In working our way through this sixth seal, we have been highlighting two things so far, and there's one further one that I want us to consider. Now interestingly, there's a whole series of sevens that are found in the book of the Revelation. That in itself is a very interesting observation and even line of study. If you were to pick up your Bible and read through Revelation in one go, or near enough in one go, you would be looking out for all the times seven is mentioned. There's actually fifteen of them. fifteen sets of seven. For example, there's the seven churches, then there's the seven spirits of God, there's the seven golden candlesticks, there's seven stars, there's the seven seals that we are thinking about at present, there's the seven horns and seven eyes, there's the seven angels, seven trumpets, seven thunders, seven heads, seven crowns, seven last plagues, seven golden vials, seven mountains, and the last of the fifteen is the seven kings. So over and over again, the number seven appears in this book. What is the purpose of the number seven? Well, number seven is the complete or the perfect number. And when we come to the book of the Revelation, we're coming to that time when Lord is going to be seen perfectly and completely for who He is. We're going to come to that statement this evening there found in verse 16 of this chapter, the One that sitteth on the throne. They're looking to hide their face from the One that sitteth upon the throne. That's the view that men are going to have of Jesus Christ. That's not the view that they have of Him tonight. Even those that may take some interest in Him coming into Bethlehem and the babe in the manger, oftentimes they don't want to think about Him as the Christ on the cross, and they certainly don't want to think about Him as the One on the throne, the King, the Judge, before whom they're going to give an answer and an account. That's not a view of Jesus Christ that many people want to have tonight. But that is the view that they're going to have, and it's going to create alarm in their hearts and minds when that day comes. Now, we've divided this sixth seal up. We give a title to a word to summarize all of the six of them. I've gone over those a number of times. But the sixth one we have said, convulsions, because there's first of all convulsions in the sense that the Lord is going to shake the heaven and the earth and the heavenly bodies. You read about that back in verse 12 there, how there's going to be a great earthquake or a great shaking. The word earthquake there is the word that we get seismic from in our English language. It's going to be a great earthquake. There's been many earthquakes, earthquakes of great magnitude, as you know, their ability to measure them, but this is a great earthquake, the like of which has never been seen before. God is going to shake the whole creation. The whole creation is going to shake, physically shake, and be shaken by the One who is the Creator. Then we thought last time about the scrolling together of the heavens. You read about that there in verse 14, the heavens departed as a scroll when it is rolled together. how the Lord is going to attract attention and have people looking upward, because when the Lord starts to shake the creation and He switches out the sun as a light, everybody's going to be looking upward. And at that moment, the heavens are going to depart as a scroll, and they're going to see the sign of the Son of Man. And that brings us then on to the third of these points, and that's the shaming of the scoffers because it tells us there in verse 15, 16, and 17 about this spirit of consternation that is going to come upon those are unready and who are unprepared for that day. There will be a people who are ready. There will be a people who are looking for Christ and expecting Him to come. There will be a people who will be praying for Him to come. As you know, the book of the Revelation finishes off with that prayer, even so come Lord Jesus. And there will be people who will be praying that prayer for the Lord to come. So, they're looking for Him to come. They're expecting Him to come. They're going to be looking up because they're going to know what the Scripture teaches about the signs that are going to point to His arrival, and they're going to be looking up, waiting for Him, not in a spirit of consternation, the very opposite. The day of their redemption, the fullness of their redemption has arrived. So it is a day of expectation and gladness for them, but for others it's going to be a day of consternation. And they are going to be shamed, shamed for their unbelief, shamed for their rejection of Jesus Christ and their conduct toward Him, because there are those who are going to mock the very idea of His second coming. That's why I've titled this point, The Shaming of the Scoffers, because Peter tells us in 2 Peter 3, verse 4, there'll be those who will say, where is the promise of His coming? Or where is the fulfillment of the promise of His coming? As the sense there is. For since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of the creation. There are those who are going to scoff at the very thought of the coming again of Jesus Christ. These things are not going to happen in their estimation. They're never going to think or acknowledge or anticipate that someday the heaven is going to roll together as a scroll and the Savior is going to appear. That's not in their thinking at all. But there will be a dawning reality. that what they have thought and what they have believed and what they have lived out in their lives has been a falsehood, and there are events that have come upon the earth that they have no control over, that are beyond their control, even beyond their imagination. Can you imagine what it will be like to be on the earth and it begins to physically shake the whole world? There's people who've been in earthquakes. who have given accounts of earthquakes. There's those who have filmed earthquakes taking place and given an account to others, and you've watched on, maybe on news footage or online as people have lived through an earthquake. But what's it going to be like when the whole world is shaking and the heavens are shaking? There's going to be consternation. You see, Luke's gospel, chapter 21, And verse 26 tells us this, men's hearts feeling them for fear and for looking after those things which are coming on the earth. Look, 21 verse 26, men's hearts feeling them for fear. That's how it's going to be with many, many who have lived without a thought of the Lord, who have denied Him, who have denied the very thought that He would come again. You can go into the and those who do, you can get into the bookies and get odds on the coming again of Jesus Christ. It's something of mockery. It's something to laugh at. But there's coming a day when there'll be no laughing, there'll be no mocking, there'll be no scorning then. The scoffer is going to be turned into a believer in the sense he's going to see the reality of these things, and their hearts are going to feel them for fear. What's going to cause that? It says there in Luke 21 verse 26, for looking after those things which are coming on the earth. It's referring to those who are living right in the midst of those things happening. It doesn't say those things that will be coming upon the earth. It's they are coming, present tense, they're taking place at that very moment. And as they are on the earth, whatever generation it will be that are on the earth at that particular time, when all of these things are taking place, they are going to be the people whose hearts are failing them for fear. The spirit of Antichrist is a spirit of atheism, remember? There's many manifestations of Antichrist. John said that. The Apostle John said there were many Antichrists, and that the Antichrist was the spirit of Antichrist was in the world, even in John's day. there are many manifestations of Antichrist. There's been many types and foreshadowings of the final Antichrist. You take men like Pharaoh, Nebuchadnezzar, and others in the Old Testament, Sennacherib in the Old Testament. All of those individuals were foreshadowings, types of Antichrist. The spirit of Antichrist is the spirit of defiance of God, the spirit of atheism. And that Spirit is going to be at its apex just prior to the coming of Jesus Christ. Whatever it has been like in any other period of time in human history, it is going to be at its most magnified just prior to the coming of the Lord, where they will have dethroned God entirely. The very thought of God. Antichrist will declare himself to be God, and we're told that the world will go after him. The world wanders after the beast. Is it any wonder then that at that moment when these things begin to fall upon the earth, hearts will begin to feel with fear, with fear, how awful that day is, how important it is to be trusting in Jesus Christ tonight, to know Him as our Savior, to be able to look forward to that day and say that day holds no fear because Christ has promised to watch over His own. We've mentioned that already, and how that is illustrated in history and in the past, going back to the plagues that fell upon Egypt, how the Lord made a distinction between the Israelites and the Egyptians, and what plagues fell on the Egyptians but didn't fall upon the Israelites. And God is going to do it again. He's going to look after His own. He's going to preserve His own. But those have no knowledge of Him, they are here set before us in Revelation chapter 6 verses 15, 16, and 17. There is a sevenfold list. I suppose we could add that to that group of seven as well, but there is a seven-fold list here. Those from every section of society will be gathered, will be gripped with fear. It doesn't matter what rank somebody is. It doesn't matter whether they're royalty or commoners. It doesn't matter whether they're soldiers. It doesn't matter whether they have wealth, talent, strength, intellect. Whatever it is, it will be of no avail that day in any way to resist or to escape what is taking place. It doesn't matter whether somebody is significant or insignificant. They're going to be caught up in this. They're going to have to face this. Those who, as I say, have wandered after the beast, if you go over to chapter 13 of the book of the Revelation, and a couple of verses here just to see something of the spirit that is going to be in people. Revelation chapter 13 verse 3, we'll just take this verse on its own, and it says, And I saw one of the heads as it were wounded to death, and his deadly wound was healed, and all the world wondered after the beast. There's how extensive it is. All the world wondered after the beast. There is going to be a wondering, a marveling after Antichrist, because the beast is the title for Antichrist. going to go across the whole world. It's going to be a Spirit that's going to be abroad everywhere. It's going to be extensive. In that thirteenth chapter as well, if you go down to verse 14, it says there, this is about the other, the second beast, the dragon, He deceiveth them that dwell on the earth, Revelation 13 verse 14, by the means of those miracles which He had power to do in the sight of the beast, saying to them that dwell on the earth that they should make an image to the beast which had the wound by a sword and did live, and He had power to give life unto the image of the beast, that the image of the beast should both speak and cause as many as would not worship the image of the beast should be killed. And He causeth all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and bond, to receive a mark in their right hand and in their foreheads. And that no man should buy or sell, save he that had the mark, or the number of the beast, or the number of his name, And then that last verse tells you the number, 600, three score and six. But there's this spirit that is abroad of wondering after the beast. And there's going to be these miracles that are wrought by the devil's representative. Remember, the devil is intent in presenting the world with his false Christ. That's what Antichrist is about. He is the devil's Christ, and the world will run after Him and wonder after Him. But there's coming a day when what we're thinking about here in Revelation chapter 6 and these verses is going to come upon this world, and that haughty spirit, that defying spirit, that scoffing spirit will be turned to fear and dread. it will be turned to fear and dread. And that spirit that now pervades the age is going to change. Do you notice what it is there that is mentioned that they're going to see? Because if we step our way through this again in the sequence that is given to us in these verses, there's the shaking of the heavens, as we've been mentioning. There's the departing, the scrolling of the heavens there in verse 14. And then we're told in verse 16 that these inhabitants of the earth, for that's what they are described as, they're the inhabitants of the earth that they see One sitting on the throne. So, why is the heavens being rolled together as a scroll? Further on in the book of the Revelation, you read about heaven being opened and looking into heaven and seeing the throne. They're going to see one on the throne. They're going to see Christ as He is. This may well be the sign of the Son of Man that is mentioned in Matthew 24 and what is particularly envisaged in that sign of the Son of Man. They're going to see Christ, that is true, but they're going to see Him on the throne. going to see Him as the monarch of the world. They're going to see Him as the One who's ruling, who's coming. And they dread that thought. They dread that thought of ever coming before this One who sits upon the throne, for He is the monarch of all the world. And whatever they have done in running after the false Christ, they're going to be made to see the true Christ here, and it's going to bring consternation to their hearts. Now, that has been mentioned way back in Old Testament times of this day that is coming. For example, in Isaiah chapter 2 verses 11 and 12, it says, "'The lofty looks of man shall be humble, and the haughtiness of men shall be bowed down, and the Lord alone shall be exalted in that day.' the day of the Lord of hosts shall be upon everyone that is proud and lofty, and upon everyone that is lifted up, and he shall be brought low." That's this day that we are reading now about in Revelation 6, but Isaiah was speaking about that day. He calls it the day of the Lord. Isaiah 2.17 goes on, and the loftiness of man shall be bowed down, and the haughtiness of men shall be made low, and the Lord alone shall be exalted in that day. And then Isaiah 13 as well, verses 7 and 8, "'Therefore shall all hands be faint, and every man's heart shall melt, and they shall be afraid. Pangs and sorrow shall take hold of them. They shall be in pain as a woman that travaileth. They shall be amazed one at another. Their faces shall be as flames.'" As the thought there is of embarrassment, we talk about somebody's face, being read with embarrassment. Where does that saying come from? Is it from a portion like that in Isaiah, their faces shall be as flames? They're going to be ashamed. They're going to be ashamed. I said that we could title this point that we're thinking about tonight, the shaming of the scoffers, and they are going to be shamed, because alongside their fear, there's going to be this shame. The shame that's going to come upon them when they realize, we have believed the lie, we have followed after the falsehood, we have rejected the true Christ, and now here He is, and we see Him sitting on the throne, and He's coming, and we're going to have to meet Him and stand before Him. Because as this spirit of consternation comes upon them there, you'll notice in verse 16 that they begin to cry to the mountains, "'Fall on us! Hide us from the face of Him that sitteth on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb.'" You see, they know the day of His wrath has come. Isn't it amazing how quickly people learn the truth? How quickly people learn the truth. This is what they say. It has been suggested to me that I should keep on through this book of Revelation. I haven't decided to do that as yet. I'll look to the Lord for His direction on that. But if we were to go on through the book of the Revelation, you would get to chapter 11 and the two end-time witnesses. Because when you come to a portion like that, my question I ask myself is, well, where do they learn this from? That generation that is on the earth that will have rejected the truth and rejected the Lord and act with this spirit of defiance and atheism, scoffing at the very idea that there is a God or that He's coming again to this world, and suddenly they see Him and they say, the day of His wrath has come. How have they learned about that? has to be some way that they have learned about that. And the Lord is going to have His witnesses, even right up until the point of His coming. He never leaves Himself without a witness, the Bible tells us. He never has. All down through the history of time, He's always had a people. Sometimes that people haven't been too numerous. Even if we go back to the dark ages in Europe, the Middle Ages, when Romanism was at its height, wasn't much light. It was called the dark ages for good reason. There was little light. There was little knowledge or learning in any sphere, never mind religious things. And certainly, there wasn't much knowledge with regards to spiritual things. But God had His people, people like the Waldensians up there in those Alpine mountains, going up higher and higher to get away from Rome and her persecuting zeal against them. Others as well, In various places in Europe, the Lord always had a witness. He always has a people. Even in the darkest day, the Lord has His people. And this day, when this is all taking place, and that spirit of atheism is manifesting itself more than ever, God is going to have a witness. God is going to have His witness. And you can read about those over in Revelation chapter 11. I'm not turning there tonight because And we want to conclude this portion that we're thinking about this evening. And I might come back another time and think about those. But here's this cry that's going to go up, hide us from the face. They know the day of His wrath has come, and they want to escape that day of wrath. They know it's a terrible day, and they want to escape that day. And they think by seeking death that they're going to escape that day of wrath. You know, there is a spirit abroad today in assisted dying that is a manifestation of the Spirit that will be there that day when Christ is about to come, wanting to die, wanting to manage their death, thinking that somehow death will get them away from ever facing up to meet God Almighty. Well, here's a day when that Spirit is abroad, and they think, we'll call on the mountains to fall on us as the whole earth is shaking, fall on us, hide us from the face of Him that sits upon the throne. And they think that somehow by seeking this type of death that they can escape ever having to meet the One who sits upon the throne. They cannot. They cannot. The question is asked there in verse 17, "'For the great day of his wrath has come, and who shall be able to stand?' Now, that's a repetition from what you have in Malachi chapter 3 verse 2. That's where those words come from. It says there in Malachi, "'But who may abide the day of his coming? Or who shall stand when he appeareth? For he is like refiner's fire and like fuller's soap.'" Who shall abide that day? Who will stand? Who will find acceptance? Who among those who have scoffed and mocked and ridiculed and denied the Lord, who's going to stand on that day? Who's going to face the One who's on the throne who's coming? Who's going to go out to battle? Who's going to open their mouth now against Him? Not a single soul. Not a single soul. Every mouth that says will be stopped. There's not going to be a word. Psalm 1 verse 5. says, the ungodly shall not stand in the judgment. None can abide His coming is the answer. None can abide the day of His coming. And because that truth is dawning upon those individuals who are on the earth at that particular time, then they cry to the mountains and to the rocks, fall on us and hide us from the face of the One who sits upon the throne. It's very striking at the end of verse 16 there that His wrath is described as the wrath of the Lamb, the wrath of the Lamb. That's not something that you usually associate with a Lamb. A Lamb is the most gentile of creatures, harmless. Everybody loves a Lamb. It's very easy to get attached to a little lamb. It doesn't seem to be a creature that would do harm to anyone. It can't. It's the very opposite. People are drawn to a lamb. And is it not striking those words there in verse 16, the wrath of the lamb? You could say, well, the wrath of the lion. And Jesus Christ is called the Lion of the tribe of Judah in this book of Revelation. And you wouldn't be surprised if it said, the wrath of the lion, and you could think about the ferocity of that wrath of a lion. But it doesn't say the wrath of a lion. It says the wrath of the Lamb. It's the reminder of the One who came the first time, who came into the world as the Lamb of God, helpless, harmless, When you think of Jesus Christ and His incarnation coming into the world, lying in a manger, lying in the arms of an earthly mother, He was very much like a helpless lamb. And yet, that One who came into the world is now going to be the judge of the world and going to strike consternation into many who will be alive in the world at that particular time. as they realize the Lamb is now the Judge, the One who came to be the Savior of sinners and to give His life as a ransom for sinners, it's the day of His wrath that has come. And who shall be able to stand? Who? There's not one that can abide the day of His coming. If you go back to 1 Thessalonians, please, You see something of 2 Thessalonians 1, verses 7 and 8, you see something here about the wrath of the Lamb. Because both books to the church of Thessalonica have the second coming as their theme. There were those who were saying things and making utterances that were not right, and they were disturbing the people, even sending letters to this church, as Paul makes mention there in chapter 2, they were troubling them. And if you look at 2 Thessalonians chapter 1 verse 6, for example, seeing it as a righteous thing with God to recompense tribulation to them that trouble you. So there were those that were troubling the saints, And then it says, and to you who are troubled, verse 7, rest with us when the Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven with His mighty angels. Well, that's what we're thinking about in Revelation chapter 6, that day that has arrived really. And then verse 8, and flaming fire taking vengeance on them that know not God and that obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ. You see, there is an active disobedience on the part of those who are the objects of His wrath. It says He's taking vengeance on those who know not the gospel and obey not the gospel, who know not God and obey not the gospel. There is an active defiance. There is an active disobedience that is going to be judged. There is that judgment of mercy, maybe I should say that, that we believe the Lord will exercise to all those who are mentally incapable of obedience. There is that judgment of charity. We recognize that. But this is speaking about those who are actively defying God. They deny the knowledge of God. They do not want to know Him. And they have made that abundantly clear by the Spirit that will be abroad in those days. They do not want to know the Lord. They don't want any restraints that His law might put upon them. They want to break His bands asunder, as Psalm 2 tells us, and cast His cords away from them. That's the Spirit that is going to be among them. They do not want to know Him. And as for obeying the gospel, they do not want to obey that either. That call to repent, to turn from Christ, A turn from sin to Christ is one that they will not recognize. It is upon those individuals that this vengeance is going to be visited. He's taking vengeance on them that know not God and that obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ. There is an act of defiance and an act of disobedience on their part, and the Lord is going to cast forth His wrath upon them. What an awful day that will be. Who may abide the day of His coming? Well, let's take that just as a closing point and go into the next chapter of Revelation, and with this we conclude. Because there is a people, we've mentioned this people before, but there will be a people who will stand before Him on that day. There's a people who are looking for His coming that day. They're going to be a people who have turned to Him It speaks there in Revelation chapter 9, sorry, Revelation chapter 7 verse 9, after this I beheld and lo a great multitude which no man could number of all nations and kindreds and people and tongues stood before the throne and before the Lamb clothed with white robes and palms in their hands. I've said before that I understand chapter 7 to be the tribulation martyrs, those who've been put to death during this time. But there is a people who are going to be waiting, waiting. Yeah, many of them will have lost their lives because of their allegiance to Christ. But it tells us there in verses 13 and 14 of this chapter 7, One of the elders answered, saying unto me, Who are these which are of red and white robes? And whence came they? And the answer is given, These are they that have come out of great tribulation, and have washed their robes, and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. And I want you to notice verse 15, Therefore are they before the throne of God, and serve him day and night in his temple. And he that sitteth on the throne shall dwell among them. Now contrast the end of chapter 7 to the end of chapter 6. Chapter 6, there's consternation at the One who's sitting upon the throne. As they begin to realize, here is the One we have defied and denied, and He's coming, and we're going to have to face Him. And then you come to the end of chapter 7. Here's a people, and the Lord is among them, and they are with Him. They're coming with Him. He's bringing them. All of those who have died in Christ, our loved ones, family and friends, maybe, who have died in Christ, the Lord is bringing them with Him. If we're on the earth when these things are taking place, He's bringing His people with Him. They're going to be with Him, it says. What a contrast there is to the end of chapter 7 as there is to chapter 6. Now, which one will it be for us? Where do we fit in? We have to fit in one or the other tonight. Either you fit in chapter 6, and what a terrible end that is, or you fit into chapter 7. I'm among those who've washed their robes and made them white. I'm with the Lord, and He'll make sure I'm with Him and all of His redeemed, for He's going to gather them all together. They're going to be with Him. He's going to be amongst them. How will it be? How will it be? May we be those who have run to Christ for salvation. Doesn't Paul say that in Thessalonians, flee from the wrath to come? You know, Christian, we have no concept of what that day of wrath will be. We have no concept. This world has no concept. This world lives today excusing sin, making every excuse possible for it. It's certainly not something that's judged or rebuked or reprimanded today, not at all. This world has no concept of what that day holds when Christ comes as a judge. but He's coming. Of that there is no doubt.