Well, good evening to all. It has been a while. I think the last time we were in Revelation was almost six months ago. So tonight we're in Revelation chapter 7. That's page 1031, the bottom right-hand side in the Pew Bible. If I was to suggest a structure for the book of Revelation, you would have a prologue, an epilogue, which act as bookends to eight scenes. A lot of people think it's seven. I think it's eight scenes. So we're in scene two, which comprises verses 4-1 through 8-1. So tonight we're in seven, and it's impossible to do it in one message. So you're going to get two messages, possibly three. So please turn to Revelation chapter 7, and we're going to be looking at the first eight verses, but I'm going for a context. I want to read through verse 10. So Revelation 7 verses 1 through 10. God's word declares, after this, I saw four angels standing at the four corners of the earth, holding back the four winds of the earth, that no wind might blow on the earth or the sea or against any tree. Then I saw another angel ascending from the rising of the sun with the seal of the living God, and he called with a loud voice to the four angels who had been given power to harm earth and sea, saying, do not harm the earth or the sea or the trees until we have sealed the servants of our God on their foreheads. And I heard the number of the seals, 144,000 sealed from every tribe of the sons of Israel, 12,000 from the tribe of Judah were sealed, 12,000 from the tribe of Reuben, 12,000 from the tribe of Gad, 12,000 from the tribe of Asher, 12,000 from the tribe of Naphtali, 12,000 from the tribe of Manasseh. 12,000 from the tribe of Simeon, 12,000 from the tribe of Levi, 12,000 from the tribe of Issachar, 12,000 from the tribe of Zebulun, 12,000 from the tribe of Joseph, 12,000 from the tribe of Benjamin were sealed. After this I looked, and behold, a great multitude that no one could number, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages, standing before the throne before the Lamb, clothed in white robes with palm branches in their hands, and crying out with a loud voice, salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne. and to the Lamb. And we'll end our reading there. Let's ask the Lord to help us. Heavenly Father, again, we thank you so, so much for your word. It's a light to our path. It reveals who you are. It shows us how we are to live before you. And as now we come to the book of Revelation, this capstone and the edifice of divinely revealed truth, And we pray, Father, that you will help me as I deliver this message. I pray for the people that you will give them ears to hear. And in all this, we pray that the Holy Spirit will be our teacher and show us the things of Jesus Christ, for this is the revelation of Jesus Christ. We pray this in Jesus' name, amen. A keynote is the most important part of an idea, event, or speech. And I submit to you, Revelation has a keynote, and it's found in the book's first vision, that of the risen and glorified Christ standing in the midst of his churches, holding the key to all realms. Now, that said, we need to note Revelation's epistolatory genre It features characteristics of other New Testament epistles. It has a greeting, a main body, and a farewell. So, what is a New Testament epistle? It is a letter of instruction to... the church. Revelation is written to God's servants. God promises blessing on all who read, hear, and heed its content, and addresses seven real first century churches in Asia Minor. Churches struggling under a three-pronged attack from the forces of evil by way of persecution, deception, and worldly seduction. And as they struggle, evil seems to be winning the day. But central to revelation is the truth, Jesus Christ has already won the victory over Satan by his death and resurrection, that our Lord's past inaugurated already begun victory in his first advent guarantees his future consummated victory in his second advent. Friends, the purpose of revelation is very practical because Jesus has already conquered Satan through his uniquely redemptive suffering. Christians can also conquer in their present by standing fast against the forces of evil, by living holy lives, and by holding fast their fateful witness even if their witness results in death. Revelation brings the Lord's message of judgment and blessing to the churches. Now friends, the church is near and dear to the heart of her Savior, head and shepherd. The Lord guaranteed he will build his church, guaranteed the gates of Hades will not prevail against it, guaranteed his continual presence with her to the end of the world. The gospel of Jesus Christ and his church is very much part and parcel of the book of Revelation. And if you're a servant of God, this book is for you. Because Revelation, like all the other New Testament writings, is always relevant for the church at all times. Now, do you recall that saying, here is the church, here is the steeple, look inside, see all the people, but here's the rub. Are the people in church in Christ? That is, are they savingly united to him? So we must ask, what is a Christian? And the one definition that I found that most resonates with me comes from a sermon I heard 10 years ago, where the preacher defined a Christian as a person who, because of God, will forever belong to God. So how is this guaranteed? It's because of the predetermined purpose of God the Father, the redeeming work of God the Son, and the indwelling presence of God the Holy Spirit. You see, the scriptures are stamped with God's guarantee that a Christian is a person who, because of God, will forever belong to him. Here are just a few passages. You have Romans 8, that unbreakable chain of salvation from start to finish. We're foreknowned, predestined, called, justified, and glorified by God. Jude 1, he writes to those who are called, beloved by God the Father, and kept for Jesus Christ. Our Lord, John 10, declared, my sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand. My Father who has given them to me is greater than all, and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father's hand. There can be no doubt about our eternal security. Friends, God cannot lie. And as the apostle reminded us in 2 Corinthians, for all the promises of God, find their yes, their amen, in Christ. We can rely entirely on our Lord to fulfill all the promises of God for us. And then we can join that hymn writer, Isaac Watts, who said, I believe the promises of God enough to venture an eternity on them. Now I was reading about how various ways people go about preserving jam. One person recalled how his mom would pour wax over the top of the jar. She would then carefully wipe some of the wax around the rim itself and carefully place the lid, and the wax and vacuum caused by the cooling preserves would seal the jar so tight it would have sat on the basement shelf for years and the jam good when it was finally opened. Concerning our salvation, we are sealed, preserved, and protected by God. And what I want you to note, it's not what is the seal, but rather who is the seal that assures the completion of our salvation. So the apostle declared in Ephesians 1, 13 and 14, those God saves were sealed with the Holy Spirit who was the guarantee of our inheritance. 2 Corinthians 1.21, God put a seal on us and given us his spirit in our hearts as a guarantee. We have God's guarantee of a secure salvation and I urge you to think upon it often, be confident in it, and be motivated by it in your daily Christian walk and service, because God guarantees that nothing Not death, life, angels, rulers, things present, things future, height, depth, not anything in all the created realm will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord. God's love for us is perpetual. We are bound eternally to God by the strong and unbreakable cord of his love for us. Sealed, preserved, protected. I submit to you, this is why Revelation 7 is in our Bible. If you're a Christian, you're in view here. So let's set the stage. In Revelation 6, we saw the events that accompanied the opening of the seals of the scroll, the book of destiny, containing God's ultimate purpose of salvation and judgment for the entire created realm. The seals are opened by the Lamb who upon his ascension into heaven as the resurrected and glorified Lord is granted the right to take the scroll from God's right hand and open its seals. When the Lamb opened the first four seals, apocalyptic horsemen are sent out to execute God's judgment on the world. And although these judgments are partial, not executed in their full and final form, the judgment of God has already been inaugurated with the first coming of Christ, and which we saw occurs between the two comings of Christ. Keep that in mind. With the opening of the fifth seal, the scene shifts from earth to heaven, and we hear the cry of modern Christians under the altar, seeking to know the precise time for their vindication by the Lord. And when the sixth seal is open, we have something of an answer to that question, and we see the unfolding of cosmic events that typically typify or typical of the, they herald the coming of God in judgment. There's this crashing of the entire created order in verses 12 and 14. Now, if that's not terrible enough, we see in verses 15 and 17 a terrified human race from every stratum of society fleeing an utter panic from this holy God who comes in judgment. And so gripping and so violent is God's judgment, from their own lips they'd rather be obliterated by a crushing death than face him. Moreover, so comprehensive is God's judgment, they pose a very keen question. For the great day of their wrath has come, and who can stand? And that answer is revealed here in chapter seven. Who can stand in the final day of God's wrath? Answer, the people of God. But who are they? I submit to you, chapter 7 gives us two visions of the same people considered from two vantage points. The people of God made secure on earth, verses 1 through 8, and the people of God triumphant in heaven, verses 9 through 17, taken together And these two visions of the same people answer the question in 617, who can stand? It's the people of God. Those who because of God will forever belong to him. So first note, chapter 7 functions literarily as an interlude. It's placed between the opening of the sixth and seventh seal. John will also place an interlude between the sixth and seventh trumpet, along with three others in this book. But what is an interlude? Well, it's something that fills the time between two events, such as a brief performance between the acts of a play, or a piece of music inserted between the parts of a larger composition. So what is the purpose of this interlude? Well, in the midst of all the terrible fury of God's judgment presented in chapter six, this interlude is like a timeout called by God to help us to assure, to strengthen, and encourage these Asia Minor Christians and Christians at all times that the wrath of the lamb that falls on rebellious humanity can in no way cut off the people of God from him and his protective care. So look now at verse one and note the restraint of God's wrath, the restraint of God's wrath. After this, I saw four angels standing at the four corners of the earth, holding back the four winds of the earth, that no wind might blow on earth or sea or against any tree. This is interesting. In chapter six, The four horsemen, with their various plagues, conquest, bloodshed, scarcity, death, these partial judgments are sent into all the earth, wreaking havoc. When the sixth seal is opened, the entire universe is de-created, destroyed. And then when we read in chapter seven of four angels holding back the four winds of destruction of the earth, what then is left to destroy? It doesn't make sense at first, but it does when we bear in mind the uniqueness of apocalyptic literature, Revelation's primary literary genre. So two things about apocalyptic literature. One, metaphors are often intermingled to speak of the same event. So the four angels in Chapter 7 restraining the four winds of judgment is another way of referring to the four horsemen of Chapter 6. The fearsome foursome rides forth to inflict judgment on the earth according to the order of four angels, those living creatures. In Chapter 7, the winds of harm to the earth are held back by four angels. My friends, this is not something new. but a new view of the same thing. Now remember, Revelation is a tapestry of Old Testament words, phrases, and near quotations. This is an allusion to the book of Zechariah. The imagery is borrowed from Zechariah 6, where in that apocalyptic section, four horse-drawn chariots are linked, identified, with the four winds of heaven. And again, in apocalyptic, its metaphors are often mixed, Multiple images are interchanged to speak of the same event. So, if the Four Winds of Judgment are another image of the Four Horsemen of Judgment, then the event of Chapter 7, namely the sealing of the servants of God, must occur in time prior to the events of Chapter 6. Now, these are real-time events, but here's a second feature of apocalyptic. It's not its intention to provide a chronological chain of events. By chronological reckoning, the book of Revelation should end at chapter 6. The final day of God's judgment has arrived, and all that would need would be a chapter on the new heavens and new earth. But when John takes us to the end, to the final judgment in chapter 6, he then flashes back to a fresh vantage point. When you read Revelation, have you ever noticed the final judgment occurs over and over again? Currently, we're near the end of seven seal judgments. Chapter 8 begins seven trumpet judgments. Chapter 16, seven bowl judgments. Are these to be taken as 21 distinct separate judgments to be viewed chronologically? that each series has seven judgments or to tell us something. And what we'll find is these three series of judgments are interrelated and mutually interpreting. These judgments are not chronological, but cyclical. They cover the same ground, the time between the two comings of Christ, but from a different point of view. You gotta keep that in your mind's back pocket. Now, when John says, after this I saw, what John is saying is following the previous vision, he then received this new vision. As one writer stated, after this marks a logical rather than a chronological sequence. It answers the question that ends chapter six. And so in this new, this interlude vision, John sees the restraint of God's judgment. Four angels standing at the four corners of the earth, covering all the earth, holding back four winds. And we note winds in scripture are a natural symbol of destruction. Angels prominent in this book have many functions. Some control different aspects of nature. Here, four angels control the winds, restraining these destructive forces to be directed against the earth or the land, the sea, and trees. Land, sea, trees. Trees is certainly curious. So what does this threefold expression mean? This is metonymy. a figure of speech in which a word or phrase is substituted for another word or phrase that is closely associated with it. Here, land, sea, trees is another way of saying the judgment being restrained has in its scope and its bullseye the entire earth, all living things on it, including its people. Next, we have the reason for the restraint. The reason for the restraint. Verses 2 and 3. Then I saw another angel ascending from the rising of the sun with the seal of the living God. Let's stop there. Why the East? I think since in some biblical passages we read of God's gracious manifestations in the direction of the east, like the Garden of Eden or the star that guided the Magi, perhaps here it's referring to the blessings of salvation. He the angel called with a loud voice to the four angels who had been given the power to harm earth and sea saying, do not harm the earth or the sea or the trees until we have sealed the servants of our God on their foreheads. So this angel has in hand the seal of the living God. His loud voice signals an emphatic command to the four angels. The senses do not even think about harming the earth, sea, and trees until these people, the servants of our God, have been marked with the seal of God. So the restraint has to do with the sealing of a group of people. And again, Revelation is rooted in the soil of the Old Testament, and John is alluding to Ezekiel 9. So let me summarize Ezekiel 9 for you. Because the Israelites' persistent idolatry, God is about to destroy the Babylonians, I'm sorry, Jerusalem by the Babylonians. God is about to destroy Jerusalem by the Babylonians. So in the vision, Ezekiel sees a fiery angelic being. He summons six angelic executioners with their weapons to the altar in the temple. With them is a man clothed in linen with a writing case at his waist. That's a container used to hold pens and ink and a writing tablet. And he sends the man with the writing case throughout the city to put a mark on the foreheads of those who sigh and groan and sorrow because of the abominations being committed around them. He then tells the executioners to follow the man with the writing case and slaughter everyone, men, women, children, but not to touch those with the mark. Here, God's true people, his remnant, are mocked, thus protected from the manifestation of God's wrath. Same here in Revelation 7. Before God's judgment begins, before God's wrath is poured out, God's servants are mocked and thus exempt from his wrath. However, and this is important, those mocked by God are not exempt from suffering, from physical harm, from persecution. Christians die in the book of Revelation. Christians in the seven churches, such as faithful antipas of Pergamum. How about the imprisoned Christians at Smyrna, who were exhorted to be faithful even unto death? Revelation 12 stated of the faithful followers of the Lamb, they did not love their lives so much as to shrink from death. Revelation exhorts all Christians to emulate the Lamb, who achieved his triumph as a consequence of his death. And don't forget, the fifth seal, the full and final manifestation of God's wrath will not occur until the full number of martyrs has been achieved. So the sealing is akin to the Passover in Exodus. where the mark of blood placed on the lintels, the doorposts, seals and protects from God's judgment. So what is this seal? Well, it's a mark of identification. Turn over to Revelation chapter 14, please. Revelation chapter 14. Revelation 14, it tells us exactly what this seal is. Verse one. Then I looked, and behold, on Mount Zion stood the Lamb, and with Him 144,000 who had His name and His Father's name on their foreheads. Now please, please, please do not fall victim to a wooden literalism. We are not to think of this as a physical mark on a physical forehead. The Apostle Paul reminded us, just as real circumcision is of the heart, Just as the seal of the Holy Spirit marks us as God's own possession, Paul certainly does not have a physical mark in mind. And neither does John. This is a spiritual mark. The seal, this mark of God, is to assure us that we will be protected from divine wrath. This is the seal of the living God. Being sealed with the name of Christ and God, Christians need not fear because the living God, the Lord, the giver of life, guarantees we will never lose our spiritual life with God. It's God's forever guarantee that he will not undo the seal of those He is sealed. In contrast to those in Chapter 6 who flee from God's wrath to no avail, these who belong to Christ are made secure, protected from the wrath of God. And now comes the $64,000 question. Who are the servants of God? The word is literally slaves, bond servants. Now in the overall picture of scripture, the slaves of God are those utterly devoted to him. But friends, what we need to focus on is what does John mean when he uses this phrase? And what we find throughout the revelation, John uses this phrase, slaves, to refer to all Christians without any reference to ethnic distinction. Note, John does not say Christians or believers, but slaves of God. This is how he refers to all authentic Christians. And this must be kept in mind now as we come to verses five through eight. And I heard the number of the seals. 144,000 sealed from every tribe of the sons of Israel. 12,000 from the tribe of Judah were sealed. 12,000 from the tribe of Reuben. 12,000 from the tribe of Gad and so forth. Now, like myself, perhaps you were taught by well-meaning Christians that these 144,000 are to be understood as Jewish people. converted to Christianity, immediately following the rapture of the church, prior to the beginning of a seven-year period of time referred to as the Great Tribulation. But here's my issue. I do not find anything here, in this context, that suggests the idea that the church has been raptured out of this scene, removed at this point, and taken to heaven. Moreover, I do not find anything prior in Revelation that suggests the church has been raptured to heaven. Moreover, moreover, I do not find in the text anything to suggest these events occurring during a seven-year period of time. Now granted, John refers to the Great Tribulation in verse 14, but what I must put an exclamation point to is this. Why are we not allowing the Holy Spirit-inspired writer John to interpret John? Friends, let's put our thinking caps on. Concerning this time, how has John used it prior in Revelation? And what we read at the start of the book, John said, I am living in the flipsis, in the tribulation. He's referring to his own time, the time between the two comings of Christ. I, John, your brother and partner in the tribulation. Please let John interpret John. This idea is foreign to the text. It doesn't fit in Revelation 7, and it has to be interpreted into it. And that should raise a red flag. So, here's what I believe. The people have been sealed, who were defined just prior as the servants of our God, and as this term is used throughout Revelation, are Christians without ethnic distinction. It refers to all people at all times who belong to Jesus Christ. All Christians at all times without regard to ethnicity. And so, in our remaining time, I'll briefly give you some reasons why I believe this is so. First, There are notable irregularities, anomalies, in John's listing of the 12 tribes. It corresponds to none of the ways they are listed in the Old Testament. So note, not Reuben Jacob's firstborn, but Judah, the tribe of Messiah, Jesus, the lion of the tribe of Judah, is listed first. The tribe of Dan is omitted. It's replaced by Manasseh. He's not one of the 12 tribes. He's Joseph's son, Jacob's grandson. Yes, Manasseh along with his brother Ephraim were adopted by Jacob. So why is Joseph listed along with his son Manasseh and the other son Ephraim not listed? If we think of the 12 tribes who inherited the land, why is Levi listed? He did not receive an apportioned territory. The Lord was his inheritance. They were the priests distributed throughout the land and the tribes. You know, there's other things I can mention, and there are answers given to these questions, and some legit, but the main point is why these notable irregularities if John intended to speak literally of 12,000 people from each of Israel's 12 tribes? And let's not forget, as some have pointed out, the tribes have long lost their identity. It began with the ten tribes in the northern kingdom with the Assyrian invasion, is it 722 BC? The two tribes in the southern kingdom, when in 70 AD the Romans sacked Jerusalem, destroyed the temple and all its records. Since then, in what's now 1,954 years of intermarrying, no one's tribal line exists. Second, note, Revelation repeatedly uses numbers symbolically. Friends, what does the very first verse of Revelation tell us? It's all to be read symbolically. He sent and communicated it, or he sent and shown it. Better, he signified it. Revelation is conveyed through signs and symbols. It's God's picture book. It impresses on our minds vivid, colorful, even startling pictures. Now that said, by using the Bible's own rule of interpretation, scripture interprets scripture, we must allow clearer texts to take precedent over the more obscure. And with Revelation, its symbolic language must be seen in light of the words of Jesus in the Gospels and the witness of the other New Testament writings. And this is crucial. With Revelation, We cannot allow a point of doctrine to be established on an apocalyptic vision against clear statements to the contrary in the New Testament writings. Well, we have seen some of the much-repeated use of the number seven, symbolic for perfection, completeness, or the essence of something. Next most used is the number 12. So I call your attention to Revelation 22, the tree of life. It has 12 kinds of fruit, yielding its fruit each month, 12 months. Think back to chapter four. Around the throne are 24 thrones and 24 elders. Note the multiple of 12. Here in Revelation 7, 12,000 people, each from 12 tribes. To me, both the list and the number is too stylized, too tidy, too balanced to be something meant for a statistic. Again, owing to Revelation's apocalyptic genre, its numbers are not meant to be interpreted mathematically, but spiritually. So note Revelation 21. Look at it. The description of the holy city. It has 12 gates. These are the names of the 12 tribes of Israel. The city has 12 foundations on which are the names of the 12 apostles. Interesting. 12 times 12. 144. The wall of the city, 144 cubits thick. Again, the multiple of 12. The city is four square, a perfect cube. Ever hear of a cube-shaped city? Are you starting to realize Revelation is planting something in our minds? What's the size of the cube? 12,000 stadia, equal in length, width, and height. architecturally perfect, more than enough room for all God's people. So, I'll join with those scholars who suggest to you the number 12 and its multiples in this apocalyptic book are used to symbolize the complete people of God. Here in our text, 144,000. You have one 12 represents the people of God in the Old Testament, the other 12 the people of God in the New Covenant, Times 1,000. And Revelation, as in chapter 5, verse 9, uses high powers of 10 to signify a large quantity. An innumerable quantity. So, here we have the totality of the people of God. The complete community of the people of God. This symbolic number represents the church, the true spiritual Israel. And again, this is confirmed. Chapter 14, 144,000. And note, No mention of tribal distinctions is found there, only that they had been redeemed, purchased from the earth. Is there a bell going off? It's the very word used in Revelation 5 to speak of those who were purchased, redeemed from God from every tribe and language and people and nation. 144,000 sealed of seven are the same as chapter 14, symbolic of all the people of God, not some of them, not a special group of them, all are sealed, preserved, and protected from the expression of God's wrath. Three. Revelation uses Old Testament images given to Israel as means of now identifying the church. Revelation makes plain the church of Jesus Christ has been made the recipients of the promises given to Israel. Revelation, right at the start, Revelation 1.6 declares the church of Jesus Christ has experienced the ultimate exodus. He has freed us. The church has experienced the ultimate Passover. He has freed us from our sins by his blood to the end that what has been promised Israel to be a kingdom and priests has now been realized in us, the church. Okay, now, I'm probably getting in trouble. Now there are those who say God deals separately with Israel and the church is a parenthesis in God's plan. There are those who say God deals with Israel, gets fed up with Israel, The church replaces Israel. Well, I believe both are incorrect. Friends, the book of Revelation is a book of redemptive history. As we read the Bible, we see that within the progress of God's saving purpose, the church is Israel fulfilled. We are Israel fully flowered. We're grafted into that blessed heritage of salvation with all genuine Jewish believers. We're not a parenthesis in God's plan, we are God's plan. The Holy Spirit inspired writers, the Holy Spirit inspired writers of the New Testament pile up descriptions of Israel and apply them to the church. The apostles are clear. We are the seed of Abraham. The true circumcision, the holy nation, the dividing wall is broken down in Christ. There's no distinction between Jew and Gentile believers. We're all one in Christ, and together we're God's covenant people. This is not a picture of literal Israel, but a picture of the true spiritual Israel, the church, all genuine Christians, the supernatural and international society of God's redeemed and baptized people. All the elect, sealed and protected, from the wrath of God. Lastly, there is this neat interrelational unity between these two interlude visions. These two visions are those of the same people, same number, same ethnic varieties. The only difference? their location. The church secured on earth, verses 5 through 8. The church triumphed in heaven, 9 through 12. But you still say, how can this be? The same people, 144,000, a great multitude. My friends, this is not the first time John sees different visions from different perspectives on the same people. Is chapter 5 coming to mind again? The angel asked a question. who is worthy to take the scroll and break its seals? How is the question answered? Note, John doesn't see something, he hears. Revelation 5.5, he hears, behold, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David is conquered so that he can open the scroll and its seven seals. Then when John has opportunity to look, What does he see? The slaughtered lamb, the same person, same representation. Same thing here in seven. At first, John doesn't see anything. He hears, verse four, he hears the number of the sealed, 144,000. And just like before, when given opportunity to look, what does he see? After this, verse nine, I looked and behold, a great multitude that no one could number. My friends, just as the lion of the tribe of Judah proves to be the slaughtered lamb, so the measured tribes of Israel prove to be the innumerable multitudes of the people of God. You have the same people, different vantage points, made secure on earth, triumphant in heaven, both cases protected from the wrath of God because they are sealed. Brothers and sisters, chapter seven's for us, We're here in chapter seven, and if you're still asking, I'm still confused, why does John talk about us as 144,000, as a great multitude? Well, John wants us to think about and appreciate our heritage, to realize the church is Israel fulfilled, fully flowered, and moreover, to realize we are the people upon whom all God's covenantal promises have been fulfilled, all the promises to Abraham, all to Moses, all to David, have been realized in us. So I want to close with this. What will now become prevalent in Revelation is how Satan counterfeits God and his purposes. And one of the ways Satan counterfeits God and his purposes is that the devil will put his mark on all his followers. The counterfeiting of Satan begins to be presented in chapter 13. And this is another reason why we know the seal of God in chapter seven is for all Christians, because in 13, the devil puts his mark on all his followers. And note, unless you take the devil's mark, what happens to you? You're gonna be targeted. You cannot buy or sell. In short, life's gonna be a struggle for survival. Now, if there's one thing you take away from this message, it's this. Everyone here has a mark. No exceptions. You either have the devil's mark, or you have God's mark. You either face God's wrath, if you have the devil's mark, or you open up to the devil's wrath, if you have God's mark. Think about that. What this text is forcing upon us boils down to this. Whose mark do you have? Whose wrath will you have? The devil's or God's? Our day is a day that embraces a hodgepodge of isms. secularism, existentialism, pluralism, relativism, new age-ism, this-ism, that-ism, all such isms scoff at, dismiss, reject, misrepresent the one true living God of the Bible, the God who is holy, just, and whose name is jealous. Moreover, these isms scoff at, dismiss, reject, or misrepresent Jesus Christ, the only way and the truth and the life, the only savior of sinners, the only name under heaven by which we must be saved. And so I ask again, whose mark do you have? Whose wrath will you have? Now I know I can speak on behalf of the elders and all the faithful here, is that if you're not a Christian, we urge you, acknowledge your spiritual bankruptcy, acknowledge your sin and rebellion against God, and call upon the name of the Lord while the door of salvation remains open. and exercise repentance toward God and faith in Jesus Christ alone as he's offered in the gospel. Turn from your sin and self and embrace Jesus Christ alone as your savior and as your Lord. And to do so is to mark you with God's seal, never to fear God's holy and just wrath. And because salvation belongs to the Lord, is of the Lord, is by the Lord, and is in the Lord. We who belong to Jesus Christ have God's guarantee that we will forever belong to him. Let's pray. Oh Lord, God, Heavenly Father, when we think about it, it just floors us, it humbles us. that you have taken the initiative in salvation, that you have sealed, preserved, and protected us from your wrath, how we thank you for the Lord Jesus Christ and his great love for us, Lord. It humbles us. And I pray, Father, that each of us here that knows thee, that we will just love you with all our heart, strength, soul, everything we have, Lord, that you will help us to be faithful and true witnesses for you, that you will help us to live holy lives and help us to persevere to the end, Lord. We know this world has gone crazy, Lord, but you are in control. You're ruling all things in the interest of your church, so we pray, Father, for your blessing upon us. Give us that grace to help us to walk the straight and narrow path that leads to life, to tell others about Jesus. We pray these things for your glory. In Jesus' name, amen.