For more information about our teaching and preaching ministry, you can find us online at cornerstoneorlando.org. The following sermon has been brought to you by Cornerstone Orlando. Making disciples for the glory of God. The title of our sermon this morning is The Worthy One Takes the Scroll. This is part two, review of this second cycle in the book of Revelation, a cycle that runs from Revelation chapter four, verse one, through Revelation chapter eight, verse five. Now for those of you who are just joining us, We've been working verse-by-verse, section-by-section, segment-by-segment through the Revelation of Jesus Christ. We've been doing that in the afternoons. We've now moved that exposition to Sunday mornings. And to get everyone up to speed, as it were, we've embarked upon a review of Revelation, a review of the seven cycles that are contained in this book. As we've discussed, the book of Revelation is defined as an apocalypse. The Greek word apocalupsis, referring to an unveiling or an uncovering of those things which were previously hidden or mysterious. In this case, the book of Revelation is an unveiling or an uncovering of the person and work of Jesus Christ during these last days, during the days of the church's tribulation, during the days in which you and I now currently live. The manner in which these last days are revealed in the book of Revelation is through a series of seven parallel cycles. Each cycle, again, each cycle in the book gives us a different perspective on the same period of time, that period of time that spans our age from the first advent of our Lord Jesus Christ until his return. And with each cycle, It's as though the master artist adds color to the painting until a completed picture of that single landscape is finished. Each of the cycles contributes to the whole. As we're reviewing each of these cycles, we are reviewing each of those contributions to that single painting. And this week we're continuing our review of the second cycle, and that second cycle characterized by seven seals. The first cycle gave us a portrait of the church, and it gave us a portrait of the church on the earth in the time of her tribulation. She is described as the church militant, the church embattled. She faces persecution from without, assaults, difficulty, adversity from within. And she suffers, she suffers in her union with the Lord Jesus Christ. As the Lord told the church at Philippi, it has not only been granted to you to believe but it has been granted to you to suffer for the sake of my name." We suffer in our union with the Lord Jesus Christ. The Lord has preceded her through suffering into glory. And he is now exalted. He is now reigning, walking in the midst of the lampstands, head over all things to his church, empowering her by his Spirit for mission in this world. With the oil of his spirit, he empowers her to shine as lights in a dark place. His concern as he cares for the church, as he walks in the midst of the lampstands, is an enduring, persevering witness for the word, for the Lord Jesus Christ. And he says to her, to him who overcomes, I will grant to sit with me on my throne as I also overcame and sat down with my father on his throne. The second cycle then opens with a vision that is critical to the perseverance of the church. It's critical to the church in order for the church to overcome. We are allowed to see, as it were, an open door into heaven. In the throne room, we're allowed to see into the throne room of the heavenly sanctuary, where seated there is the Ancient of Days, he's seated upon his throne, and our victorious overcomer, the one who has gone before us, he enters the court on the clouds of heaven. In chapter four, we see a scroll in the right hand of him who is seated on the throne. That scroll is filled with the decrees of God concerning this age. And there are seven seals that have bound this book until the time of the end. And there is a great angel proclaiming with a loud voice, who is worthy to open the scroll and to loose its seals. This first scene, beginning in Revelation chapter five, is at first tragic. Tragic. No one in heaven, no one on earth, no one under the earth was able to open the scroll to look at it. Of all those made in the image of God, no one was found worthy. So John weeps. And he weeps until one of the 24 elders came to him and said, Revelation chapter five, verse five, don't weep, John. Behold, the lion of the tribe of Judah, the root of David has prevailed to open the scroll and to loose its seven seals. He has Nikao. That's where that word Nike comes from. He has nika'o, he has prevailed over sin and over death. Christus victor, right? He has satisfied the demands of the law, he has propitiated the wrath of God, he has prevailed as the mediator between God and man. John hears Lion, He hears King, and then he turns in verse six to see a lamb as though it had been slain. That lamb having seven horns and seven eyes, which are the seven spirits of God sent out into all the earth. Then he came back in verse seven and took the scroll out of the right hand of him who sat on the throne. The overcomer, the victor, the one who's gone before us, he is the worthy one who takes the scroll. And with all authority given to him in heaven and on earth, He begins to loose the seven seals, and the decreed judgments of God are poured out upon the earth. He has all authority, and with that authority, he begins to execute God's good and just and righteous decrees for this age. In Revelation chapter 6 last week, we saw then the various agents of those judgments, the four horsemen of the apocalypse. Like the four horsemen of Zechariah chapter one, Zechariah chapter six, these four horsemen are sent to the four corners of the earth, bearing the four judgments of God. Chapter six, verse eight, power or authority was given to these four horsemen, was given to them over a fourth of the earth to kill with sword, to kill with hunger, with death and by the beast of the earth. They kill with false religion, with famine, with pestilence, with violence. And as the Lord said to Zechariah, his patience is coming to an end. His mercy is coming to an end. He is zealous for his people, and at the very same time, exceedingly angry with the nations who are living at ease. Unbelievable. like or contrary to those billboards that you see all over the place, God is mad. God is angry with the wicked every day. And it's God's just and righteous wrath, God's just judgments that are building up like water behind a great dam. like a fire that is building up in a great furnace, held back by the door of God's forbearance, held back by the door of God's mercy, until at last it will be loosed upon the wicked in the great day of his wrath. In keeping with Romans 1, verse 18, These temporal judgments, unleashed by the horsemen, represent or depict the wrath of God that is presently being revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men who, living at their ease, living in their sin, They have suppressed the truth of God in their unrighteousness. God is already pouring out these judgments. The things that are depicted in the cycles are currently, presently being poured out upon the earth. And you and I can see it all around us. As the great day of his wrath draws near, it's often that the saints can grow weary in their waiting. Can grow weary, bearing as it were, the wickedness that we see all around us. And the church is not exempt from the tribulations that mark this age. We're not raptured from these tribulations. We are preserved by God through these tribulations. And the four horsemen merely described the battlefield on which the church then fights the good fight of faith. Look at Revelation chapter six in verse nine. When he, the Lord Jesus Christ, when he opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of those who had been slain for the word of God and for the testimony which they held. These souls represent the persecuted church. These are representatives of the persecuted church. They have been slain. They're called souls because they have been separated from their physical bodies. They are under the altar, as it were, even now. They have been slain for, notice the reason, for the word of God, verse 9, and for their martyria, for their witness. And there the word for witness is a word from which we derive our word martyr. Those who are witnesses for the Lord Jesus Christ are associated with those who give their lives for him, do you see? They are acknowledged, they are recognized by that word, martyria, by their testimony, by their witness even to death. And now with the rest of the saints in heaven, these under the altar in verse nine await the return of the Lord Jesus Christ. They're waiting for their glorified bodies, they're waiting for the resurrection from the dead, they're waiting for their vindication. And they cry out to God in prayer, verse 10. They cried with a loud voice saying, how long, oh Lord, holy and true until you judge and avenge our blood on those who dwell on the earth. This is the common prayer of the saints. And it's a common prayer of those who groan and sigh over the abominations that are committed in this land, over those who persecute us. I read an article this week about the invasion of Islam into the UK. And there was a story about a nine-year-old girl in London who was abducted by Pakistani Muslim men and raped repeatedly until they killed her at age 12. And when the saints read or hear of those things, and that's just, it's all over the place, right? Don't you often cry out, oh God, oh Lord, holy and true. How long, how long before you pour out your wrath upon this earth, Lord? How long before you vindicate your own justice, your own name? Here they cry with a loud voice, how long, oh Lord, holy and true, until you judge and avenge our blood on those who dwell on the earth. Until the Lord comes, we are to wait, and we're to wait in faith. We're to wait pleading like a persistent widow. We're to wait praying. But until then, verse 11, a white robe was given to each of them, and it was said to them they should rest a little while longer until both the number of their fellow servants, the number of their brethren who would be killed as they were, was completed. We're waiting on the rest of our brothers to join us. Paul says, I do all things for the sake of the elect, we endure. For the sake of his name, we also endure as persevering witnesses, as evangelists for the Lord Jesus Christ, for the sake of the elect. And this again is a common refrain among the saints. How long, oh Lord, holy and true. It was the common refrain of God's holy prophets. And I want you to see this with me. Turn back to Habakkuk. Habakkuk, your Old Testament, And look at Habakkuk chapter one in verse one. This was a common refrain. The Bible is replete with this refrain, and we see it chiefly among God's prophets in the Old Testament. Again, John is taking his new covenant ink pen and dipping it in old covenant ink, as it were, to write the book, and so he, Surely, remember the words of the prophets. Habakkuk chapter one, verse one. The burden which the prophet Habakkuk saw. Oh Lord, how long shall I cry? And you will not hear. You notice the similarity? even cry out to you, violence, violence, and you will not save. Why do you show me iniquity and cause me to see trouble? For plundering and violence are before me. There is strife and contention arises. Therefore, the law is powerless. Justice never goes forth. For the wicked surround the righteous. Therefore, perverse judgment proceeds. Look among, look at verse five, look among the nations and watch, be utterly astounded. God tells the prophet, look, be utterly astounded and prepare yourselves, he says, for I will work a work in your days which you would not believe though it were told you. There's a near fulfillment to that prophecy. God does pour out his judgment, but this has a far, it points us forward to a far fulfillment of this prophecy and the end of days, the end of this age and the great day of his wrath. Now look over at Habakkuk chapter two. Just flip the page, Habakkuk chapter two. And in verse two, God answers the prophet. Verse two, then the Lord answered me and said, write the vision and make it plain on tablets that he may run who reads it for the vision is yet for an appointed time but at the end it will speak and it will not lie though it tarries wait for it because it will surely come It will not tarry. That should be an encouragement to the people of God that God's justice will fall. He will vindicate his great name. Judgment will come. Verse 4, behold the proud. His soul is not upright in him, but the just shall live by his faith. And Paul picks up on that very passage to explain in Romans, Romans chapter 3, Romans chapter 4, that the just lives by faith in our Lord Jesus Christ. Flip the page and look at Habakkuk 3. Chapter three, verse 12, this is the day when God shows up. We see that day described in verse 12. You marched through the land in indignation, you trampled the nations in anger, you went forth for the salvation of your people, for salvation with your anointed, the Mashiach, the Christ that is a promise. A promise of God judging the nations and saving his people through the person and work of Jesus Christ. You struck the head from the house of the wicked, laying bare from foundation to neck. Selah, or consider these things. It's an example of the prophet praying, oh Lord, holy and righteous. Oh Lord, holy and true. How long, oh Lord, until you judge and avenge our blood on those who dwell on the earth. The answer to the question is not long now, not long. And the Lord is faithful to his word. He is faithful to his promise. He's not slack concerning his promise of judgment as some count slackness, but he is long suffering toward us, not willing that any of us should perish, but that all of us, all of us elect, should come to repentance. How long, O Lord? Not long. Long now God is faithful to his word Our salvation is nearer than when we first believed and it is God's intended plan to save his people from Wrath save his people through judgment through judgment being poured out on the wicked with that reassurance Wrapped in the right white robes of Christ's own righteousness We are to wait and as we face tribulation brothers and sisters during this aid age We can wait knowing knowing knowing that God will answer our prayers, knowing that God will answer that prayer. He has promised to, and we can wait in faith. And notice back in Revelation chapter six, verse nine then, notice that their prayer then rises to God from under an altar. And we discussed this briefly last week. This is a reference to the altar of incense. And for this reference, I want you to turn back with me to Exodus chapter 30, Exodus chapter 30. In Exodus 30, Moses has been instructed to make a copy, as it were, of the pattern that was shown to him on the mountain. Moses is given a pattern of the things that exist in the heavenly sanctuary, and Moses is to create a copy, if you will, of what he sees, and that pattern is to create a copy on the earth for the tabernacle. And here Moses is to make a copy of this altar. Exodus chapter 30, look there beginning at verse six. And you shall put it, you shall put the altar of incense, this is the altar that is the subject of Revelation chapter six, verse nine. You shall put the altar of incense before the veil that is before the ark of the testimony, before the mercy seat that is over the testimony where I will meet with you. God promises to meet his people. Aaron, Aaron is the high priest. Aaron shall burn on it sweet incense every morning when he tends the lamps. Aaron is a type of our Lord Jesus Christ who is our great high priest. And what does the Lord Jesus Christ do? We see him in Revelation chapter one, walking in the midst of the lampstands, tending to the lamps. Aaron here in verse seven, shall burn incense on it. And when Aaron lights the lamps at twilight, he shall burn incense on it, a perpetual incense before the Lord throughout your generations. In other words, the light never goes out. and it never goes out because the high priest tends to the lamps. We see our great high priest tending to the lamps, his concern a persevering and enduring witness for him. He pours forth, as it were, the oil of his spirit into the bowls that supply the lamps so that the light of his church never goes out. Morning and night burns the incense. Remember, these are types and shadows. This is an Old Testament, in Exodus chapter 30, this is an Old Testament shadow of a new covenant reality. It pictures the church. What do the lamps signify? We know from Revelation chapter one, they signify the church. The lights atop the lampstand signifying the saints burning as shining as lights in the firmament. Verse nine. You shall not offer strange incense on it or a burnt offering or a grain offering, nor shall you pour a drink offering on it. And Aaron shall make atonement upon its horns once a year with the blood of the sin offering of atonement. Once a year he shall make atonement upon it throughout your generations. It is most holy to the Lord. What does the incense signify from Revelation chapter five? Verse eight, the four living creatures each have a bowl full of incense which symbolize the prayers of the saints. And again, this is an Old Testament shadow that is connected to a New Covenant reality. It is an Old Testament type that is connected to its New Testament anti-type. The type is depicted in the burning of incense day and night upon an altar, cleansed by a sacrifice at the place where God meets with his people. That's the type. The anti-type is the spiritual reality that our prayers, brothers and sisters, our prayers ascend into the very presence of God by virtue of Christ's mediation on our behalf as our great, great high priest. He gave his own blood. and entered behind the veil. Now, back in Revelation 6, verse 12, the prayers of his people coming from beneath this altar, those prayers rising before the nostrils of God, as it were, in the incense into the very throne room of heaven, the prayers of his people are finally answered in Revelation 6, verse 12. First, I want you to see the conditions of verse 11 are met. The conditions of verse 11 are met, and then, There is a terminating or a consummative judgment that is poured out on the earth in verse 12. I looked when he opened the sixth seal, and behold, there was a great earthquake, and the sun became black as sackcloth of hair, and the moon became like blood. And the stars of heaven fell to the earth as a fig tree drops its late figs when it is shaken by a mighty wind. Then the sky receded as a scroll when it is rolled up, and every mountain and island was moved out of its place. deconstruction takes place, these cosmic disturbances as it were. First, there's a terminating or consummative judgment poured out on the earth. Second, there is a terminating or consummative judgment poured out upon the wicked, verse 15. And the kings of the earth, the great men, the rich men, the commanders, the mighty men, every slave and every free man hid themselves in the caves and in the rocks of the mountains and said to the mountains and rocks, fall on us and hide us from the face of him who sits on the throne and from the wrath of the lamb. Four, verse 17, the great day of his wrath has come and who is able to stand? When Revelation chapter six and the great day of his wrath has come, That great day of judgment has come, it's because the book of Revelation is not chronological. The book of Revelation is cyclical. This is the day that all of these temporal judgments are pointing to. The four horsemen, the trumpets, the vials are all poured out in anticipation of a great day of His wrath that is coming. God has appointed a day. on which he will judge the world in righteousness by the man whom he has appointed. He has given evidence of this to all by raising that man from the dead. This is the day that all these temporal judgments are pointing to. And once again, John pulls language from all over the Bible to describe this day. Let me give you just one example of that. Look at Isaiah chapter two. One example, Isaiah chapter two, beginning in verse one. And again in this, I want you to see, in Isaiah chapter two, verse one, Judah and Jerusalem are types. They are types, if you will, of the new heavens and the new earth. Heavenly Jerusalem descends out of heaven as a bride adorned for her husband. Babylon here, the judgment, this is a judgment proclaimed against Babylon as a near fulfillment, but Babylon pertains to our day. We'll see in the very next cycle, in the sixth cycle of the book when we get there, that Babylon describes our world. This present evil, wicked, perverse generation in which we now live is described by that type. Babylon is a type, our age is the anti-type. Look at Isaiah chapter two, verse one. The word that Isaiah, the son of Amoz, saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem, think tight there, now it shall come to pass in the latter days, ultimately in our days, that the mountain of the Lord's house shall be established on the top of the mountains, shall be exalted above the hills, and all the nations shall flow to it. Is that not what is taking place now through the preaching of the gospel? The Lord Jesus Christ is building His church. The gates of Hades will not prevail against it. And He is calling out of the nations of people for His own name through the preaching of the gospel. And the nations are rushing, rushing into the church. Look down at verse 10. Notice God's judgment. Verse 10, enter into the rock. Right there is salvation at the same time, deliverance at the same time that God pours out His judgment. Verse 10, enter into the rock and hide in the dust from the terror of the Lord and the glory of his majesty. The lofty looks of man shall be humbled, the haughtiness of men shall be bowed down, and the Lord alone shall be exalted in that day. For the day of the Lord of hosts shall come upon everything proud and lofty, upon everything lifted up, and it shall be brought low. Upon all the cedars of Lebanon that are high and lifted up, upon all the oaks of Bashan, upon all the high mountains, and upon all the hills that are lifted up, upon every high tower, upon every fortified wall, upon all the ships of Tarshish, and upon all the beautiful sloops, the loftiness of man shall be bowed down, and the haughtiness of men shall be brought low. The Lord alone will be exalted in that day, but the idols he shall utterly abolish. They shall go into the holes of the rocks and into the caves of the earth. You see the similar language. All that from the terror of the Lord and from the glory of his majesty, when he arises to shake the earth mightily. In that day, verse 20, in that day a man will cast away his idols of silver and his idols of gold, which they made each for himself to worship, to the moles and bats. They made those things to worship moles and bats. They're gonna do away with those, verse 21, to go into the cliffs of the rocks and into the crags of the rugged rocks to hide, as it were, from the terror of the Lord and the glory of his majesty when he arises to shake the earth mightily. Sever yourselves from such a man whose breath is in his nostrils, for of what account is he? The Lord would say, of no account whatsoever. He is as dust on the scales. Back in Revelation 6, the Lord answers, you see, the Lord answers this prayer of promised judgment, that promised day that the saints under the altar are praying for. Revelation 6, verse 17, for the great day of his wrath has come and who is able to stand? Who is able to stand? His forbearance at this day, his forbearance, his patience, his long suffering, his mercy have come to an end. Who is able to stand? We're presented with an answer to that question. In Revelation chapter seven, who is able to stand? Those who have been sealed by God. Those who have made their robes white in the blood of the Lamb. Look at Revelation chapter seven, verse one. John says, 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 in any tree." Again, that number four, symbolic of entirety, covering the entirety of the earth. This is global, verse two. 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, the sea, or the trees, till we have sealed the servants of our God on their foreheads. And I heard the number of those who were sealed, 144,000 of all the tribes of the children of Israel were sealed. And again, these numbers have symbolic significance. From the 12 tribes listed in verses five through eight, 12,000 were sealed. With chapter seven in this second cycle, as in other cycles now that we'll see in this book, We're here given an interlude, if you will, an interlude. We're provided with an intermission, if you will, at the end of the cycle and before the loosing of the seventh seal in chapter eight. We're gonna see an interlude like this before the blast of the seventh trumpet. We'll see an interlude like this before the seventh scene. We'll see a very brief interlude before the outpouring of the seventh bowl. And each of these interludes has a purpose. Here, the interludes are meant to encourage the church. They're meant to encourage us. In the interlude found in chapter seven here, we're encouraged by how, we're encouraged by an explanation of how the church lives, endures, perseveres through this time of great tribulation. We're given a vision, a picture if you will, of how the church makes it through the outpouring of God's judgment. These previous six, soon to be seven, seals we endure by the preserving care of God himself. God seals his people. Do not harm the earth, the sea, or the trees till we have sealed the servants of our God on their foreheads. Now again, notice we're dealing here in chapter seven with a type and an anti-type. In the same way that we have already, in the same way that we will throughout the book of Revelation deal with types and anti-types, we're dealing here again with a type and with an anti-type. Think with me now, notice. John hears about those who are sealed, 144,000 of all the tribes of the children of Israel. 1,000, number of perfection, a number of completion, 12, number of the people of God. John hears about those who were sealed and then John turns and he sees those who had been sealed, verse nine. After these things, I looked then and behold, He doesn't see 144,000 Jews arrayed in tribes as Israel was in the wilderness. He sees the fulfillment of that picture. After these things, verse nine, I looked and behold, a great multitude, which no one could number, of all nations, tribes, peoples, and tongues, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, 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. Brothers and sisters, this again is yet another example of shadow and reality, type and anti-type. Just as John heard the voice of God and turned to see Jesus Christ in the midst of the lampstands, just as John heard Lion and turn to see a lamb as though it had been slain, John hears a complete or perfect number of the sealed, 12,000 times the 12 tribes of Israel. He then turns to see a multitude which no man can number from every tribe, nation, people, and tongue. This again, brothers and sisters, is a picture of the church. And in one sense, we have a picture of the church militant, arrayed in battle formations like the children of Israel in the wilderness, 12 tribes. The armies of Israel arrayed the church militant on earth. And then we're given a picture, if you will, of the church triumphant in heaven. Verse 13, one of the elders answered saying to me, who are these? Who are these who are arrayed in white robes and where do they come from? And John said to him, sir, you know. John was hesitant to answer, let the angel answer. Well, let the elder answer. So he said to me, these are the ones who have come out of the great tribulation, have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of lamb. Who are those who have been through tribulation? Who are those who have had their robes cleansed white in the blood of the lamb? The people of God. People of God. Therefore, verse 15, they are before the throne of God. They serve him day and night in his temple, and he who sits on the throne will dwell among them. That's a promise to the people of God. That's a promise to the Lord's people, to the church. Therefore, they are before the throne of God. Verse 16, 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. He shepherds his people, and he will lead them to living fountains of waters, and God will wipe away every tear from their eyes. In other words, what we see represented in the interlude of the second cycle is a complete picture of the redeemed. We see the people of God made up both of elect Jews and elect Gentiles, all those who have placed their faith in Jesus Christ, all those who have had their robes cleansed in the blood of the Lamb. God never intended merely to save a remnant of the Jews. And what John sees in verse nine is a redeemed people that represent the promised fulfillment of God to call out of this world, not only Jews for the sake of his name, but to call out of this world a people for every tribe, tongue, and nation for the sake of his name. And we can remember several places in the scriptures, one in particular from Galatians 3, verse six, listen to these words. Just as Abraham believed God and it was accounted to him for righteousness, we saw this morning, In the call to repentance, there are many of those in the wilderness, many of those of Israel who did not believe God and their corpses were strewn in the wilderness. They did not inherit the promise. What Paul is saying here is that Abraham believed, Abraham put his faith and trust in Jesus Christ. And just as Abraham believed God and it was accounted to him for righteousness, therefore know this, that only those who are of faith are sons of Abraham, who are the people of God. The people of God are those who put their faith and trust in Jesus Christ, elect Jews and elect Gentiles alike, one body. That's why Galatians 3, verse 28 says, there is therefore now no male or female, slave or free, Jew or Gentile, for we are all one in Christ Jesus. Therefore, know that only those who are of faith are sons of Abraham, and the scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, just as he did Abraham, preached the gospel to Abraham beforehand saying, in you, all the Jews shall be blessed. No, in you, all the nations shall be blessed. So then, those who are of faith are blessed with believing Abraham. People of God, are not made up of tribes of Israel, but those of Israel who put their faith in Jesus Christ and those from out of the nations that put their faith in Christ, Jew and Gentile, elect Jew, elect Gentile alike. That fact should be tremendously encouraging to the church. That fact should be tremendously encouraging. But how is this then connected with the judgments that are poured out under the seven seals? How is this connected with those judgments? Why are we given this interlude? Brothers and sisters, we're given this interlude because you, if you've put your faith and trust in Jesus Christ, with Abraham, with all of those saints who went before us, and with the saints today who put their faith and trust in Jesus Christ, you are the sealed of God. He has put his seal on your forehead and you, by faith in Jesus Christ, by virtue of God's preserving power, by virtue of God's preserving spirit, you'll be among those in that multitude, which no one can number from every tribe, tongue, people and nation. You'll be the ones with palm branches in your hands, worshiping the Lord around the throne. Do you see? You are the seal of God. How should you be encouraged by that fact? because God preserves you. You don't preserve yourself. God has not promised to preserve us from trial and tribulation. God has promised to preserve us through trial and tribulation, and he has proven that, proven that over millennia, over a redeemed history, he's proven that. We see this typified in Ezekiel. Look back at Ezekiel with me. Ezekiel 9. We see this again, typified, or an example of this given to us in Ezekiel chapter nine. This is where this comes from. Ezekiel chapter nine, look at verse one. Then he, Yahweh, called out in my hearing, this is Ezekiel speaking, right? He called out in my hearing with a loud voice saying, let those who have charge over the city draw near, each with a deadly weapon in his hand. And suddenly six men came from the direction of the upper gate, which faces north, each with his battle axe in his hand. One man among them was clothed with linen and had a writer's ink horn at his side. And they went and stood beside the bronze altar." There's so much packed into those verses. I commend that to your study. There's much there we don't have time to get into this morning. Verse three. Now the glory of the God of Israel had gone up from the cherub where it had been to the threshold of the temple. The glory of God is going to depart that brick and mortar temple. God is going to send his son, which is the temple, and then that temple is going to be built by his spirit through his people, which become the temple of God. He is departing the temple of Israel. And he called on the man clothed with linen, who had the writer's ink horn at his side. And the Lord said to him, go through the midst of the city, through the midst of Jerusalem, and put a mark on the foreheads of the men who sigh and cry over all the abominations that are done within it." How are God's people marked? They're marked because by virtue of his spirit indwelling them, they sigh and cry over the abominations committed in the land. These are God's people because they think like God thinks. They act like God acts. They do what God would have them do. To the others, verse five, they're marked because God is going to preserve them through judgment. Verse five, to the others, he said in my hearing, go after him through the city and kill. Do not let your eyes spare nor have any pity. Utterly slay old and young men, maidens and little children and women, but do not come near anyone on whom is the mark and begin at my sanctuary. God marks his people today. He marks them on their forehead, as it were, with his seal. And it is a seal placed upon those who have put their faith and trust in Jesus Christ. This is really important. This is really important. If you have not turned from sin to put your faith and trust in Jesus Christ, whether you are young or old, whether you are a maiden or a little child, You must put your faith and trust in Jesus Christ, that you might receive the seal of God, which is his spirit, that you might preserve from the wrath that is to come. And then the killers, those with the battle axes, began with the elders, in verse six, who were before the temple. Then he said to them, in verse seven, defile the temple, fill the courts with the slain, go out. And they went out and killed in the city. This is a picture of the judgment of God, the righteous judgment of God. That seal is a seal of ownership and authority. It's a seal of God's loving care, God's loving protection. It doesn't mean that God's people aren't gonna suffer for their faith, but it means that God's people will never be lost. His people would not be lost in the condemnation here that is poured out upon the wicked. God has interposed to place his seal upon them such they would not be harmed by his judgments who will harm the rest of the earth and those who dwell there. 2 Timothy 2, listen to this from verse 19. There are those who have strayed from the faith, nevertheless, 2 Timothy 2.19, the solid foundation of God stands having this seal. The Lord knows those who are his. Let everyone who names the name of Christ depart from iniquity. We'll see later in the book how Satan counterfeits his own seal and Satan seals his own people. He marks them on the hand or on the forehead, marks them on the hand by how they act, what they do. He marks them on the forehead by how they think. Satan's people are known by how they act and how they think in the same way that God's people are marked, as it were, by how they think, how they act. The second cycle then ends in Revelation chapter eight, verse one. When he opened the seventh seal, there was silence in heaven for about half an hour. And I saw the seven angels who stand before God, and to them were given seven trumpets. Then another angel, having a golden censer, came and stood at the altar. He was given much incense that he should offer it with the prayers of all the saints upon the golden altar, which was before the throne." You see all these images come back around. And the smoke of the incense in verse four, with the prayers of the saints, ascended before God from the angel's hand. Then, In answer to those prayers, as it were, then the angel took the censer, filled it with fire from the altar, and threw it to the earth. That's the judgment that is poured out under the seventh seal. And there were, in language that is indicative of the end, there were noises, thunderings, lightnings, and an earthquake. Before that burst of sound, before the blast of the trumpets that will come next, The heavens are filled with a deafening silence. The Old Testament is filled with examples of that silence, silence that comes before the great outpouring of God's wrath. It is an example, if you will, of quiet before a great storm. Daniel, I don't know if you've ever experienced that before. Years ago, my family, we were living in Chicago. And I think it was the closest that I've ever been to a tornado. And a storm was brewing. And before a tornado came through our area, It was just silent, this eerie silence. Sky became this weird green color. It was just eerily quiet. And then the storm came. This silence is like that silence before a great storm. And several examples of that throughout the Bible. And it is a meditation, if you will, on the power and justice of God that is about to be poured out. Daniel lies silent on his bed as he contemplates God's judgments. Listen to this from Zephaniah chapter one, verse six. Those who have turned back from following the Lord and have not sought the Lord nor inquired of him, be silent in the presence of the Lord God, for the day of the Lord is at hand. The Lord has prepared a sacrifice and he has invited his guests. Amos 8 3, and the songs of the temple shall be wailing in that day, says the Lord God. Many dead bodies everywhere, they shall be thrown out in silence. Habakkuk 2 20, woe after woe after woe promised against the wicked. Judgment is upon them, and the prophet says, the Lord is in his holy temple. Let all the earth keep silence before him. In his commentary on Revelation, Joel Beakey comments on this text. He says, the cries of the martyrs for divine justice, the roaring earthquake and the dissolution of this world, the screams of the wicked as Christ's wrath falls upon them, all give way to an awe-filled silence as every mouth is quiet and even with the saints and angels, they stand amazed at the glory of God. There will be silence as the judge of all the earth executes his righteous sentence at the end of the age. For now, brothers and sisters, I would say, until that time, may all the earth be filled with his praise. Amen. We are to be persevering and enduring witnesses, worshiping witnesses, proclaiming the glories of the one who has called us out of darkness and into his light. May the earth be filled with the sounds of his praise. Pray with me. Father in heaven, may all this earth, all the world, be filled with the glory of your name. This is a time, Lord, at which our Lord Jesus Christ is building his church, a time in which the gospel is being preached. Satan, bound as it were, able to do nothing about it, the gates of Hades not able to prevail against him, and our Lord Jesus Christ, the victor, the strong man, is plundering his house in the preaching of the gospel, calling out from this evil, wicked, and perverse generation, a people for his own name out of every tribe, tongue, people, and nation. And we say, amen. Make it so, oh God. I pray. that the fullness of the Gentiles would come in. We pray the fullness of your elect through the preaching of the gospel, through a work of your spirit would come into the church, that Lord, you would rise up for the deliverance of your people and for your righteous judgments to take place, that you would, through them, usher in everlasting righteousness and consummate the kingdom which has been promised, and that we would enter our rest with all the saints, wrapped in white robes, palm branches in our hand, singing the song of Moses and of the Lamb, worshiping and praising your name. May it be a word to the everlasting praise of your glory. May it be to the everlasting exaltation of our Lord Jesus Christ, whose name we pray. Hello, and thanks for listening. My name is Mark Brashear, and I have the blessed privilege of serving with the saints at Cornerstone Church near Orlando, Florida. We're so grateful that you've connected with us through the sermon that you've just heard. For more information, visit us at cornerstoneorlando.org. Or better yet, come and see us on the Lord's Day at 3370 Snow Hill Road in Oviedo, Florida. We're just east of Orlando and about 15 minutes from the campus at UCF. It would be a joy to have you worship with us.