Visions of the Church Sealed and Standing Before God and the Lamb

Well, do go ahead and turn in your Bibles to Revelation chapter 7.

Revelation 7 · chapter mention

Before you stand, let me set the context,

and then I'll have you stand for the reading.

Perhaps this is not a book that you're very familiar with,

or maybe you've heard many different things about the book of Revelation,

and it holds a lot of mysteries for you.

But you need to remember, we all need to remember,

that this is a book that was given by God himself to be an unveiling.

An uncovering.

That's what the word apocalypsis or revelation means.

An unveiling.

To make something that was previously unknown to be known to his servants.

So this is a book for you, dear Christian.

It's a book for us.

In fact, it's said this in Revelation 1.1.

It's called the revelation or unveiling of Jesus Christ,

which God gave him to show to his servants the things that soon must take place.

Specifically, we can say that this book is a revelation both from Jesus Christ and about Jesus Christ.

And what is it ultimately about?

Joel Beeky says it this way.

It's the great theme of the victory of Christ and his church over the old serpent,

over his helpers, and over the kingdoms of this world.

So you must remember that this is a book about Jesus Christ, the conquering king.

At the same time, it's important for us to remember that this revelation,

this unveiling comes to us in the mode of visions.

Visions that were given to the apostle John while he was exiled on the island of Patmos.

And he was in the spirit on the Lord's day.

In other words, he was worshiping Christ on the Lord's day.

And Christ came and gave him these visions for the purpose of recording them for his church.

As the last book of Holy Scripture.

The book is structured where it has seven cycles of seven visions.

And we're going to be looking at what can be considered the second cycle this morning.

The first being the vision of the Son of Man and then the seven letters.

So we're going to be looking at the second cycle of seven.

And as we come to this, then what you need to think about this is

we're coming more to like an art museum than you are to a lecture hall.

You know, some books like an epistle,

it's like someone's directly addressing you like you're in a lecture.

But some books like the book of Revelation, because it's visions,

it's like you've come to an art museum.

And sometimes in an art museum, what you find is that

different paintings are grouped together in a room.

And then you have another room with different paintings.

So as I said, there's seven cycles of seven.

It's like we're coming to that second room

with seven different paintings in it or a few more.

And that's what you need to be thinking.

John comes as our tour guide.

And he brings us to the portion or to the room

where there's a collection of paintings about the seven seals.

There's a scroll.

And on it, think of seven wax seals.

Okay.

And that's what we're going to be considering.

There's also, before you get to that,

these exquisite paintings in Revelation 4 and 5.

These visions of the heavenly throne room.

Where you have God on the throne.

Then you have the Lamb as well.

And then these six seals that are first opened.

There's first the four horsemen of the apocalypse.

And then the fifth seal, which is the martyrs in heaven.

And then the sixth, the great day of the coming wrath of God and the Lamb.

But then we're not through.

There's more paintings in this room.

Two more visions that serve as a sort of interlude

between that opening of the sixth seal at the end of chapter six

and the opening of the seventh seal at the beginning of chapter eight.

So what we're focused on is chapter seven.

So please stand.

And hear now the very word of God.

Starting in Revelation chapter seven, verse one.

And we'll read down to Revelation chapter eight, verse one.

This is the infallible, inerrant word of the living God.

After this, I saw four angels standing at the four corners of the earth,

holding back the four winds of the earth,

that no wind might blow on the earth or the sea or against any tree.

Then I saw another angel ascending from the rising of the sun

with the seal of the living God.

And he called with a loud voice to the four angels

who had been given power to harm earth and sea,

saying, do not harm the earth or the sea or the trees

until we have sealed the servants of our God on their foreheads.

And I heard the number of the 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 worshipped 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.

He 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.

And when the Lamb opened the seventh seal,

there was silence in heaven for about half an hour.

Amen.

Let's pray together.

Heavenly Father, as we have come once again into Your presence on another Lord's Day

that You have set aside for us to rejoice and be glad in,

we come pleading with You that You would please send Your Spirit in greater measure to us,

send Your Spirit to enlighten all of our hearts,

especially we pray for the hearts of Your children here today,

that we would know what is the hope to which You have called us,

what is the riches of our glorious inheritance in the saints,

and what is the immeasurable greatness of Your power towards us who believe.

And Lord, if there are any in this room who do not yet believe,

would today be the day of salvation for them,

that they would come to believe not only that they are great sinners,

but You are an even greater Savior,

and that they would put all their trust in You alone.

Oh, Lord, speak to us through this Your holy word, we pray,

for Christ's sake.

Amen.

Please be seated.

Now, as I said, we're in this second series of visions,

and in this series of visions, the Apostle John first takes us to heaven.

In chapter 4, just to remind you again of context,

John sees God in His glory, seated on the throne,

and He's surrounded by a rainbow.

I have to say, one of the glorious things about our vacation

was we were driving, and we actually saw not just one rainbow,

but a double rainbow.

And quite frankly, I couldn't help but think of Revelation chapter 4,

Revelation 4 · chapter mention

and the throne of God, surrounded by the rainbow,

showing that He is a covenant God who's faithful to all His covenant promises.

And that's the vision that John sees,

and around the throne there are 24 elders who fall down and worship Him,

and four living creatures all praising Him as the creator of all things.

But then, it's as though the camera,

which is showing this wonderful vision of God

and all those worshiping Him in heaven,

it zooms into the throne,

and it zooms into the right hand of God.

In chapter 5, we find the right hand of God is holding a scroll.

G.K. Beale tells us,

which I believe he's right,

that the scroll is best understood as containing God's plan

of judgment and redemption,

which has been set in motion by Christ's death and resurrection,

but has yet to be completed.

It is that plan from Christ's death, resurrection,

to the ultimate consummation.

For that to be completed,

this scroll must be opened.

Everything that's to take place has already been written,

but now it has to actually take place in space-time history.

You remember chapter 5, there's this great dilemma.

There is John, and he's there,

and he hears an angel crying out,

Who is worthy to take and open this scroll?

And you remember,

search is made in heaven above and earth beneath

and even under the earth,

and no one is found.

And you remember what John does.

He weeps.

Because he knows what this scroll represents.

He knows the only way the consummation of our redemption is going to happen

is if someone is found who is worthy to open the scroll.

And as he is weeping bitter tears,

an angel comes and says,

Weep no more.

Behold the lion of the tribe of Judah.

And John then ceases his weeping.

He's been looking down.

Then all of a sudden,

you remember what happens.

He looks up to see the lion of the tribe of Judah.

But what does he see?

A lamb standing as one who had been slain.

And this is the one who is worthy.

It is none other than our Lord Jesus Christ,

who came as the great sacrifice for his people's sins.

He is now worthy as he enters heaven after his resurrection,

as one who's ascended.

He's worthy to take that scroll

and open its seals.

That's what chapter 5 is telling us.

And you remember,

immediately as he takes the scroll,

there's an eruption of praise.

The 24 elders are singing,

Worthy.

The saints in heaven,

they're singing,

Worthy are you,

who was slain,

to take up the scroll

and open its seals.

Because you were slain,

and by your blood,

you ransomed people for God

from every tribe,

language,

people,

and nation.

And this praise erupts out.

And then in chapter 6,

what happens is,

now the Lamb begins to open those seals.

And as he does so,

what it represents for us,

remember,

this is a vision.

So you must not think of this

in overly literalistic terms.

It's a vision communicating heavenly truth.

Jesus is now able to execute

what God has decreed is to take place.

These seals,

as they're opened,

it's an execution of the decrees of God

from the time of Christ's ascension,

we could say,

until his return.

The first four seals,

as I mentioned before,

are the four horsemen sent by the Lamb

to execute God's judgment on the earth,

even before the final judgment.

That in the period from this time,

from Christ's ascension to his return,

God's wrath is being revealed on the earth.

That's what Romans 1 tells us.

There is a great day of his final wrath,

but his wrath is being revealed today.

You know how his wrath is being revealed?

Some of it is by giving up people

to their sinful desires.

Part of what Romans 1 talks about

is unnatural desires for men

to be inflamed with lust for men,

women for women,

Do we see that in our world today?

And do you realize that

that is the wrath of God

being revealed in the world now?

That's part of the four horsemen going out.

That is Christ executing God's decree

in judgment against those

who refuse to repent.

Of course, at the same time,

there is the white horse that goes out.

There is Christ who goes out

to do what?

To bring in his elect.

Throughout all the periods

of the ages before his return,

he is both executing judgment

and redemption at the same time.

So you have these visions

of what's happening.

And then, of course,

you have the fifth seal is opened.

And this time,

it's what's happening not on earth,

but what's happening in heaven.

And there you have the martyrs

under the altar of God

crying out,

how long, O Lord,

before you will judge

and avenge our blood?

Right now,

all the Christians

who have been martyred

from Stephen forward

are under the throne of God,

as it were,

crying out,

O Lord,

bring ultimate justice.

They're looking forward

to that great day of consummation.

And what does God say?

He says,

not yet.

Rest for a little while longer.

That day will come.

Then comes the sixth seal.

And the sixth and the seventh seal

are representative

of that final great day.

And in the sixth seal,

you remember what's said

is judgment is coming

so much so

that the people

that are there being judged,

they would prefer

that the mountains fall on them.

And you have a good sense

of what mountains look like here.

I'm from the East Coast.

We have, you know,

what you might call hills.

We call them the Appalachian Mountains.

You have the Rocky Mountains.

Could you imagine

the largest of the Rocky Mountains?

You're like,

please cover me

so I don't have to see

the blazing eyes

of the Lamb of God

and His wrath.

That's what's going on

as the sixth seal is opened.

And indeed,

you notice the last couple of verses,

notice chapter 6,

verse 16,

they're calling

to the mountains and rocks,

fall on us

and hide us

from the face of Him

who is seated on the throne

and from the wrath of the Lamb.

For the great day

of their wrath has come

and who can stand?

That's the question.

Who can stand

before the holy,

holy,

holy God

and live?

it's actually an answer

to this question

that John has given

the two visions

that we find

in Revelation chapter 7.

Revelation 7 · chapter mention

Two visions

of the church

of the Lord Jesus Christ.

Two pictures

that I want you to have

before your mind

all your days

on the earth.

That's what Revelation is for.

See,

it's not so wrong

for us to like images.

Yes,

we're a culture

who loves movies

and those kinds of things.

But let me tell you this,

don't let the images

of the world

captivate your heart and mind.

Let the images

of Scripture

so captivate you

that you can't stop

thinking about these things

and what they mean.

Two visions.

One,

the vision

of the church militant

sealed and secure

on the earth.

That's verses 1 to 8.

I'll say it again.

A vision

of the church militant

sealed and secure

on the earth.

And then the second vision

is a vision

of the church triumphant

standing and serving

in heaven.

So two pictures,

one of the church on earth,

the other of the church

in heaven.

So let's unpack

these visions

and what they mean

for us

and to the glory

of our king.

first then,

a vision of the church militant

sealed and secure

on the earth.

And I want to,

with each of these visions,

ask and answer

three questions.

Okay?

The first question is,

where and when

is this vision

taking place?

Right in verse 1,

we learn

that John sees

four angels

standing on the

four corners

of the

earth.

You can speak,

it's okay.

Earth, right?

So this is a vision

of the church

on earth.

Some visions

that we find

in the book of Revelation

are what's taking place

in heaven.

That's what we said

with the throne room

in Revelation 4 and 5.

Others of what occurs

on the earth.

The first four seals,

the four horsemen,

that's on earth.

Right?

The sixth seal,

that's on earth.

So here is something

that takes place

on earth.

You need to

understand that.

And what's occurring?

Well, what we see is

there are four angels

at the four corners

of the earth,

if you're thinking

of the earth

kind of like a

flat earth.

I'm not a flat earth

conspiracist,

but you know what I'm

saying.

That's the vision here.

Okay?

And these four angels

are restraining,

keeping back

the four winds

from doing what?

From bringing harm.

That's what it says.

Right?

Keep them from

bringing harm.

Verse 2, right?

He could have been

given power to harm

the earth and the sea.

Now what's going on here

is you need to understand

the book of Revelation

is these wonderful

paintings, you could say,

these wonderful pictures,

but the Lord is painting

using the colors

of the Old Testament.

Every verse

of the book of Revelation

is actually dipped

in the paint

of the Old Testament

to paint these pictures.

And what you have here

is an echo

from Zechariah chapter 6

Zechariah 6 · chapter mention

in which it speaks

about four horsemen

that are closely related

to four winds.

And the horsemen

and the winds

are that which are

bringing judgments

on the earth.

So we see these four winds

are related to the four

horsemen of the apocalypse.

And so what this means

is these four winds

are to be seen

as judgments

that will come upon

the earth

throughout the time

of Christ,

between Christ's first coming

and his second coming.

They're pictured here

like winds of a hurricane

bringing destruction

and devastation

upon the earth.

And also then

the final judgment

in which the earth

and the sea

and even the trees,

it says,

will be shaken.

Even the trees.

And so the four winds

here represent

God's judgment.

I don't know

if you've ever

seen a tornado

or you've ever

experienced a hurricane.

It's almost like

there's nothing

that can stand

in its way.

And that's the power,

the image you're

to have in your mind.

And there's these

four angels

that are restraining

this powerful winds

from coming

and bringing

this destruction.

But what happens

to God's people

when God's judgments

are unleashed

on the earth?

And here's where we see

another part

of this vision.

John sees another angel

coming from the east

who calls out

that the judgments

are not to go forth

until what?

God's servants

are sealed

on their foreheads.

That's what he says.

You see it there.

Verse 2.

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

the four angels.

He says,

Do not harm the earth

or the sea

or the trees

until we have sealed

the servants

of our God

on their foreheads.

So before final judgment

comes,

before the ultimate

end and consummation,

all God's servants

will be sealed.

That's what this is saying.

So this is a vision then

of something that takes place

on earth

throughout the church age

in one sense

before the final judgment

of Christ

and his return

as a reminder

that something

must take place.

God's elect people

must be sealed.

Let me just say something.

This is a reminder

to us as well

that the order

in which things

and these visions

take place

is not necessarily

chronological always.

These are visions

teaching us truth

about what's going to happen

or is happening

during this whole age.

But what's the significance?

Here's our second question.

When and where we've said

it's happening on earth

during the period

between Christ's

first and second coming.

The second question is

what is the significance

of being sealed?

What does that mean?

What is the vision

communicating to us?

What's the truth here?

And here you need to think

about what happens

in the ancient world.

Maybe you've watched

a movie

set in the Middle Ages

or even

Reformation time period

and you have

an important document

from the king

and he rolls it up

and then you remember

he's got a candle

over here

and he's got this wax

and he melts the wax

and presses it on there

then takes his signet ring

and presses it in it.

He has sealed it.

Right?

That's the image.

A wax seal

authenticated

by say a signet ring.

That's the kind of idea.

It indicates both

authenticity

and security.

That this document

for example

is truly from the king.

It's authentic.

This decree

that goes forth

is real.

But also security

that it's sealed

and not opened

except by the person

that has the authority

to open it.

So it represents both

authenticity

and security.

Now how does that relate

to us

you and me

as Christians

the idea of having

our foreheads

stamped with this seal?

Well first

being sealed

on the foreheads

as God's servants

means you have

the seal

of authenticity.

God is saying

by this seal

this one

is truly mine.

She

has been adopted

into my family.

She is certified

to be

part of

the people

of God

and the Lamb.

that you are

authentically

one

who belongs

in the family

of God.

You are genuinely

a child

of the King.

This understanding

of the meaning

of the seal

on the forehead

is confirmed

by Revelation

Revelation 14:1

chapter 14

verse 1.

You can turn there

if you like

or just listen.

This is what it says.

Then I looked

and behold

on Mount Zion

stood the Lamb

and with Him

144,000

who had His name

and His Father's name

written on their

foreheads.

Same idea.

The name.

Where is it written?

The same place

as the seal.

On the forehead.

You think about this.

Having a seal

or your name

written on something

is a sign of ownership.

This belongs

to you.

My wife

not too long ago

well long ago

she gave me one

and then it broke

and so she gave me

another one.

But it's one of those

seals that you stamp

your books with

right?

It says

from the library

of John Alexander Miller

right?

And particularly

my sons

they like to stamp

my books for me

right?

And so

when that book

is stamped

it's a seal

saying

it belongs to me.

When God

writes His name

on your forehead

or puts the seal

on your forehead

He's saying

this one belongs

to me

God says.

You are authentically

a child

of the King.

You are owned

by Him.

You belong

to Him.

As Christians

you are those

who bear

the name

of Jesus Christ.

You have

the family name.

Just like a wife

in our

at least tradition

in the U.S.

when she

marries

she takes

her husband's

name.

She now

bears that

name.

The children

bear the

family name.

That's what

is being

communicated

here.

And this

connection

between the

seal

and God's

name

is also

seen in

places like

2 Timothy

2 Timothy 2:19

chapter 2

verse 19

where it says

this

but God's

firm foundation

stands

bearing this

seal

the Lord

knows

those who

are His.

The seal

is what?

The Lord

knows those

who are His.

You belong

to the Lord.

The next

verse in

parallel

says this

let everyone

who names

the name

of the Lord

depart from

iniquity.

To bear

the seal

is parallel

with bearing

the name.

To having

the name

of Christ

upon you.

Thus to be

sealed

means you

are authenticated

as one who

genuinely belongs

to the Lord

Jesus Christ.

So that's

the first part

authenticity

but the second

part is this

security

security

security.

This seal

secures

God's people

from the

harm

of God's

judgments.

Before

the winds

are let

go

every one

of God's

elect people

must be

sealed

secured.

This is

reminiscent

of what

we read

earlier

in one sense

but that's

part of

Ezekiel

9 through

11.

Ezekiel

is also

a book

of visions.

The first

vision is

sometimes one

of the most

confusing

visions in

Ezekiel

Ezekiel 1 · chapter mention

chapter 1.

It talks

about wheels

within wheels

and going

forward and

backward and

all this.

What's

Ezekiel 1

about?

Let me

just give

you a

simple

explanation.

It is

God on

his war

chariot,

his throne

chariot and

he's coming

to judge

his people.

That's what

Ezekiel 1's

vision is

about.

But there's

another vision

that's given

to Ezekiel

while Ezekiel

is in

Babylon.

It's a

vision of

what's

happening

in Jerusalem

and that's

Ezekiel

8 to

11.

And in

that vision

what he

sees is

all the

idolatry

that's

taking

place.

Here are

God's

people.

They're

to worship

the one

true and

living God

and instead

they're

worshiping

idols.

They're

worshiping

the sun.

They're

worshiping

all these

false

gods even

within the

temple.

The height

of breaking

the commandments

of God.

What's the

first

commandment?

Thou

shall

have no

other

gods

before

me.

You

shall

not

make

for

yourself

any

graven

images.

So on

and so

forth.

They

break

on all

the

commandments

and God

said

when you

break my

covenant

I'm going

to bring

the

covenant

curses

on you

and part

of those

covenant

curses

are going

to be

I am

going

to destroy

that

temple

and I'm

going to

remove

my

presence

from

you.

And

the

vision

is the

vision

of God

coming

to bring

his

judgment

and also

not only

him bringing

his

judgment

but the

glory

of the

Lord

ascending

from the

temple

and leaving

from Jerusalem

and actually

going to be

a sanctuary

for his

true remnant

in Babylon

which is part

of what we

read in

Ezekiel 11.

In

Ezekiel 9

though

there's

this

vision

of one

who's

to go

throughout

the city

of Jerusalem

before

the

judgment

comes

before

the

temple

is

destroyed

and this

is what

it says

it says

pass

through the

city

through

Jerusalem

and put

a mark

on the

foreheads

of the

men

who sigh

and groan

over all

the abominations

that are

committed

in it

and so

after this

angel goes

through

and marks

on the

forehead

those

who

are

grieved

over the

idolatry

because

they

still

love

and

worship

the

Lord

after

them

in

the

vision

what does

Ezekiel

see

the

executioners

are

to

come

and

what

are

they

to

do

it

says

kill

old

men

outright

young

men

maidens

little

children

and

women

but

touch

no

one

on

whom

is

the

mark

do

you

see

the

Lord

is

painting

with

the

paint

from

Ezekiel

9

here

in

Revelation

7

and

he's

saying

those

who

have

been

sealed

who

have

the

mark

on

the

forehead

when

God's

judgment

comes

they're

the

ones

who

are

saved

from

the

harm

of

the

judgments

of

God

doesn't

that

remind

you

of

the

greatest

act

of

redemption

in

the

Old

Testament

the

Passover

where

there

the

blood

of

the

Passover

lamb

is

taken

in

that

bowl

and

the

hyssop

and

you

dip

it

in

and

you

paint

it

on

the

lintels

and

the

doorposts

so

that

when

the

angel

of

death

comes

passes

over

because

they've

been

marked

out

as

the

place

of

safety

a

place

of

security

from

the

coming

wrath

and

judgment

of

God

so

now

this

seal

here

in

Revelation

7

it is

talking

about

the

security

of

God's

people

but

let me

be

clear

it

is

being

secure

from

the

harm

of

God's

judgments

not

from

the

experience

of

them

it

does

not

mean

that

God's

people

will

not

experience

trials

sufferings

and

even

great

tribulation

John

himself

says

that

he

is

one

who's

going

through

tribulation

and

he

was

he

was

exiled

he

was

away

from

the

church

he's

alone

on

an

island

he's

suffering

he

experiences

it

but

he's

secure

from

the

harm

of

it

see

when

judgments

are

unleashed

on

the

earth

Christians

are

not

immune

from

wars

from

famines

from

sickness

from

death

itself

we

do

and

we

will

experience

all

these

things

tribulation

but

as

those

who

are

sealed

God's

people

are

spiritually

protected

we

are

secured

from

the

harm

of

these

things

secure

in

Christ

and

in

fact

you're

secured

!

so

that

you're

enabled

to

go

through

these

tribulations

and

able

to

still

have

faith

in

Christ

so

that

you

can

overcome

that's

what

it's

saying

not

that

you

will

never

go

through

pressures

dangers

difficulties

but

in

the

midst

of

the

pressures

the

influences

dangers

snares

of

the

sinister

world

you

will

not

be

overcome

by

them

you

will

not

be

destroyed

by

them

but

you

will

continue

to

cling

to

Christ

and

be

forever

with

him

ultimately

that's

what

the

picture

of being

sealed

is

about

!

you

will

persevere

you're

secure

in

Christ

isn't

that a

comfort

to your

Christian

that you

if you're

a Christian

here today

you have

been

sealed

and

no

one

not

even

the

devil

himself

can

take

that

seal

from

off

of

your

forehead

so

often

if

you're

like

me

you

look

at

your

own

heart

and

you

realize

that

I'm

a

weak

man

I

have

fear

and

I

even

sometimes

fear

that

I'll

make

a

shipwreck

of

my

faith

and

be

swept

away

but

God

is

the

one

who

comes

to

assure

us

God

is

the

one

who

assures

you

and

he

says

to

you

I

have

sealed

you

and

made

you

secure

you

are

being

guarded

and

kept

by

my

power

not

your

own

through

faith

yes

but

where

does

faith

come

from

it's

a

gift

for

salvation

yes

a

salvation

that's

ready

to be

revealed

at the

last

time

Christ

seals

those

who

belong

to

him

God

has

sealed

you

and

he

will

preserve

you

to

the

end

beloved

as a

Christian

you've

been

sealed

and

no

matter

what

trial

no

matter

what

tribulation

your

faith

as

genuine

faith

will

not

ultimately

fail

but

here's

a third

question

for this

first

vision

but

are

all

Christians

sealed

I

mean

after

all

in the

vision

it's

only

144

thousand

right

144

thousand

are

sealed

!

so

are you

part of

that

or not?

Now

some

take this

number

very

literally

right

you know

certain

cults

for example

the Jehovah's

Witnesses

they limit

the number

to those

who are

believers

who will

spend

eternity

in heaven

and according

to Jehovah's

Witnesses

that number

144,000

was reached

in 1935

so sorry

if you're

Jehovah's

Witness

you're out

of luck

dispensational

Christians

are those

who would

say

that this

is the

number

of

ethnic

Jews

who

convert

to

Christ

after

the

church

has been

raptured

out of

the

world

I'm

just

going

to

tell

you

I

don't

believe

that

that's

not

what's

going

on

in

this

passage

you have

to

understand

these

are

visions

and

visions

in the

book

of

Revelation

when

there's

numbers

these

are

meant

symbolically

they

communicate

truth

but in

a

symbolic

theological

book

of

Revelation

John

takes

Old

Testament

language

and

imagery

about

Israel

and he

applies

it to

what

the

church

of

the

Lord

Jesus

Christ

made

up

of

who

believing

Jews

and

believing

Gentiles

who

are

those

who

are

saved

all

who

believe

in

the

Lord

Jesus

Christ

are

saved

from

Adam

and

Eve

to

the

last

person

who

saved

Moses

David

all

of

them

they

were

looking

for

who

the

coming

Messiah

!

everyone

Jew

or

Gentile

is

saved

by

faith

in

Jesus

Christ

and

that's

what

this