Word of Salvation – Vol. 45 No. 33 – September 2000

 

The Church – Secure and Saved

 

Sermon by Rev. L. Douma on Revelation 7

Scripture Reading: Revelation 7

Suggested Hymns: Rejoysing 483; BoW 519; 23; 510

 

Beloved in the Lord.

The book of Revelation is not an easy book to follow.  This is especially true for us nearly 2000 years later, after it was written.  The symbolism and apocalyptic visions are very foreign to us.  But despite the difficulties, one thing that stands out very clearly is the intensely pastoral nature of this letter to the churches.  The visions given to John by Jesus were for the very purpose of giving hope and great encouragement to the struggling church.  Revelation reveals who really has the power, and who will win the final battle, a victory that is guaranteed.

Here in chapter 7 the deeply caring and pastoral approach of the letter stands out strongly.  Chapter 5 showed us Jesus, the “Lamb that was slain” holding the scroll with the seven seals.  It meant, “Don’t worry little church, I’ve got control of events for your sake”.  That was good to know, because as Jesus opened the seals a deeply disturbing set of events were revealed.  There were the four horses, white, red, black and pale, representing sin, war, poverty and death.  The church was not spared from the dreadful impact of these results on God’s creation.

In fact, for the church it would be worse as they were persecuted for their faith.  The fifth seal revealed the souls of those who had died, under the altar in heaven.  They cried for revenge, for God to bring justice to the earth.

And when the sixth seal was opened, the terror of God’s judgment became very clear as the creation fell apart and even the rich and powerful hysterically preferred death rather than face the wrath of God “and the Lamb”.  Chapter 6 ended with those terrifying words, “For the great day of their wrath has come, and who can stand?”

That question “Who can stand?” rings in our ears.  Like the church John first wrote to, so, we too, if we are really honest, have to say, “We can’t stand either!”  Because when it comes to our behaviour, our thoughts, our words, we are no better than those who have no regard for God.  We fail Him and each other and ourselves all the time.  And if you don’t see that, or are not worried about it, then you have little grasp of what sin is and how it affects you.  Yes, who can stand?

Now at this awesome moment in the vision, at the point of this terrifying realisation, John is given another vision (Rev.7:1): “After this I saw…!”  Now note, John is not shown the seventh seal.  That would be the logical flow.  But the seventh seal doesn’t come till Chapter 8.  What we have here is an interlude, a break, or a change of pace.  It shows Jesus’ deep compassion for the church.  Before going on to reveal the seventh seal, Jesus reassures the church that it is safe in all this, that it is secure and (already) saved.  So what we see here is the way Revelation keeps going forward and back in the visions.  All the events are not just happening one after the other in a straight line.

John tells us (vs.1) that he “…saw four angels standing at the four corners of the earth, holding back the four winds of the earth to prevent any wind from blowing on the land or on the sea or on any tree.”  Strong winds in an arid land like Central Asia were naturally very destructive forces, sand storms wrecking everything.

Trees, especially in those areas, were susceptible to damage.  So the winds are natural symbols of disaster.  The four winds refer back to the four horsemen (Zechariah 6:5).  So the vision takes John back to before the release of the horses.  And what was alluded to before in Chapter 6 is now shown very clearly.  That is, the four horseman need God’s permission before they can ride forth and bring their destruction.  The four angels of providence are holding them back.  Till when?

Vss.2 and 3: “Then I saw another angel coming up from the east, having the seal of the living God.  He called out in a loud voice to the four angels who had been given the power to harm the land and sea.  ‘Do not harm the land or the sea or the trees until we put a seal on the foreheads of the servants of our God’.”

This is the angel of grace calling out.  God’s providence must serve the goals of grace.  Everything must work for the good of the church.  That is the “master-thought”, the main idea, of this letter.  Everything that happens must serve God’s plan of salvation.  Before the devastation, God’s servants must be sealed.  Now what does that mean?  Well, the placing of a seal on something was a mark of ownership.  It provided a protection from theft, like for example, an identification number on a bike frame or engine block.  A seal on a letter from a king guaranteed it was an authentic letter from him.  It also protected the contents from being read by stickybeaks.  So the seal had to do with ownership, security, a guarantee.

And how is it that Christians are sealed?  Well in Ephesians 1:13 & 14 Paul writes, “…having believed, you were marked in Him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit, who is the deposit guaranteeing our inheritance until the redemption of those who are God’s possession…!”  When we come to believe in Jesus, that is the work of the Spirit.  He calls and draws us to Jesus.  He makes us God’s own children.  He brings about the changes in us.  And He stays with us always as the deposit guaranteeing that eternal life is ours.  The Spirit is the seal upon us believers.  And by the seal we are protected.

Now the Spirit does not provide immunity from the effects of the four horses, sin, war, poverty and death.  But He does provide spiritual immunity.  Once sealed, the servants of God cannot be taken from God.  The Spirit guarantees that despite, war, hunger, even death, nothing can take us from the joyous future with God and the Lamb.

John goes on to tell us (vs.9) that he “heard the number of those sealed, 144,000 from all the tribes of Israel.”  12,000 from each of the twelve tribes.  So who are these 144,000?  Well, they are all the people of God.  Not just an elite group or Jews that are saved, nor Old Testament believers as some have suggested.  The New Testament makes clear that the church of all ages is the true Jew, the “Israel of God”, the “seed of Abraham”.  Now also remember, Revelation is a symbolic book.  The number twelve is the number of completion (eg, twelve tribes of Israel), and the number ten is the number of perfection (holy of holies was 10×10).  144,000 = (12×12) x (10×10).

So what is being said in this very stylised Old Testament symbolism is that the complete number of God’s people are sealed.  They are all there.  No one will be forgotten or overlooked.  No one will be dropped as a failure.  The number of God’s people is not a matter of chance.  There are no clerical or computer errors.  All God’s people are sealed and guaranteed their inheritance.  No one is lost in the tribulation of history, no one is snatched away.  They are God’s people, sealed with His Spirit.  What a comfort that was to John’s first readers and to us.  We may all have to go through some pretty rough patches – but if we are believers, we are signed, sealed and delivered by the Spirit.  We will make it.

Now, in verse 9, John’s vision takes another change.  “After this I looked…!”  What we see is a big shift.  With the 144,000 being sealed, we get a view of things before the devastation begins.  We see Jesus reassuring His people – “It’s OK, you’ll make it through when the hard times begin.”  Now we bounce all the way past the end time.  We are now past the dreadful day of the Lord to when God has dealt with His judgment, and has now bought the new creation.  All is now redeemed.  So, first a look back and now a look ahead to give hope and strength to the church.

John says (vs.9), “After this I looked and there before me was a great multitude that no one could count, from every nation, tribe, people and language, standing before the throne and in front of the Lamb.”  This immense gathering of people is the same as the 144,000 as John saw earlier.  But now he sees them fully redeemed.  Before he saw them symbolically as a completed number.  He saw it from God’s perspective, God’s people are a set number known only to God.

But seen from the human perspective they are such a great number “no one can count them”.  It reminds us of the promise to Abraham that his “…offspring would be like the stars in heaven and the sand on the seashore.”  There is a set number of stars, and a set amount of grains of sand on the earth.  It is not an infinite number.  But only God knows the number of stars and the grains of sand.  But to us it’s a number beyond counting.  So here we see that old promise to Abraham fulfilled.  And you notice that this vast number of people is so universal in character.  They are from every nation, tribe, people and language.  It reminds us that the gospel is to be brought to every nation and language group in the world.  This revelation promises that they will all be there.

We, in the meantime, had better get on with our calling “to make disciples of all nations”.  A hard task, but possible in the power of God.  We notice also that it may be a numberless throng, but there’s nothing monotonous about it.  There is a clear showing of the different nations and tribes.  And so they should be seen.  Because as Herman Bavink once said, “We don’t truly know what it is to be human until we have seen all the nations of the earth.”  The fullness of humanity is not just seen in Aussies (or the Dutch, Afrikaans, Japanese, Chinese).  The true beauty of us human beings as God’s image bearers is seen when all our characteristics are combined.  Not with our sin and weaknesses, but in our perfection.

John sees this multitude “…standing before the throne and in front of the lamb”.  It’s not just the 24 elders representing the church.  Here is the whole church.  Here they all are.  And they can all be there in God’s presence, no matter what their past, because as the elder points out in verse 19, “…they have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.”

That’s why this glorious scene is possible.  It’s all because of Jesus.  It’s all through His death and resurrection.  His body and blood “were given for the complete forgiveness of all our sins”.  When John writes, “they have washed their robes”, it shows their involvement.  In faith we trust, we are forgiven, and then go and act differently.  We live in obedience to Christ.

So, here is the church, standing as if it has already overcome.  They are perfect in Christ.  They wear white robes, a sign of justification and victory.  So are the palm leaves.  The church is there and she is celebrating!

And listen to them sing: “They cried out in a loud voice ‘Salvation belongs to our God, who sits on the throne, and to the lamb’” (vs.10).  There is no holding them back.  They sing at the top of their voices.  For now they really know what they are singing about.  Now it’s not just words in a book or a nice modern tune we like.  Nor is it a boring rendering of an old psalm to them, meaningless words of those who go to church but have not grasped the gospel.  No, this is the church triumphant.  She has made it.  She has experienced salvation.  She is before God.  She sings at the top of her voice, jubilating, ecstatic in song.

And who do they praise?  God of course, and the Lamb.  No one else but God and Jesus get the praise.  Because salvation has been achieved by God’s grace alone, through Christ alone.  And it’s not only the church who sings.  See verse11.  So the angels and the elders and four living creatures, they respond to the jubilation of all God’s people.  All heaven and all creation respond (vs.12) and say “Amen”.  That is, the church is absolutely right.  Yes!  To God is all praise.  “The praise and the glory and the wisdom and the thanks and the honour and the power and the strength be to our God forever and ever.  Amen.”  All creation piles one praise attribute upon another as they stretch their imagination to give God all honour.  It’s all in the superlative.  It’s not just “praise and glory” but “the praise and the glory…!”

Yes, you can imagine, if Jesus says there is “joy before the angels of God over one sinner who repents” (remember the parable of the lost sheep), then how unbelievably great will be the praise of the heavenly host and creation when all the redeemed stand before their God.

John, in the vision, is asked by one of the elders who this great multitude is and he reminds John in verse 14 that “they have come out of the great tribulation.”  It refers to the four horses, sin, war, poverty and death.  It also refers to those who are called by God to suffer more greatly for the faith.  The tribulation is like the sea with its peaks and troughs.  In some areas and times, like the Roman Empire and Reformation, the church is called upon to suffer deeply for Jesus.  And all of us will also have to take up our cross for Jesus, to stand up for Him, at school, our workplace, at sports, wherever, and it will cost us to be obedient.

But, what a vision for the faithful church.  Note verse 15: “Therefore”, says the elder, “They are before the throne of God and serve Him day and night in his temple; and he who sits on the throne will spread his tent over them.”  In other words, we will be able to do what we long to do now as Christians and what can be costly for us now, truly serving God all the time.  John describes it as “serving God day and night in His temple”.  But in the new earth the temple of God will not be limited to the old tabernacle or temple of Israel.  Nor just to the hearts of believers in the New Testament.  No, God will make His temple the whole creation.  For sin will have been totally removed.  Wherever the vast multitude is on the earth, God will openly be with them.  He will spread His tent, His tabernacle, over them.  There God will be in our midst and we will openly and joyously do everything in worship to Him.

And it won’t be laborious to worship God in that way.  For our condition will be such that, as verse 16 points out, “Never again will they hunger; never again will they thirst.  The sun will not beat upon them nor any scorching heat.”  The church and creation will be perfectly delivered from the effects of sin.  Never again will we lack anything.  Hunger and thirst show the most basic of needs.  Without food and water we can’t achieve anything.  We die.

So many in the world are deprived of food, shelter, safety, health, literacy, equality, opportunity for learning and growing.  Then we will still desire food and water and whatever it takes to be truly human, but we will lack nothing.  And never again will creation itself, suffering under the curse of sin, bring suffering and want.  It, too, will be perfectly redeemed.  And neither will we thirst and hunger for God.  We will long for Him, but be deeply satisfied, able to do our calling: to glorify God and enjoy Him forever.

Why will it all be so good?  See verse 17 – “For the Lamb at the centre of the throne will be their shepherd; he will lead them to springs of living water.  And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.”  I don’t think it can be better said than the beautiful symbolism here.  Notice that it is the “Lamb” who is the “shepherd”.  It is He who died for you and me, giving His body and blood as the “Lamb that was slain”, who will still be caring for us in all eternity.

Now we are justified by His blood, sanctified by His Spirit.  But then we will still be provided for by Him as shepherd.  And God in His grace will have removed everything that causes us tears now.  Our sin, our tensions, our frustrations, our ill health, our getting older, our abuses and fighting, our longing for God when He seems so far away.  Everything, it will all be gone.  God will wipe away each tear from our eyes.

With that vision before us we can go on living fully, openly for God.  That’s precisely why Jesus gave the visions of Revelation.  So let’s get out there and press towards the goal, because our victory is assured.

Amen.