Christ have come. In chapter 19, verse 1, John wrote, after these things I heard something like a loud voice of a great multitude in heaven saying, hallelujah, salvation and glory and power belong to our God. Again, these doxologies are just shouting from all places of this book. You know, God is being glorified. His kingdom is coming. And these innumerable believers before God's throne were not alone in their loud worship. The first group that we saw were all the angels who were standing around the throne. Millions and millions of them. Thousands upon thousands. So they're joining in the praise. And now comes this third group. And of course the angels, they are millions and millions and thousands upon thousands of them. And again, in fact, that's reminiscent of Daniel chapter 7, when Daniel saw in this great vision thousands upon thousands attending him and millions upon millions standing before him. That's a fulfillment of prophecy. Prophecy is meant to remind us that what God has said will come to pass exactly as God said it. He may not give us all the details. There may be some things that we don't understand, but we can trust that God will fulfill every part of his promise. And again, the writer of Hebrews also saw millions of angels. And so these angels were joining the spirits of the heavenly saints and praising God. It's not surprising since they were created for the purpose of worshiping and serving him. Again, angels say they have a purpose. I mean, it's not exactly like our purpose, but they do have a purpose. And one of the purposes, they are there to serve God and to praise Him. And to, yeah. So again, it's fitting that they all join in this worship. So the angels are ringing God's glorious, magnificent throne, also surrounded by two other groups involved in worship, the elders and the four living creatures. They say all the angels were standing around the throne and around the elders and the four living creatures, or beings. I should say. And they fell on their faces before the throne and worshipped 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 so again, the 24 elders are best viewed as representatives of the raptured church. And so in chapter 5, verse 8 to 10, they sang the song of redemption, while here they are seen praising the God of redemption. And the four living beings, the Sherubin, which is an exalted order of angels, they're the ones who seem to be residing very near the throne of God. And so these two groups, the living beings, these four living beings and the angels, they are frequently seen together. And overwhelmed by God's majesty, his glory, his splendor surrounding the throne, all present, they fell on their faces before the throne and they worshiped God. Now, so it's appropriate reaction for all creatures, to prostrate themselves in humble adoration before the glorious and majestic presence of the Holy One of God. And we see that throughout the Bible. For example, in Philippians chapter 2, verses 9 to 10, God is going to highly exalt, exceedingly exalt His Son and give Him the name above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee will bow and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord. That's the exalted name, Lord. And that includes every living being, every living creature, every person, actually. Now, for us, we can do so in joy. But that also includes those who are judged. They'll bow down, not in joy, but in defeat, knowing that Confessing God was right and they are wrong. But still going to give God praise. Okay, so again, this praise, they are recognizing God's sovereignty, his supremacy, holiness, and majesty. The worshipers in John's vision utter a benediction bracketed in front and back by the solemn affirmation which, amen, which means so let it be. May it be so. Yeah. And so this prayer is requesting that blessing, glory, and wisdom, and thanksgiving, and honor, and power, and might be attributed to our God forever and ever. And basically what all that means is we recognize God has all the glory. We are who we are because of God. Yes. So all three groups, they bring in their own songs of praise and joy. And again, worship is the constant occupation of those in heaven and it will never cease. And then John becomes an activist now. He says, then one of the elders answered and saying to me, these who are clothed in the white robes, who are they? And where did they come from? And I said to him, my lord, you know. So John is seeing this in a vision, and yet he's actually kind of in the vision. And one of these elders comes up to him and asks this question. These who are clothed in the right robes, who are they and from where do they come? Now the elder is not asking for information. The elder knows, right? But this is for us. God is going to give us insight as to who these people are. And so Dr. Thomas represents, he's basically the renowned New Testament scholar at Master's Seminary. He's going to say, this exemplifies a dialogue format used from time to time to convey an explanation of a vision. This tool shows that visions are not just given for the purpose of display, you know, wow, look at all of this, as if you're in a 3D movie or something. This tool shows that visions were not given for the purpose of spectacular displays, but to convey revelation, the details of which were not to be missed. And the elder's question specifies and emphasizes the truth that people will be saved during this time of tribulation. And so John is bewithered by this question, and his reply is emphatic. My Lord, you know. And it's both a confession of ignorance, meaning I don't know, and a request for further revelation. And again, John calls him Lord. you know, in your English translation that would be a small l. This is not, this is a designation just to address this being, this elder, in a manner of respect. Just like you would say sir or madam. And again, John knows that you show these angels, these angelic beings, these creatures, you show them great respect. Now John had been taught by the Lord that few would be saved back in Matthew chapter 7. For example, when Christ said, you know, wide is the road that leads to destruction. And many are on that path. But the narrow road that leads to life, there's few. But now John sees this great multitude. So he must be quite shocked. And so this crowd is just incomprehensible to him. And then the angel said, 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. So the elder replies that the identity of these are the ones who come out of the Great Tribulation. Of course, by the sixth seal, we're in that second half of the Great Tribulation. of the tribulation. We typically divide the tribulation into two parts, based mainly upon the discourse when Christ would say that this Person card that we call the Antichrist. He's gonna make this covenant and he's gonna break it in the middle of the week And that week of course is seven years so so that's the middle and then after that Breaking out of the covenant. This is what we call the great tribulation in which the tribulation, in which the persecution becomes intense. Much more intense than the early years when you just had the birth pangs and you got the initial peace that was taken away and, you know, things began to get hard. But now in the second half, they are really, really hard. These judgments are taking its toll upon the people. And God also says, unless these days are shortened, no one wolves live. So these saints, these tribulation saints, they have lived in this period, they are redeemed during it, and they have come out of it through death, by violence, natural causes, or martyrdom. And the phrase, the ones who have come out, translates the present durative participle of the verb, and I can't pronounce this word, but it depicts a prolonged process. This group will keep growing. Yes, even though John sees this great multitude, there's more coming in through the door all the time. So this group is expanding throughout this time. So, and again, it's not the rapture of the church that we're talking about. The rapture is past, hence, by this time. And these are believers who have been saved, who have been redeemed in this period of great judgments. So, in some sense, they are like us in that, you know, we're people. But they're also different from us because they've come out of this seven-year period. And so that's why we say there's three groups and not just two. So the term great tribulation refers to a specific time in the future that is unique in all of human history. It's still future as of this moment. This is that 70th week of Daniel, prophesized back in Daniel chapter 9. And it refers to a future day of divine judgment immediately before Christ returns to establish his earthly kingdom. Of course now, he has returned for his people, the church, and we meet him in the air, not physically on this earth. But later, and he will come to the earth physically. And all these judgments described during this time from the sixth seal through the trumpet and the bow judgments have no parallel in human history. Never has there been worldwide devastation like this has happened. So we've seen six seals being broken. Next week, you'll see the seventh seal being broken. And there's a big surprise there. And so the Great Tribulation cannot describe the destruction of Jerusalem in AD 70 or any other historical event. This phrase, Great Tribulation, was coined by Jesus himself, and it was limited to the second half of Daniel's 70th week. And its limit will be 42 months or 1,260 days. To be precise, these years of the tribulation, they're actually counted in terms of the lunar calendar. So there's 12 months of 30 days each. Okay. So that's why when you look at this 1,260 days, it's not quite what we call three and a half years because they're going by the lunar calendar, not our current solar calendar. So he said to me, these are the ones who come out of the great tribulation. They've 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. So the elder further described the redeemed and heavenly tribulation believers as to how they gained the privilege of being in the presence of God and the holy angels. is because they are clothed in white robes, which they washed and made white in the blood of the Lamb. And the reason these tribulation saints are allowed to stand before the throne of God is that they were purified and cleansed from their sins by the sacrifice of the Lamb of God on their behalf, just like us. And just think of this. Back in the garden, mankind was separated from God. And we could not approach the throne of God. We could not stand in his presence. But God has made a way. And that way is Christ who said, I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father but through me. So it is through Christ that we are able to stand here. And thus, they were fitted to serve God day and night without ceasing. So the location of that service is in his temple. Now there's currently a temple in heaven, and there will be one on earth during the millennial kingdom of Christ on earth. Of course, we're not yet to that millennial kingdom. So this is a heavenly temple. And in the eternal state, however, there will be no need for a temple, for the Lord God, the Almighty, and His Lamb are its temple. And the heavenly temple currently is a holy domain where God's presence dwells outside this physical universe. But that will be unnecessary in the new heavens and the new earth where sin has been done away with forever. And then there will no longer be a temple building because God will occupy all places and all believers everywhere throughout the eternal state Will continue to worship and serve him forever. Okay. Well, let's go on because I have five minutes I want to get through this. But we are all going to end up on a high note here. In a wonderful comforting picture, God describes as he who sits on the throne promises to spread his tabernacle or tent of his Shekinah presence over those who have been persecuted. And tabernacle is a word John likes to use that reflects the sheltering presence of the Lord. It corresponds to the Old Testament promises of God protecting his people and providing his presence to them. And these believers will come through indescribable horrors as God's judgments will poured out on the world and they will suffer terrible persecution. But they will enter God's presence. They'll come into that heavenly sanctuary. They'll add themselves to that wonderful service, worship service. And they will receive shelter as God continues to unleash His judgments upon those on the earth. And they will hunger no more, nor thirst any more, nor will the sun beat upon them, nor any heat. For the Lamb is in the center of the throne, will be their shepherd, and will guide them to springs over the water of life. And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes." This comforting provision is drawn from the words of Isaiah 49 verse 10. And as they explained the horrors of the tribulation, they had endured hunger, thirst, and scorching heat as the sun beat down upon them, a phenomenon that will also occur later on in the tribulation. And so by all these tormenting physical and spiritual elements of earthly life, they will experience no longer, but rather they will enjoy eternal satisfaction in Jesus. For the Lamb of God and the sinner of the throne will be their shepherd, will guide them through springs of water of life. God will wipe away every tear." So the picture is of God. God has a shepherd of his people. And the great shepherd, that wonderful great shepherd that we have, he will guide his flock. He will continue to guide them through springs of the water of life. Life, in this life, just keeps on going. It is abundant. It just keeps on going. He'll wipe away every tear from their eyes. What happens, there will be no more pain, sorrow, or suffering. And in this age when Christianity is under siege on all sides, I mean John saw it, we see it too, seemingly losing its grip on divine truth and apparently headed for defeat, it's comforting to be reassured of the ultimate triumph of God's saving grace. in the midst of an even worse situation in the future before Christ's return, God will redeem His people. That thought should bring us great comfort and motivate all of us to praise God for the greatness of His redemptive plan. And ultimately, in the eternal state, all of these promises throughout all of scripture, including all of prophecy, will come true. So we've learned in this interlude that even though God is unleashing his judgments upon the earth, there's a revival. Souls are being saved. And though Satan is trying to do his best to thwart the plan of God, he's going after God's people, both Jews and Gentiles. He's not succeeding. And God will ultimately bring victory, and the Lord Jesus Christ, his own son, will reign. And that's the, you know, that's the message that we believe, that we preach, that we know in our hearts, and that we hope for. And even though we go through our own trials of faith, we know that these trials are just momentary. But we have an eternal treasure of inheritance reserved for us. And when we get around this throne, we'll see just what Christ has given to us. Amen. Well, let me pray. Father, we thank you for your amazing, abounding grace that's always sufficient for us, and it gives us abundant life, life that just keeps on going. We thank you for your Son, through whom we have blessings upon blessings, joy upon joy. And thank you, Father, that you so loved the world, that you gave your only begotten Son. And at this Christmas season, we give you thanks for the birth of Christ, that you gave us Jesus, who is God with us, that we might know you in an intimate manner. So, in the name of our precious Savior and your dear Son, we pray, Amen.