These things I have spoken to you, so that in me you may have peace. In the world you have tribulation, but take courage. I have overcome the world. Let's pray. Our Father, our Savior tells us in this text that the things he speaks to us has a purpose, one of which is that we would have peace in Christ, even though while yet in this world we have tribulation. But along with this peace in Christ, we pray that we might also Take courage, because we follow Him who has overcome the world. Amen. Take your Bibles with me, please. We return once again this morning to our exposition of the book of Revelation. Jesus, you recall, has unsealed the sixth seal, of which we read at the end of the sixth chapter of Revelation, Revelation 6. And with the unbreaking of the sixth seal, John brings us to events that concern the second coming of Christ, the revelation of final judgment, and he pictures these things from the vantage point of the earth. By way of review, looking at verse 12, in chapter six, then I looked, when he broke the sixth seal, then there was a great earthquake, and the sun became black as sackcloth made of hair, and the whole moon became like blood, and the stars of the sky fell to the earth as a fig tree casts its unripe figs when shaken by a great wind. The sky was split apart like a scroll when it is rolled up, and every mountain and island were moved out of their places. Then the kings of the earth and the great men and the commanders and the rich and the strong and every slave and free man hid themselves in caves and among the rocks of the mountains. And they said to the mountains and to the rocks, fall on us, hide us from the presence of him who sits on the throne and from the wrath of the lamb. For the great day of their wrath has come and who is able to stand. With the breaking of the sixth seal, we're nearing the end of this cycle. Remember, John's revelation is constructed in these cycles of sevens. Now, we don't read of the seventh seal being broken until the beginning of chapter 8. Verse 1, when the Lamb broke the seventh seal, There was silence in heaven for about a half hour. John is going to once again revisit the subject of the final judgment with the breaking of the seventh seal, then seen from the vantage point of heaven. Obviously, between chapter 6 and chapter 8, there's this chapter 7. Chapter 7 is a parenthesis in which John gives the church's information so as to inform our faith. Faith is biblically informed. And with biblical informed faith, we're strengthened and we're encouraged. So in this parenthesis, John is still treating matters concerning our present time in redemptive history. He's telling us things that are true and that are relevant to us. even while we are learning through the cycles to interpret and understand ourselves, our time in history, our place in God's purposes, even as we try to understand these things using the symbols that John gives us in the book of Revelation. So this parenthesis is not an irrelevant sidebar. But it is crucial to informing the perspective of the churches to help us to persevere and to overcome. We're going to see this same literary style in the next cycle, the cycle of the trumpets. where the sixth trumpet blows, and then there's this parenthesis before the seventh trumpet blows, and that parenthesis is a big one. It's chapters 10 and the great bulk of chapter 11. So what John is telling us here is very, very important to inform us. And you remember in verses 1 through 8, We see here a depiction of the church on earth. After this I saw four angels standing at the four corners of the earth holding back the four winds of the earth so that no wind would blow on the earth or on the sea or on any tree. And I saw another angel ascending from the rising of the sun having the seal of the living God. And he cried out 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 or the sea or the trees until we have sealed the bondservants of our God on their foreheads. And I heard the number of those who were sealed, 144,000 sealed from every tribe of the sons of Israel. From the tribe of Judah, 12,000 they were sealed. 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. And from the tribe of Joseph, 12,000. From the tribe of Benjamin, 12,000 were sealed. Here we see an elect army. Here is a gathering of those taken out from the larger number of the 12 tribes. And as such, they depict a select army of 144,000. And as we saw, that's a symbolic number. That's a symbolic number. These are those who are identified with the vocabulary of the old covenant people of Israel, the 12 tribes. They're sealed in the sense of being marked. They're marked on their foreheads. They think differently than those who aren't sealed. They're sealed by this angel while four other angels are prevented from unleashing these four winds of global judgment analogous to what we saw with the first four seals being broken and the four horsemen, which we'll see with the first four seals of the trumpets and the effect of judgment depicted in these symbolic terms. Now, in verses 9 through 11, John, as he does on occasion, takes us as a church and gives to us yet another glimpse of heaven. Verse 9. Chapter 7. After these things I looked, and behold, a great multitude, which no one could count, from every nation, and all tribes, and peoples, and tongues, standing before the throne, and before the Lamb, clothed in white robes, and palm branches were in their hands. And they cry out with a loud voice, saying, Salvation to our God, who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb. and all the angels were standing around the throne and around the elders and the four living creatures. And they fell on their faces before the throne and worshiped God saying, amen. Blessing and glory and wisdom and thanksgiving and honor and power and might be to our God forever and ever, amen. So here's another glimpse that John gives to us of heaven, and we see these there who are clothed with white robes. We understand that here are the disembodied saints of God, and they are engaged in the worship of God and the Lamb, and they are worshiping because of their salvation. That worship then is joined into by the angels. They amen those with the white robes, and they begin to adore the Lord with a series of adjectives attributing worth to our God. I really appreciate these times when John gives us a glimpse of heaven. The cycles. seals, trumpets, as we'll see, bowls. These are symbols of judgment that God is pouring presently upon men. And these get more and more severe and more and more extensive. as we make our way through Revelation approaching the end. And John gives us these heavenly glimpses and he gives us these literary parentheses in order to encourage us and to refresh us and to strengthen our faith. Remember, John sees the worship of the church, our worship here this morning, and he sees our worship in these heavenly depictions. Remember in chapter five and verse eight, he said, there, you see, oh, you see the incense rising in the temple? That's your prayers. That's your worship. That's your voice. That's where you are presently engaged as your heart believingly adores Christ in the presence of this worship. Brethren, we need to realize the indispensable importance of maintaining worship if we are going to overcome. Now, as John witnesses this heavenly worship, an elder, remember one of those heavenly characters, one of these 24 elders who are representative, we believe, of the redeemed from old and new covenant, an elder engages him in a conversation and he asks John two questions. specifically about this one group of worshipers that John has seen, these who are particularly of interest to us. Notice verse 13, then one of the elders answered saying to me, these who are clothed in the white robes, who are they? And where have they come from? Shouldn't it be from where have they come, but where have they come from? So the first question is, Who are these white-robed ones? And the second question is, from where have they come? Well, last time we were together, I'm sure you remember, that was only seven weeks ago, when we were last in this text, we answered the first question with a sermon entitled, Worship, Wash, and Weave. We found the weave and the wash part from verse 14, the latter part of verse 14, which serves to answer this question, who are these people? Well, they're the ones, verse 14, who have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. So here is their identity. This is the answer to the question, who are they? They're the white-robed ones whose robes have been washed and made white in the blood of the Lamb. Now, the white-robed ones, we saw them when we looked at Revelation 3, verses four to six, and we saw that the white robe is that which adorns the saints who have gone before us into glory, disembodied, but adorned with white robes. They are adorned with white robes, we're told in Revelation 3, because they have walked worthy. Now it doesn't mean they have earned their salvation or merited their justification, but it means their lives have had a legitimate correspondence to their profession. That's what the word worthy means. It means that you're doing what it is you're saying. As John said, be a doer, or James rather, be a doer of the word and not a hearer only deluding yourself. We also looked at Revelation 19 in verse eight, and we saw that this white robe is nothing other than a bridal gown. that is being woven, that has been woven by the people of God during the course of their lives out of the threads that form the fabric of a life that is characterized by good deeds, a life of good deeds. That's how the bride prepares herself for the marriage of the Lamb. And those with the white robes are those who will, at the resurrection, be embodied, not with white robes, but with glorified bodies that are fully conformed to the glorious body of Jesus Christ. So today, our question is the second asked by the elder, and that is, where did these folk come from? And we don't understand. These are those who have completed their tour of duty. This is those out of the 144,000 who are coming off of the battlefield. And they've been given white robes. They're joining the martyrs who are under the altar, remember in chapter six, verse nine through 11, and they now too begin to pray, Lord, how long before you vindicate us? and they're given white ropes and they're told to rest for a little while longer until the number of their brethren, who are also to be killed as they were, are joined to their company. And then at the end of the age, at the return of Christ, they will be resurrected and be granted a glorified body and enter into the eternal Sabbath rest of a new cosmos, the temple of God in which God will dwell with men in glory. So there's our identity, white-rolled ones. And that brings us this morning to their history in verse 14. I said to him, my Lord, you know, answering the questions, who are they, where are they come from? And he said to me, these are the ones who come out of the great tribulation. So here's their history. The history of the disembodied saints, overcomers through tribulation. The elder asks, where have they come from? In verse 13. You see, he knows that these white robed ones are not heavenly creatures, but here they are now in heaven, having come from somewhere. Where? Well, John, remember as Ezekiel in chapter 37 was asking these dead bones live, very, very wisely said, Lord, you know. Well, John says, Lord, you know. It's a term of respect. The new King James, the ESV, the NIV, King James translate this word, sir. John answers with respect to this one who is an elder, who is a representative of the redeemed people of God. It's interesting that Jude 1.8 speaks of apostates. They don't respect the church. They don't respect those representing Christ. They revile angelic majesties. In verse 10, Jude says, they revile things which they do not understand. The word revile means blaspheme, slander. They talk against, they mock it. They ridicule it. They don't understand it. I'm not interested. They don't value it. I don't see the worth of it. They don't cherish it. They don't invest in it. I don't have time for that. That's the language of one who apostatizes. But here is John saying, sir, he speaks with an elder, a representative of the church, and he speaks with respect. My dear brethren, our treatment of Christ's redeemed people has eternal significance, eternal implications. Jesus takes personal interest in how his bride is treated. Is she treated with respect or disdain? So we not only see these white robed people, but we hear them and they're speaking the language of heavenly worship. Notice verse 10, they cry out with a loud voice, salvation to our God who sits on the throne and to the lamb. Their worship is what indicates that they're citizens of heaven. Where have they come from and how did they learn to speak the language of heaven? Well, we learn to speak the language of heaven in worship. It's the language of adoration and praise, faith, repentance, discipleship. in worship. And it's the language of worship that identifies us as a peculiar people, as aliens and sojourners. We worship, and we speak the vocabulary of gospel truth and biblical worship, and people can say to us, man, you're not from around here, are you? Where you come from? Where'd you learn how to talk like that? That's a strange accent. I remember my dad from Belfast meeting Pastor Ten Dodley from Belfast. And he walks up to Pastor Donley and says, I bet you don't know where I'm from. And Donley names the street in Belfast from where he was from. Where'd you learn how to talk like that? Where'd you learn those words, that vocabulary, that accent? Well, John would have the elder answer his own question. Who know? And so the elder answers and he says, okay, these are the ones who come out of the Great Tribulation. This is an interesting way in which this group of white robed ones are identified. They are those who come out. It's interesting because the original, grammatically, is a present passive participle. It is present. In other words, he's seeing them moving right now. They are presently doing whatever he sees them doing. But it's a passive. So they're being acted upon. They're the recipients of the action. You could say they're being brought out, would be a legitimate way of talking about it. And it's a participle. which means it's something that is continuing to happen. A participle is those verbs that end with ing, like listening, is a participle. These are the ones who are being brought out, but they're not like limply being, you know, zapped up into heaven like underneath a beam from some spaceship or something. We've seen something like that. No, they're doing stuff. They're actively moving. They're coming out of great tribulation. John sees people filing into heaven, having gone through tribulation. And John wants us to look at this. And the way he invites us with this peculiar way in which he describes their movement, he says, they're passively being brought out. They're the ones that have been sealed, remember? They're the ones that have been protected. They're the ones that have been preserved. Yet at the same time, they're the ones who are moving. They're active. They're the ones who have persevered. And here they are. They're in heaven, having come through tribulation. Now, tribulation is a word that not surprisingly originates in the Old Testament. So if you keep your finger in Revelation 7, you come back to Daniel chapter 12. And Daniel is one of those prophecies that John interacts a lot with throughout the book of Revelation. In Daniel chapter 12, read with me from verse one to verse three. Now at that time, Michael, the great prince who stands guard over the sons of your people will arise and there will be a time of distress. That's the word tribulation. such as never occurred since there was a nation until that time, and at that time, your people, everyone who was found written in the book, will be rescued. Many of those who sleep in the dust of the ground will awake, these to everlasting life, with the others to disgrace and everlasting contempt. Those who have insight will shine brightly like the brightness of the expanse of heaven, and those who lead many to righteousness like stars forever and ever. So this speaks of the tribulation of tribulation, a time of distress out of which Daniel's people are going to be rescued, saved. In fact, one Greek translation of the Hebrew uses the word exalted. How? Well, it goes on to tell us how they'll be resurrected. There's a general resurrection of the righteous and the wicked. But he then centers in on those who have lived with insight and have led others to righteousness. They're going to shine like the stars. Jesus quotes this text. In Matthew 13, 34, where he says, you will shine like the sun in the kingdom of your father. That's, brethren, listen, that's not just something that is held as a hope and aspiration for pastors. That's something for all of us to have insight and to live a life that stimulates others to seek that righteousness, which is in Jesus Christ. If you come back to the Gospel of Mark, please. The Gospel of Mark, looking at verse 13. Reading the words of Christ, beginning at verse 19, because here we again are told about tribulation. Verse 19. For those days will be a time of tribulation, such as has not occurred since the beginning of creation, which God created until now and never will. Unless the Lord had shortened those days, no life would have been saved. But for the sake of the elect whom he chose, he shortened the days. And then if anyone says to you, behold, here's the Christ, or behold, he is there, do not believe him. For false Christs and false prophets will arise and will show many signs and wonders in order to lead astray a possible the elect. But take heed, behold, I have told you everything in advance. But in those days after that tribulation, the sun will be darkened and the moon will not give its light and the stars will be falling from heaven. and the powers that are in the heavens will be shaken. Then they will see the son of man coming in clouds with great power and glory. And then he will send forth the angels who will gather together his elect from the four winds from the farthest end of the earth to the farthest end of heaven." So here Jesus talks about tribulation. He speaks of an unprecedented tribulation. Tribulation is what Jesus tells us characterizes our present time of history until the second coming. And then there is this tribulation that occurs after, in conjunction with the catastrophic signs that I believe will accompany Christ on the occasion of his return. So tribulation is a word, if we were to find it in its vocabulary, it means outward pressure, affliction, oppression, trouble, distress, things that don't feel all that good, causes pain, difficulty, and hardship. Jesus is telling us of the realities of our present age, which is the second point this morning, our present time of tribulation. Our present time of tribulation. We presently live in tribulation. That was the text that I used to pray for our prayer of illumination this morning. In me, you may have peace. In the world, you have." Present tense. In the world, you have tribulation, but take courage, present imperative. I have overcome. Perfect accomplishment. I have overcome the world. Jesus tells us to do as he has done, to overcome through tribulation. Be overcomers in the midst of tribulation. And we are encouraged that we are doing that and can do that because the Spirit has united us to him who is, chapter five of Revelation, the overcomer, the Lion of Judah, behold, the Lamb of God. And because we are sealed by the Holy Spirit in union with Christ, we overcome through tribulation because we are in Christ Jesus. Now in Acts, we needn't look at all of the text, but this word is often translated, affliction. It's used. when Paul and Peter are referring to the days when Israel was in Egyptian bondage, under affliction. It's a term that describes the church under persecution. It's when Paul returns to the church in Lystra and says, through many tribulations, we must enter the kingdom of God in Acts chapter 14, 22. And the congregation said, could we see a video of this? Could we have some visual? Paul was the visual aid. He had just been stoned and left for dead. Imagine a preacher looking like he just rose from the dead. And his face is all marred and his clothes are all bloodstained. And he says, you know, It's through many tribulations that we must enter the kingdom of God. You think anybody's going, nah, I don't think he believes that. I'm sure he does. Paul uses this word, tribulation, trouble, affliction, pressure. Paul uses this word 23 times in his writings. And brethren, 21 of those 23 uses describe the experience of the Christian life. Romans chapter eight is a favorite passage of ours at the end of Romans chapter eight. Remember all of the things that are arrayed against us. Notice in verse 35, who will separate us from the love of Christ will tribulation. And then there's all these other dimensions of challenges that we face. Distress, persecution, famine, nakedness, peril, sword. And then there's the text from Psalm 44 that's quoted, and we're reminded that we're following a lamb, and it's even as slaughtered lambs, we experience following this lamb who was slaughtered. And Paul uses the word that John then uses repeatedly. He says, we are hyper-overcomers, when? In all these things. As we saw this morning, the crucifixion is the beginning of the glory. And then he goes on, I'm convinced, death, life, angels, principalities, things present, things to come, powers, height, depth, any other created thing will be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. And the head of the list, and many think, That encompasses and encapsulates everything else that Paul says in those verses. The head of it is tribulation. Everything under that is all aspects of tribulation, various kinds. in which we are called to hyper overcome as slaughtered lambs. We come back to Revelation and we've seen reference to this text, this word rather, tribulation already. In chapter one, verse nine, I, John, your brother and fellow partaker in the tribulation and kingdom and perseverance, which are in Jesus, was on the island called Patmos because of the word of God and testimony of Jesus Christ. John is experiencing tribulation. If you're in the world, you have tribulation. If you're in Jesus, you have peace. And if you're in Jesus and in the world, you have a tribulation that is uniquely Christian. If you're in your sin and you're in the world, you have a lot of tribulation, but that's different than being in Christ and in the world. Because in Christ and in the world, you also have his peace. And you're also given courage to overcome. In chapter two of Revelation, verse nine, the church to Smyrna, It's talked about this issue of tribulation in verse nine. I know your tribulation and your poverty, but you are rich, and the blasphemy by those who say that they are Jews and are not, but are synagogue of Satan. Do not fear what you are about to suffer. Behold, the devil is about to cast some of you into prison so that you will be tested, tested, and you will have tribulation. You will be tested and you will have tribulation for 10 days, be faithful until death and I will give you the crown of life. In chapter two and verse 22, the church at Thyatira, behold, I will throw her into a bed of sickness, that's Jezebel, this false teacher, and those who commit adultery with her into great tribulation. great tribulation unless they repent of their deeds. So here is a tribulation that Jesus brings and it's great. You will be tested. You will experience tribulation. there is a very close conceptual relationship between being tested and experiencing tribulation. We've looked at this word test in previous times together, perasmos, it's an ambivalent term. The same situation comes to mind But how you translate it, whether this is a temptation or whether this is a trial, which both translates the word from the original, it depends upon who is doing the testing and how the one being tested is faring. Remember Joe, right? He was tried and tested, wasn't he? He was tempted, wasn't he? Satan's hand in the whole matter was a temptation for Job to sin. Remember, we learned in our study of Job, it wasn't that Job was suffering because he sinned, but Job found that in the midst of his suffering, he sinned. That's what Satan wanted him to do. Thank you, dear wife, for your counsel. Curse God and die. No, he's going to resist that temptation. But it is also a trial. It is also a test. And in the hand of God, this testing tribulation is something superintended by God's sovereignty in order to prove our faith, in order to mature us and strengthen us and conform us into Christ's likeness. You remember Paul's thorn in the flesh. In 2 Corinthians 12, verse 7, he said it was a messenger of whom? Of Satan. And when he asked God three times to take it away, the Lord says, my grace is sufficient for you. I'm in control of this. This is a temptation, but it is a tribulation. It is a test. And Paul learned the lesson. It's in order to keep me from my pride and to teach me that the Lord's strength is my sufficiency in the most extreme weaknesses. And in so doing, he overcomes by faith. We're going to see this testing tribulation conjunction as we continue in our study of Revelation. But this brings me, thirdly, this morning, having seen the history of the disembodied saints, the overcomers, and having seen our present time of tribulation, thirdly, there is a future coming time of great Now we've met up with that word great tribulation when we read chapter 2 and verse 22. We read chapter 2 and verse 22 and Jezebel and her followers are being disciplined with great tribulation at the hand of Christ. But verse 14 of Revelation 7, is the only place in the New Testament where the great tribulation is referred to. Now, great tribulation is something that, again, we've read before. You can find it in the words of Christ. If you come back to the Olivet Discourse in Matthew 24, in Matthew 24, and read from verse 21, Matthew 24, verse 21. For then there will be a great tribulation, such as has not occurred since the beginning of the world until now, nor ever will. The great tribulation that's unprecedented and unique in a sense that it is greater than the previous tribulations and there will be none greater that will come afterwards so that we're to understand that there are degrees to tribulation and there can be a degree that such that a tribulation is called great. And then there is what I believe this climactic culminating tribulation called the great tribulation. So there is an already and a not yet to our understanding of tribulation. You remember, How Paul describes the history of this world, Jesus also, using the metaphor of a woman giving birth, the birthing contractions. In Romans 8.22, creation groans and suffers the pains of childbirth, waiting for the resurrection of the sons of God. The earth is pregnant with the people of God. And she desires to have that delivery and the resurrection so that the earth too can enter into the glory of the sons of God. Jesus makes reference of birth pangs in this chapter, chapter 24 and verse eight of Matthew, where he talks about false Christs and wars and famines and earthquakes. These are merely the beginning of birth pangs. We come back again to Revelation chapter three, And we see this focusing, this climactic time referenced as an hour of testing in chapter three, verse 10. Because you have kept the word of my perseverance, I also will keep you from the hour of testing, that hour which is about to come upon the whole world to test those who dwell on the earth. So here's a global testing, an hour of a climatic tribulation attend an intensified time such that I believe it could be called the Great Tribulation. In chapter 20 of Revelation, at verse 12, John says, I saw the dead, the great, the small, standing before the throne. The books were opened and another book was opened. which is the book of life and the dead were judged from the things which were written in the books according to their deeds. And that's a misprint on my part in my notes. John speaks of Satan being loosed for a short time. at the conclusion of the 1,000 year period, which is not a literal, but a symbolic depiction of God's determined timetable. And Satan is loosed for this short period of time. I believe there is a coming time of great tribulation, perhaps even to be called the great tribulation. And I removed several paragraphs of my notes in preparing for this, reviewing what I'd prepared, in which to somewhat address how this issue of the Great Tribulation has become to be known in evangelical Christianity in the United States, which is a somewhat unique profile of evangelical faith in our day. I don't want to overreact, and I don't want to underreact to that particular kind of teaching. I want to understand the scriptures as the scripture interprets itself. And I do believe that we will enter, and as we'll see this in John, the contractions get more and more severe, more and more extensive. And there is that final contraction, which is the great one, the big one, when that baby finally breaks through in the resurrection of the sons of God. Two applications. One, consider the approaching storm. And Jesus, you remember at the end of the Sermon on the Mount, concludes his teaching by speaking to all those who hear these words. And he says, you're either one of two kinds of people. You're either a fool or you're a wise. And there's a certain sense in which every life goes through the storms that Jesus describes, the winds and the rains and the floods, and especially, and inevitably, that sifting storm of final judgment. In Matthew, please, Matthew chapter 16. You may yet be in Matthew, a few pages to the left. Matthew chapter 16, verses two and three. The Pharisees and Sadducees have asked Jesus for a sign from heaven. He replied to them, when it is evening, you say it will be fair weather for the sky is red. And in the morning, there will be a storm today for the sky is red and threatening. Do you know how to discern the appearance of the sky but cannot discern the signs of the times? Brethren, I think the morning sky is red. I recently read a book by Al Mohler entitled, The Gathering Storm, published in 2020. The title is taken from a speech that Winston Churchill gave to the British Parliament at the end of the 1930s, in which he was attempting to alert Britain to the gathering storm that he was seeing develop east of them over in Germany, they're called Hitler and the Nazis. And so taking that motif of the gathering storm, Moeller in this book describes the collapse of what we're seeing in Western civilization, the state of the church in its doctrinal and practical profile, the issue of abortion, of marriage, the family, gender, generational disparities of conviction, cultural institutions that are corrupt and collapsing, and the whole threat that we face to the issues of religious liberty, and he calls the reader for an intensified cultural engagement. So, brethren, my present understanding regarding tribulation is that there is an already present time of testing. You're in it. Life is a test. But there is an intensified, all-encompassing hour of testing at the end of redemptive history in which Satan will marshal all his forces to launch a final climatic onslaught against the Church. And I believe we'll see that become clearer and clearer as we work our way through the book of Revelation. So there is the approaching storm. So the question now is, how do we prepare? Now is the time to prepare, right? You see the weather, and I remember a few years ago, I saw that hurricane come into the Gulf of Mexico, and I read the weather, and I read the headlines, and that Monday morning I said, good grief, Look where this thing is headed. Bought an airplane ticket, headed down there, got the wee fellow out of there, and we got way over to the, up into Alabama and got out of the way. Right? Right? Floridians know how to prepare for a storm. Well, brethren, I have to tell you, these truths working through Revelation, it really gripped me. If you haven't seen me in a month and a half up here, these things have really, Grip me. So I've made a radical decision in the leadership of our church. By the end of 2022, we're all going to relocate to Nuwavut, just outside of Aravat, which is in Alberta, Canada. And we're going to start an off-the-grid, self-sustaining, independent community. And in case we want to get closer to the return of Christ, we can climb the mountains in Banff and we will wear white robes and we can all thrive on a special formula of Kool-Aid. What do you think? You know, teaching people about the second coming is dangerous stuff. Interpreting the Bible in any generation is a heavy weight a preacher carries. How are you going to prepare for this approaching storm? What should I tell you to do? Well, there are many verses that answer that question, but Romans chapter 5, Romans chapter five, I think is very helpful to give us insight so that we might eventually come to shine like the stars in the kingdom of God. Romans chapter five, reading in verse one. Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have obtained our introduction by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we exalt in the hope of the glory of God, And not only this, but we also exalt in our tribulations, knowing that tribulation brings about perseverance, perseverance, proven character, proven character, hope. And hope does not disappoint because the love of God has been poured out within our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has given to us. How do we live? It's the inclusio. You see it? It begins and ends the verse, hope, hope, hope. Hope. Here's how we're to live in tribulation. Here's how we're to be prepared. Brethren, we know we're justified in Christ. We've passed out of death into life. Our sins have been forgiven. We are clothed in the righteousness of Christ. In the courtroom of God, we are righteous. We don't fear the coming judgment day of God because we are in Christ. And that day will be for us a day of vindication, a day of validation, a day of the distribution of rewards. What a motivation. We have hope. Why? Look at the tribulation. Yeah, but it's not jumping out at you from behind nowhere. It's not a costing you, surprisingly. The Bible has been telling you that's the context in which you live. So you exalt in that tribulation. Why? Because of what you know. Knowing that there is a real relationship that God has constituted between your present behavior in tribulation and your future glorification. For momentary light affliction, tribulation, is producing for us an eternal weight of glory far beyond all comparison, 2 Corinthians 4.17. Something is working in the heart and life of the true Christian. Something being produced by this pressure that is tribulation. And it brings about, notice what Paul says, knowing that tribulation brings about. It has purpose. It has an end in view. It's a process. It brings about perseverance, patience, steadfast, faithfulness, constancy, reliability, endurance. It brings about, through perseverance, the transformation of one's character. And the original is one word. It's a word that means you've been tested and proven to be the genuine article, the genuine thing. It's a reality. It's not an idea. It's not a Christmas card. It's a reality in space and time. The King James translates proven character as experience. The ASV as approvedness. I looked that one up. It's not in a dictionary. They must have made that word up. Approvedness, but that's the idea. In a state of being approved. Again, not meriting, but vindicatable. Validatable. Your life actually is a transcription of your profession. And it's a personal transformation of one's character into conformity to Christ. And this repeated emphasis, this is a life of hope. It's not, well, I hope so. I hope so. No, no, no. Hope in the scripture is not a probability of a possibility. Hope in the scripture is an expression of triumph now before the triumph is experienced. It's an expression of triumph in advance of the revelation of the glory of God of the second coming. Why? Because Christ has already triumphed and we are in Christ and we have hope. Because Christ is our savior. And he knows how to save his people. He knows how to save it. So it's not a wishing or it's not, I think we got a good chance at this. No, it's the articulation of confidence. It's the articulation of certainty. Peter says, you live like that, people are gonna ask what makes you tick. Give an apology for the hope that is within you. Why? Hope does not disappoint. Interesting phrase. Hope does not bring shame. Hope does not issue into defeat. That's what shame in the Bible is. It's more than just embarrassment. It's the idea that, oh, I fought for the wrong side on this battle. We lost that shame. Hope does not bring that. And there's nothing to be embarrassed about while living in tribulation with hope. Living in tribulation with hope is living as an overcomer, victoriously. And all of this, brethren, is because we're loved by God. We're loved by our Father. There's nothing that can separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus. And that love is poured out and communicated to us by the ministry of the Holy Spirit who makes these words of promise and truth, the very living stuff and nourishment of our hearts that sustain us and strengthen us so that we overcome. In the midst of the spectrum of the tribulation, the testing, our faith is to be exercised. And we cultivate an eternal perspective in the midst of the present tribulation. And we see, we know, ah, there's a correlation between how I am believing in the midst of this tribulation in relation to what is before me so that even as my Lord, I can despise the shame and endure the suffering because of the joy that is set before us because I have Hope. Forget that stuff about Canada. Just have hope. Hope in Christ Jesus. That's how you live a life that is on its way to the glory of God. Amen. Let's pray. Our gracious Father, We ask that you would open our eyes this morning that in the light of the pages of scripture, we might stand next to John and this elder and see this group of the disembodied Christians who have gone before us clothed in white. We might understand that their adornment is the testimony of the cleansing blood and power of Christ Jesus. And we might also understand that as we look upon them, we see them coming out of the Great Tribulation. Help us, our Father, to go the way of these witnesses, to follow Jesus Christ, who is the way, the truth, and the life. Help us, our God, to live with hope by faith in Jesus Christ. because of an overwhelming love that is poured out within us from you, our God and Father, and which is returned to you by we, your sons and daughters. We praise you for this hope that is ours in Christ Jesus. Amen.