Singing the Song of the Redeemed: The Peace and Rest of Eternity - Glorious Hope | Studies in Revelation

I hope you will agree with me when I say that Scripture is a wonderful

thing.

You might expect me to say that.

I read it to you often, and I hope you read it as well at home

or listen to it read to you.

And as I was praying through what has been prepared for tonight

and the service for this evening, I was struck.

I was overcome by Scripture.

Now you might be sitting there thinking, well, that's what we expect,

but maybe your situation is the same as mine, that it just doesn't

always come like that in the busyness of the day.

But yet there is a great sense this evening of Scripture, complete

as we are looking at the last book of the Bible, it brings with

it the echoes, the strong echoes of everything that God has

presented to his people and to us from Genesis right through to

Jude and now presented to us in Revelation.

And so we will be weighing heavy on this morning and last Sunday

in Exodus, chapter 14 because it echoes what we're looking at in

Exodus 14 · chapter mention

Revelation 15.

And there's just something about Scripture.

And again, you'll expect me to say that, and it's the best words

I can describe, that Scripture is simply fantastic because of how

God has put it together for us, that nothing is left unknown

to us of what he has revealed.

Everything is contained within it so that we may know his glorious

truth.

And there is much in the truth of Scripture that I think we love.

I hope we would affirm we love the gospel.

We love its message that brings lost souls onto repentance

for salvation in Jesus Christ.

For Christ is the only one who can save save us.

I hope we love the story of salvation, of God rescuing His people

and remaining faithful, even though they were faithless at times

and completely abandoned Him.

Yet he was true to the promises, to the covenants that he

made with his people.

I hope we love the poetry.

I hope we love the bits we don't understand and let's say the

bits that make us blush in Song of Solomon or the sadder moments

that we read in the psalms and lamentations and in the prophets.

God's word is truth to us and must be enjoyed as it is read, no

matter how difficult or hard it is, because God is good and God

is gracious to us.

And one of the ways that I think we see this goodness of God

to us in Scripture are the moments that were given in the biblical

text where we find rest and peace in the midst of the difficulties

of life before sin came into the world.

We're told that the Garden of Eden was perfect and so it was a

place of rest for Adam and Eve.

We get into the Psalms, and particularly Psalm 23 speaks to us

of the Lord leading his flock as their good shepherd, where in

green pastures and by still waters, at the time of David, after

he had fought battles against the enemies of God and the enemies

of his people, the kingdom knew peace and it knew rest.

Scripture tells us that.

And then in the exile, people would find rest and peace and peace

in God, even though they didn't want to be where they were

by the rivers, as they remembered the land of promise, as

they were honest about God's punishment towards them, but as they

also held his promise of restoration in their hearts.

And in Nehemiah, the people are able to rest after the wall is

completed and the attacks of Tobiah and Sanballat cease.

And of course, in the creation account, as told in the fourth commandment,

six days are given for work, and the seventh, this day, the Sabbath

Sunday, is a day of rest, because on it God demonstrated to

us why we must rest, because he rested from all his labors.

Well, however, it seems to us today that finding a day to rest

is harder than ever before, as we're confronted with so much to

pull us away from simply resting in the Lord.

And by the way, we are going to look at the Ten Commandments.

We'll not look at it in this moment of the series in Exodus, but

we'll get to it, and we will look at each commandment and see

what it teaches us for today.

And.

And one of the most lovely ones is Sabbath, of what it means

to do no work and to depend completely on the Lord.

So whenever we come to that spare moment for pastors and preachers,

because it's our busiest day of the week, well, we're now over

halfway through revelation, and we come to the final moment,

the final vision of what John sees, of what must take place in

these last days before Christ returns in his complete consummat

to take his people home and bring in his kingdom.

And this telling that John now sees shows us the peace and the rest

of heaven for the redeemed.

But it begins with John seeing a sign in heaven.

And we're told in verse one, John says, then I saw another sign

in heaven, great and amazing.

And by the way, did you pick up great and amazing in verse one?

And then what was the sign song of the redeemed, of how great

and amazing God is?

What does this tell us?

That as the people are singing of how great and amazing God's presence

is, that is who he is.

He is truly great and amazing.

So this is what John seven angels with seven plagues, which

are the last, for with them the wrath of God is finished.

Well, John tells us that what he sees now is the final vision of

God's judgment on the earth and, and salvation of the people.

The sign he's given is of seven angels with seven plagues.

And the mention of plagues here should automatically bring you,

as it brought the people originally, reading this, back to

the plagues of Egypt, which we've looked at earlier in this year,

just a few months ago.

And you will recall that the plagues sent to the Egyptians were

punishment against them.

Why?

Because of their rebellion against God and their hard heartedness.

And now we see seven and not 10 plagues.

And seven, of course, is a number that repeats itself throughout

Revelation.

And so it should be no surprise that this is seen here again.

But these plagues, this judgment that now is coming from

God is that judgment was terrible and awful for the people

will be terrible and awful for those who are not found in Christ.

Because these plagues here are the last ones.

These are the ones in which God's wrath reaches its consummation.

And it seems then that the bowl judgments, although they overlap

in part with the seals of Revelation 6 and 8 and the trumpet

judgments of Revelation 8 and 9 and 11, they focus on the end of

history, on the final and climatic judgments God pours out

on humans.

And it may be that all seven of these bowls of judgment described

from various angles the nature of the last judgment.

But rather than these judgments being poured out immediately,

John sees what appears to be a sea made of glass, and in it there

are flames of fire.

Now think about that for a moment.

What does a glass sea look like?

Is it like a frozen lake?

Is it still and calm?

And we have to try and understand what a glassy sea might

look like.

But then we fire mingled in with it.

And so this is the best John can do to help us understand what

he's seeing and rather the importance of being.

How to describe what he sees?

It's the meaning behind it.

And so the image is telling us of the gulf between human beings

and God.

Because the sea represents chaos and destruction in the Hebrew

mind.

And we've known this throughout Scripture.

We saw it in creation.

God told the seas to come this far and no further.

And the people always returned to that, knowing that it was God

who controlled the tide.

And as much as God controlled what could be seen on the land, he

controlled the perceived danger that was unseen in the sea.

So approaching God from the Hebrew mind is like walking on a

beautiful sea of glass, where there's no fear, there's no chaos,

it's calm.

But the sea does burn with fire.

So nevertheless, the saints are standing on this glassy sea without

harm.

And they are not consumed by God's holy and his awesome presence.

Instead, they're jubilant because what are they carrying?

Are we told they're carrying harps?

And this, of course, is where we see all of the animators and cartoons

having angels sitting on clouds with harps.

Well, it's not the angels that have the hearts.

It's the redeemed of the Lord.

Harps to praise God, to bring him praise for his deliverance and

his salvation, to know, finally, rest from this relentless

world.

And where is that rest find?

It's found in the praise of God.

And as we think back of what we've already seen in Revelation,

isn't this the prayer of the martyrs from chapter six and the

opening of the fifth seal now being answered?

Because remember what they cried out in prayer in Revelation

6 and verses 9 to 10?

When he opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altars the souls

of those who had been slain for the word of God and for their

witness they had borne.

They cried out in 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?

The redeemed of the Lord now stand before God because they have

conquered the beast, the image and the number of his name, all in

Christ the Lamb who was slain.

And so their cries, these cries of the martyrs, have been heard.

And the wicked of the world are punished and the redeemed are

saved for all eternity.

Conquering is a word that comes up again and again in Revelation,

as we've seen.

It's one of these major themes of the book and has been picked up

in the letters to the churches and in the conquering of Satan in

chapter 12.

Only those who conquer can stand on the glassy sea before God's

throne.

And ultimately, the saints triumph on the basis of the blood

of the Lamb.

There is no other way.

The blood of Jesus.

And trust in his sacrifice.

That sacrifice which washes the redeemed clean from their sins,

is the only way by which they can cross and come into the presence

of God to sing praise of him.

And now in their eternal dwelling, they sing the song of Moses

and the song of the Lamb.

They are at rest and peace in the presence of God and can sing

their victory song when Israel was delivered from Pharaoh and Egypt,

as we will see next week, she sang with triumph and joy because

of her salvation and the judgment poured out on the Egyptians.

And we will say, read that, and we will think about it next Sunday

morning.

But as we already know, the sea designates evil and chaos for

the Hebrews, but Jesus has conquered the forces that oppose

God.

The deliverance under Moses anticipated and pointed forward,

as we saw this morning, to the greater redemption accomplished by

the lamb.

And so the song of Moses and the song of the Lamb are genetically

related, since the promises made to Moses are finally and ultimately

fulfilled in the salvation accomplished by the Lamb.

That salvation accomplished by Christ on the cross.

Likewise, the exodus from Egypt points forward to the redemption,

the exodus from sin accomplished by Jesus Christ.

Now I would like to say that the passages of today were carefully

planned to fall on the same day, but I'm not that good because

they were not.

And as I started by saying about how great the word of God is

in his wonderful grace, God has presented us this day with these

two portions of Scripture to show us the message of Scripture,

the salvation of the redeemed, all for the glory of God.

And here is what they Great and amazing are your deeds, O Lord

God the Almighty.

Just and true are your ways, O King of the nations.

Who will not fear, O Lord, and glorify your name.

For you alone are holy.

All nations will come and worship you, for your righteous acts

have been revealed.

The entire history of God's people was summed up by the experience

of Moses and Israel when their backs were in the Red Sea with the

army of Pharaoh bearing down on them.

Moses cried aloud, remember what he said from last week in Exodus

Exodus 14:13

14:13?

Fear not.

Stand firm and see the salvation of the Lord which he will

work for you today.

And what did God do?

He sent forth his power, as we saw this morning, parting the Red

Sea waters for Israel to pass through and then drowning the host

of Pharaoh in the waves.

God glorifies himself through great and amazing deeds that show

his power.

And the same God who parted the Red Sea caused the walls of Jericho

to fall down, and he converted Saul of Tarsus to become the apostle

Paul, while he is the go who is still saving his people and making

a pathway for his church today, and indeed a way through,

so that the lost of this world can know salvation.

This song of the redeemed reminds us that we should fear only

God and not the Pharaohs of this world, because they sing who

will not fear, O Lord, and glorify your Name, for you alone

are holy.

And that's where we get the line in the song that we've been

singing.

Christos victor on that day, who will not tremble when you stand?

Christ the victor.

You see, that hymn that we sing comes from the first song of

the Bible and now into the one that we're seeing, the penultimate

song of the Bible, telling us of what God has done for us so that

we will know victory in Christ and in him alone.

See, this was the effect on Israel of the destruction of Pharaoh's

army in the Red Sea.

Knowing God as their Savior, who cannot stand before him, to fear

him, to know him as holy, it prompted the original song of Moses.

And as we concluded this morning, we saw Israel, saw the great

power that the Lord used against the Egyptians.

So the people feared the Lord and they believed in the Lord and

in his servant Moses, spurring them to song.

You see only God as the words of neither hymn in Revelation of

the Redeemed tell us only God is to be feared for his holiness

and his power, and his name alone is to be glorified.

God's plan for the world, including his judgment and salvation,

and are both in one awesome.

When people see God's work in saving and judging, they should fear

him, but they should also give glory to his great and awesome name.

We are to recognize God alone as holy, utterly unique and distinct

from anything in creation.

He is in a category all of his own.

And so, as the song says, all nations will come to worship and

bow down before the one true God.

God.

And John may include unbelievers here, for all will acknowledge

God as the Lord of the world, even if they hate him and reject

Him.

As Paul confirms for us In Philippians chapter 2, God's deity

Philippians 2 · chapter mention

will be recognized in his righteous acts, and his righteousness

is displayed in both judgment and salvation.

For God always does what is right, what is true and what is good.

God always does what is right, what is true, and what is good.

So after the peace and rest of the praise of God's people, the scene

now shifts.

And John sees the sanctuary of the Tent of Witness in heaven that

is open, and out of it comes the seven angels with the Spirit,

seven plagues.

And there's a wonderful description here of these angels

in verse six.

And out of the sanctuary came the seven angels with the seven plagues,

clothed in pure bright linen, with golden sashes around their chests.

These angels are glorious and they're powerful, coming from God's

very presence.

Because who is in the tent, as we will see in just a moment, it

is God.

And what do they wear?

They wear pure, bright linen of golden sashes around their chest.

And the description has some similarities with the glorious angel

who appeared to Daniel in Daniel, Daniel, chapter 10, verse

Daniel 10:5

5, and to the vision of the Son of Man that we've already read

in Revelation 1:13.

Revelation 1:13

And let me remind you of that image as Christ is standing amongst

the churches and in the midst of the lampstands, one like the Son

of Man, clothed in a long robe with a golden sash around his chest.

And so what these images do, they confirm the glory and the goodness

of these angels coming out of the Tent of Witness and their connection

with the Son of Man, the Lamb who was slain, the risen Lord Jesus

Christ.

And the sanctuary of the Tent of Witness is a symbolic way of designating

God's dwelling place.

This sanctuary, this tent, it's littered in scripture.

The tabernacle was there for the people even up until the time

of David.

It was Solomon that retired the tabernacle so that they could

worship in a temple that he had built.

And what does John tell us?

He tells us that Jesus came to tabernacle.

That's what the original Greek is, to quite literally pitch his

tent to tabernacle amongst us.

And so now we're seeing these echoes of Old and New Testament coming

here in this vision given to John of a tent in heaven, a dwelling

place of God.

God that is open.

And this open sanctuary signifies that judgment is at hand

and God's kingdom is coming.

And John now witnesses one of the four living creatures hand out

the bowls of the wrath of God to the seven angels.

So they now hold the plagues and the bowls of wrath in their hands.

And the seven plagues will be poured out on unbelievers in the

way that bowls are quite literally turned upside down and

spill out the contents on their ground.

Well, John tells us that God lives forever.

In order to certify to us that his purposes and his designs will

come to pass.

That's why we sang before this sermon this evening.

Ancient of days, none before him, none above him, all of time

in his hand.

We need to know this is our God.

And that's why John tells us here that he lives forever and ever,

to remind us that everything that he designs will come to pass.

Haven't we seen that of the story of his people?

Faithless though they may be, he remains faithful, true to his

word as the God of covenant promise.

He is the everlasting one.

And so he will outlive the period in which Evil seems to triumph.

And as this chapter concludes and as John watches on, before he

hears the loud voice from the temple at the start of chapter 16,

he sees the sanctuary filled with smoke.

And here's what he records for us.

And the sanctuary is filled with smoke from the glory of God

and from his power.

And no one could enter the sanctuary until the seven plagues

of the seven angels were finished.

You see, before the judgments strike, the temple is filled with

smoke from the glory and power of God, just as in Isaiah, the temple

filled with smoke because of the holiness of God.

In the Old Testament, when the Lord came down to dwell in that tabernacle

and in the temple, Moses and the priests could not stand in his

presence because of the splendor and greatness of his glory.

The holiness and justice of God are shown to us here in this

image given to John, because no one can enter God's presence until

the seven plagues are completed.

And as we said at the beginning in verse one, these bowls

represent the final judgment, the last one, because they are called

the last plagues.

And with them, we are told, God's judgments are completed.

After these bowls are poured out, people can enter God's presence

again, for his justice is satisfied with these plagues as punishment

on those who have rejected Him.

But those who have known the Lamb, the redeemed, will enter into

his glorious presence.

And so, as we finish this evening, how easy it is for us to

forget about God, especially about his holiness and his glory.

We naturally think about ourselves, our concerns and our needs.

And we're prone to lose sight of the awesome holiness of God, failing

to see his power and his glory as displayed here in Revelation 15.

When God judges sin, we are reminded, though, of his sovereign

power and his blazing holiness he saves out of mercy and for his

glory, just as he did at the Exodus.

There is a new Exodus, a greater liberation for those who

belong to Jesus Christ, so that we sing the song of the Lamb

and of Moses, the song of the redeemed.

But there's also a greater judgment for those who turn away

from the Lord.

They experience not the plagues of Egypt that come and go,

but the final judgment of God.

So in both salvation and judgment, the glory, the power, and

the greatness of God are revealed.

So who will you be when these final judgments are poured out of

these bowls of wrath on the earth?

Will you be carrying that harp amongst the redeemed, ready to go

into the presence of God after His wrath is satisfied with these

judgments?

Or will you be bearing the judgment that will fall.

That will be terrible.

Worse than the gnats, the flies, the boils.

Which will you be?

Because you can only be one.

You can't sit on the fence.

There's no way you can sit on the fence.

So let me return to where I began.

Whenever we read Scripture, where do we find rest and peace?

And it is in the presence of God.

This world is tiresome.

We don't even get a day of rest hardly anymore.

We have to work at this and that, and things come up yet.

It's only when we rest in the Lord that we can know true salvation

from Him.

This is the only way to be amongst the redeemed, to be able

to know that rest.

Not just now, but eternal rest with Him.

Otherwise, you will face the judgment.

You will face the wrath of God.

And when you do, there is nothing that can save you from it.

Now is the time, as Revelation tells us, while there is yet time,

respond.

Because the Lord is slow to anger and abounding in steadfast

love.

But his anger and wrath will come.

Will you be ready?

Will you be ready to find rest?

Because let's look at what Jesus invites us to.

And it'll be no surprise that we finish with these verses where

Jesus issues that wonderful invitation to find rest in him.

Because he's the only one who can save us.

He's the only one who can guarantee us that rest.

He's the only one who can assure us that in him we will not

face those bowls of wrath because he has already faced it on

our behalf on the cross.

But he has proved his victory over death and the grave.

And so Jesus says to you and to me this night, come unto me all

you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.

Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and

lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.

For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.

The song of the redeemed is only sung because of the Savior.

And it is this Savior tonight who invites you to know salvation

and rest in him, so that you will not face the wrath of God poured

out of bowls where there is no hope at that point.

And you will face eternity without Him.

I urge you tonight, be amongst the redeemed.

Don't worry if you don't know how to play the harp, because it'll

come automatically.

Don't worry if you can't sing a tune in your head, because the

song of the Redeemed will fill your heart and your praise.

Will be acceptable to God, for you will truly be worthy.

All because of Jesus.

What a savior.

And what a savior to trust in this night.

Let's pray.

Our Father God, we thank you for this.

Your Word that warns us.

That warns us that at the end you will pour out your wrath on humanity.

You will punish those who have rejected you.

And Father, you will bring into your presence the redeemed who

have trusted in Jesus.

We can only be one or the other.

We cannot sit in the middle, nor can we simply be neutral.

So, Father, make us pay attention to what the revelation

is telling us, what it's showing us, what has been shown to

John, so that we may know why there is still yet time before Christ

returns to respond, but also before he returns to know that rest

in Christ now, that for all of our weary souls, be we amongst the

lost or the redeemed this night.

Father, you still give us rest now so that we can know it fully

in eternity.

So implant this word in our hearts that we may know its truth

and that we will get ready to sing that song of Moses and the lamb,

the song of the redeemed, as we praise you for all eternity and

we ask these things in Jesus name.

Amen.