Who Can Stand? (The Sixth Seal) | Revelation 6:12-17 | Pastor Daniel Batarseh (Revelation Bible Study Series)

Well, before we go to Revelation 6 and continue in our teaching

of the seven seals that Christ will break in the Tribulation

period, I invite you to turn with me in your Bibles to Luke

17 for a brief moment to look at a few verses the gospel Luke

Luke 17 · chapter mention

chapter 17 beginning in verse 26.

Just as it was in the days of Noah, so will it be in the days

of the Son of Man. They were eating and drinking

and marrying and being given in marriage, until the day when

Noah entered the ark and the flood came and destroyed them

all. Likewise, just as it was in the

days of Lot, they were eating and drinking, buying and

selling, planting and building. But on the day when Law went out

from Sodom, fire and sulfur rained from heaven and destroyed

them all. So will it be on the day when

the Son of Man is revealed. Isn't it interesting that in

Christ teaching about the last days, the world appears to be

going on as usual? There will be the routine of

feasting and fellowship. There will be business deals

made, romance blossoming, families coming together,

construction projects underway. It seems quite interesting that

these things will go on, and though these activities are not

inherently evil, Jesus Christ highlights them in order to show

us humanity's general and unfortunate response to the

trials and the turmoils of the Tribulation period.

It makes me wonder how can there be this level of normalcy

maintained, especially after we learned about the emerging of

false Christs, wars and rumors of wars, pestilences,

earthquakes, the mass death of Christians across the globe.

We looked at that when we saw these first five seals being

broken. And yet, my mind came to this

passage to remind me that there will still be buying and

selling, there will still be weddings, there will still be

buildings being built and trade happening.

And I believe the reason for this is largely because of the

great indifference that most people will have in that final

generation. And that's startling.

Chances are the reason for this is because they will brush off

these occurrences as things that humanity has always known.

Sure, what we're seeing is awful here, but it's nothing new.

Man speaks like that today. And in addition to that, we have

to understand that in the Tribulation period, the events

preceding the return of Christ, there will be an intense disdain

towards believers, even the believers who will be there

during the Tribulation. And so the message of the

Tribulation Saints will largely be ignored and even mocked, just

as Noah and Lott were dismissed as they were trying to warn

their generation of coming judgement.

And I say all of that to mention how whatever normalcy will be

realized and protected, I'm sure will be very difficult to manage

after the breaking of the 6th seal.

Something is going to shift. What God is going to do and what

we're about to study will surely captivate the world's attention,

unlike the previous seals. Now I invite you to Revelation 6

and begin with me here in verse 12.

When he opened the 6th seal, I looked and behold there was a

great earthquake, and the sun became black as sackcloth, 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, an 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? Father, we ask that you help us

with these verses and inspire awe in each of us as a result.

And more than that Lord, we pray that you would draw this Sinner

to the throne of grace and that there would be salvation while

it is still available. In Jesus name we pray Amen and

Amen. At first, it really seems like

what we just read is the end of the end, the end of all things.

I mean, this description seems to suggest that this is the

moment of Christ bodily return to the earth to rule and reign

forever. But I find that difficult to

accept for the simple reason that this is the 6th seal, and

there's still one more. And once we see the 7th seal

breaking, it will set into motion the seven trumpets.

And after the seven trumpets, we're going to have the seven

bowls of God's wrath. And so to say that this is a

snapshot of the Savior coming down and wrapping all things up

is a little challenging to conclude.

However, there are those who would say that that is the case.

Those who hold to alternative views of the Book of Revelation

would suggest that what you have here indeed is Christ's return,

because the way they understood the Book of Revelation is as

follows. We have the seven seals, then we

have the seven trumpets, and then we have the seven bowls of

God's wrath. And some understand these sets

of judgments as cyclical. They're not a linear thing,

they're not sequential, they're not advancing in a timeline.

But there are replays of the same events, though it's

slightly different details. So there are some who understand

it in that way. What you find here with these

seals is going to be repeated with the seven trumpets, and

it's going to repeat it with the seven bowls of God's wrath.

And although the Book of Revelation is not strictly

chronological in every detail, I'm persuaded that a plain

reading of it would lead anybody to understand that it is indeed

a steady progression, even with the differences of the

judgments. When you come to the trumpets

and the bulls, you can't deny that they become more intense.

In fact, by the time you get to the bulls, it's total

destruction. There's nothing left.

Everything is being cleaned up under God's wrath.

And if that's the framework of interpreting this book, at least

the most beneficial and realistic one, then what do we

do with this seal that reads like a finale?

I mean, what follows this? Well, as dramatic as the scene

is, I'm persuaded that when you consider the whole book, this is

merely a preview of God's full wrath.

This is not the conclusion. This is just a hint.

And you're going to see that in the coming weeks that things are

only going to get worse and worse.

So rather than this being a concluding curtain drop,

understand it more as a signal flare, reminding and telling

this final generation God's judgment has come.

Be prepared for eternal justice. And the primary purpose of this

terrifying display of power is to awaken this generation to the

realization that God has been behind all the calamities that

they endured. And He is soon approaching now

to give His final verdict. I understand the 6th seal to be

a major warning sign for a crowd of people who go on eating and

drinking, marrying, building, selling and buying.

You can't dismiss that God is behind this.

Look what I'm doing here. And as I was meditating on this

passage, thinking how we can benefit from it, staring at

these verses, praying and wondering how can we make this

digestible, I realized something.

Something stood out to me. The word great shows up a total

of three times. Did you notice it?

Look again here at verse 12, when he opened the 6th seal.

I looked and behold, there was a great earthquake.

Not just an earthquake, great. Look at verse 15.

Then the kings of the earth and the great ones, significant

people being mentioned here, the great ones, and look at verse 17

for the great day of their wrath has come and who can stand?

That's helpful. Let's consider these things

separately. I want to talk to you today

about the great earthquake, the great ones, and the great day of

God's wrath. Let's look here at verse 12

again. I remember one of my professors

in seminary mentioning in class that he was preparing to do a

deep study. Ready, a deep study on

earthquakes in the Bible. I don't know if you ever got

through with it, but when he said that, I mean, you can only

remember so much in school, right?

For whatever reason, that stuck with me.

What an interesting subject to study.

Earthquakes in the Bible, they're everywhere in the

Scriptures. Have you noticed that?

And they are, more importantly, brought up at key moments in

redemptive history. In fact, whenever God shows up

at a very pivotal time, He loves to make His presence known on

the earth by shaking it. So you remember in Exodus 19

when the Lord meets with his people Israel at Mount Sinai?

We read there in Exodus 19 that when he arrived, the mountain

greatly trembled. Think now of our precious Lord

Jesus in Matthew 27, as He's there hanging suspended on a

cross, and as He was absorbing the wrath of God, bringing it to

completion. We read there that the earth

shook and the rocks split. And now, as we are examining the

final moments before the return of Christ, we find more than one

account of earthquakes. This is not the only earthquake

in the Book of Revelation, by the way.

There are a handful of them mentioned, and we'll see that

down through Revelation chapter 1616.

Now, some who don't want to take this too literally will say that

this description of cosmic disturbance is symbolic.

It's symbolic of the fall of empires and governments.

And the reason why they would say that is because when you go

to the Old Testament, similar imagery is often used to define

just that, the fall of rulers and their kingdoms.

But listen, you always have to work with the context.

I believe that the context suggests otherwise.

There should be no doubt in any of our minds that we're reading

about a real prophecy, about real people who are responding

to a unprecedented yet very real earthquake, one that will occur

on a global scale. And the aftermath of this will

be so great that it will affect the atmosphere, perhaps through

volcanic eruptions. And if that wasn't enough, it's

going to be accompanied by the showers of meteors and stars

crashing into our world. This is terrifying.

This is frightening, and it should be.

But what's the point? What's the point of all of this?

And it helps to remember the earlier seals and what they

entailed. Think now, think, think, think.

Careful student of the Scriptures.

What's different about this seal with the previous ones?

There's one important difference.

When you looked at the 1st 4 seals, what you see is God's

judgment being released, but through human agency, the rise

of the Antichrist, wars and rumors of wars.

And because of those wars you have a famine, a man made

famine, and following that you have disease and pestilences and

all these things. God, in those previous judgments

act indirectly on the earth, but now when we come to the 6th

Seal, He's not working through humans.

He is directly interacting with human affairs.

He is showing up Himself. He's not just removing His hand

and letting us in our sinful nature destroy each other.

No, He is pressing His hand and He's showing all humanity that

He is the coming judge. That is the main difference that

we see here. Natural disasters have a way of

humbling us. They never fail to remind us how

puny we are and how fragile we are.

And to the honest, in response to these things, no matter the

scale, they will acknowledge that man is not really in

control. Oh, we borrow from the resources

of the earth, and we think that we can establish our own

territories. Sure, sure, sure, sure.

But when the world shakes, it never fails to remind us You're

not really in control if you're honest.

Some are so proud they dismiss these things.

And to the discerning, not only will they confess that we are

not really in control, they will acknowledge that someone else

is. The earth is the Lord's and the

fullness thereof. The psalmist says that's what

God is proving here. I'm in control and as

frightening as this great earthquake in this chapter,

maybe I don't believe it's the Lord trying to say through it.

I am God, don't mess with me, though He does do that

sometimes. I'm persuaded in my reading of

this book that even in this I see and I hear God saying I am

God. Come to me, surrender, give up,

stop fighting, stop resisting, stop ignoring.

Realize that this world is mine. Realize that this world is not

permanent. Realize that I'm coming back to

this world. That truth will become more

clear as we look at future disasters in Revelation.

In fact, in your own time, you go to these chapters following

and you'll realize that with some of these disasters, you

have an interesting commentary. We're talking about the final

lap of all things. And yet with some of these

catastrophes, the Holy Spirit writes, and they still did not

repent and give glory to God. So even though this window of

grace is soon to be shut, we see God still wanting to use these

events to draw men unto himself, and they will refuse.

And this truth of God using even things like this to draw sinners

is found in other passages in Scripture.

So last night I got thinking about earthquakes.

Not going to do a deep study on it, but I thought of another

one. Let's turn there in Acts 16.

This is when Paul and Silas were imprisoned in Acts 16 verse 25.

Acts 16:25

And I had to be careful because what I read here kept me there

for a while. I was just relishing in it.

And I thought, we're preaching on revelation here.

I can't stay in Acts, but look at Acts 1625 down to verse 26.

About midnight, Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns

to God, and the prisoners were listening to them, and suddenly

there was a great earthquake, so that the foundations of the

prison were shaken, and immediately all the doors were

open and everyone's bonds were unfastened.

I've heard this passage preached so many times.

Maybe you have as well. And what's often emphasizes, Do

you see what prayer and praise can do in the midst of your

pain, Right? God came through.

God invaded the space. God answered.

And that's right. You can, you can preach it.

You can teach it that way. You can find consolation from

this passage. But here's what dawned on me.

God shows up with a great earthquake.

And you know what he didn't do? He didn't deliver Paul and Silas

and kill their oppressors at the same time.

He didn't do that. Moreover, he didn't just shake

that prison and release only Paul and Silas.

That's where it got good for me. Look again at verse 26.

Carefully read your Bible slowly, the last sentence, and

immediately all the doors were opened and everyone's bonds

weren't fastened. Come on.

Those of us who know this story, how have we imagined it?

The earthquake came. Paul and Silas were set free.

The door swung open and the jailer says, ho, ho.

And then they, you know, preach the gospel to me to get saved.

They go to this house and the house will get saved.

That's not what happened. The sounds of chains falling to

the ground was universal in that prison.

It wasn't just Paul and Silas. It was every prisoner, every

prisoner after this earthquake were freed.

Well, hold on. So I read again, I'm like, did

the prisoners pray? Did they sing praise?

No, they were just listening. They were just absorbing and

trying to make sense of these two crazy guys that were singing

at midnight. And when God decided to

vindicate his missionaries, in his mind he chose to set free

the other prisoners, not just his servants.

You see why I stuck here? I was just relishing in this.

I was basking in this God. You had in mind these other

jailers, you had in mind these other folk.

I understand Paul and Silas being freed, being rescued, but

you're giving an opportunity to these other criminals.

And if I don't be careful, I'll get carried away here.

So let me just say this. What can we take from this?

That God's mercy can be found even in earthquakes, no matter

how traumatic or tragic they are.

The great earthquake that will get the world's attention.

What makes the 6th seal different?

It's God showing up directly, and the world will understand

it. But let's come now to the great

ones in Revelation 6 and verse 15.

How will the inhabitants of the earth respond to the great

shaking? Here let's consider it.

Verse 15 reads. 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. This verse teaches us something

incredibly important beyond demonstrating that this

earthquake was so massive that it will impact everyone.

That's obvious. Take note of the different

social classes mentioned, kings, generals, the rich and powerful,

and even slaves. It's so obvious here that there

is a diversity of social classes and occupations and status.

But here's what moved me When God stepped on the scene, none

of those distinctions mattered None.

They all fled for the hills. They all stuck their heads

between cliffs, between rocks. They all flung themselves into

caves. None of these things made a

difference when God showed up. Listen, who you aspire to

become, how men recognize you, your accolades, your

achievements mean nothing if you are not right with God zero.

Because at the end of the day, let me remind you, and you're

going to be reminded of this frequently in the Book of

Revelation. Everything, everything,

everything. Your most prized possession, the

thing that you sweat so much for, even if you sweat blood,

whatever it is that you invested in the matter, it is that you

are impassioned about. Listen to me very carefully.

It will all be stripped away and the only thing that will truly

count is what you did with Jesus Christ.

What did you do with His message?

What did you do with the person of Christ?

That's all that matters if you're a king or a slave.

Regardless, they were all found on equal ground when God showed

up. It seems as though John borrowed

from Isaiah. Listen to these words from

Isaiah too, because I just gave you an application for the

unbeliever, but this is something for the believer in

Isaiah 2 verse 20. You don't have to turn there,

Isaiah 2:20

but tell me if this sounds familiar.

The prophet says in Isaiah 220. In that day mankind will

castaway their idols of silver and their idols of gold, which

they made for themselves to worship to the moles and to the

bats. And people worship these kind of

things. Yeah, they still do today.

Verse 21 To enter the caverns of the rocks and the clefs of the

cliffs, from before the terror of the Lord, and from the

splendor of His Majesty when he rises to terrify the earth.

Sound familiar? But Isaiah gives us an

application in the final verse of this chapter.

Look at verse 22. Stop regarding man and whose

nostrils is breath, for what account is he?

So Isaiah wants you to see men of all kinds of status, of all

kinds of achievements and accomplishments, of all kinds of

power, men who sit in palaces and men who are also pappers, no

matter who they are, understand that in the presence of God,

they're nothing. So why are you afraid of man?

Why are you so obsessed with people's opinions?

They're borrowing their next breath from God.

They're weak. Why do we make so much of

pastors? Why do we elevate them too much?

Why do we think that they're cherubim with a tie on?

They're humans and they're borrowing their next heartbeat

from God. Why do you fear your enemies,

The threats, the intimidation? Who cares?

Because in light of God's presence, they're nothing.

They're nothing. So I look at Revelation 6 and I

see all these great ones cowering, dropping everything

and flying to the mountains. This is the fate of those who

oppose God. So why am I to fear if God is on

my side now? God will show up in a great

earthquake. But as we read in Acts 16, he

can show up with a great earthquake now, and he can

localize it to your home. He can localize it to the local

church. He's in charge.

He can do everything. And I serve this God.

You serve this God. But what I find more fascinating

than this wide range of people not only fleeing from this

massive disruption is that they also prayed because of it.

Did you notice that? However, their prayers weren't

quite what we hoped for? Look at verse 16 again of

Revelation 6, calling to the mountains and rocks, not to the

Creator, but to creation. Not to the rock of our

salvation, but to literal stones.

God can save anyone. We need to have that hope He can

rescue and redeem any person, no matter how wicked they are.

At the same time, we have to be willing to acknowledge that

there are some who will still refuse to surrender to the

Savior even in the face of undeniable power and authority.

You would think that with these who survived this disaster that

they would finally realize it and call out to the Lord, but

they don't. They're more willing to call out

to inanimate objects More than that.

Listen, there are some people that hate the truth and love

darkness so much that they rather face a horrible death

than bend the knee to Jesus Christ.

Can you imagine that? Can you imagine praying to a

mountain fall on me? This is how warped man's heart

is. This is how dark the soul is

apart from Christ. That even as he is undeniably

shaking the very foundation beneath our feet, people will

still deny him and refuse him. This is sobering, but it's true

nonetheless. And if calling to mountains and

rocks wasn't strange enough, what's even more remarkable is

the belief of this people that they can actually escape

judgement. What are they asking the rocks

to do? Fall on us so that we can hide

from the one who sits on the throne and from the wrath of the

Lamb? I mentioned this a few weeks

ago. I've never seen a lamb angry.

Have you? I was so curious when I realized

this that I had to Google it and it was the cutest thing I've

ever seen a lamb angry. Look it up at lunch, you can't

find anything. They don't have horns, they

don't have fangs, they don't have claws.

They're clouds with feet. And yet here we realized the

wrath of the Lamb. I understand the wrath of a

lion. Why this imagery?

To show that the same one who laid down his life in great love

for us as a Lamb will also when they come in wrath.

I mentioned to you this last week, be careful of those who

present and preach a Jesus who is empty of wrath.

He doesn't exist. He does not exist.

He may exist in cartoons or in popular TV shows that try to

represent Christ. It's not the Christ of the

Bible. The wrath of the Lamb will come

one day and they thought they can hide from it.

What a foolish thought. They fail to realize that the

only way to evade the wrath of God is to hide in Christ

Himself. We don't use that language

frequently when we talk about salvation, but it's in the Word.

One of my favorite pictures and language used is in Hebrews 618.

Can we turn there in Hebrews 618?

Hebrews. What an amazing book.

One of the reasons why it's so enthralling to me is because

it's dripping with Old Testament references and allusions,

including this Hebrews 618. So that by two unimaginable or

unchangeable things rather, in which it is impossible for God

to lie, we who have fled for refuge might have strong

encouragement to hold fast to the hope set before us.

You see what he's saying. This author, this mastermind,

this brilliant theologian who put together the book of Hebrews

by the Spirit, he tells his audience, we who have fled for

refuge. Now, you can take that at face

value. Yeah, we, we flee for refuge in

Christ. But he's referring to the cities

of refuge in the Old Testament, that if you committed

involuntary manslaughter, God had determined allotted cities

accessible at any point, no matter where you are in the

promised land. These cities have been

designated that you can actually find your way there and that you

had a chance to run to the cities of refuge lest the

avenger of that person's blood find you and justly deal with

you. Now the author here talks to

Christians and he says we who have fled for refuge, implying

what? That Christ is the greater city

of refuge. And notice this, He says we who

have fled for refuge might have strong encouragement.

Encouragement is tied to the experience of Christ being our

refuge. He's talking about us possessing

an immovable, unshakable, firm, constant trust that no one will

avenge me. No one will come after me, no

one will destroy me. And if you were here, precious

believer, and you can't say with confidence that I know strong

encouragement in the Redeemer being my refuge, all that

signifies is that you have yet to learn just how safe and

secure Christ is. Can I tell you one reason why

He's greater than the cities of refuge in the Old Testament?

The cities of refuge in the Old Testament were only for the

innocent, but Jesus is for the guilty.

The cities of refuge were for those who accidentally killed

someone. But even if you are here today

and your hands are stained with blood and nobody else knows

about it, you can flee to Christ and he will protect you.

You repent, you run to Him. He will shield you.

You will be hidden in Christ, so that even when this great

earthquake comes, even when these final judgments are

unleashed, you'll be untouched. Which brings me to my final

point. As great as a wrath of the Lamb

will be, it can be escaped. Let's talk about the great day

of wrath. We just talked about the great

ones. Look at verse 17.

For the great day of their wrath has come.

Notice that God is 1 but in a plurality of persons For the

great day of their wrath has come, and who can stand?

I don't want to spend the remaining time before we break

bread here to discuss the greatness of God's wrath.

We'll have much more revelation to to explore related to that.

I just want to simply answer the question that these kings and

great ones and slaves and free asked in response to it.

Who can stand? It's a rhetorical question.

It's so clear no one, not one person, no matter how powerful

or wealthy they are, no matter how loved, no matter what kind

of lawyers you have, will be able to endure the wrath of God.

Every person will be consumed. God does not judge impartially.

He will faithfully vindicate His name and faithfully deal with

those who have denied His Son and deny the blood.

But there is one group of people that can stand.

Paul tells us in Romans 5. This is our final passage.

It's worth turning there and verse one and two.

Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have

peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.

Through him we have also obtained access by faith into

this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in hope of the

glory of God who can stand and face the great day of their

wrath. And Paul says you don't have to

worry about standing before God's wrath because in Christ,

through faith, because of grace, you stand firmly in grace and

his forgiveness and His refuge, and nothing can change that.

Can I ask you a question using this idea of standing as an

image? What line are you standing in?

Just imagine with me two lines. Here's line number one, being

prepared to face the great day of God's wrath.

Are you in that line? I'm not really thinking about

it. I got a wedding coming up.

That's not going to change this appointment.

I'm not really thinking about it.

I'm so caught up with business and my building projects.

OK, You think that's going to change anything?

I'm popular. Who cares?

Look at the kings and the generals.

They're going to find themselves in caves one day.

I'm A Celebrity. I feel bad for you, actually.

What does it matter what people say about you or write about

you? You're dependent upon another

breath and only God can grant it.

What line are you standing in? Are you in line number 1 today?

Is your appointment to face this unthinkable experience of the

fury of God's holy justice? Or are you in line number two?

You're saying what's in line number 2?

The opposite of line number one, that you are prepared to face

his immeasurable love and to receive not wrath but

fellowship, not holy anger, but overwhelming affection.

Are you in that line? You're saying, well, look, I

don't know which one I'm in. In fact, I'm inclined to think

I'm in line number one. Well, if you're in line #2 you

know, you can actually be removed from that and find

yourself in the line that I'm speaking about here saying, how

do I get there? The bridge, the transfer is

believing on the Lord Jesus Christ, trusting that He is the

lame of God who takes away the sin of the world.

Trusting that you are deserving of His wrath, but also a

recipient by faith of His love if you were to believe it.

And you have nothing to worry about.

In fact, when you find yourself in this line, this sacrifice is

so great that God will put guardrails and keep you in that

line. And no matter who's here, no

matter what force, nothing can separate you from standing

there. Nothing can take you away from

the destiny of being in His glory forever and ever.

That's the greatness of the sacrifice.

And I find it exciting that the way we do communion here is that

we get on the line and we're going to take a piece of that

bread and a small portion of that cup to remember.

Romans 5, verse 2. Through him we have also

Romans 5:2

obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand.

I want you to think about that, believer, as you are ready to

partake this afternoon. You are coming here and

rejoicing in the truth. That wrath is not for you.

I don't want to face this right? You don't have to.

If you're listening to me, if you're trembling there, I'm

trying to keep yourself together.

You don't have to know this wrath.

You don't have to face the wrath of the Lamb.

But what might do that? You must embrace the Lamb of

God. And if you have not done that,

do it today. Don't you dare mindlessly

participate in this, not knowing where your salvation lies more

than you participating in any ordinance.

Call out to the Lord, ask Him to forgive you, repent of your sin,

and He will flood your heart with an assurance that will

provide strong encouragement. Believer, I encourage you to, as

we sing, to reflect on your own heart.

Are you truly living for Christ? I know all of us in here feel

unworthy if we think about it long enough that we're not as

faithful as we can be. I'm not talking about that.

I'm talking about justifying disobedience.

I'm talking about you ignoring something the Lord has been

convicting you about and you have not dealt with it.

If you are holding on to something, don't grab these

elements yet. Do business with God that will

please Him more than this. But believer, this is a time of

celebration. We're reading about these

judgments and we're going to stand in line and say that's not

my portion, that's not my future.

I stand in the grace of God. Let's pray.

We thank you, Father, you are so kind to us.

How even in these prophecies about the future we can learn

about who you are today. And Lord, we have come to

rejoice in our redemption. We've come now to obey what you

have instructed your church to do, and that is to take these

elements and to reflect on what you have done and what you will

do. Lord, thank You that because of

your love for us, what we can anticipate is a feast.

You told us that you would not drink of this cup again until

you drink it with us in Your Kingdom.

And so, Lord, we thank you that what we saw here in Revelation 6

is not for us. And Lord, for the one who is not

sure what their future holds, may today be the day of

salvation, and may they receive Christ wholeheartedly and

experience this great love that we are rejoicing in.

Continue to be with us, Lord, move our hearts as we taste and

see your kindness once more in Jesus name, Amen.

The praise team is going to come and join us and to lead us in a

reflective song as that's taking place.

Sing these lyrics and tune your heart to the sacredness of this

moment. Don't think about your sin

unless you need to repent of it. Think about the Savior.

Think about His obedience, His perfection, His righteousness on

your behalf. You're not coming here because

of your performance. You've come here because He has

done all the work and you're a recipient of His mercy.

That's why you're coming here. OK, well, let's stand now.

Let's celebrate.