I'd like you to turn to Revelation chapter 7. In the book of Revelation, we've said often that there's seven cycles, there's seven scenes, and the last six of them end with the final judgment in the eternal state and the final coming of Christ and what follows. The first cycle was chapters 1 through 3 that focused on the seven churches of Asia Minor. We saw the glorious picture of Christ in his resurrected, ascended, reigning appearance, walking in the midst of the lampstands. And there are seven letters sent to the seven churches of Asia Minor, representing all of the churches of all time. And then in starting in chapter four and going through chapter seven, actually nibbling into chapter eight, which we won't get into today, we have the second cycle, second scene, if you will, where we're taken to the throne room of heaven, And we see the case of the seven seals of the lamb being opened in chapters 4 through 7. I think it's helpful to see how we get to chapter 7 before we start looking at the end of chapter 7. We'll be looking at especially at chapter 7 verses 9 through 17 this morning. In chapter 4, we saw the beginning of that says after these things, I looked, John says, and that's kind of a pattern you see in the book of Revelation. He was taken up in the spirit to the throne of heaven to see God on his throne surrounded by The four living creatures and the 24 elders worshiping God. And then in chapter five, we see another pattern. Then I saw he turns and he sees in the right hand of God, there's a scroll with seven seals. And we read then in chapter five that a strong angel came to him or actually spoke who is worthy to open the scroll and elucid seals. And no one was found to open the scroll to elucid seals into enact the contents of the scroll. And what does John do? Do you remember? John weeps. And maybe the first time you read it, you just think, what's the big deal about this scroll? But John weeps because the scroll represents the plan of redemption and judgment and the consummation of all things. And if it can't be opened, it can never be fulfilled. And so John weeps because there's no one worthy. But then in verse 5 of chapter 5, the scriptures say, but one of the elders said to me, do not weep. Behold, behold the lion of the tribe of Judah. The root of David has prevailed to open the scroll and elucidates seven seals. And I looked, and behold, and you'll see the same pattern what we read today. And I looked, and behold, he turns from something that's maybe not as good to something far greater. And I behold, in the midst of the throne, and of the four living creatures, and in the midst of the elders, stood a lamb as though it had been slain. And then the lamb came and took the scroll out of the right hand of him who sat on the throne. So only the lamb who had been slain, but now the scripture says had prevailed and he was standing before the throne and the idea of standing before the throne. Remember this when we get to chapter seven implies that now he's resurrected and ascended. His work has been done. He's the conquering king. He's resurrected. He's prevailed and he's standing. And so he is worthy to take the scroll from the hand of the father. to open the scroll and enact God's eternal decrees of judgment and redemption of his people and the consummation of all things. And he opens the first four seals, which sends out the four horsemen of judgment upon the earth during the time of tribulation between the two advents of Christ, his first coming and his second coming, where sinners will be punished, the saints will be persecuted and be purified during the tribulation of the age of the earth, which we're in even now. Then he opens the fifth seal to show the scene of the slain saints under the altar in heaven during the same time, which answers a question to the Christians of the time and maybe for us as well. What about those who've already died? Are they okay? And yes, they are. But they're crying out, how long until justice is served? And then in answer to that prayer of the saints under the altar, the sixth seal was opened in chapter six that commences the final judgment on earth, the dissolution of all creation, the dismay of all mankind, and the day of wrath has come, which produces the next question. At the end of chapter six, sinners were saying, fall on us and hide us from the face of him who sits on the throne and from the wrath of the lamb. The final wrath is coming, for the great day of his wrath has come. And the question is, who is able to stand before the lamb and his wrath and before the throne? So that brings us to Revelation chapter 7, which we began looking at last week, which we said is one of the more misunderstood passages of all scripture. Brings us to Revelation 7. And Revelation 7 is an interlude between the sixth seal and the seventh seal, meant to encourage the reader and encourage the Christian even now by answering two questions. We're seeing this time of difficulty before Christ comes again. There's two questions. First of all, who indeed is able to stand before the throne of the lamb and before the lamb on the day of the lamb's wrath? That question needs to be answered. But secondly, what about the saints in the church during this time of tribulation and then the final judgment? What happens to them? And those two questions are answered in chapter 7, where we see two visions of the church enabled to stand, but from two different perspectives. In verses 1 through 8, which we covered last week, we see the church militant on earth, sealed and secured in the midst of God's judgment, doing the work of the Lord in his place. And then in verses 9 through 17, which we'll cover today, we'll see the church triumphant in heaven, Standing and secure from God's judgment. So if you look at Chapter 7 and verses 1 through 8, you have the church militant on Earth sealed and secure in the midst of God's judgment. The churches on Earth in the midst of the time of tribulation between the advents of Christ, the four horsemen will be held back. It's going back to the beginning of the seals be opened and now the four horsemen are being held back in order to seal the Saints. And to secure them and protect them, in the sense of physical harm, but spiritually. And there's a description of the 144,000, which represents all of the Church of all ages, 12 for the old and 12 for the new. And 1,000 means a lot. And the 12 tribes are represented in such a way to represent all the universality of the New Covenant Church. And so we see God's elect sealed by the Spirit, identified with Christ through repentance and faith, and they will suffer persecution and difficulty, but they'll be preserved and cared for by the Lord as they're carrying out the battle, if you will. And so I read in verse one, after these things I saw four angels standing at the four corners of the earth, holding the four winds of the earth, that the wind should not blow on the earth, on the sea, or on any tree. Then I saw another angel ascending from the east, having the seal of the living God, and he cried with a loud voice to the four angels, to whom it was granted to harm the earth and the sea, saying, do not harm the earth and the sea or the trees, till we have sealed the servants of our God on their foreheads. Those marked out as Christ's. And I heard the number of those who were sealed, 144,000 of all the tribes of the children of Israel were sealed, of the tribe of Judah, and Reuben, and Gad, and Asher, and Naphtali, and Manasseh, Simeon, and Levi, and Issachar, Zebulun, Joseph, and Benjamin, 12,000 were sealed. That's what we covered last week, the sealing of those on earth. And now at verse nine, we see the church triumphant in heaven. The transition is now those sealed in the first eight verses. are now appearing before the throne after judgment on that great day. Let's read verses nine through 17. After these things, I looked and behold something greater, a great multitude, which no one could number of all nations, tribes and peoples and tongues standing before the throne and before the lamb. Notice they're standing clothed with white robes, with palm branches in their hands and crying out with a loud voice saying, salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne and to the lamb. All the angels stood around the throne and the elders and the four living creatures and they fell on their faces before the throne and worship God saying, amen, blessing and glory and wisdom, thanksgiving and honor and power and might. There's seven of those things be to our God forever and ever. Amen. Then one of the elders answered saying to me, who are these arrayed in white robes and where did they come from? More questions. And I said to him, sir, you know, which is always a good answer when you're being asked questions like this. So he said to me, these are the ones who come out of the great tribulation and washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the lamb. Therefore, they are before the throne of God and serve him day and night in his temple. And he who sits on the throne will dwell among them. They shall neither hunger anymore nor thirst anymore. The sun shall not strike them nor any heat for the lamb who is in the midst of the throne will shepherd them and lead them to living fountains of waters, and God will wipe away every tear from their eyes. And this is the word of God. May God, by His Spirit, teach us and encourage us this morning through His word. So now we see the church universal gathered before the throne after judgment. The victory and the reward of the church after the battle on earth is done. And so in verses 9 through 17, we Answer the question, who can stand? We said that last week. Who can stand? The sealed of the Lamb can stand. This is part two. Last week, we saw the Lamb's sealed servants on earth. Now we see the Lamb's standing saints in heaven. And my outline is pitiful, but it's in your bulletin. We'll look at the first four verses and answer the questions, when and where? Well, then we'll look at the last five verses, and we'll answer the questions, who and where? When and where and who and where. The when and where focuses on the occasion. The who and where focuses on the people being spoken of. And if you're in Christ, you're now hearing the scriptures speak of you with this passage. So first of all, the when and where in verses 9 through 12. What we see, we see some standing before the throne. We see some falling before the throne in this when and where part in verses 9 through 12. And it begins with verse nine, after these things I looked and behold. And again, there's a pattern of this in the book of Revelation of turning to look to see something greater and behold in chapter one, John heard a voice and he turned and he looked and what did he see? He saw the son of man in his glorious ascended state in the midst of lampstands. Behold, indeed. And in chapter 5, John talks to the elder. But then he looks, and behold, he sees the lion of the tribe of Judah, who is worthy, alone at the throne. And now, after these things I looked, and behold, he turns now from seeing the church on earth, which has a tendency to have humility, not in the majority, suffering at war as pilgrims on earth, to now the greater thing, The church victorious and glorious, innumerable in glory, praising the Lord in a purified state. He sees the church victorious in glory about the throne. But what is he seeing? What is the when and the where of this? Well, I think the when is, if you look at the context, it's after the church's sojourn on earth. They've been preserved. They were sealed through the tribulation of the church age. Now they're ushered into the throne. At Christ return, there's judgment. Now they're ushered before the throne. Now the where now they're in their fullness in the resurrected and glorified state in victory before the throne in heaven in his presence. That's the win in the wear of this. And the unsealing and the unfurling of the scroll of Chapter 5 is complete. The decrees of God of redemption are complete. Now redemption is complete. You are not just redeemed, just have your sins forgiven, which is a lot. You're redeemed to be made like Christ without sin, without spot in the church was redeemed to be made like Christ without spot and to be blameless. Perfected in soul and body, and this is it. And the lamb who's a lion who's also a shepherd we find out today is faithful. And everything about this scene at the end of Chapter 7. Cries out completion. In consummation, the completed result of the redemptive work of Christ, the universal church in the fullest sense. And so we see the saints now standing before the throne, standing before the throne. These first couple of verses, after these things, I looked and behold, a great multitude, which no one could number of all nations, tribes, peoples, and tongues. No one could number. Did you notice there was 144,000 in the first part? That's representative of something. But now we have a better representative. You can't even number them. This fulfills the promise to Abraham that through him the seed would come, the Messiah would come, and his offspring through the seed. Those who would have faith like the faith of Abraham could not be counted. They'd be like the stars in the sky and the sands on the beaches. They'd be innumerable. You would not be able to count them. The Messiah who's promised to come from Abraham now has done his work and now there's a countless number of saints who've come in faith. And now it says all tribes. How many tribes were there in the first half of Revelation 7? There were 12. Again, it was representative of the all, but now we throw that away. Now it's all the tribes. And in fact, it's all nations and tribes and peoples and tongues. And that's an idiom symbolic of all the redeemed from all types of people of all the ages. from every ethnic group imaginable, with all sorts of different languages on earth. You know, if you looked really hard, you might even be able to see some white people among this crowd that you cannot number. Seven times in the book of Revelation, you have this phrasing of all tribes and nations and peoples and tongues, maybe in different order, but it speaks of the universality of men, And this is a fulfillment of Christ and what he preached in the Olivet Discourse in Matthew 2414. He says in this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in all the world as a witness to all the nations. And then the end will come. And here we are. It says then this great multitude that no one could number. They were standing before the throne and before the lamb standing before the throne and before the lamb. This answers the questions who can stand before the throne and the lamb of Chapter 6. Those who've been washed in the blood of the Lamb, who've been sealed by the Spirit, have been brought to Him through repentance and faith. Those who are raised spiritually while on earth, and now they're raised physically and glorified, they're standing, remember the Lamb was standing in chapter five, representing His resurrected, ascended, conquering state, and now the church is standing before the throne in the resurrected, ascended, glorified state, like the Lamb of chapter five. And like the lamb who prevailed and who overcame, the church has followed in his footsteps by the spirit of God, by the promises of God, by the word of God, they have prevailed and they've been resurrected and ascended before the throne. And they're clothed with white robes with palm branches in their hands, white robes and palm branches in their hands. You've already noticed we're only in chapter seven, but white robes and white garments. It's repeated a lot in the book of Revelation. It's a wonderful thing. It represents victory. It represents purity, represents the perfect righteousness of Christ. We'll speak more of that. But what about the palm branches? I don't think we do much with palm branches anymore. But the palm branches themselves represent victory and rest, victory and rest. Do you remember in Matthew 21 and John chapter 12 and the other Gospels as well? when he had the triumphal entry of Christ into Jerusalem, and he was received as the Messiah King for a short while. And they cried out, Hosanna to the son of David and to the King. Hosanna. Hosanna means God save us. There's a question, there's a pleading with that when it's Hosanna. God save us. And when he did that, there were palm branches put on the ground for him to come in on the colt upon. There's a sign of victory. The king has come. He's come in victory. And now you have the palm branches here in the end representing the same thing. It's interesting in the triumphal entry in Matthew 21, they're saying, Hosanna, save us, O God. But now they're crying, if you look at verse 10. Now they're saying, salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne and to the Lamb. Now they're saying, God has saved us. It is done. Victory is here. And now we've entered into the new Jerusalem, if you will. But the palm branches also, I think, represent the Feast of Tabernacles or the Feast of Booths. It's probably one of the feasts of the Old Testament that we don't know much about. But the Feast of Booths or the Feast of Tabernacles were where they would gather, the Jews would gather, and they would build booths or tents made out of palm branches as shelters and tents. And during the feast, they'd live in These booths and these tents made of palm branches, they live in them during this celebration. And it was a gathering to celebrate God's protection and how he brought them to safe arrival through the wilderness after their exodus from Egypt. Do you get the picture? Here you have the church. with palm branches celebrating God's delivery through the earth's tribulations from the nations now into the final promised land. The palm branches represent victory in more than one sense. And in verse 10, they're crying out with a loud voice, saying salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne and to the lamb. And brother and sister, this is beautiful. Remember, This is from every tribe and nation and people and tongue. More than you can count, but yet with one voice, with one voice loud and in unison, they're crying out, salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne and to the Lamb. Though many, they are one. Oh, that it would be on earth. It will be someday, but That's what we're going to be looking for even on earth. Though there are many different peoples and languages, they are one in the praise of the Lamb who has redeemed them by His blood. And when they say salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, it's not just saying, yeah, you saved us, we're really happy. It's bigger than that. Everything is bigger than that here. It's speaking about the complete salvation. They're before the throne in their final state, in their fully redeemed state without sin. entirety of the church. Complete salvation from regeneration to sanctification to glorification now it's complete. And so it was started in chapter five for the scroll being open now has been brought to completion and they're praising the God who planned it and they're praising the lamb who lived and died was raised from death to accomplish it. Hosanna. God save us indeed because God has saved us completely. through Christ is what's being said here in verse 10. So that's the saints standing before the throne. The sealed ones of the earlier part now are standing before the throne in their resurrected, ascended glory by the grace and power of Christ. But then in verses 11 and 12, now you see some who are before the throne, but they're falling before the throne. The angels, in fact, they're all the angels and the four living creatures and the 24 elders, which we saw earlier in chapters 4 and 5. So in verse 11, all the angels stood around the throne. Notice it's all and the elders and the four living creatures. Remember, the four living creatures represent all creation. And they fell on their faces before the throne, they were standing, they fall on their faces and they worship God saying, Amen, blessing and glory and wisdom, thanksgiving and honor and power and might be to our God forever and ever. Amen. That's complete. All the angels. And the elders, which represent all the church and the four living creatures, which represent all creation, it's complete before the throne. At first they stood, but then they fell on their faces and they worshiped. But notice, as far as we know, the saints are still standing. And they're praising with a sevenfold praise, seven being the number of completion, and they're praising with bookends of amen that represents completion. It's a marvelous picture of the complete redemption of the saints after The judgment and the consummation of everything. And think about this, Jesus says in Luke chapter 15 that there is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents. There's joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents. What kind of joy was this when the entirety of the church, the church and her whole array is before the throne after the repentance? In 1 Peter 1, Peter writes that the prophets themselves inquired and searched to understand the details of God's plan of redemption through Christ, but had not been yet revealed. And even the angels, Peter says in 1 Peter 1, even the angels themselves desired to look into it, but it was not yet revealed. They had to watch it unfold as well as Christ redeemed his church to its completion. And so now what we're seeing at the end of Chapter 7, it's finally revealed the totality of God's plan of redemption through Christ. It's complete and it's marvelous. And they fall in their faces in joy in response in their worship of God and the lamb. In Romans 8. Verse 19 Paul writes for the earnest expectation of the creation eagerly awaits for the revealing of the sons of God. That's a wonderful line. That the creation itself is groaning for the day of redemption when Christ comes back and all sin is wiped out and there's a new heavens and new earth. But then it says that the creation itself earnestly and eagerly awaits the revealing of the sons of God. What's it going to be like when the church of God comes and they are fully redeemed and fully made like Christ? That's that's what we're waiting for. And here it happens. In 2 Thessalonians 1 verses 9 and 10, Paul writes, Speaking of those who are outside of Christ on the day of judgment, he says, these shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of his power. We're speaking about the victory of the saints. But if you're outside of Christ, there's only judgment awaiting for you. You're condemned already because of your sin. But you don't have to be. Flee to the fountain while it's flowing freely. But there's those who will be having everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord, from the glory of His power. But then in verse 10 of 2 Thessalonians 1, when He comes, Christ, the Lamb, in that day to be glorified in His saints and to be admired among all those who believe. It's one of my favorite passages of all scripture, when Christ returns. And we not because of anything we merited or anything we can do, but only by the grace of God and the work of Christ are we redeemed when Christ returns. If you're already dead, your body will be raised. It'll be made sinless and glorified. I'll be joined with you now already made sinless soul that was with the Lord and joined to be perfect in soul and body and be made like Christ as much as you possibly can. And then when the church is is arranged and before the throne, Christ is glorified supremely because we reflect the glory of Christ in us collectively as a church of Christ. And in that day, he will be glorified in his saints. No wonder creation is eagerly awaiting for this and groaning and wanting it to happen now. And we're seeing it in Revelation chapter 7. So the saints stand. They're resurrected and glorified, they're reflecting the glory of the Lamb who saved them, and they're able to reign with Him as all creation and all angels and the saints worship God and the Lamb of salvation. That's the first when and where, focusing on the occasion. Now in verses 13 through 17, focusing on the people and with the questions of who and where, And why would I say who and where? Well, if you look at verse 13, then one of the elders, it's interesting, an elder comes forward to speak again, like we saw in chapter five. One of the elders answered, saying to me, who are these arrayed in white robes and where did they come from? Of course, John wisely said, sir, you know. I think in some of your verses, he even says, Lord, it's a little L. You know. Perhaps he's afraid to answer. I think the idea is when the teacher asks you a question, but he just wants to tell you anyway. I think that's what's going on here. The last time we heard from the elder and elder was in chapter five when John was worried that the scrolls could not be opened or be enacted. He was weeping. There's no redemption available, but that's when one of the elders said, do not weep. Behold, the lion of the tribe of Judah, the root of David has prevailed to open the scroll and the lucid seven seals. So now an elder again is using a question to point John to the completion of that scroll. What follows is descriptive of the completion of the plan of redemption in God's people in verses 13 through 17. And John's response reminds us of Zechariah chapter 4. Some of us are reading the reading schedule, but covering the whole scriptures. We've been in Zechariah. In Zechariah chapter 4, that's where an angel comes to him and asks, about the lampstand and the seven lamps and the two olive trees. The whole point of these things is looking to the Spirit of God giving power. It's also looking to the priest and the kingship of Christ. But the angel says, do you not know what these are? And Zechariah says, no, my lord. Although John's at least saying, well, you know. Maybe he's less humble. And the book of Zechariah is often used in the book of Revelation. And since it is this time of year, and during the time of Christmas, and you think about Zechariah, you have to think of a few things about Zechariah. In Zechariah chapter three, the prophecy of the branch to come with a capital B, and the branch is a phrase that stands for the Messiah to come. And that branch will be the perfect high priest who will bring rich robes to replace the filthy garments of sin. In Zechariah chapter three, In Zechariah chapter six, there's a prophecy again of the same branch to come who will then also be priest and king. That's never before been seen when the same one is the king and priest. But here in Revelation chapter seven, he says, these are the ones who come out of the great tribulation and washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the lamb. The Great Tribulation is the church age time of difficulty for saints on the earth. We're in it right now. Maybe it's not so bad for us here, but if you're a Christian in other parts of the world, it's not a good place to be right now. Sometimes when we look at some kind of a final tribulation where we need to have a letter of apology to the Christians who have suffered in unthinkable ways throughout the years. In the context, this is describing the redeemed church universal. What we've just seen, this is all of the church. This is not just a subset. This is all of the church collectively at the end. And so the tribulation coming out is this time waiting for the return of Christ. It's the time that we saw in Matthew 24 and Luke 21 when we covered the Olivet Discourse a few years ago. There's a tribulation beginning in AD 70, but will continue until the time of the Gentiles being fulfilled, the age of Tribulation that the sealed ones were preserved in and persevered by grace for the glory of Christ. And even in Revelation, we keep having reference to tribulation. Revelation 1.9, John calls himself a brother and a companion in the tribulation and kingdom and patience of Christ. Revelation 2.9, in the letter to Smyrna, Christ says, I know your works and I know your tribulation and you will have tribulation 10 days. but be faithful until death, and you will have the crown of life. In a letter to Thyatira, verse 22 of Revelation 2, there you had the woman he called Jezebel, who was bringing doctrinal and sexual morality into the church. And Jesus says, I will cast those who commit adultery with this Jezebel into great tribulation. In Hebrews 10, which we won't get to today, but soon we will, speaks about believers even then who had suffered tribulations. In Romans chapter 8, we find out that tribulation cannot separate us from the love of Christ. In Acts chapter 14, near the end of the first missionary journey, they're teaching new disciples we must, through many tribulations, enter the kingdom of God. The Christian life is a battle. because there's still sin here and the world is opposed to us. But take heart, we have the sovereign Lord of glory who gains us the victory. And everything we do for him will be efficacious according to his will. And we see the victory here in Revelation chapter seven. And Jesus himself, right before he prays and before he goes to the cross in John chapter 16, says, these things I've spoken to you that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have what? Tribulation, but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world. And in the seven letters, what did he keep telling them? Be overcomers, overcome, here's the blessings as you overcome, as I have by my word and by my spirit with my gospel, overcome as you serve in the earth that's opposed to me. That's where they came from, but who are they? Who are these who are arrayed in white robes? Well, there are those like the Savior who overcame because of the blood of the Lamb. There are those who, like the Savior, overcame because of the blood of the Lamb. Notice again the repetition of white robes in verse 9 and 13 and 14. Even in a small passage, it's repeated. It must mean it means something. Here, however, there's something added to it. They washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the lamb. Seems a little bit counterproductive. Washing your robes in blood makes them white. But the wages of sin is death. And there's no forgiveness, the scripture says, without the shedding of blood. Sin causes death. There must be death then to atone for sin. And the blood represents that, and Christ's blood represents the death of atonement and his propitiation that was necessary to redeem hopeless sinners who could not save themselves, let alone everyone else. So symbolically, Christ's blood, by the nature of the violent, wrath-consuming death that he took for his people, it cleanses us from all sin. His precious blood makes us white in the Lamb, That means a lot if you understand the depth of your sin, Christian. And you really need to understand the depth of your sin if you're not a Christian. In 1 John 1 and Hebrews 9, we find out the blood of Christ cleanses us from all sin and guilt. The penalty of sin is completely wiped out. In Revelation 1 verse 5, there's an announcement to him who loved us. How has he loved us and washed us from our sins in his own blood, speaking of Christ? How do we know what God, what love is? Well, love is seen that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Sometimes we struggle with how do I know if I love Christ? I think the best representation of the gospel is do you hate sin and love Christ? That's about as easy as I can get it, but you have to hate sin and love Christ. And how can I love someone I've never seen? Well, if you know what he has done, How could you not love him? And Isaiah 1 verse 18. The Lord says, Come now and let us reason together, says the Lord there. Your sins are like scarlet. They shall be white as snow. Though they are like red like crimson, they shall be as wool. And we sing there's a fountain filled with blood drawn from Emmanuel's veins and sinners plunge beneath that flood lose all their guilty stains. And we will sing soon, for nothing good have I, whereby thy grace to claim I will wash my garments white in the blood of Calvary's lamb. Jesus paid it all, all to him I owe. Sin had left a crimson stain, and he washed it white as snow." What's being shown here is not just the washing away of sins, which a baptism will represent as well here in a few moments. But this is double imputation, that sins are forgiven, but Christ's righteousness is given. It reminds us back in Zechariah chapter 3 that I mentioned earlier, in Zechariah chapter 3, verses 3 and 4, where Joshua the priest was clothed with filthy garments and standing before the angel It says, then God answered and spoke to those who stood before him saying, take away the filthy garments from him. See, I've removed your iniquity from you and I will clothe you with rich robes. Justification by faith is not merely that your sins are forgiven. Oh, that's really, really good. You cannot stand before God naked with your sins removed. You have to stand before God fully clothed. He demands not just no sin, but he demands full and perfect righteousness. So with Zechariah, the idea of taking away the filthy garments, that's great, but then adding the rich robes of righteousness, that's necessary. And so when you come to Christ in repentance and faith, it's a great exchange, and it doesn't get any better than this. Christ, take my sin. Christ says, take my righteousness. And the branch to come came to do this. The branch to come, as Zechariah speaks of him, would come to do this. When you come to Christ in repentance and faith, your sin is imputed to him and his righteousness to you. Your filthy garments are washed and removed. His righteous robes are given to you to wear. Christ suffers your wrath, and you gain his favor before the Father that can never be taken away. Your sin is not seen, but his righteousness alone. And on the final day, you're actually made sinless in body and soul forever, and you can stand before the throne. And only the branch can do this. The idea of the branch is that Christ is the root and the shoot of David, as the scriptures in the Old Testament would say, the root and the shoot of David. As God, he's the source of David. He's a creator of all things. And David's comes from him in that way. But as man, he's the God who took on flesh. To humble himself to become man, he's also the shoot or the branch from David. In his physical lineage, he comes from David, as the scriptures promised. And only a man can live and die for men. So Christ had to be a man, but only infinite God could pay the infinite debt of all the sins of God's people. He must be the God-man branch. the root and shoot of David, and as a branch. He's also called a branch because he is fruitful. What he has done is efficacious. He has done it. Then you look at verses 15 through 17. Notice there's a therefore in verse 15. What you see here is look at all the eternal benefits that come from this complete salvation in Christ. It's promised and it's guaranteed, though it hasn't happened yet. The fullness of it, but we see it here. Therefore, they are before the throne of God and serve him day and night in his temple. And he who sits on the throne will dwell with them, in verse 15. They were servants of God on earth in the earlier part of chapter 7. Now they serve continually in his presence forever. And God will tabernacle with them, shelter them, dwell with them, with his people forever. Just as the sun took on flesh to tabernacle among us, as John chapter one says in verse 16, they shall neither hunger anymore nor thirst anymore. The sun shall not strike them, nor any heat that speaks of the end of the eternal state. After the tribulations in this life, now there's no hunger or thirsting. There's no heat from the sun that would harm them. No more tribulations or persecutions or lack. It fulfills Isaiah 49.10, where we read, they shall neither hunger nor thirst, neither heat nor sun shall strike them. For he who has mercy on them will lead them. Even by the springs of water, he will guide them. Matthew 5.6 says, to hunger and thirst for righteousness and you'll be filled. Well, now there's no more hungering and thirsting. You are filled at this point. And in John 6, 35, Jesus says, I am the bread of life. He who comes to me shall never hunger, and he who believes in me shall never thirst. And here it happens. And in verse 17, for the lamb who is in the midst of the throne will shepherd them and lead them to living fountains of waters, and God will wipe away every tear from their eyes. The lamb who's a lion is also a shepherd. The wonder of a shepherd who becomes a lamb to give his life for his sheep. the shepherd-servant that's promised in Ezekiel 34 and 37, who would gather, feed, and tend God's people and come from the line of David. He's here, here to lead to the living fountain of waters, which means eternal life, just like was offered to the Samaritan woman at the well in John 4, but whoever drinks of the water that I shall give him will never thirst, but the water that I shall give him will become in him a fountain of water springing up into eternal life. Just like it was offered in by Isaiah in Isaiah 51, where he says, ho, everyone who thirsts, come to the waters, and you who have no money, come by and eat. Yes, come by wine and milk without money, without price. Why do you spend money for what is not bread, and your wages for what does not satisfy? Why waste your life on the temporary things of this world, when eternity is offered to you through the living waters of Christ? Just like we see in the final aspect of Revelation, in Revelation 21 and 22, when the new Jerusalem is here, and Jesus says, I'm the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end, I will give the fountain of water of life freely to him who thirsts, and let him who thirsts come, whoever desires, let him take the water of life freely. It's meant by repentance and faith, bowing before him. When it says God will wipe away every tear from their eyes, the immediate thing we think about is, There'll be no more tears of sorrow or pain or sin. That's true. I can't help but think that it might also be this. When it says God will wipe every tear away from their eyes, perhaps it's a picture of God affectionately wiping away the tears of joy of the gathered saints before the throne on this day. So a quick application, because our time is short. If you're not a Christian, The obvious point is why, Terry? Judgment is coming, you're condemned already. You can tell the awfulness of your sin by what Christ endured to save sinners like you. Come to the waters, come in repentance and faith to the only one who is worthy while the fountain is still open. If you're a Christian, be encouraged to be a servant of God on earth now as part of the church militant. Knowing you're sealed by the Spirit, you're washed by the blood of Christ, and you will reign with him in the church, triumphant in the end, and your work on earth will be made efficacious by the will and the power of God as you serve him. And since we are having a baptism, and Isaac's going to come soon and give his testimony, I think there are applications in your bulletin. There are seven points of baptism that we often look at. There's also what the catechism speaks of baptism. I think it's helpful to know these things But many of these things are seen in what we've seen in Revelation chapter 7. For Isaac, he's been redeemed by the blood of a lamb from his sin and guilt before God. Baptism symbolizes that with the being put in the water and the water washing away as the blood of a lamb washes away the sin. The early church sometimes would have the one who's being baptized come out of the baptism in a white robe. Why was that? Because the filthy garments are wiped away. The white robe of righteousness is gone. That's what's already happened. but the baptism represents that. Think of that when you see the baptism. Isaac will like this, but also the baptism represents the sealing of the spirit of the person who's already been baptized and sealed by the spirit and through the power of the spirit, united with Christ and union with Christ and his death, burial and resurrection as Christ died and was buried and there was raised in your life. So is the center in Christ spiritually and the baptism represents that. Think of these things. The most important aspect of baptism is it represents the immersion into Christ, the unity in Christ, the union with Christ that the sinner now has in his salvation and his spiritual baptism. Let me pray and then we'll have Isaac come and give his testimony. We'll proceed with the baptism as well. Dear Heavenly Father, what a glorious passage of scripture. It's hard not to keep talking about what we see in Revelation 7. Make your word by the power of your spirit through the new heart you've given us. Enable us, inflame us in our love for you and our desire to serve you and to love one another. and to be part of the church militant taking the gospel forward for your glory and for the salvation of sinners. I pray for those who are outside of Christ that they would see their need in Christ, but also see that the only hope for them is in Christ, and they'd run to the fountain and be washed clean by the blood of the Lamb. I pray as well, Lord, that the testimony of Isaac would be an encouragement to us all, and the baptism of Isaac would be an encouragement to us all, as well as to him, In order to use this as a means of grace, Lord, to bring sinners to Christ and to unite your people all the more in Christ. It's in Jesus name we pray these things. Amen. It is such a joy to be with you in the house of the Lord this morning, and it's a great privilege of mine to share with you what our Lord Jesus Christ has done in my life. For those of you who don't know, or I guess I've already been introduced, but my name is Isaac Henderson and I'm seeking the covenant with members of this church today by virtue of being examined by the leadership and through the holy ordinance of baptism. a little bit about me. Since I was born, I was raised in the Presbyterian Church, primarily the PCA. I was sprinkled as an infant and attended church with my mother and father who were both professing Christians. They were faithful to teach me the word of God, to instruct me with the catechism and confessions and engage me in the life of the church. But growing up in the Reformed church, there is always that peril that young people can fall into. And it's this, thinking that if you know all the right answers, then you believe in Christ. In essence, it's just information to you. And I was incredibly guilty of this. This unfortunately led me to make a false profession of faith around the age of 10 or 11. I thought I had all the right answers, but in reality I was full of ignorance and self-satisfaction. When I was around 12 or 13, my family had moved due to my dad's job, and we moved to Fairhope, Alabama. If you don't know where that is, it's on the bottom of the state. I believe we were there for about a year or so before we sought membership. or they call it a communicates class. And I do remember going to the very first meeting with my parents without the slightest bit of self-reflection. I had been a member of a church before, I had taken the Lord's Supper before, so I thought, no big deal, I'll do the exact same thing here. but praise the Lord that he broke that arrogance with the very first question on that new members packet. And I'm sure it's one that you're all very familiar with. And it goes something like this. If you were to die tonight and God asked you at the gates of heaven, why should I let you into my heaven? What would you say? To any true believer, this answer does not take a second thought, but to me, it never really crossed my mind. I went to my dad, who could tell I was visibly distressed, and I expressed this concern, and we stepped out into one of the side classrooms and talked for well over two hours about the nature of my sin and my position before a holy God. The more we talked, the more I came to realize that all I had were appearances. I had a heritage I was living up to, but I had no real faith. I had no understanding of sin or my need of Christ or his death on the cross. All I was doing was stealing truth from the Lord of glory to further my own ends. After that night, my dad took the time to wake me up every morning, and I still remember to this day, you know, as a young child, you don't want to get up early, but he's I love my father, he was so faithful to do this. We went and read through the book of Ephesians, which remains to this day one of my favorite books in all of scripture. Reading through the second chapter, these several phrases stuck out to me, which I'm sure you're all familiar with, and forgive me a little bit, I'm going to skip around a little bit for the sake of time. You were dead in your trespasses and sins. But God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ, even though we were dead in our transgressions. For it is by grace you have been saved through faith, and this not from yourselves. It is a gift of God, not by works, so that no one can boast. God used these passages to convince me that it was not about me. no amount of Christian appearances or memorized facts could grant me favor with God. Something my dad emphasized over and over, I desperately needed his mercy, which is made possible by the death of his son. It was only after realizing this and pleading with God to grant me this mercy to know and repent of my sin and know his son who ransomed himself for me that I actually began to see a change in my life. I began to see my sin as a thing to hate and fight rather than just something to think about. And as so many of us know, God answered these kind of prayers through trials. Shortly after my conversion, I was diagnosed with Crohn's disease. For those of you who don't know what that is, I'm not going to go into it. You can ask me at lunch if you like. On the one hand, I would not wish this on anyone, but on the other hand, I wouldn't give up having this condition for anything. It is in the frailty of my own body and the certainty of my own mortality that Christ has taught me to depend upon his provision. Even amongst God's mercy and countless blessings, I've still made so many poor decisions. I can't even begin to tell you how many. And it's always based on a lack of trust in him or his sovereignty. If you speak to my parents, They will agree with me that I am the problem child, and I have to learn everything the hard way. These last few years have shown me just how much I was still trusting in my own righteousness. And I thought to myself, why would a Christian do this? How could I ever do something so stupid and wicked? Am I even saved? And when you begin to despair of even your love for God, you truly come to an end of yourself. This is when I realized that my position before my Lord does not depend upon my love for him. It is entirely based on the love that he's extended towards me. If I even trusted for a moment that my love or my works for Christ is what kept me safe, I would be condemned already. I highlight these couple of things because they're very key things that God has taught me about the Christian life. I must be weak. I must come to the end of myself and forsake all my natural strength so that he can fill me with his. Never hear me say, however, that I don't love my Lord, that I shouldn't seek to learn and love him better. All of these things are highly important, but I have no ability to do any of that in my own strength, and I cannot place my hope in any of it. My knowledge of God is feeble and forgetful. My love of God is often cold. And sporadic, my service to others is often so self-centered. The thing that drives me to do all these things is very simple, but it's sometimes so hard to acknowledge. It's need. I need God's mercy through Christ to cleanse me of my sin. I need God's provision in Christ to provide me for my weaknesses, both spiritually and bodily. And I need God's love through Christ to assure me that my salvation is secure. And I need the means of grace that he's provided through the church, which is where all you come in. I take great comfort in Paul's words in 2 Corinthians 12, 9. But he said to me, my grace is sufficient for you for my power is made perfect in weakness. Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses so that the power of Christ may rest upon me. Because without this, I'm still a foolish, wretched little boy who's more concerned about the right answer on a quiz than being the son of the creator of the universe. I seek baptism today as an acknowledgement of the work of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit in my life. I do realize I have left out a rather crucial part of where I came from, you know, the Pato Baptist to the creative Baptist position. I could tell you that would probably take another hour and you can probably ask me about it at lunch if you're interested. Before I end, however, I will share with you one last thing. I know the answer to the question now. When I die and cross that dark river, When I reach those glorious gates and the king of that country asks me, why should I let you into my paradise? I will say with complete confidence, the only thing I can think of is that your son has supplied every need of mine. This is Isaac Henderson. You've heard his testimony. If you have some questions, we'll ask Isaac so he can professes faith in baptism. Isaac, do you believe that you are a sinner and you've fallen short of the glory of holy God? I do. Do you believe that there is nothing you can do to pay for your sins? I do. Do you believe that Jesus Christ is the son of God? I do. Do you believe that Christ and his perfect work on the cross is the only hope for salvation? I do. Have you repented of your sins and placed your faith in Jesus Christ for salvation? I have. Are you willing to confess before God and man that Jesus Christ is your Lord and Savior? I am. Do you pledge to give yourself unto God through Jesus Christ to live and to walk in the newness of life that he has given you? I do. Do you desire to be a useful and functioning member of this local church to the glory of the Lord Jesus Christ? Yes, I do. Do you now proclaim your love for Christ, identifying yourself with him and his people and his death, burial, and resurrection by water, baptism? I do. Well, Isaac, on the profession of your faith, of Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, Rage to walk in unison with life.