Well, let's open our Bibles this
morning to the book of Revelation, chapter 7. It's good to be back with you
this weekend. Debbie and I, we always enjoy
coming down and getting to relax a little bit and then getting
to see everybody again and renew our acquaintance and fellowship
and see how everything has changed. It's not changed very much, though,
has it? But we're glad to be back with you. I do bring you
greetings from your brethren in Ashland, 13th Street, and
we appreciate your prayers for us there. Now, this morning,
and you all bear with me through the coughing and everything,
I've been, everybody's got allergies, and I've got them too, so I'll
try to get through this best I can. this morning and in this
hour and the next hour i'm going to be dealing with revelation
chapter seven the title this message is first message is sealed
by the living god sealed by the living god just uh... to make sure we understand what's
going on here you know i believe the book of revelation is a is
an uncovering, revealing of the way things are going to be throughout
the last days, and the last days being the time period between
the first coming of Christ and the second coming of Christ.
I think a lot of people get into the book of Revelation and they
get bogged down in details and trying to figure out things,
not by studying the scripture, but by reading the newspapers
or watching television. And you cannot interpret the
Bible that way. You can't understand the Bible
by looking at current events. You can understand something
about current events by reading and studying the Bible, but not
the other way around. But here in this section, what
is being revealed has to do with with manifestations of the wrath
of God upon earth. Manifestations of the wrath of
God all leading up to the final end of all things when the full
wrath of God will be poured out upon this earth without measure,
without any holding back or what we refer to as the long suffering
of God. There's coming a time that this
earth is going to be utterly destroyed. I believe that. I
believe this world is set for destruction. This world is under
sin. It's cursed. And at that time,
basically, here's what the issue of Revelation 7 is, and we'll
look at some of the details, but basically at that time, It's
an issue of how do we stand before God. If we're alive at that time
when this earth is destroyed, the second coming of Christ,
if we're alive, and how do we stand before a holy God? How do I stand in his view and
in his judgment, under his judgment?
That's the issue. of this judgment. Now up until
that time you'll see manifestations of God's judgment upon the earth.
You'll see it in sicknesses, in plagues, just like in fact
a lot of these events of wrath can be compared
to what took place in Egypt back in the Exodus, you know, when
when God was delivering the Hebrew children out of Egypt and the
ten plagues And you'll see some similarities there as you go
through Revelation. But a lot of these manifestations
of the wrath of God, what are they meant to do? Well, Christ
settled that issue over in the book of Luke chapter 13 when
he spoke of two events in the history of Israel. One was where
an evil man, that was Pilate, Pontius Pilate, slaughtered a
bunch of people who were trying to worship God through sacrifice.
He slaughtered them. And somebody says, well, how
do you look at things like that? Did the wrath of God come down
upon those people? Well, the answer is yes. It did. That is a manifestation of God's
wrath. And I'm not gonna get into all
the whys and the wherefores there. And then he mentioned what we
call a natural disaster, when a great tower in Siloam fell
and killed several people. Now, how are we to look at those
things? Somebody says, well, the wrath of God came down upon
those people. Well, the natural man looks at
things like that and he says this. This is the way we naturally
think. We say, well, they got what they deserved. Those fellows
who, you know, we think about natural disasters in our world
today, you know. I heard a lot of preachers, you
know, when Hurricane Katrina came through New Orleans. I heard
a lot of preachers on TV say, well, God finally cleaned out
that sinful city, New Orleans, and they deserve what they got. It's just been such an infamously
sinful city, evil city all these years, and then God finally took
it to them. Now, is that the way we're to
look at those things? Well, Christ said no in Luke
13, because you remember when he gave those two examples in
Israel's history of the wrath of God, he said, suppose he,
when he spoke of the Galileans, for example, whom Pontius Pilate
slaughtered, or those to whom the tower fell, and he said,
suppose ye that these Galileans were greater sinners than the
others? Is that why this happened to
them? And he said, oh no. He said, you've got to understand,
when you see something like that, you've got to understand that
except you repent, you shall likewise perish. Don't look at
it and say, well, they got what they deserve, as if I don't deserve
it. Because if I don't suffer what
they suffered, I'm gonna tell you what the issue is, it's the
grace of God, period. Because if God gave any of us,
whether it's New Orleans or Albany or Ashland, what we deserve,
no matter how religious we are, if God gave us what we deserve
or what we've earned, it would be eternal damnation. The wrath
of God. And so these manifestations of
wrath are God's just judgment against sin upon the earth. And
if we escape these things, it's only by the grace and mercy of
God, and that's it, in Christ. It's of the Lord's mercies that
we're not consumed. Well, back up in Revelation six
and verse 17, listen to what it says here before he gets into
chapter seven. He says, for the great day of
his wrath is come. Now, here's the question. God's
wrath is coming. We've already seen manifestations
of it in our lifetime. They'd seen it in their lifetime.
And it's gonna get worse and worse and worse as we get closer
to the second coming of our Lord. The wrath of God, the great day
of His wrath has come. Now here's the question. And
who shall be able to stand? That's the issue. Who's going
to be able to stand? Who's going to escape that wrath?
We all deserve it. We're sinners. The wages of sin
is death. If I get what I've earned, you
see, this thing about religion and salvation is not a matter
of what you can earn or what you deserve. That's what we need
to get people to think about. And you see, if God's wrath were
to come through, I deserve it, but how could I escape that wrath?
How can I stand in that day? Well, Revelation 7 gives us the
answer of who's going to stand. And he does it in two ways. First
of all, he tells us that those who will stand in that great
day of God's wrath are those who are sealed by the living
God. Look at verse one. He says, and
after these things I saw four angels standing on the four corners
of the earth. These angels are agents of God's
wrath. The four corners of the earth,
you know what that is, that represents the whole earth. In other words,
there's no place on earth where this wrath is not going to be
enacted and worked out. North, south, east, west. And
it says they were holding the four winds of the earth. The
four winds represent the exact wrath of God. Like a mighty wind
coming through, like a hurricane that destroys, or a tornado that
destroys. And they're holding the four
winds of the earth, that the wind should not blow on the earth,
nor on the sea, nor on any tree. In other words, that God's holding
it back. You see, now this is the purpose
of God. This is not, listen, we were
talking about this about God's will, God's sovereign will. This
is not God playing some kind of a cosmic chess game with us.
That he's trying to work his will and we won't let him or
he makes his move and then we make our counter move and then
he makes his counter move. This is the almighty sovereign
purpose of God right here. He's holding it back according
to his sovereign will. That's what's happening here.
Now, why is he holding it back? Verse two, he says, and I saw
another angel ascending from the east. Now, anything that
comes out of the east represents in some way or some form the
mighty saving power of God. Christ is the son of righteousness
who comes out of the east. We talk about the eastern gate.
That's what that's all about. And it says, I saw another angel
ascending, rising from the east, having the seal of the living
God. He has a seal. And it's God's
seal. Now, one thing we know about
this seal, it's not the seal of man. It's the seal of the
living God, the God who is alive, not a dead God. It's the seal
of a God who gives life. Not one who brings death you
see a false. God will only bring he's a dead
God who only bring you death But this is a seal of the Living
God And it says he cried with a loud voice to the four angels
to whom it was given to hurt the earth and the sea in other
words these angels were sent as agents of God's wrath and
He says in verse 3 saying hurt not the earth in other words.
What he's saying is don't destroy the world yet It's not time yet
Neither the sea nor the trees, till when? Until we have sealed
the servants of our God in their foreheads. They're gonna seal
the servants of God in their, in other words, this world is
not going to be totally destroyed until the servants of God are
sealed in their foreheads. Now, what does that mean? Well,
in the Bible, the forehead, The forehead represents the mind. That's what it represents. The
first time in the Bible where the word forehead is used, it's
used when Moses is instructing the artisans of the tabernacle
and those who are making the clothing of the priest. When
he's instructing them on how to make the clothing of the high
priest, You know, he told him what material to use and what
color the robe, the garments were to be and all of that. And
the priest had what they called a mitre or a turban that he wore
on top. And it says that there was to
be a gold plate made to put on that turban that would fit over
the forehead of the high priest. And on that plate was to be written,
holiness unto the Lord. And that's the first time the
word forehead is used. And what's that mean? Well, it means that
that high priest, when he's doing the duties of the high priesthood,
in going into the holiest of all, he's to have on his mind
one thing, and that's holiness under the Lord. God is holy. What's that talking about? That's
showing how God is a holy God, and he must remain holy. He must be just. God must be
just in all that he does. When God brings down his wrath
against sin on this earth, God is just. We think God's unfair. That's what man by nature thinks.
God is never unfair. Let me tell you something. Whatever
God does is just. It doesn't matter how you see
it or how I see it. All that matters is what this
book says. God is just and righteous in
all His ways. Listen to me. When God damns
a sinner forever, God is just in doing so. But even greater,
when God saves a sinner, He's just in doing so. You see, even
in the salvation of a sinner, and that's what this holiness
under the Lord was supposed to do in the mind of that high priest.
Whenever God saves a sinner, he must be both a just God and
a Savior. And the only way that God can
be both a just God and a Savior, the only way God can save a sinner
like me and still be just, because listen now, what are we saying
here? If God were to give me what I justly deserve, it would
be eternal damnation. So if God were to save me, a
sinner, and bring me into his fellowship, how can he be just? Does he just have to set aside
his justice? Does he have to forget about
it or deny it or does he have to corrupt it? He cannot. He's
God. He's the living God. This is
the seal of the living God. How can God save a sinner like
me and still be just, not but one way, and that is by his grace
through the Lord Jesus Christ, through the blood and the righteousness
of the Lord Jesus Christ. Now we'll see in the next hour
that that's where we find the next identification of those
who will stand in the day of judgment. Look down at verse
nine. Read these verses, but I'm gonna
preach on these in the next hour. He says, after this I beheld
and lo a great multitude which no man can number of all nations,
kindreds and people and tongues stood before the throne and before
the Lamb. Now who's the Lamb? That's Christ,
the Lamb of God, who beareth away the sin of the world. God's
people out of every tribe, who is the world there? God's people
out of every tribe, kindred, tongue, nation is elect. They
were clothed with white robes. What are the white robes? That's
the imputed righteousness of the Lord Jesus Christ. That's
the entire merit of Christ's obedience unto death charged
to their account. They're justified before God.
They stand before God in Christ. God's justice for their sins
was poured out on Christ on the cross. Our sins, charged to him,
accounted to him. And God, God poured out his wrath,
his full wrath, the full measure of all his wrath, deserved by
his people, but put upon Christ. Christ was made guilty. And it
says here, they were clothed with white robes, palms in their
hands, and they cried with a loud voice saying, salvation to our
God, which sitteth upon the throne and under the land. That's who
he's talking about. Now go back over to verse 3. He says, saying, Hurt not the
earth, neither the sea, nor the trees, till we have sealed the
servants of our God in their foreheads, in their minds. There's
a sealing that's going to take place to everyone whom God chose,
for whom Christ died. And that sealing of the mind,
now that doesn't mean it's just an intellectual thing. It comes
through the mind, it reaches to the heart, it's a sealing.
In verse four it says, I heard the number of them which were
sealed. And there were sealed 144,000 of all the tribes of
the children of Israel. Now, I'm not gonna get into all
the commentaries and ideas and opinions on the 144,000. I'm just going to tell you what
I believe it's teaching, and I've done a lot of study on it.
Notice here in verse 5, he mentions the tribes of Israel. He talks
about Judah. Now Judah, the sons of Jacob,
Judah was not the firstborn. Reuben was. In fact, if you go
back to Genesis chapter 49, when Jacob was blessing his children
before he died, he starts with Reuben. But here it starts with
Judah. and not Reuben. So why is the
order reversed here? Because he's not talking about
the literal nation Israel here. I don't believe that. He starts
with Judah because it's out of Judah that the Lord Jesus Christ
came. The scepter will not depart from
Judah until Shiloh come. That's a prophecy of Christ.
And Judah, because of Christ, has the preeminence. And so he
says 12,000 out of Judah. He mentions Reuben next. 12,000
out of Reuben were sealed. He goes on down. Gad, 12,000.
Aser or Asher, 12,000. Nephthalim or Nephtali, 12,000.
Manasseh, 12,000. Simeon, Levi, and Issachar, Zebulun,
all of these, 12,000. And what he shows here is 12,000
out of each tribe. Now, is this a literal 144,000
people? Well, some people think so. Some people say, well, during
the tribulation period that there's only gonna be 144,000 saved. That is not what this teaches.
Besides, we're in the tribulation period right now. And we'll be
until the Lord comes back. Some people say that it is a
literal 144,000 Jews who are brought to Christ and become
witnesses to the Gentile nations. That would be fine with me. Wouldn't
you love to see 144,000 preachers out of Israel preaching Christ,
preaching the gospel of God's grace in Christ? I'd love to
see that. I don't believe that's what this is teaching, though.
What I believe is this 144,000 represents the completed church
of the Lord Jesus Christ, the people of God. 12 times 12 times
1,000. And you can go back through the
Old Testament and you can see 12 patriarchs. The high priest,
how many names did he have on his breastplate? 12 names. That
was the completed people of God in Israel. That was a type, a
picture of the elect of God. And he had 12 names, six on one
side of his shoulder, the amulet, and six on the other. And I believe
that's what that represents. In the New Testament, you have
12 apostles. A thousand in the Hebrew language,
the Hebrew way of thinking, was a way of saying an indefinite
number known only by God. That's what a thousand was. Peter
spoke of that in 2 Peter chapter 3. He said, in God's mind, a
thousand years is as a day, and a day is a thousand years. In
other words, it's a definite period of time, but it's known
only to God. It's a definite number, but it's
known only to God. Well, here's the key though.
Whoever they are, they're sealed in their foreheads by the living
God. Now, what is this sealing? Well, go with me to Romans chapter
six. This sealing is talking about
the work of the Holy Spirit in the new birth. It's talking about
their conversion. This sealing, now remember what
I said, this sealing, it's the work of God. This is God doing
the sealing. This is not man doing the sealing.
You know, most people today, here's what they preach. They
preach that God has done everything he could do and he's waiting
on you to make your decision and you seal the deal. No sir,
that's not what this is. This is not that kind of sealing.
If you seal the deal, let me tell you something, if you seal
the deal, you can unseal it. And that's why there's a lot
of denominations who claim to be Christian who believe you
can be saved one day and lost the next. It's not by grace.
You see, grace in the Bible, it saves you, it keeps you, and
it brings you to glory. And if grace is dependent upon
my sealing the deal, I'm gonna tell you something, we'll fall
a thousand times a day, and if you don't believe that, you don't
know yourself. And I pray that God will show
you yourself. Show you what kind of a sinner
you really are, what kind of a sinner I really am. I'll tell
you right now, if God didn't keep us, we would not be kept. So this is the sealing that God
does. God does this. All right, next,
this sealing is the fruit and the effect of the work of Christ
in his obedience unto death on the cross. Look at Romans chapter
six and look at verse three. Now he says here, know ye not
that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized
into his death. Now that word baptized, anytime
you see that, our minds normally will go to the ordinance of baptism
in the baptismal waters. And there is baptism. There is
believer's baptism, which is a confession. of Christ publicly,
where we identify with Christ and confess him publicly. But
that's not what this is talking about here in Romans chapter
six here. This baptism here, the word baptism,
the word baptized literally means placed into. That's why we commonly
say that baptism means immersion. You're immersed, you're placed
into the water. You're not sprinkled, it's not
poured on you, you're placed into it. And that's why we believe
in baptism by immersion, because that's how we identify with Christ.
We were baptized into Jesus Christ. We were placed into Jesus Christ. That's what he's saying here.
And when were we placed into Christ? Before the foundation
of the world. When God chose us in Christ.
That's what Ephesians chapter one, that's what the multitude
of scriptures teach. God's people, this 144,000. who are going to be sealed by
the living God were placed into Christ when God chose us before
the foundation of the world and gave us to Christ. And what did
Christ say? He said, I must redeem them.
The good shepherd gives his life for the sheep. And then he said,
I must bring them. That's the sealing. All that
the Father giveth me shall come to me, John 6, 37. And him that
cometh to me I will in no wise cast out. He went on to say,
this is the will of him that sent me, that of all which he
hath given me, I should lose nothing. But what? Raise it up
again at the last day. That's the sealing. So he said,
we were baptized into his death. What's he talking about? Well,
this is the language of substitution. This is the language of representation. This is the language of imputation. placed into Christ. When Christ
died, why did he die? He died for his people. He shall save his people from
their sins. The ones that the father had
given him, he died for them. Their sins, our sins, were charged
to him. He was made sin. So that when
he died, they all died. Now we didn't die personally.
but we died in him, he's our substitute. He's our representative. Our sins were charged to him.
He died, we were baptized, we were placed into his death. The death that we earned and
the death that we deserved became his, and he died. And then it
says in verse four, look at Romans six and verse four, therefore
we're buried with him by baptism into death. When he was buried,
we were buried. That like as Christ was raised
up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also
should walk in newness of life. When he arose again, we arose
again. And he says in verse five, for
if we've been planted together in the likeness of his death,
we shall be also in the likeness of his resurrection. You know
what that verse teaches? It teaches this, that if he died
for you, you'll be resurrected with him. You'll be saved. There's
not gonna be anybody in hell for whom Christ died. Not according
to this book. And he says in verse six, knowing
this, that our old man is crucified with Christ, that's our standing
in Adam, dead in Christ, that the body of sin might be destroyed
that henceforth we should not serve sin for he that is dead
is freed, justified from sin. We're justified in Christ. Now
this sealing is the fruit and effect our death and burial and
resurrection in Christ. It's the fruit of his righteousness. That's what it is. Now look down
at verse 17 of Romans 6. Here's the ceiling. He says,
but God bethink that you were the servants of sin. That means
you were unbelievers. You may have been, listen, when
you were a servant of sin in this sense, you may have been
immoral, you may have been religious, but if you didn't know Christ,
if you weren't resting in Christ and believing in him and submitted
to him and his righteousness as the only ground of salvation,
you were a servant of sin. Most of y'all were like me. You
were very religious, but you were still servants of sin, you
didn't know Christ. But he says, but you have obeyed
from the heart that form. That word form there is like
a stamp or a seal. That form of doctrine. And from
the heart, the heart is what? The mind, the affections, the
will, the inner man. You've obeyed from the heart
that form of doctrine which was delivered you, which was preached
in you. What doctrine? The doctrine of
Christ. The doctrine of his person. Who is Jesus Christ? He's God
in human flesh. The doctrine of his atoning work.
What did he accomplish on Calvary? He accomplished the salvation
of his people. He put away their sins. He established
a righteousness whereby God could be both a just God and a savior
in their salvation. And he says in verse 18, being
then made free from sin, you became the servants of righteousness.
What is it to be a servant of righteousness? It's to be a believer.
It's to be a servant of Christ. It's to be brought to faith in
the Lord Jesus Christ. That's that ceiling in their
minds. Look over at Ephesians chapter one with me. Ephesians chapter one. What is
this ceiling? It's God bringing his people. to know themselves in their minds,
in their hearts, being convinced that I'm a sinner. And I have
no hope of escaping the wrath of God, but Jesus Christ and
Him crucified. I have no hope of any forgiveness
of any of my sins, past, present, or future, but the blood of Jesus
Christ. I have no hope of standing before
God and being accepted, justified, declared righteous, except based
on the imputed righteousness of Christ. That's that ceiling. And listen, listen. If that's
just a fleeting thought now, what does that prove? Some people
can say, well, I agree with that, and it really goes in one ear
and out the other. It means you haven't been sealed
in your mind by the living God. If you can take it or leave it,
or if you're not convinced of it, you see what I'm saying? Look over here in Ephesians chapter
one. He talks about the almighty purpose of God. And he talks
about God in verse 11, in whom we have obtained an inheritance,
being predestinated according to the purpose of him who worketh
all things after the counsel of his own will. Now, does that
sound like God is some kind of a cosmic chess player? No. He's the determinant God. He's
the, he's the, God who works all things after the counsel
of his own will, that we should be to the praise of his glory,
who first trusted in Christ, in whom you also trusted, after
that you heard the word of the truth, the gospel of your salvation,
the gospel of Christ, the gospel wherein the righteousness of
God is revealed, in whom also after you have believed, you
were sealed with that Holy Spirit of promise. In other words, you're
sealed into this and you can't get away from it. That's what
he's saying. This is the issue of sealing. And then look at John chapter
16. This sealing is a conviction. It's not just an opinion. It's
not just one way among many. But it is a conviction. And you
know what a conviction is. It's something that you believe
and you won't bend on. You can't get away from it. You're
convinced of the truth of this. Now, if a man can convince you
of anything, another man can come along and unconvince you,
can't he? Isn't that right? In other words,
I know a lot of people, they'll come and they'll hear the gospel
preached, and you know what they'll do? They can't argue with it
now. Scriptural, oh, they can argue,
I know that, but you can't do it really scripturally. And they'll
go get what? They'll go get a second opinion,
or a third opinion, and a fourth opinion. And they can be unconvinced. What does that mean? They have
been sealed. But if God the Holy Spirit, as sent from Christ,
seals you, convinces you, you can't be unconvinced. Look at
it in John 16 and verse seven. Christ speaking to his disciples,
he says, nevertheless, I tell you the truth, it's expedient
for you that I go away, for if I go not away, the comforter,
that's the Holy Spirit, will not come unto you, but if I depart,
I will send him unto you. In other words, the work of the
Holy Spirit in the new birth, in this conviction, in this sealing,
is the fruit of Christ's death and resurrection. And he says
in verse eight, and when he has come, He will reprove, he will
convict or convince the world of sin and of righteousness and
of judgment. Now who's the world there? I'll
tell you exactly who it is. It's whoever in the world is
convinced of sin and of righteousness and of judgment. And he says,
of sin because they believe not on me. In other words, you're
gonna be convinced by the Spirit that without Christ, without
his blood, covering me without his righteousness imputed to
me, I am nothing but sin and I can do nothing but sin in the
sight of God. I may be religious and admired
among men, but without Christ, it's all sin in the sight of
God. What does it take to please God? Perfection. Righteousness. Where are you going to find perfection
and righteousness? Not in yourself. You'll find
it only in Christ. and him crucified. And then verse
10, of righteousness, because I go to my father and you see
me no more. How did Christ go to his father? How did he ascend
into his father? As the one who finished the work
of redemption. As the one who put away my sins. As the one who established the
only righteousness whereby God could be just to justify me.
And to be convinced of righteousness is to be convinced that the only
righteousness I have is in Christ and him crucified and risen again.
And then verse 11 of judgment because the prince of this world
is judged. What he's talking about there
is when Christ died he says now is the judgment of this world,
now is the prince of this world cast out in John 12. The prince
of this world being Satan who has been given a control, a limited
control over the unbelieving world And his main weapon in
his attacks is his accusations concerning the judgments of men. And what does he say? Satan accuses
the brethren. That's what he does. You see,
that's his main weapon. That's what he did to Job. Let
me tell you about your servant Job. He wouldn't serve you except
that you gave him all these good things. He accused Job. Over
in Revelation 12, what does he do? He accused the brethren.
Look at him, he's a sinner. That's right. So what is our
only, only defense against Satan? Judgment. Where? At the cross. I've already been judged for
all my sins. Listen, even the sins that I
have not yet committed were imputed to Christ. When Christ was made
sin, Listen, all the sins of all of his sheep, all of God's
elect, all of his church, were made to meet upon him all the
sins of every generation of his people, and he put them away. They were judged. That person
who's going to be sealed by the living God in their minds under
the preaching of the gospel, who's not yet been born, His
sins, her sins, were laid upon Christ, charged to Christ, imputed
to Christ, and he put them away. And he brought in an everlasting
righteousness whereby I can stand before God when Satan accuses
me and say, who shall lay anything to the charge of God's elect?
It's God that justifies. Who can condemn me? It's Christ
that died, yea, rather, is risen again. who's seated at the right
hand of the Father, ever living, to make intercession for us.