God's People in the Midst of Turbulent Times

I think so many of us have come to church this morning with something of a somberness,

and I know I came with a bit of a heavy heart.

What we need this morning is not just to hear the opinions of man, we're not just here to

be inspired or to hear a prep talk, we need to hear God and encounter God.

So let's come before Him in prayer, and I want to encourage you to listen to this prayer

that I've written for us, and let's try and make it our own as much as possible, and

then we'll listen to the reading of God's Word.

So let's pray.

Heavenly Father, loving Lord, we come to you this morning not in strength but in weakness.

Father, we come not confident or self-assured, many of us come conflicted and afflicted and

hurting, unsure of ourselves, unsure of how to make sense of the pain in our city, unsure

of how to respond to what we see and experience around us.

Oh Lord, Father, we are broken, God, by the hatred and the anger that we see, and we don't

know how to respond, God, to so much of what's going on in our city and of what we are witnessing.

Father, we don't know how it's going to end.

God, we come to you this morning stripped of answers, stripped of any semblance of wisdom,

stripped of any self-confidence, and Father, we feel like we've been laid low.

How long, oh Lord, how long?

As the psalmist tells us, God, we are weary with our groaning.

We are worn out with anxiety.

We are tired and exhausted, and our fears, God, are overwhelming.

How long, oh Lord, how long?

And so, Heavenly Father, we've come to you this morning, because we have nowhere else to turn.

We come to you this morning because nothing else will answer our concerns.

God, you have the words of life.

Your Spirit speaks our hearts, and because despite everything we see around us, we believe that

you, God, are truth, you are light, you are sovereign, and that our lives are in your

hands, God.

Father, as we turn to your word this morning, we long for you to speak to us.

We long for you, God, to make sense of what we're struggling to make sense of.

Father, we need you to pour faith into our hearts and to lift our sights onto you.

And so, God, we come to you this morning because you are God and we are not.

We come to you, God, because you are on your heavenly throne and have not been displaced.

We come to you, God, because in you there is perfect justice.

Oh, God, who is there like you?

Who else can give our hearts peace like you?

Who else will establish justice and righteousness like you?

Who can keep people safe like you?

Who can give us true freedom and hope like you?

Oh, Lord God, this morning we've come to declare that, Father, despite what we see around us,

there is no one and none like you.

And our hearts and our hope are found in you, Lord God.

This morning we join with the whole host of heaven, declaring that salvation belongs to

our God and that our God reigns.

Worthy are you, oh, Lord our God, to receive our worship, glory, honor, and praise.

Both today in the city of Hong Kong, all around the world, and for all eternity.

We pray these things in your powerful, your glorious, and your trustworthy name.

Amen.

Amen.

Pui and Betty are going to come and read to us.

And this morning we've got a long reading.

We are reading two full chapters of the book of Revelation.

So I want to encourage you to listen up.

There's a lot of interesting terminology and symbolism, but let's listen to God's word

being read to us.

The scripture reading comes from Revelation, chapters 6 and 7.

Revelation 6 · chapter mention

Please follow along in your booklets or on the screen.

Now I watched when the Lamb opened one of the seven seals, and I heard one of the four

living creatures say with a loud voice like thunder,

Come.

And I looked, and behold, a white horse, and its rider had a bow, and a crown was given

to him, 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.

Its rider was permitted to take peace from the earth, so that people should 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 saying,

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 the 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 on the earth?

Then 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, the full moon became light blood,

and the stars of the sky fell to the earth as the fig tree cheds 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?

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 Vanessa.

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

And He who sits on the throne

Will shelter them with His presence

They shall hunger no more

Neither first no 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

This is the word of God

Great, thank you Betty and Pui

For that long reading

And thanks so much

Well, we

If you're new to Watermark

We are working our way through the book of Revelation

And I heard recently that somebody said

They did some research in the U.S.

And the book of Revelation is one of the books of the Bible

That most Christians want taught to them and explained

And it's the one book of the Bible

That most pastors don't want to go anywhere near

And I can understand why

This week I said to Oscar

I said, why on earth did we choose Revelation?

It's this passage has beaten me up this week

And we're starting to get to the interesting parts of it

With interesting symbolism

And so let's see if we can try and make sense of it today

There's a lot in here

And so let's go for it

This week and next week

Are going to be particularly challenging

And for two reasons

One, because the symbolism is so strange

There are these strange horsemen

And all sorts of things

And moons that are turning blood and stuff

And so that's challenging

But then secondly

When we actually try and understand it

The message itself is challenging

It's a hard message to receive

And so

I really do pray and trust

That God will use His word to speak to us

To both encourage us

And to challenge us

Now if you look back on the history of the world

And especially the last century

You'll see that our world has

In the last century

Had great moments

Of wonderful moments

Of human achievement

Technological advancement

Scientific

Medicinal discoveries

That have benefited human life

But at the same time

If we're honest

And look back

In the same period of time

Many of those scientific discoveries

And technological advances

Have also been used

To bring great harm

And destruction

On the world

And so we think of even just

For instance

The invention of the airplane

What a great benefit that's been

But at the same time

How that was used

In so many wars

To bring about great heartache

And destruction

We think of the World War I

And World War II

In the last century

Think of the Holocaust

We think of Pol Pot

And his regime

In Cambodia

In the 1970s

Two million Cambodians

Were killed

We think of the terrors

In Africa

The many many civil wars

The Rwandan genocide

We think of the chaos

In the Middle East

The famine in Oman

At the moment

As a result of war

And if we who live in Hong Kong

Ever felt

Oh we are fortunate

To live in the safe

And secure society

The last three months itself

Has challenged that idea

That actually we do live

In a broken world

And our world is full of tears

And heartache

Now for the Christians

In first century Rome

Their story was very similar

Because the Roman Empire

Was one that promised

Great blessing

The Pax Romana

Promised relative stability

And peace

Throughout the Roman Empire

Rome had secured

Relative financial prosperity

For its citizens

There was infrastructural discoveries

Like the highways

And the aqueducts

And so for the Roman Empire

There was much blessing

For those that enjoyed it

But at the same time

There was an ugly underbelly

To the Roman Empire

Because as their hunger

For expansion grew

So did the consequences of that

Slavery

Injustice

Corruption

Death

And destruction

And so the story

Of the first century

And the church

That Jesus writes to

In Revelation

Is very

Or not too dissimilar

From actually our own world

We see this

Growth

And development

But at the same time

This brokenness

In our world

Now if we were to ask

An artist

To paint us

An impression

Of the last century

I wonder how

He would do that

What would an artist's

Impression

Of the last century

Of all that we've described

Look like

Well actually

There's an artist

That did that

And his name is

Pablo Picasso

In 1939

He painted a very famous

Painting

Called Granica

I think that's how you say it

And we've got a picture of it

Somewhere up here

And the story behind this

Is that two years previously

In 1937

There's a Spanish war going on

And German bombers

Came and flew over

The Spanish town of Granica

Bombing its citizens

And the streets of Granica

But what was happening

Was actually

A lot of the

Hitler and his

Military strategists

Were actually practicing

Their military strategy

For what they would then

Employ in the world war

That was coming up

And so what happened was

The citizens of this town

The fighter jets

Come and bomb the town

They all run

And take cover

They stay under cover

For 15-20 minutes

Or so

An hour

And as they come back

Into the streets

When they think

It's calm again

The planes come a second time

Around

And bomb them again

And thousands of people

Die in the Spanish town

And so Pablo Picasso

Paints this picture

Called Granica

It's a gross picture

That's full of catastrophe

And chaos

And body parts

Now Picasso's picture

Doesn't represent history

Like a photograph does

Or like a newspaper report

But it does convey

Something of the horror

And the chaos

That took place

In this town

Just a few years before

In a similar way

This is what the passage

In the book of Revelation

Is like

Jesus through

The apostle John

Is trying to give us

A picture

An artist's impression

Of the story

Of the world

But he's not giving us

A newspaper account

Or he's not giving us

A history book account

It's this artistic impression

That's full of imagery

And strange symbols

And chaos

And destruction

And moons that are

Turning to blood

And the stars are falling

It's an artist's impression

That conveys the story

Of the world

And is meant to elicit

Our emotions

To understand

What God is trying to say

Now as we get into

The next couple of chapters

The book of Revelation

Has this series of sevens

In chapter 6 and 7

That we look at today

There are seven seals

On this parchment

In chapter 8 and 9

There are seven trumpets

That are blown

In chapter 11

We see seven thunders

And chapter 15 and 16

There are seven bowls

That are poured out

With these seven plagues

Okay

Now John is not trying

To predict the future

He's not a fortune teller

He's not trying to give us

Chronological account

Of the world

And so some people say

Okay what are the seven seals

You know this is

Nero

And then this is

This event

And then we go to the trumpet

And then chronological

That's not what's happening

What John is saying

Is he's saying

The story of the world

Remember God's trying

To peel back the curtain

So we can see the world

From heaven's perspective

He's saying

The story of the world

It's a bit like this

But it's also a bit like this

And it's also a little bit like this

In other words

All the series of seven

Are the same story of the world

From a different angle

It's like as Chris explained

A few weeks ago

You're watching a sports game

Your team scores a try

Or scores a goal

And there's this camera angle

That shows it from this angle

And then they show

The same event from this angle

And then they show

The same event from this angle

This action replay

That's what the book of Revelation

Is really about

It's going to show us

The story of the world

From all these different angles

So that we can see it

From heaven's perspective

And so today

We get to the first of these

Seven

These series of sevens

And the images of a parchment

Or a scroll

That's been rolled up

And in the ancient time

When a scroll was rolled up

It had these wax seals put upon it

To keep it from praying eyes

And from those that weren't meant

To look inside

And so there's this scroll

And each time a seal

Jesus breaks open

One of these wax seals

Some cataclysmic event

Happens on the earth

And so that's the background

Behind our passage

Now last bit of introduction

Before we get to the passage today

In order to really understand

This section

We need to follow

The flow of thought

Through the book of Revelation

And so very briefly

I'm going to recap

Remember

Chapter 1

We see this vision

Of Jesus in all his glory

We sang about it earlier

Jesus with eyes like fire

Burnished bronze feet

Voice like rushing waters

And Jesus in all his glory

Chapter 2 and chapter 3

Jesus then writes these letters

Or a letter

To these seven churches

In Revelation

And the reason is

Because these churches

Same as our church today

Are facing two challenges

The one challenge

Is to become

Just like the culture

In which it finds itself

To become syncretistic

Or to accommodate the culture

To be seduced by the power

And the prestige

And the glamour of Rome

And to try and find

Their hope and confidence

In the culture

In which they find themselves

But the other challenge

The churches were facing

Was to say

No we're not going to

Compromise like that

We're going to stand firm

But the church was so small

It felt insignificant

And how was the church

Ever going to stand up

Against the power

And the machine

Of the Roman Empire

And so Jesus writes them

And he says

Don't be overwhelmed

Or over seduced

By the culture

In which you find yourselves

But also don't be overwhelmed

With fear

By the power of Rome

Stay faithful to me

Keep your eyes fixed

On me

I am your hope

And Jesus

At the end of each letter

He says this

This one refrain

To the one who overcomes

To those that endure

To the end

To those who conquer

I promise life

And blessing

And reward

And so Jesus

Writes these letters

To saying

Stay faithful

In the midst of the culture

And the midst of fear

And anxiety

Keep your eyes fixed

On me

And then chapter 4

We saw this

Vision of Jesus

Of God

And all his glory

On the throne

All creation

All angels

Bowing down to him

Worshipping him

Not for what he's done

But simply for who he is

And then chapter 5

Colin brought to us

Two weeks ago

Not only God

On the throne

But Jesus

Is there right next to him

And Jesus is worthy

Of all worship

And all honor

And all glory

Not only because

Of who he is

But because of

What he's done

Because he died

On the cross

To save you and I

And so

As the church

In Asia Minor

Reads this revelation

Of God on the throne

And Jesus is there

Next to him

The thought that

Must have come

To their mind

Was come on

What's there to worry about

We've got this thing

If this God

Who is on the throne

Of all the universe

Is on our side

And we're on his side

We're indestructible

Like

This is a done deal

Right

What's there to worry about

And Jesus now

Writes to his church

To show them

That just because

He's on the throne

Doesn't mean

That there's not

Going to be any

Difficulty in the world

In which they live

Because Jesus

Writes them

To show them

That although

His kingdom

Has already come

It hasn't yet

Fully come

In all its fulfillment

Jesus is saying

I came

And I brought

My kingdom

It's already here

But I haven't yet come

When I come

A second time

It will be

Fully established

Jesus hasn't

Fully

Overthrown

All his enemies

Yet

Now that day is coming

When he returns

But we live

As Christians

In this weird overlap

Of the already

And the not yet

His kingdom has come

But it hasn't yet

Fully come

And so we find ourselves

In this

Interesting stage

In redemptive history

Where Jesus

Is on the throne

But there's still

Difficulty and chaos

And trouble

In our world

Does that make sense?

And so now

The next ten chapters

Of Revelation

Jesus is writing

To show his church

And to give them hope

In the midst

Of this season

In which they find themselves

The midst of the already

And the not yet

Okay

And so let's go to

Revelation chapter 6

Revelation 6:1

Verse 1

John looks

And this is what he says

Now I watched

And when the lamb

The lamb is Jesus

Okay

Jesus who died

And came alive again

When the lamb

Opened one of the seals

I heard one of the

Four living creatures

Saying with a loud

Voice like thunder

Come

And I looked

And behold

A white horse

Its rider had a bow

And a crown was given to him

And he came out

Conquering

And to conquest

And John looks

And he sees

These four horses

Okay

He sees again

Another Jesus

Opening the seal

And there's another

Horse comes

A red horse

Which is symbolism

Of blood

And war

And armies

And conquest

He sees another

There's another seal

Is opened

And another horse

Comes

It's a black horse

It's a picture of famine

And economic injustice

And inequality

Interesting look here

There's a voice

In verse 6

It says

A quarter of wheat

For a denarius

Three quarters of barley

For a denarius

But do not touch

The oil and the wine

Do you know

What's going on there

When war comes

What happens

There's famine

Right

And so

The price of staple foods

Goes through the roof

And so the two staple foods here

Wheat and barley

The price has just

Exponentially gone through the roof

It's like 15 or 20 fold

What it normally is

And so the people

The staple foods

The prices have just

Gone through the roof

But someone says

Don't touch the price

Of the oil and the wine

Why not

The oil and the wine

Are commodities

That the upper class

The aristocrats

Get

And so the price

Of that the poor

And the marginalized

Have to eat

The staple foods

Has gone through the roof

But somehow

Those that are in power

And control

Are controlling the prices

Of the high end

The caviar

And the champagne

So that their income

Isn't affected

But the income

Of the poor

And the marginalized

Is affected

It's a picture

Of inequality

And injustice

And then a fourth horse

Comes

And it's a pale horse

And it's a picture

Of death

And disease

And destruction

Now straight away

When we read this

One of the things

That should impact us

Is who is the one

That's bringing this about

Who is the one

That's allowing this to happen

It's Jesus

Right

Jesus is the one

That's opening the seals

And it's one of the creatures

Around his throne

That is calling this forth

What on earth

Is happening

Why is it that God

Allows this to happen

Isn't God's job

Just to keep peace

On earth

And to rid the world

Of problems

Isn't God

The big guy in the sky

And his job

Is to make sure

There's no difficulty

In the world

And just

Everything is happy

And fine

Well friends

That understanding

Of God

Is a very simplistic

Or shallow reading

Of the scriptures

God is working

All things

Not just simply

To bring peace

And comfort

And happiness

In the world

God is working

All things

For his purposes

And his purpose

Is not simply

World peace

Or my happiness

Or your convenience

His purpose

Is establishing

His kingdom

And putting his glory

On display

And that's why

It's confusing

And as challenging

As it may be

Part of the reason

Why we're in this

Already and not yet

Stage in the history

Of the world

Is God is strategically

Working all things

To bring his purposes

To pass

Not simply our comfort

And our convenience

Remember at the end

Of Jesus' life

He's about to go to heaven

And his disciples

Say to him

Jesus are you going

To now restore

The kingdom to Israel

You've died

And you've risen again

Now's a good time

To vanquish your enemies

And to restore all things

And Jesus' answer

Is

It is not for you

To know the times

And the season

That my father

Has fixed by his own

Authority

Jesus is saying

That until he returns

We are still living

In this ambiguous season

When his kingdom

Has come

But it hasn't fully come

And when he rules

But he doesn't fully rule

As he one day will

Remember how Jesus

Said this just

To his disciples

Before he went

To the cross

He said

You will hear

Rumors of wars

And wars coming

See that you are

Not alarmed

This must take place

But the end

Has not yet come

Nation will rise

Up against nation

Kingdom will rise

Up against kingdom

There will be famines

There will be earthquakes

There will be destruction

In various places

All these things

Are just the beginning

Of the birth pains

And this is exactly

What John sees

In chapter 6

Jesus is telling

The church in Asia Minor

What he taught

His disciples

In this world

You will have trouble

In this world

There will be difficulty

He has not yet

Utterly removed

Wickedness and evil

But says Jesus

Do not fear

This world

Is not your home

In verse 13

He says

The one who endures

To the end

Will be saved

And that's exactly

What Jesus says

To the seven churches

He's calling them

And he's calling us

To neither compromise

By finding our hope

In the systems

Of this world

Nor to cower away

In fear

Thinking that all

Is lost

But to keep our eyes

Fixed on him

Who is on the throne

In this world

You will have trouble

Says Jesus

But take heart

I have overcome

The world

Your life

Is found

In me

Okay

So that's the first

Four of these seals

John looks again

And he sees

A fifth seal

Broken open

And look at what happens

John sees

What he says

Of the souls

In verse 9

Of those that have

Been killed

They are martyrs

Because they've held

On to the word of God

And the testimony

That Jesus is

Who he said he is

Which tells us

That Christians

Are not immune

From the wickedness

And the

Destruction

In our world

Jesus tells us

That standing for righteousness

For truth

For justice

It may invite wickedness

To come your way

And that's the whole challenge

That these seven churches

Kept on facing

This was the constant challenge

Will they avoid difficulty

Will they avoid suffering

By just assimilating

Into the culture

By trusting in Rome

By becoming just like

The citizens of its city

Will they assimilate

Into it

And avoid difficulty

Or

Will they cower away

And hide

And try and preserve

Their lives

And Jesus says

That by declaring

That Jesus is Lord

Not the mission

Not Rome

Not the emperor

That Jesus Lord

Will invite difficulty

Into your life

It will cost you something

That to be faithful

Even to death

Will

Jesus says

Will you be faithful

Or will you shrink back

And preserve yourself

Friends

Is it any different

In our age

Of course not

Jesus asks us

The same question today

Will we assimilate

Into our culture

And become just like

The citizens of our city

And avoid persecution

Or will we shrink back

And quieten our voice

Or will we stick to the truth

That Christ is Lord

And stand for him

Even though

It may cost us

Dearly

Look at verse 10

They say here

Oh sovereign Lord

Holy and true

How long before you will judge

How long will you avenge our blood

Of those who dwell on the earth

In other words

Jesus how long must we wait

Until you bring justice

Until you crush your enemies

Until you establish justice

On the earth

How long until you hold wickedness

To account

How long oh Lord

Must we wait

You see what's happening

To the Christians here

Is that justice has been denied

To them on earth

They know that in the courts of heaven

The only courts that really count

That in the end of the day

Justice will come

The injustice that they experience on earth

For standing for truth

Will be overturned

And justice will be done

And are they defeated?

Yes on earth they're defeated

Their lives are taken from there

But in heaven

They are given the victory

Look at verse 11

They are given white robes

A symbol of victory

And vindication

And life

Because what appears

Like their lives

Have been cut short

And wasted

Is actually

Their victory

And so what is God's answer

To their question

How long?

They are told

To wait a little longer

Until the number

Of their fellow servants

And their brothers

Should be complete

Now that doesn't mean

That Jesus in heaven

Has this KPI

Of how many martyrs

He needs to reach

Right?

Until the end of the age

Jesus doesn't have a target

That he's waiting for

And saying

The number hasn't got there

What Jesus is saying is this

My purposes

And my plans

Are still rolling forward

And they will not be delayed

But they will not be brought forward

I will accomplish my purposes

In my time

And in my plan

There is still more room

For martyrs

To lose their life

That happened in first century Rome

And friends

It's still happening

Today

The time has not yet come

Now that may seem

Like such a waste

These men

These women

Losing their lives

For the gospel

But John says

Their lives are not wasted

Because what may appear

Like their lives

Have simply been taken from them

Like in some senseless murder

That's actually not the case

Look

Where does John see these lives?

Where are they in heaven?

Look at verse 9

He says

They are standing

They are right by the altar

Which means their lives

Have been offered up to God

As an offering of sacrifice

They are an offering

There's something beautiful about it

John Piper

In one of his talks

Many years ago

He very famously told the story

It's a true story

He said

Two ladies

Single ladies

In their 70s

Foreign missionaries

In a foreign land

And one day

They're going about their business

And some catastrophe happens

And they both lose their life

They're driving their car

On this mountain ridge

To get to a village

To go and share the gospel

The brakes in their car fail

They go over the edge

And both of these ladies

In their 70s

Die

Is that a tragedy?

Asks John Piper

And the answer is

A resounding no

What a way to go to glory

What a way to spend your life

To offer up your life

For the cause of Christ

John Piper then says

Two people retire

At the age of 60

And they spend

The best decades

Of their life

Taking walks

On the seashore

And collecting seashells

Is that a tragedy?

And the answer

Is a resounding yes

What a way to spend

The finest last decades

Of your life

Taking walks

On the seashore

Collecting seashells

And drinking

Skinny cafe lattes

What better way

To spend your life

Than to pour it out

As an offering

To God

Here are these martyrs

That have been killed

For the cause of Christ

Their lives have been

Taken to them

And it's not a waste

For all eternity

Their lives will count

Because they've offered

Them up to God

I wasn't going to

Tell the story

But let me just

Tell the story

1555

Two men

Two bishops

In London

Are arrested

For preaching the gospel

A man called

Nicholas Ridley

And Bishop Latimer

And as they tied

To the stake

There are

Some hay

Is put around

Their feet

And they're about

To be lit

The hay bales

Are lit

And Bishop Latimer

Turns to the young man

Master Ridley

Nicholas Ridley

Is fearful

He's in his 40s

He's about to lose

His life

And Bishop Ridley

Says to him

Be of good cheer

Master Ridley

Play the man

This very day

We shall light

A candle

In England

As I hope

By God's grace

Shall never

Be put out

Friends

What kind of man

As the flames

Are starting to

End his life

And burn his legs

Can say

Be of good cheer

It's somebody

Who knows

That he's not

Wasting his life

As he lays it down

For the cause

Of Christ

That brings us

To the sixth seal

In this one chapter

On the one hand

We're told

That we are living

The already

And the not yet

We're being told

That there will

Still be more martyrs

The time

But we're also told

That the time

Of Christ's judgment

Has not yet fully come

But on the other hand

We're now shown

That those who do

Spend their lives

For Christ

That those who

Experience the injustice

Of this world

That those who

Don't fight back

And try and preserve

Their lives

But offer it to God

In the face of

Wickedness and oppression

And who offer up

Their lives as an offering

Justice is coming

And the reason is

Because God's

Final judgment day

Is coming

And that's what

The sixth seal

Is all about

Let's look at it

Together

Look at

Verse 13

With me

There's this strange

Language of

The son

The moon

Becoming like blood

The stars

Falling from the sky

And the sun

Turning black

Now

That refers to

Two things

On the one hand

It refers to

The false gods

And the idols

That were being

Worshipped in the

Ancient world

In the ancient world

What were the

Gods of creation

That loved to be

Worshipped

It was the sun

The moon

And the stars

Right

Jesus says

In the final account

At the end of the ages

What's going to happen

To those things

That the ancients

Loved to worship

They're going to

Be swept aside

And so will those

Who trust in them

They will be exposed

Nothing left

To show for it

Tim Chester makes

The point where he says

Today the sun

Moon and stars

Have been replaced

By money

Sex and power

In humanity's list

Of favored deities

But one day

These two

Will be swept aside

And friends

All those who trust

In them

Will be exposed

But the other thing

That this refers to

Is that in the

Old Testament

This graphic language

Of the sun

And the moon

And the stars

Falling

Was symbolic

Of empires

And kingdoms

Being brought to an end

And especially

God bringing

These empires

And these kingdoms

To an end

And Jesus

Is showing John

Yes it looks like

Rome is all powerful

Yes it looks like

Martyrs are never

Going to be vindicated

Yes it looks like

The church is

Insignificant

And poor

And powerless

Against the machine

Of the Roman Empire

But just wait

That's not how

The story ends

Ultimately

No kingdom

No dynasty

No empire

Will last forever

There is coming a day

Where every empire

Will be brought

To its knees

And so what happens

In the end

When Christ

Establishes his kingdom

All those who look

Invincible

Kings and premiers

And emperors

And governors

And military leaders

All the way down

To slaves

And former slaves

All people

Everywhere

Will cower

And flee

In terror

Before the awesomeness

And the majesty

And the glory

That is God

Look at verse

15

Then the kings

Of the earth

And the great ones

The generals

The rich

The powerful

But also slaves

And the free

Hid themselves

In the caves

And amongst the rocks

Of the mountains

Calling on the mountains

And the 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 his wrath

Has come

And who can stand

And friends

That is the momentous question

In the face

Of final judgment

When every emperor

And empire

When every president

And every premier

Will fit

In the most awesome

In the face

Of the most awesome

And terrifying

Authority of the world

In the face

Of God

Will run

For their lives

The question

Is this

Who can stand

Who can stand

Now before we get

To the final seal

In chapter 8

There is an interlude

And chapter 7

Answers the question

Of who can stand

Let's look at

Verse 1 together

Verse 1 of chapter 7

And after this

John says

I saw four angels

Standing at the four

Corners of the earth

Then I saw another

Angel ascending

With the seal

Of God

And he called

In a loud voice

Saying do not

Harm the earth

Or the sea

Or the trees

Until we have

Sealed the servants

Of our God

On their foreheads

Who can stand

Those that have

Been sealed

With the seal

Of God

It's a picture

Of remember

In Exodus

God comes

And he's

Delivering his people

He's going to

Save his people

By the blood

Of the lamb

But at the same

Time he's

Bringing judgment

The angel of death

Is going to

Come to Egypt

And bring judgment

On the nation

Of Egypt

But his people

Are going to

Be saved

How are they

Going to be saved?

By the blood

Of the lamb

That's been painted

On the doorpost

Of their house

They've painted

As it were

A seal on their house

So that when the

Angel of death

Comes

It passes over

Because they've got

A seal over there

John is saying

The same thing

He's saying

Who in the day

Of final judgment

Who can stand

When God's judgment

Comes upon the earth

Who will stand?

Those that have been

Sealed

By their God

And now for the second

Time in Revelation

John hears one thing

And as he turns around

He sees something different

Remember in chapter 5

Colin preached it

Two weeks ago

John hears

The lion of Judah

And as he turns

To look at the lion

He doesn't see a lion

He sees a lamb

Well the same thing

Happens here

John hears a voice

And saying

Those that are sealed

Will stand in the day

Of great judgment

The 144,000

Now what's 144,000?

What does it mean?

Well remember

In the book of Revelation

The symbol 12

The number 12

Is symbolic

The 12 apostles

Of the New Testament

The 12 tribes

In the Old Testament

Times a thousand

In other words

The 144,000

Those that are sealed

The complete number

Of God's people

Will stand

In the day of judgment

Not one will be missing

Friends you may be here

A follower of Jesus

Maybe you've sinned tragically

Maybe you've done

Some dumb thing

And you feel so guilty

And you feel like

God will kick me

Out of his kingdom

In that final day

I will be destroyed by God

No

Not 139,999

Not one will be missing

Because your eternal destiny

Doesn't depend

On your righteousness

It depends on

Are you sealed

By the blood of the Lamb

On that great day

Every single one

Of God's people

Not one will be missing

Will stand

Before the throne

John hears this number

God's people sealed

And then when he turns around

To look at this crowd

Of 144,000

What does he see?

He sees a multitude

A multitude

That is so vast

It cannot be numbered

He sees a multitude

Of people

From every tribe

And every language group

And every people group

And every ethnicity

And every culture

In other words

The greatest form

Of diversity

You can imagine

From all over the globe

And they are unified

Together

Before the throne

Of the Lamb

There before the throne

You have Hong Konger

And mainland Chinese

Black

White

Chinese

Rich

And poor

Educated

And uneducated

Friends

Can I say

On the great day

Before the throne

Of God

There may be

Policemen

And protesters

Standing shoulder

To shoulder

Before the Lamb

Of God

Before the throne

Crying out

Salvation

Belongs

To our God

Who sits on the throne

And to the Lamb

There will be

There will be

A great multitude

Of every person

From every people group

Those that have

Trusted in Christ

And how did they

Get there?

Some of them

Are there

Because of the martyrs

Some of them

Are there

Because they did not

Love their lives

And they were willing

To speak the truth

Of the gospel

They were there

Because they

Because the martyrs

Went out

And so here's

The big idea

Of this whole

Two chapter passage

It's taken us

30 minutes

To get here

The big idea

Of this

In this world

Friends

We will have trouble

There's going to be

Wars

And rumors of wars

There's going to be

Destruction

And wickedness

There's going to be

Injustice

And inequality

There's going to be

Heartache

And there's going to be

Pain

Even as we witness

What's going on

In our city

At this time

But that's not

The end of it

We live in a

Broken world

And we've contributed

To brokenness

And if you're a follower

Of Jesus

The temptation

May be to make peace

With the systems

Of this world

In order to preserve

Our lives

Or to maximize

Our own security

Or to avoid

Discomfort

But the systems

Of this world

Are failing

They are absolutely

Failing

And every single system

Every political system

Every economic system

Every civil system

Every educational system

Even every religious system

That is not centered

On he who is on the throne

Is going to end up

In self destruction

Absolutely failing

It's absolutely going to

Come to an end

And one day

Every one of those systems

Will be shown

For what they are

And what's more

Is that they're going to be

Held accountable

To the judge of all the earth

And so will those

Who trust in them

But there is another way

There is another way

And that's to trust

The one who is on the throne

To live our lives

By his story

To be centered on him

And to give our lives

To him

Even as it costs us

Dearly

The only way to stand

In the day of great judgment

And the only way

For the things

That we give ourselves

To not end

In self destruction

Is to be centered

On he who is at the center

Of all creation

And so finally

Look at verse 13

It says

One of the elders

Addressed me and said this

Who are those clothed

In white robes

And from where do they come

I said sir you know

He said those are the ones

Coming out of the great tribulation

Tribulation means difficulty

And they've washed their robes

And made them white

In the blood of the lamb

Friends on the final day

When all wickedness

Is held accountable

When every bit of evil

Is finally and fully

Held to account

When perfect justice

Will be meted out

Who will stand

Who will stand in that day

Well the bible actually gives us

Two answers

And the first answer

It gives us

Is no one will stand

Not you

Not me

Not the pope

Not mother Teresa

Not the most moral

Upright person

You can imagine

No one will stand

Before the awesomeness

Of our God

No one should stand

Friends if you

New to church this morning

One of the things

You'll quickly discover

About this church

Is that we are made up

Of 100% sinners

Every one of us

From the pastors

And the elders

To everyone else

None of us

Can stand

Before the awesomeness

Of our God

But that's not the answer

That is given here

In Revelation

The answer that's given here

Is that those who stand

The great day of God's judgment

Are those who are gathered

Around the throne

And are standing

In robes of white

They're not there

Because of their

Religious devotion

That doesn't save anyone

They're not there

Because they're more moral

Than anyone else

That doesn't save anyone

They're not there

Because they gave money

To the church

That doesn't save anyone

They're not there

Because they are nicer

Or kinder

Or generally better people

Than anyone else

That doesn't save anyone

They are there

Because they've been washed

In the blood

Of Jesus

The lamb

That was slain

For them

Remember Psalm 130

If you are Lord

Should mark our iniquities

Who are God could stand

But with you

There is forgiveness

That you may be feared

Friends

This is our only hope

If it's not for the blood

Of Jesus

None of us could stand

None of us could be accepted

None of us could be welcomed

If it's not for the blood

Of Jesus

You and I would stand

Fully accountable

Before the throne of God

And be held accountable

For every word

That we've said

Every thought

That we've thought

Every action we've done

And in action

That we haven't done

But for those who come to him

Who put their hope in him

We are washed

Cleansed

Justified

Sanctified

In the blood

Of the lamb

Who can stand