"The Wrath of the Lamb"

Well, good morning, church. It's good to be back with you all.

Thank you for your prayers for me and for Beth and our family while we were away on sabbatical.

Our time was full of good rest and refreshment and good times of connection with one another and with God.

So we're very grateful for your prayers and for your support of us.

And we've been excited to hear, now that we're back, all that God has been up to over the past three months.

As we've heard stories of new members joining and new services being pioneered,

like the testimony service around Thanksgiving and new ministry opportunities being developed by the care team and others,

it's just been a great reminder that the work of God's kingdom is His work.

And that God has blessed this church with a great group of faithful elders and deacons and staff and ministry leaders and members.

What a good reminder that the work of ministry is our work, right?

Together, as members, every one of us.

So it's been a real joy to hear all the stories of how God's been at work through you while we've been away.

And I'm sure we'll hear more of them in the coming weeks.

We look forward to that.

Well, let me invite you to turn with me to the book of Revelation.

We will be looking at page 968 in the Pew Bible.

Go ahead and turn there with me.

Revelation chapter 6.

Revelation 6 · chapter mention

We're going to walk through Revelation chapter 6 today.

Revelation 6 · chapter mention

But before we walk through Revelation chapter 6, let me invite you to go on an imaginary walk with me.

Revelation 6 · chapter mention

Walk with me in your mind through an art gallery.

And this wing of the art gallery, in this wing, the curators have gathered all their depictions of the crucifixion.

If you've walked through, say, the Yale Art Gallery on Chapel Street, you'll know that most art museums have multiple works on the cross.

But now, take a look at those pieces with me.

Imagine a piece by an unnamed medieval artist.

It's very two-dimensional, and the faces are blank, almost forlorn.

Now, take a look at a modern piece by Salvador Dali, the great surrealist.

And you see Christ on a perfectly geometrical cross, almost soaring over the earth.

Last, take a look at the 16th century piece by Grunewald.

And beside the wounded Christ, you can't help but see John the Baptist with his finger just pointing, pointing.

Behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.

Now, each of these pieces is about the same thing, right?

The same event in history, the death of Christ.

But each one shows it from a unique perspective.

Each painting draws out something important and meaningful that the others don't.

And what I want to suggest this morning is that the book of Revelation functions very similarly.

Starting in chapter 6, John is going to relay to us, his audience, a series of visions that God gives him.

Most of these visions are structured around the number 7.

Seven seals, seven trumpets, seven bowls, and so on.

But each of these visions is giving us a portrait of the same thing.

They're telling the same story over and over again from a fresh angle, drawing out something new and important each time.

And I'd like to suggest that the event or the story that each of these visions is telling in its own way is the story of the church age,

up to and including the return of Christ.

As we saw way back in chapter 1, this book of Revelation is about what's to come.

What was to come from the first century when John was writing all the way to the return of Christ at the end of history?

What can the church expect as it lives through this age?

What will life be like as followers of Jesus?

And what will his glorious return mean for us in the world?

Now, one clue that this is what's going on in the book of Revelation,

that is that we have multiple visions, multiple perspectives of the same thing,

is that as you read through Revelation, you start to realize that the return of Christ in glory to save and to judge

is described multiple times.

If you have a Bible open, you can kind of flip with me.

In the vision of the seven seals in chapters 6 through 7,

we see the return of Christ depicted and described.

In chapter 6, verses 12 through 17.

And then as we go into the vision of the seven trumpets in chapters 8 through 11,

we see the return of Christ and his return in judgment described in chapter 11, verses 15 through 19.

And then in the vision of the sort of seven symbolic figures that we have in chapters 12 through 14,

we see the return of Christ described yet again in chapter 14, verses 14 through 20.

And so on and so on.

So as we read these visions, we're asking,

what does God want us to know about living faithfully in this age,

this last great age of redemptive history that we live in between Christ's first and second coming,

these last days, as the New Testament calls it?

How do we live faithfully and in hope in this age as we look forward to the return of the Lord Jesus in glory?

Now, perhaps you've heard different approaches to the book of Revelation.

As Matt mentioned, we're going to have a Sunday school class coming up where we kind of talk about different approaches

and where, you know, we've kind of come up with this one.

You know, this approach that will take a trinity over the next few months is one that many faithful Christians have taken throughout church history.

So it's not just something we've kind of like made up because it seems nice.

But if you're interested in learning more, you can come to Sunday school and we'll take a look at that starting on February 4th.

But I hope that you'll see that as we walk through the rest of the book of Revelation,

no matter which interpretive approach you take,

many of the spiritual lessons for us are the same today.

God wants us to know what to expect as we follow him faithfully in this world.

God wants us to know what spiritual dynamics are at work as we make this heavenly pilgrimage as his church.

And God wants us to know what future he has in store for us and for all of creation.

So let's pick up then in chapter 6 as the first of these visions begins.

Now remember, John has just been swept up to see the heavenly throne room

and the scroll of God's plan to deliver and to judge and to bring about his kingdom once and for all was brought forth,

but it was sealed with seven seals.

And the only one worthy to open that scroll was the Lamb who was slain, the Lord Jesus Christ.

He alone is worthy.

And the Lord Jesus took the scroll in chapter 5 and all of heaven rejoiced.

And then John shows us this in chapter 6, verse 1.

Now I watched when the Lamb opened one of the seven seals.

And I heard one of the four living creatures say with a voice like thunder,

Come.

And I looked and behold a white horse.

And its rider had a bow and a crown was given to it.

And he came out conquering and to conquer.

When he opened the second seal, I heard the second living creature say,

Come.

And out came another horse, bright red.

And it said, its rider was permitted to take peace from the earth so that people would slay one another.

And he was given a great sword.

When he opened the third seal, I heard the third living creature say, Come.

And I looked and behold a black horse.

And its rider had a pair of scales in his hand.

And I heard what seemed to be a voice in the midst of the four living creatures say,

A quart of wheat for a denarius.

And three quarts of barley for a denarius.

And do not harm the oil and wine.

When he opened the fourth seal, I heard the voice of the fourth living creature say, Come.

And I looked and behold a pale horse.

And its rider's name was Death.

And Hades followed him.

And they were given authority over a fourth of the earth to kill with sword and with famine and with pestilence.

And by wild beasts of the earth.

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 witness they had borne.

They cried out with a loud voice, O sovereign Lord, holy and true.

How long before you will judge and avenge our blood on those who dwell in the earth?

And they were each given a white robe and told to rest a little longer until the number of their fellow servants and their brothers should be complete,

who were to be killed as they themselves had been.

When he opened the sixth seal, I looked and behold, there was a great earthquake.

And the sun became black as sackcloth.

And the full moon became like blood.

And the stars of the sky fell to the earth.

As the fig tree sheds its winter fruit when shaken by a gale.

The sky vanished like a scroll that is being rolled up.

And every mountain and island was removed from its place.

Then the kings of the earth and the great ones and the generals and the rich and the powerful and everyone,

slave and free, hid themselves in the caves and among the rocks of the mountains,

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?

So as the Lord Jesus opens the seals,

what do we see?

Well, it's unsettling, isn't it?

For what we see is the unfolding of God's wrath.

That is, God's just anger against sin and evil and idolatry.

Now for most of us, I'm guessing, the idea of a wrathful God makes us uncomfortable.

Isn't God a God of love, we say?

And yes, God is a God of love.

There is no part of God, no attribute of God,

that isn't saturated with his eternal, triune love.

But imagine for a moment with me a God that wasn't also a God of wrath.

What if God wasn't a God who stood firmly opposed to sin, to evil, to injustice, to idolatry?

What sort of God would it be who didn't hate sin?

What if God saw murder and racism and exploitation and was simply indifferent?

That wouldn't be a God worthy of trust, would it?

Let alone worship.

In fact, that God wouldn't even be worthy of the name of love.

If you see your child being harmed or your friend being harmed,

you feel rightly angry and opposed to that, right?

You feel wrath.

You want it to end.

Why?

Because you love them.

No one would question in that moment if you were a loving parent or not,

if you were a loving friend or not.

No, they would see your opposition to sin and evil.

They would see it as the proper response of your love, right?

So it is, friends, with God, but to an infinite degree.

For God to be worthy of the name God,

He must be a God who's rightly opposed to sin and to evil.

He must be a God, yes, of wrath.

So it is unsettling, this picture.

But it is God as God truly is and must be.

Well, let's see then what this vision tells us about God's wrath.

First, in verses 1 through 8, we're told that God's wrath is underway now.

The first four seals pick up two threads of Old Testament imagery.

The first is from Zechariah, chapters 1 and 6.

Zechariah 1 · chapter mention

In chapter 1 of the prophet Zechariah,

he sees a vision of four groups of horses of different color

commissioned by God to patrol the earth.

And in that Old Testament vision,

these patrols that go out,

these four different colored horses find that the world is at rest.

The world is comfortable,

even though these nations have trampled on God's people

and have despised God's name.

Then in chapter 6 of Zechariah,

four chariots are sent forth,

pulled by four teams, again, of horses of different color.

And presumably, those horses are sent forth

as symbols of God's judgment.

So that's the first Old Testament thread

that we see here in the first four seals.

That's where John's picking up this theme

of different colored horses going forth.

And it tells us that these four seals,

these first four seals are expressions of God's judgment against the world.

Now, the second Old Testament thread we see

is at the end of verse 8 in Revelation 6.

And there, John summarizes these first four seals.

He summarizes all first four of them like this.

He says,

Now, that list of terrible judgments,

sword, famine, pestilence, wild beasts,

that was the common way that the Old Testament would summarize

the terrible penalty for breaking God's covenant.

We see that in a number of places,

like Leviticus 26 or Ezekiel 14.

It's throughout the Old Testament.

Whenever it would speak of the consequences

of breaking God's covenant,

these were the terrible things

that would come crashing down on God's people.

And what ultimately was it in the Old Testament

that broke the covenant with God?

What was the great thing

that broke the people's faith and allegiance with Him?

It was idolatry.

Worshiping a God other than the true God.

Turning away from God

to worship and serve a created thing.

That was the ultimate breaking of the covenant with God.

So these two Old Testament threads suggest

that what these four horsemen represent

are the unfolding of worldwide judgment upon idolatry.

And friends, you don't have to be a scholar of history

or a current events buff

to realize that these terrible consequences

have been happening throughout the church age.

The second horse represents war and civil strife.

You know, just as Jesus said in Matthew 24,

there would be wars and rumors of wars the world over

as we awaited His return.

The third horse represents famine and inequity.

Verse 6 mentions a denarius,

which was a typical day's wage

for a typical day laborer.

And a quart of wheat was just enough

for one person for one day.

So a denarius for a quart of wheat

was basically just enough to get by

for one person for one day.

Three quarts of barley were sort of a cheaper grain,

but that was enough for kind of one family for one day.

So what's being described here

as this horseman symbolically holds scales in its hand

is that because of famine or exorbitant inflation or both,

these verses are speaking of people being forced

to live at a level that's barely subsisting.

It's barely sustainable.

Sadly, this verse also mentions oil and wine.

Now, oil and wine, unlike wheat or barley,

would have been products that only the rich could afford.

Most people didn't do oil and wine.

They did wheat and barley.

Only the rich could afford those things.

But notice, the rich aren't affected.

In other words, this is a description

of deep economic inequity.

The poor can barely survive.

The rich seem unaffected.

Doesn't that sound like a lot of human history?

And the fourth horse, representing death,

is sort of a pale color.

Probably, that word meant something like a pale green,

like a sickly color.

And many think that this horse represents pestilence and plague.

But friends, notice that there's a bit of a progression here,

isn't there?

You know, warfare in the ancient world,

if there was war, if there was civil strife,

you know, that would often destroy a lot of the local environment.

The crops would be destroyed.

They would be burned.

They would be ravaged.

So war would lead to famine and inequity and inflation.

And then in that status of war and famine,

often that was sort of the breeding ground for disease and for death.

But where does this progression start?

It starts with the first horseman.

And the first horseman at first looks kind of promising, doesn't he?

He's riding a white horse.

He's wearing a crown.

He's holding a bow.

So promising does this first rider look

that some commentators on Revelation have wondered

if this might be a picture of Christ riding forth to triumph.

But friends, it's not so.

That is not what we have here.

All four judgments are from God and the Lamb,

but this one's the most telling.

You know, all of us seem to recoil at the thought of famine

and war and disease and death.

But this first rider promises to conquer.

He promises to come and end all our earthly problems,

to win our battles,

to help our side triumph.

But what comes in his wake?

War and famine and disease and death.

When the lust for power and control,

when the desire to conquer drives us,

then we find that sooner or later,

the rest of these disasters follow in its wake.

Strife, inequity, and death.

And the terrible thing about the first seal,

this first horseman,

friends, is this spiritual reality.

Most often in this life,

God's just wrath against sin and idolatry

is expressed by God giving us over

to the very thing we want.

We see this in Romans 1.

How is God's wrath being revealed from heaven

at the present time?

The Apostle Paul says that because

we've exchanged the worship of God

for a created thing,

God's wrath is being expressed

by giving us over to the very thing

we say we want.

He lets us go.

And that's exactly what we see here

in Revelation 6, 1 through 8.

As humans, we want to conquer.

We want to end all our problems

through power and victory.

We want to see our side win.

So we exalt leaders or programs or policies

that will serve that conquering end.

But what's the result?

War and famine and death.

Now why does God hand us over in this way?

Why does God give us what we want

when the consequences are so terrible?

Why does He allow us to experience

all these things?

Well, there are a number of things

the Bible has to say about that.

But one reason God in His justice

allows us to experience

the consequences of our own idolatry at times

is so that we might lose

our confidence in those false saviors

and turn to Him in repentance.

And notice that the effects

of these first four seals

are divinely limited.

They were given authority

over a fourth of the earth,

verse 8 says.

Only a fourth.

God in His kindness

limits what human idolatry

and the lust for power and wealth

would wreck upon His creation.

He limits it to only one-fourth the effect.

Imagine if it were otherwise.

Can you imagine a world

with a 75% increase

in famine

and in inequity

and in disease

and death?

Only God's undeserved kindness

keeps this world

from falling

into utter horror.

And His kindness, friends,

is meant to lead us

to repentance.

The rich,

the powerful,

the boastful,

the ones who ride forth

conquering and to conquer,

they look shiny

and promising

and full of hope.

And a dark part of our hearts

might even want to be like them

and join them

in their seeming triumph,

whether it's social triumph

or economic triumph

or political triumph.

But friend,

there's no life

to be found there.

The only real life

to be found

is not in the path

of the conquering ones,

but in the path

of the crucified one

who came not to be served,

but to serve

and to give His life

as a ransom for many.

Jesus said,

it's only those

who lose their life

who will find it.

So, church,

let me ask this.

Are you tempted

to chase

after the world's power

and the glitz

and the glam

and the promises

of wealth

and power

of ease

and security?

I know at times I am.

But what if

God gave you what you wanted?

At the end of the day,

would it be life

or would it be death?

The Christians of John's day

would have been tempted,

I think,

to look at the Roman Empire

and believe the lie

that the Roman Emperor

and Empire

was the one

who could secure

lasting peace

and prosperity.

They'd be so tempted

to feel that allegiance

to Rome

with all its apparent

power and wealth

would lead

to an eternal day

for all of humanity.

But friends,

that was a lie.

And John was trying

to wake them up

with this passage

to not believe it.

There was only one

worthy of our affections

and our allegiance.

There's only one,

the Lord Jesus.

And these first four seals

show us a vivid picture

of God's wrath unfolding

as human idolatry

leads us to ruin.

And they warn us

to turn to God

from idols

and serve the Lord Jesus.

Now, turning to the fifth seal,

John's vision takes us

from earth

back to heaven,

back up to the throne room.

In the midst of all this

political, economic,

and social strife,

brought about

by God handing us over

to our idolatry,

we see the kind of next step

of John's vision here

and the second point

I want to cover.

We see in verses 6 through 11

that in the midst

of all of this,

the church

is not promised

physical protection

from evil

in this age.

We see there

in those verses

that Christians

are not immune

from the devastating effects

of war and famine

and disease

that run rampant

in a fallen world.

In fact,

more than not,

Christians become

the explicit target

of the world's

satanic lust

for conquering

violence.

You know,

you can visit a site

like Voice of the Martyrs

and see how this

wasn't just a reality

in John's day

as Roman persecution

began to rise

against the church.

It's been a reality

in every era

of the church

and particularly

in our own.

You know,

in the West,

we may not feel

the full brunt

of this violence,

but our brothers

and sisters

in the global church

do.

I just got an email

from Christianity Today

this week

citing some statistics

from a study

that was done

in the last year

saying almost

5,000 Christians

were killed

for their faith

last year

and almost 4,000

were abducted.

Nearly 15,000 churches

were attacked

or closed

and more than

295,000 Christians

were forcibly

displaced

from their homes

because of their faith.

That article

goes on to say

just shocking statistics

about the number

of Christians globally

that live

in areas

of heavy persecution.

In some places

it's like 1 in 5.

So brothers and sisters,

let's not pretend

that following Christ

is a ticket

to our best life now.

Especially if by best life

you mean

being wealthy

and powerful

and free of earthly cares.

Jesus promised us

the opposite.

In this world

you will have trouble,

he said.

You will experience

sickness and trials

and hardship and death.

Take up your cross.

and follow me.

You see friends,

the world wants to conquer.

But ours is the path

of the martyr.

As we are united to Jesus,

this is how we truly overcome.

We witness

through suffering.

That's what the word

martyr literally means.

A witness.

One who testifies

to something

so good

that it's better

than life itself.

And notice

that God says

really surprisingly

that this age

won't end

until the full number

of martyrs

is complete.

God strikes us

as very odd,

doesn't it?

We expect God

to avenge his people,

to make the violence

stop,

to rescue his church,

his beloved,

and bring her to safety.

And friends,

he will.

But until then,

there is a path

for us to walk,

to bear witness

through suffering,

to join our life

to the life of Christ,

and to walk the way

of the cross

that he walked.

To hold up

to the world

how worthy Jesus is

by clinging to him,

by trusting in him,

by obeying him,

even if the world

seeks to end our life.

You see,

the cross

and the resurrection

of Jesus

changes everything.

If I am united

to the crucified

and risen Jesus,

then losing

this physical life

doesn't steal

the most important

and valuable thing

I have.

My life

is hid

with Christ

and God.

He promises

that you and I

will share

in his resurrection.

Ultimately,

friends,

the world

doesn't hold

the power

of death

and the grave.

Though they try

to wield it,

they don't

hold

the keys

to it.

Do you remember

the vision

in Revelation chapter 1?

Revelation 1 · chapter mention

Who is it

that holds

the keys

to death

and the grave?

It's the risen

Lord Jesus.

And if we belong

to him,

not even death

can separate us

from the love

of God

in Christ Jesus

our Lord.

And look what John

sees in verses 9

through 11.

while the martyrs

await the final

resurrection

and the new heavens

and new earth,

where are they?

They're under the altar,

John says,

right there where the incense

of the heavenly temple

rises with the prayers

of the saints.

Again,

John's using

heavily symbolic language

to describe

heavenly realities.

In other words,

these saints

are right there

in God's presence

and they're given

a white robe.

A white robe

is a symbol

for Christ's righteousness

that they have.

That though the world

condemned them,

though the world

hated them

and clothed them

in black,

God overturns

the world's full verdict

and they're clothed

in white,

pure and without spot.

And notice

what they pray.

They pray,

O sovereign Lord,

holy and true,

how long before

you will judge

and avenge our blood

on those who dwell

in the earth?

They call out

for God to come

in perfect justice

and make things right.

Now,

pause there

on their prayer

and consider,

friends.

You know,

you read that prayer

for the first time

and at first

it sounds harsh,

right?

It sounds even

pretty violent.

It sounds like

they're thirsting

for revenge.

But that's not

actually what

they're saying.

They aren't asking God,

God,

when will I get

to go judge

and get revenge?

No.

They're entrusting

all judgment

to God.

God,

when will you

judge

and avenge?

Friends,

if you believe

in a God

who really does

oppose

sin and evil,

if you believe

in a God

of wrath

who will one day

judge with

perfect judgment,

it actually

releases you

from the burden

of having

to get

your own

revenge.

You know,

sometimes we think,

we think,

man,

how can you believe

in a God of wrath

and live a life

of peace?

How can you

forgive your enemies

if you think

that one day

God will judge

everyone?

But friends,

don't you see,

that's the only way

that you can live

a life of real

peace and forgiveness,

especially if you've

experienced

real wrong.

If there's no God,

if there's no

divine wrath,

if there's no

perfect justice

to come,

then it's up to you

to judge

and to make

things right.

you have to

balance the scales,

you have to

redress the wrong.

But of course,

as humans,

we can't possibly

do that with

perfect justice.

We always end up

paying back more,

we always end up

exacting more pain,

thinking that that's

going to finally

stop the cycle

of violence.

But it doesn't.

It does just

the opposite.

It increases it.

And round and round

it goes,

hurting and being

hurt,

killing and being

killed.

the only thing

that can get

our hearts

off the cycle

of revenge

is a full belief

in the perfect

justice of God

to come.

Friends,

He will settle

the scales.

We don't have to.

He will see

that every wrong

is made right.

He will see

that every wound

is healed.

He will see

that sins

are forgiven.

I know it

sounds counterintuitive,

but it's the

only real way.

If you're going

to live a life

of peace

in this world,

you have to

believe in a God

of perfect justice.

Yes,

you have to

believe in a

God of wrath.

And that's

where our passage

ends.

In the first

four seals,

we see the

outworking of

God's wrath

in this age

as idolatry

kind of takes

its effect.

In the fifth seal,

we see that the

church is not

protected from

evil in this age.

And then the

sixth seal,

we see,

third and last,

that one day

God's wrath

will be poured

out on rebellious

humanity once

and for all.

In verses 12

through 14,

John sees

the created

universe

starting to

come undone.

earth.

The earthquake

is a common

biblical image

for the

arrival of

God.

When God

showed up

on Mount Sinai,

the earth

shook.

And when the

Creator at last,

once and for

all,

steps into

His creation,

it's as if

the seams

of being

begin to

crack.

The holiness

of God

and the

Lamb are

so great,

the weight

of God's

glory is

so immense

that the

earth can

no longer

bear up.

And everything

that we've

trusted in

in this life,

our status,

our wealth,

our power,

our health,

our jobs,

our friends,

everything that

we use to

try to prop

up our

existence,

to keep

ourselves

distracted,

to think

ourselves good,

it all

melts away.

and the

seams

give way.

Before the

unbearable

holiness of

God,

friends,

none of that

will matter.

And just as

the creation

will be undone,

so will all

of humanity.

In verse 15,

John lists

seven types

of people.

Many of them

are powerful

and wealthy,

but not all

of them.

seven,

the judgment

of God

is the

great

leveler

of humanity.

Seven,

of course,

is a number

symbolizing

completeness

and totality.

John sees

that everyone

will stand

before their

creator

on the last

day,

and no amount

of power

or prestige

or wealth

and no amount

of religion

or good works

will matter.

You know,

it's funny,

sometimes in

our cynicism

we say,

you know,

if God wanted

us to believe

in Him,

He could just

show up

and make it

a little easier.

But what if

God did show

up?

What if the

sovereign Lord,

holy and true,

did show up?

in the presence

of such

blinding

holiness,

do you know

how we would

experience God

showing up?

How would we

as sinners

who've lived

our life,

who've lived

more of our

life chasing

idols than

giving God

the thanks

and praise

that He deserves,

how would we

experience just

the very holiness

of His presence?

Friends,

we would experience

it as nothing

but wrath.

Have you ever

walked outside

from a dark

room when the

curtains are drawn,

you know,

you kind of

step outside

and come right

into the sun?

For a moment

it's blinding,

isn't it?

The sun's just

too bright for

your eyes,

right?

Until they adjust.

But what if

not just your

eyes,

but your whole

life was exposed

to the God

who made you?

What if your

heart was opened

bare before

the God

who burns

brighter than

a thousand

suns?

Would we

all not cry

out like those

in verse 16

and 17?

Hide us.

Hide us

from the face

of the one

who sits on

the throne

and from the

wrath of the

Lamb.

For the great

day of the

wrath has come

and who can

stand?

Who can

stand?

Of course,

the answer

is no one

can stand.

Not you,

not me.

It doesn't

matter if you've

grown up in

church or this

is the first

time you've

ever been to

one of these

gatherings.

No one

can stand.

There's no

escape from

God and the

Lamb.

How could

there be any

escape?

God created

you.

He upholds

you in

being every

second.

You are

completely and

utterly dependent

on Him for

everything.

Friends, there

is no you

apart from

Him and

apart from

His choice

to keep you

and me

existing every

second.

There is no

escape from

Him.

There is no

hiding from

Him.

There is no

refuge from

Him.

But here's the

good news.

And it's the

only good news

that matters.

There is no

refuge from

Him.

But there is

refuge in

Him.

The only

hiding place

from the wrath

of the Lamb

is the blood

of the Lamb.

There's one

more Old

Testament echo

in Revelation 6

that's worth

pointing out.

And it's

actually right

there in

verse 16

where all of

humanity is

calling out

hide us.

And that

same cry

hide us

goes all

the way

back in

human history

back,

back,

back to

the very

first humans,

to our

very first

parents in

the Garden

of Eden.

Adam and

Eve having

sinned against

God,

torn up

inside and

out with

guilt and

shame.

they hear

God coming

and they

try to

hide us.

And what

does God

do?

To their

fears,

He gives

them a

promise.

And for

their nakedness,

He makes

a sacrifice.

In the midst

of their

fear, He

promises that

one day,

from Eve,

a child

would be

born that

would deal

with Satan

and sin

and death

once and

for all.

And to

their nakedness,

He gives

a sacrifice.

He makes

a sacrifice

to cover

them.

And He

gives them

a picture

of how

that conquest

would happen.

Another

would die

so that

they could

be covered,

so that

their sin

and death

could be

paid.

And friends,

when the

Lord Jesus

came and

when He

healed the

sick and

when He

raised the

dead and

when He

calmed the

seas,

at the

end of

His

perfect

life,

He went

to the

cross.

And then

that ancient

promise was

fulfilled and

the sacrifice

was made.

Jesus,

the Lamb of

God,

went into

the darkness

of God's

wrath for

you.

He went

into the

fullness of

that wrath,

except He

was the one

human who

didn't call

out,

hide me.

For you,

He said,

take me.

He didn't

call for the

rocks to

cover Him.

He was

torn and

broken.

He bore

it all.

Why?

So that

His death

might cover

you.

So that

all who

trust in

Him in

this age

might be

safe when

the day of

perfect justice

comes.

How about

you,

friend?

when it

all comes

to light,

when the

trappings of

this world

fall away

and you

stand before

your Creator,

what will

be your

hiding place?

Take

Christ

now.

Bow

before Him

now.

There's

coming a

day when

every knee

will bow,

whether we

like it

or not.

But God

says,

bow now,

take me

now.

Come

find

shelter,

Jesus

says.

Come

find

shelter in

the Lamb

who was

slain for

you.

In the

next chapter,

chapter 7,

John will

talk about

all the

blessings that

come to

those who

trust in

Christ,

their

spiritual

safety and

security,

their peace

and home

with God,

their protection

through all

the trials

of this

life.

And then

after that

interlude of

chapter 7,

the vision

returns to

the seventh

and final

seal.

You can

skip ahead

to chapter

8,

verse 1

if you

want to

see it

there.

And when

that final

seventh seal

is opened

in 8,

verse 1,

what happens?

There's

silence.

A perfect,

silent

awe.

Awe and

reverence

before a

holy God,

just and

perfect in

all His

ways,

perfect in

love,

perfect in

judgment.

friend,

where will

you be in

that silence?

Will you

be near to

God in

love and

peace,

having found

shelter in

the blood

of the Lamb?

Or will

you be cast

out from

God,

having found

no shelter

from the

wrath of

the Lamb?

There's no

third option.

The great

day of God's

wrath will

come.

The Creator

will give

His final

no to

rebellion and

idolatry and

sin.

He will

redeem His

creation.

He will

rescue His

people.

So don't

let that day

find you

anywhere else

than in the

arms of

Christ,

who died

for you.

Let's pray

together.

Father,

we pause

in silent

reverence

before You.

Lord,

we confess

that we

don't like

to think

about justice

when it's

aimed at

ourselves.

God,

we want

justice for

the world.

We want

to see

things made

right and

healed.

Lord,

what hope

is there

for the

world without

perfect

justice?

hope is

there for

me when

it comes?

Thank You

that in

Christ You've

made a

provision for

justice to be

satisfied and

for us to be

forgiven.

Lord,

increase our

love and

our trust in

Christ as we

go forth

this week.

in Jesus'

name,

amen.