If you would please open in the Bible to Revelation chapter 7, verses 1 to 17, which you'll find in the Pew Bible beginning on page 1031 and in the bulletin on page 8. Revelation chapter 7, we're going to be looking at verses 1 to 17. If you would please stand. 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. 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 sealed, 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 and 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 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. Then one of the elders addressed me saying, who are these clothed in white robes and from where have they come? I said to him, sir, you know. And he said to me, these are the ones coming out of the great tribulation. They have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the lamb. Therefore, they are before the throne of God and serve him day and night in his temple. And he who sits on the throne will shelter them with his presence. They shall hunger no more. Neither thirst any more. The sun shall not strike them, nor any scorching heat. For the lamb in the midst of the throne will be their shepherd, and he will guide them to springs of living water. And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes." The word of the Lord. Thanks be to God. Gracious Heavenly Father, as we open our Bibles to Revelation chapter seven. Would you please send the Holy Spirit, the same spirit that moved John to write these words, and may that same spirit draw us close to you. Open our ears, we pray, and give us grace that we might hear your word, believe it, obey it, and rejoice in it. For Jesus' sake, amen. Amen, please be seated. It would be helpful if you'd keep the Bible open to Revelation 7. We're gonna be looking at a number of important cross-references. And I wanna make it very plain that what we're talking about this morning is not simply something I cooked up this week, but actually is a message from God to the church, including us. As I said just a moment ago, I think all of us have been impacted by the death last Thursday of Milton Robinson. Milton, as I said, is a relatively new member of Metrocrest, but he has had a profoundly significant impact on our little church. And I got to know him very well almost from the very beginning. I think it was the second Sunday that he came that he appointed himself to the kitchen team. I would not have thought of that as the ideal first job for him, but he loved it so much and was so good at it, he stayed. And as a matter of fact, last Sunday, if you were here, You will remember he was in the kitchen, setting up, serving coffee, greeting every person who walked through the door with a warm hello, that wonderful smile, and a greeting, a deep passion for Jesus. And this week, he had a stroke, a pretty massive stroke, and they took him immediately to the hospital. And he never left the hospital. He never woke up again. He remained in a coma until he died. I'm very glad Rick Byman and I got by to see him. And we prayed with the nurse and prayed for Milton. And that meant a lot to me. I've been thinking about him, and I've also been thinking about his daughter, Samika, who James mentioned just now. Samika is Milton's daughter. He lived with her. He came to Dallas to live with her and her husband, Donald. They do not attend Metrocrest, but they've been here a couple of times. And when I talk to Samika, she always says to me, my dad loves Metrocrest. He said, she said, he talked about the church all the time. And I just want to pass that along to you. He was so grateful for the fellowship that he enjoyed here right from the beginning. He was welcomed so quickly and it was a great joy for him as it was for us. Well, it's been on my mind this week looking at Revelation chapter seven, because I think here in Revelation chapter seven is a wonderful word of comfort and encouragement for us. As a matter of fact, when I was talking to Samika, she told me the funeral is not going to be in Dallas. It's actually going to be in St. Louis, where he moved here from. His family, a lot of his family is from there. They have family graves there. And so he's going to be buried in St. Louis. The funeral will be there. And Samika asked me if I would come. And I said, I will not miss it. If I can be there, God willing, I will be there. And she asked if I would help with a service. I said, I'd be more than honored to do that. And I was thinking about what would be an appropriate Bible passage. And I immediately thought of Revelation chapter seven, not only because I've been thinking about it all week, but because I think for most of the funerals I have preached, I would guess more than 50% of the time, I turned to Revelation chapter seven. It is a powerful word of comfort and encouragement to people who are facing hardship, whether it's the hardship of death and the loss of a loved one, or any other kind of hardship, which we all endure in one way or another. In fact, I look around the room and I think probably all of us have endured some kind of hardship. Some of us are going through hardship right now. It may be health, it may be relationships, it may be finances, it may be any number of things, but we all face hardship. And Revelation 7, I'm convinced, is actually here to comfort us. God, in his wonderful grace and mercy, put it here to comfort us, specifically to comfort and encourage us. And I hope you'll keep that in mind as we open to this passage and think about what comfort God wants to bring to us and what he does here bring to us. Revelation chapter 5 verse 1, if you'll remember from a couple of weeks ago, opens with a vision God gave John of the one seated on the throne with a scroll written within and on the back, sealed with seven seals. That's Revelation chapter 5 verse 1. A scroll is an image from Daniel. It's an image that pops up many times in the Old Testament and it's quite prominent here in the book of Revelation. Some have called it the scroll of wrath. because it does describe, as the seals are unsealed and as some of the other things happen in the book, there is a manifestation of judgment on the world, that's undeniable. But it's also not only the scroll of wrath, it's the scroll of justice, where God makes everything right. It's the scroll of mercy. It is the scroll of a new creation. Revelation chapter 22 includes themes developed in this scroll that John has seen in his vision. And finally, and I want to say most importantly, it's the scroll of Jesus. It's the scroll of the incarnate one, the crucified one, the resurrected one, the ascended one, and now the one who has been glorified and reigns over all things, how he reigns over the world in which you and I live, a world which is still a place that has pain and suffering and an infinite variety of challenges. Revelation chapter six, as we saw last week, is the opening of the six of the seven seals of this scroll, God's sovereign purpose, And that brings us to Revelation 7. And Revelation 7 is a dramatic interlude. Revelation 6 closes with the opening of the sixth seal. Then we have Revelation 7. And then Revelation chapter 8, as we saw last week, is the opening of the seventh and last seal. So chapter 7 comes between the sixth and the seventh seals. Now, it might be tempting to think of this as somehow in chronological order, and some people view it this way, that Revelation 6, describing the first, second, third, fourth, fifth, sixth seals, each of those is chronological. And then what happens in chapter seven happens, and then chapter eight happens, all chronologically. I tried to make the point last Sunday that I'm convinced that's not the best way to look at it. This is not a linear chronology of the things recorded in the scroll. It's much more complex than that, and there are a variety of reasons to think that, which we'll look at next week. But what I suggested last week and what I'll suggest again is not a linear chronology but a spiral, a spiral of ongoing revelations of God's interaction with the world through Christ. And I actually suggested the shape of a scroll with its spiral to remind us of this wonderfully complex way of understanding the world. It makes so much sense, looking back over the past 2,100 years since Christ's birth, at the spiraling way God is working in the world. Remember, God stands outside of time. God is over time. He is not bound by time the way that you and I are. Chronology is not the same for Him as it is for us. And I want to suggest to you that Revelation 7 is here for a thematic reason, not a chronological reason. Chapter 7 is where it is now, not because this is where it comes in the chronology, but because the Holy Spirit moved John to record this extremely important chapter in between the beginning of the final judgment and the end of the final judgment. Revelation 1, 2, 3, and 4, the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse, describes this ongoing interaction with a world under judgment, a world that experiences God's wrath as God's wrath is revealed on the sinful world. And that includes things like pestilence and famine and economic depravity and hardship of various kinds. All of that is involved in these seals that are being unsealed. And then Revelation 6 describes the dramatic natural reactions, the stars, the sky, the earth itself. All of this is depicting symbolically what is a cataclysmic change in the world. And Revelation chapter 22 at the very end of the book of Revelation and chapter 21 describe the seventh day, the seventh seal, the coming of this wonderful new creation. And Revelation 7 is here because it's very important for us in the middle of a world under judgment, a world that experiences wrath, a world that experiences hardship, a world where God's people experience suffering, to be reminded that God is in charge and God has a sovereign purpose, that he is working out, and that he will one day bring to a dramatic conclusion In Revelation, these 22 chapters describe from the coming of Christ all the way until the second coming of Christ. Not in a chronology, but in this sense of an unfolding purpose revealed over time in countless ways. with repeated themes, repeated descriptions of various kinds of experiences. All of that is described in Revelation. And Revelation 7 is this God-given anchor point so that you and I, in the midst of all of this, in the midst of the spiral that at times can feel overwhelming, that in the midst of that we are to be reminded of a very important and comforting truth. A truth that I want to suggest to you here from Revelation 7 has at least two dimensions. Look with me at Revelation chapter 7 verse 1. After this I saw, notice this, four angels standing at the four corners of the earth holding back the four winds of the earth. That number four, it's so helpful to remember the symbolism of numbers and the symbolism of language in Revelation. The four angels, well, we've seen these angels before. They represent God's presence. They're standing at the four corners of the earth. Well, the earth is circular. It's a ball. Technically, there aren't four corners. But symbolically there are four corners. It's a way of saying the whole earth and the four winds of the earth. I don't know how a person who specializes in the study of climate would view that poetic, symbolic description. But of course we know it means the winds that are coming from every direction. The number four in Revelation particularly often is used to describe creation, the unity of creation. What John is here actually describing and what he saw is a symbolic representation. He's searching for words. to describe what he saw, this spiraling vision which he has. And basically what he's saying at the beginning of chapter seven is that all of creation is caught up in this. All of creation. Of course, chapter six describes it in vivid detail. But all of this activity, all of this action, all these activities going on in creation, They're paused. It says, no wind might blow on the earth or the sea or against any tree. There's a pause, a symbolic pause. It's as though all time is frozen for a moment in order for John to see this vision and to see its connection to creation. God reigns over creation. And so there's this pause for a moment. Revelation chapter eight talks about silence. Revelation chapter seven describes a moment when all this activity involving all of creation is paused. And it says in verse two, I saw another angel ascending from the rising of the sun, again, an anchor in creation, with the seal of the living God. Lots of seals in Revelation. There's the seven seals that we've been reading about. Well, here's another seal. This angel who's coming from the rising of the sun, this vision of an angelic presence who brings 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." In the midst of all of this ongoing revelation of God's sovereign purposes, John is given a freeze frame, and the revealed coming of the end of this creation, the beginning of the wonderful new creation, it's in a freeze frame, so that all the servants of God may be sealed. You see, there's a word of comfort here. In the midst of this world, where God's purposes are being unscrolled, In the midst of all that, God never takes his eyes off of his servants. And he puts it all on hold. He says all of this, the unfolding that is being described, the unfolding that's being revealed, God puts it all on hold long enough for John to see and to hear what God wanted him to see and hear. And it had to do with the sealing of the servants of God on their foreheads. Now the picture of sealing is an image that's used in the Old Testament. This picture of God sealing his covenant people. As a matter of fact, let me suggest to you that the first of the themes of comfort that come from Revelation 7 is the comfort of the covenant God of Israel. The idea of being sealed was very, very much a part of the Old Testament understanding of God's covenant. Every little Jewish boy bore on his body the mark, the seal of God's covenant. And that seal, that marking is very important to the Jewish understanding. It goes back to Exodus. When God sent judgment on Egypt, and you remember the Jewish people were told to put blood on the lentils of their house, their houses were sealed. And those who lived there in those protected places were not subject to the unfolding judgment on Egypt. Well, there's a hint of that again. This idea that all of God's servants would be sealed so they would be protected. It's exactly what happens in Exodus. God protected his covenant people in the midst of judgment. And here again in Revelation 7, we see that God is protecting his servants, his covenant people. And this vision goes on to describe it. Verse four, I heard the number of the sealed, 144,000 sealed from every tribe of the sons of Israel. 144,000, the sons of Israel. And then there's this long list of 12,000, 12 as a matter of fact. 12,000 from each tribe of Israel beginning with Judah in verse five. We're being reminded that God has always had a plan for his covenant people. And of course, in the Old Testament, that is described especially in terms of God's relationship with Israel. From the time of Abraham on, it was explicitly the case in the Old Testament that God had a covenant people. And they were Israel, they were the sons of Abraham. And they're described in these covenantal terms over and over again. And they bore on their bodies, the males bore on their bodies this seal. It was never about the physical manifestation of the seal any more than it is here. I don't really think that we're being told God has a big rubber stamp that the angels going around stamping on the heads of God's covenant people then or now. It's a symbolic description of God's sealing protection like the blood on the lentils. And we're told of this 12 times 12 times 1,000. Of course, we know exactly how many tribes there were of Israel, the sons of Israel, that became the tribes of Israel. The order in which they're listed is often significant, and it's striking that here, the first tribe, and not usually the first tribe in lists of the tribes, but Judah is mentioned first. It's probably a connection to Jesus, who was of the tribe of Judah. He's been described that way, the Lion of Judah. And so it's fitting that Jesus' tribe in this particular list is listed first. Jesus's tribe. He was a son of Israel and Jesus came to represent Israel. Jesus came to be the embodiment, the incarnation of Israel. He is the incarnation of God and he is the representative of all of Israel. But he was never intended and the people of Israel were never intended to stand alone in this covenantal relationship, this relationship of mercy. They were representative. Israel was present in a world under judgment as witnesses, as those who are meant to be a blessing to the world. Of course, over their long history, they frequently forgot it. They had to be reminded again and again. But that was always the purpose from Abraham on. In fact, all the way from Genesis on. All the way from Genesis, the very beginning of Genesis, long before Abraham, God revealed that Israel was to be a blessing. Let me show you a couple of other cross-references that I found very interesting. Look at page 582, Isaiah chapter 19, verses 18 to 25. This is centuries before Jesus. Look at chapter 19, verse 18. Page 582. In that day, there will be five cities in the land of Egypt that speak the language of Canaan and swear allegiance to the Lord of hosts. One of these will be called the city of destruction. In that day, there will be an altar to the Lord in the midst of the land of Egypt. The land that God had judged as he set Israel free, but there will be an altar in the midst of the land of Egypt and a pillar to the Lord at its border. It will be a sign and a witness to the Lord of hosts in the land of Egypt. When they cry to the Lord because of oppressors, he will send them a savior and defender and deliver them. And the Lord will make himself known to the Egyptians. And the Egyptians will know the Lord in that day and worship with sacrifice and offering. And they will make vows to the Lord and perform them. Look down at verse 24. In that day, Israel will be the third with Egypt and Assyria a blessing. Egypt will join Israel as a blessing in the midst of the earth, whom the Lord of hosts has blessed, saying, blessed be Egypt, my people, and Assyria, the work of my hands, and Israel, my inheritance. Isaiah the prophet was given this vision that one day the tribes of Israel, the 12, will extend beyond the ethnic bounds of Israel. and will one day include the whole earth. Flip over to Isaiah chapter 56. Just another verse to show you this is not something isolated. It pops up many times. Look at Isaiah chapter 56 verse one. Thus says the Lord, this is page 616. Keep justice and do righteousness for soon my salvation will come and my righteousness will be revealed. Look down at verse six. Foreigners who join themselves to the Lord to minister to him, to love the name of the Lord and to be his what? His servants. Everyone who keeps the Sabbath and does not profane it and holds fast my covenant. These I will bring to my holy mountain and make them joyful In my house of prayer, in what Jesus called the temple, a house of prayer for all peoples, their burnt offerings and their sacrifices will be accepted on my altar, for my house shall be called a house of prayer for all peoples. The Lord God who gathers the outcasts of Israel declares, I will gather yet others to him besides those already gathered. So flip back to Revelation chapter 7. These 12 times 12 times 1,000, again, symbolic numbers, 12 is a number of completeness. Revelation has the number seven, which is also a number of completeness. Revelation, in the book of Revelation, includes a number of references where seven represents completeness, but seven can be used for either the work of God or the work of demons. Seven describes completeness. Twelve, however, is only used to describe the complete work of God in his people. Twelve shows up again and again, the twelve tribes, the twelve sons, the twelve apostles. This idea of twelve shows up again and again to describe the fullness of God's people, completeness of God's people. So twelve times twelve describes the 12 tribes times the number of perfection, times 1,000, which in the ancient world was an unimaginably huge number. 12,000, and then 12,000 times 12, 144,000. This is a very significant number that is meant to describe the fullness of a certain number I don't think we're meant to take out a calculator and try to figure out, you know, sort of accounting all the saved covenant people. What's being described here is the fullness, the completeness of all of God's covenant people from the people of Israel, the people of Egypt, and the people of all the world who are brought into a saving relationship with God in His mercy. That's what the 12 times 12 times 1,000 is meant to describe. Some interpretations of Revelation try to count out exactly who the 144,000 are. Some think it's a specific number of converted Jews. Some think it's a specific denomination. There are actually denominations that say you better hope you're one of those 144,000 because that's it. If you're 144,001, too bad. There's a way of looking at Revelation, which reduces the book of Revelation to, sorry, Cama, a series of mathematical equations, and it's not that. It's not simply a mathematical equation. It is a message that is describing in symbolic terms, using math, using numbers to describe this full work of God, which he has planned from the very beginning. So revelation includes this, the comfort of the covenant God of Israel. All the promises of God to Israel are now given to all those who are part of God's covenant work in the whole world, which he's always intended. It's interesting that it says that in verse four, John heard this number. This was an oral message. He heard the number 144,000 sealed from every tribe of the sons of Israel. And it's a message from God and it's meant to comfort us and to remind us that all those who are in covenant relationship with God, who are in the midst of a broken and a world full of suffering, whether it's the suffering of a illness that we are facing or the loss of a loved one like Milton. Where do we look for hope? We look for hope. We look for comfort and encouragement in the midst of the covenant promises of God. And Revelation 7 is telling us that all those covenant promises are ours in Christ. That's why this chapter is here, to comfort us, to give us hope. It's also meant to give us the comfort and encouragement to do the work of the covenant community, to do the work of blessing. We're actually in the world to be a blessing. Israel was in the world to be a blessing, and we as part of Israel, the true Israel, are meant to be a part of God's blessing. Leviticus chapter 23. verses 40 to 43, you can look it up if you'd like. It's a picture of the Feast of Tabernacles. It was an annual feast that was celebrated right up in New Testament times that was meant to celebrate God's protection over his covenant people. And like the covenant people in the Old Testament, you and I and Milton and others, Milton's grieving family, we're all part of that protected community. As we walk in covenant relationship with the Lord, he protects us. He doesn't protect us from every kind of harm. The Bible is clear on this from Job onwards. We all endure hardship of one kind or another. But even in the midst of our hardship, we are given God's covenant promises that he will never let go of his covenant people. He will never let go of us. And that's meant to give us hope and comfort. It's also pointed out, and I thought this was interesting, in Numbers 1, verse 21, maybe we can look at this one real quick. Page 108, just flip over a few pages. It's striking how similar this is to Revelation 7. Page 108, Numbers 1, beginning at verse 21. I'll back up to verse 20. Here the list of tribes begins with Reuben. The people of Reuben, Israel's firstborn, their generations, by their clans, by their fathers' houses, according to the number of names, head by head, every male from 20 years old and upward, all who were able to go to war, those listed as the tribe of Israel. Dr. Beal points out that this formula, the tribe of, well, it matches The formula in Revelation 7 beginning at verse 5, the tribe of Judah. This long list of the tribes with numbers attached. Numbers chapter 1 verse 21 has the number 46,500. And if you follow through the rest of Numbers chapter 1, you'll see what? A list of all the tribes with a specific number. And you know what this is an accounting of? It's an accounting of the warriors, the army, the army of God, the army of the covenant. Not to merely fight wars with guns and missiles, but to fight the war of a world under judgment with love and mercy following Christ. So, Revelation chapter 7 begins with this comfort of the covenant God of Israel. We're meant to take courage. We're meant to find strength, to engage in the work of the covenant, representing the blessing of God to a world under judgment, to stand as witnesses. That's what Israel was always called to do. That is what Jesus did. And that's what you and I in Christ are meant to do. We are his witnesses. And we're meant to find hope and courage to do that. So there's great covenant faithfulness at the heart of our comfort. But there's even more, because not only did John hear in verse four the number 144,000, look at verse nine, this is what he saw. He said, after this I looked and behold a great multitude that no one could number. So what started out as 144,000, a symbolic number, 12 times 12 times 1,000, meant to represent the fullness of all God's covenant people, reduced to a mathematical formula so we could begin to get our brains around it, not so that we could try to figure out exactly who all the 144,000 are or to figure out a description to get that number. It's a symbolic number meant to underscore our being a part of that covenant army. Well, in the vision given to him in verse 9, he realizes that 144,000, that mathematical calculation, is meant to describe symbolically something that we can't count. God can. He knows exactly the number. But John, as he looks at this vision, he is unable to count. He says, no one could count it. No one could number. The huge multitude, this great multitude that no one could number. And it's not only part of the ethnic people of Israel. That was part of the problem. Old Testament people had was they kept forgetting that they were meant to be a witness to the whole world, to Egypt and Assyria and to the whole world so that many others would come into relationship with the God of Israel. Well here, John is given this vision to see that. He says he sees this multitude that no one could number from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages. Not just Hebrew, not just people who are from Canaan, but the whole world as it engages with the God who reveals himself in Christ. And that's the key. The first point is the comfort of the covenant God of Israel, and intimately connected to it is the comfort of the Lamb. The Lamb. See, the Old Testament sacrifices were pointing towards the ultimate sacrifice. All the sacrifices of the temple over hundreds and thousands of years were pointing towards the one perfect sacrifice, the Lamb. And John is given a vision of the Lamb. Look at how it's described. A multitude from all tribes and peoples and languages standing before the throne and 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. In the midst of a world under judgment, in the midst of a world that's full of suffering, in the midst of funerals, We're here in Revelation 7 reminded that the Lamb has secured for his people, his servants, this relationship that cannot be broken. A relationship that is grounded in him and in the work that he has brought. the work that he has accomplished. Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne and to the Lamb. The God who sits on the throne who ordains it, the God who sits on the throne, who stands in the presence of God, who has accomplished it. Actually, there's an interesting note about standing. You'll notice a lot of standing. Standing, Dr. Beal pointed out that this image of standing is tied to the idea of resurrection. That's what resurrection literally was, was to stand up. And so the people of God in Christ are described as standing. They're standing in the resurrection power of Jesus. The resurrection which was accomplished by his death on the cross as the lamb. Now his people share in that resurrection. So we don't have to worry about our brother Milton. He is standing, clothed in white robes, crying out with the angels and the saints. Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne and to the Lamb. And they're joined in verse 11. All the angels were standing around the throne. and around the elders and the four living creatures. Again, that picture of all of creation, the four living creatures. And what did they do? They fell on their faces before the throne, worshiping God, saying amen. And then verse 12 is this. It's like the kitchen drawer of doxology. It's like John, empowered by the Spirit, opens the kitchen drawer where all the stuff is, and he pours it out on the table, and it's just this unending doxological expression of praise and worship. blessing, and glory, and wisdom, and thanksgiving, and honor, and power, and might be to our God forever and ever. Amen. It opens with amen and it closes with amen. It is that secure. So be it, so be it. Revelation 7 is meant to be this anchor of hope in the midst of this crazy world. While we still have to go to funerals, while we still have to say goodbye to loved ones, while we still face suffering of all kinds, while we still face persecution. There are Christians today facing persecution, and they have the hope and the confidence that we have that there's a God who is being worshiped in heaven, and he has secured our salvation. We may experience hardship in this life. In fact, we will. Live long enough, you will. We will. But the confidence is that God never lets go of us. He never takes his eye off of us. He is thinking of us all the time. We are the apple of his eye. He loves us and he cares for us. Well, I'll wrap this up. But the worship continues, verse 13. One of the elders addressed me saying, who are these clothed in white robes and from where have they come? It's a rhetorical question because this elder knows. And John knows he knows. He says, I said to him, sir, you know. And notice what the elder said. These are the ones coming out of the great tribulation. They have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the lamb. Let me just pause on this idea of great tribulation. For a number of years, I read Revelation 7 with the dispensational understanding of tribulation. And I took it to mean the great tribulation was this particular time of suffering. Maybe you've experienced teaching like this, that there's gonna come a particular point called the tribulation, and there's a period of time when there'll be enormous suffering. And I read this passage as saying that this vision of the saints in glory were this little group of people who had endured terrible persecution. And so I always read this passage as applying to someone else. I mean, it was important. It was interesting to note that there would be this group of persecuted martyrs who would experience this. And it was a beautiful picture of heaven, but I didn't see how it applied to me until I remembered, if you back up to the beginning of Revelation, And if you realize that the tribulation John is talking about, the tribulation, the great tribulation, involved John 2,000 years ago. John was in the tribulation then, and if you read the writings of St. Paul, he, I just got this statistic, I thought it was fascinating. Paul uses the word tribulation 23 times in the New Testament, and in 21 of those 23 times, tribulation applied to then, right then. He was also living in the tribulation. And he wrote to others who were living in the tribulation. And he wrote to others who would be living in the tribulation. He wrote to people like you and me who live in a world that is full of judgment, full of hardship, full of persecution, full of suffering. And that, brothers and sisters, is the Great Tribulation. I mean, I have to express a strong disagreement with our dispensationalist friends. We are living right now through the Great Tribulation. And if you ever doubt it, go to a funeral. read about persecuted Christians, and realize Revelation 7 is not meant to describe a small group of specific martyrs who had a particular hardship to face. It includes them. Absolutely, it includes them, but it actually includes all of God's servants. And the suffering we experience may be active persecution. And James, in his prayer, We may be entering a time of persecution. That is possible. There are lots of clues that that may be in the future. But it's a fact today in many parts of the world that Christians are persecuted. They're living through that tribulation hardship that John is describing. And what the six seals reveal, that is the tribulation unfolding. And what we'll find is that the bowls and the trumpets all describe in different points of view, different angles, that same idea of tribulation. So what John is describing here, what God allowed John to see, was something that happened then, that involved them then, and it involves us today. We are among those who face the great tribulation. And that means that you and I have the same comfort and the same encouragement that John did, and that the martyrs did, who found strength to be witnesses when it cost them their lives. that same comforting encouragement, that same encouraging comfort is ours today. Whatever we face, whether it's persecution or whether it's simply enduring suffering in a Christ-like way. Our enduring hardship and suffering in a Christ-like way is our participation in the unfolding judgment of the world. We are also facing hardship and suffering. We're also facing all of the difficulties of life. As Christ's followers, we join Him in that path of suffering for the sake of others. That's the Great Tribulation. And they, as John says, have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. I think that's an evangelistic call if there ever was one. If you're feeling overwhelmed, by the crazy world in which you live. If you've been to too many funerals this year, if you've seen too much suffering, if you're facing too much sickness or too much financial hardship, whatever it may be, let's each turn to Christ. Let's each repent and turn towards him. The gospel call of the gospel in the Book of Matthew chapter 4 verse 17, that same gospel call is in Revelation chapter 7, to turn to Jesus. Here in the midst of a description of heaven, it's as simple as turning to Christ. And as we turn to Jesus, as we put our hope and our trust in Jesus, however imperfectly, however childlike it may be, That is washing our robes and being made white in the blood of the Lamb. And so Revelation 7 concludes with another amazing doxology. Therefore, they are before the throne of God and serve him day and night in his temple. And he who sits on the throne will shelter them with his presence. They shall hunger no more, neither thirst any more. The sun shall not strike them, nor any scorching heat. Interestingly, this is from the Old Testament. John, moved by the Holy Spirit, gives us the words of Daniel 49, verse 10. This doxology in the New Testament, in the book of Revelation, is shared with the Old Testament people of the covenant. Isaiah 49, verse 10, but it concludes with Isaiah 25, verse 8. For the Lamb in the midst of the throne will be their shepherd, and he will guide them to springs of living water, and God will wipe away every tear from their eyes." That is an Old Testament promise fulfilled in the New Testament in Christ Jesus, and it is a confidence and a hope A gospel promise that you and I can cling to today, whatever we are facing, whatever hardship lies before us. We have Revelation 7 hope, Revelation 7 confidence. And John's going to go on to describe in graphic detail the ongoing swirl, the spiral of judgment and the crazy world where we live. He's not done with that. But as we go forward, we go forward anchored in the gospel of Jesus. And when we leave this room today, we will be re-anchored in the gospel of Jesus that we can face whatever hardship is ahead of us. We can be confident, not in our own strength, we'll get it wrong, we'll have bad days, but we put our hope and our confidence in the lamb and never forget The center of all of this is not God in the abstract. It's not some impersonal deity up in heaven looking down, mildly interested in what happens to us. It's not even the incarnate God. That's not the emphasis. It's not the suffering God. That's not the particular inferences. It's not the resurrected God, although that's at the heart of the gospel promise. It's not even the ascended God. The anchor, the vision in the middle of it is the dying God. Our hope is in the dying God. That's how confident we can be. that he gave his own life for us. He is not mildly interested in you. He is passionately committed to you. And we can cling to that no matter what we face, no matter what hardship comes our way.