I invite your attention to Revelation,
chapter 6, verse 12. The last book in the Bible, which
is titled, The Revelation of Jesus Christ, locate the 6th
chapter, 12th verse. This morning's message is titled,
The Day of Jesus Christ's return. Now let me bring you up to this
day of Jesus Christ's return by taking you back to Revelation
chapters 4 and 5. We have dealt with this passage
on previous occasions. But by review, it is the day
of Jesus Christ's ascension into glory that is described in these
two chapters, Revelation chapters four and five. On that day, John is blessed
to see a scene in heaven. As we have said before, this
is not a scene of heaven, but rather a scene of the universe
as seen from heaven's perspective. In the middle of the universe
is the throne of God, and he is sitting on it. Around his throne on all four
sides are four living creatures, perhaps cherubs or seraphs, a
very, very high order of angelic beings. Around them, in a circle around
God's throne, are 24 thrones, and on these sit the elders who
rule and reign from heaven. These 24 elders are the Church
of the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, saints from both the
Old and the New Testament eras. Around them are all God's angels,
an untold number of them, myriads of angels. And then beyond the angels can
be seen every living creature that is on the earth and under
the earth. God, the Father, on his throne
has a scroll in his hand. This scroll is written on both
the inside and on the outside as well. It was written on the
outside because the inside was not sufficient enough to contain
all that had to be written. This scroll is written with God's
decree. It is the written account of
God's decree for the events of this present age. This scroll is secured by seven seals and
John wept because there was no one in heaven who was worthy
enough or mighty enough to open the seven seals and thereby disclose
what is in God's decree. Is God's decree to remain shut
so that no one ever knows? No, it will not remain shut and
sealed because as John weeps An angel says, behold, do not
weep, behold, the Lion of the tribe of Judah has prevailed
to open the seals and to disclose what is in the scroll. John looked
for the Lion of the tribe of Judah, but he did not see the
Lion of the tribe of Judah, at least he thought he did not.
Rather, he saw a lamb as it had been slaughtered. This lamb of
God is the lion of the tribe of Judah. His name is Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ ascended up to God's
throne as he did the cherubs. got out of the way so that he
could have free access. Jesus ascended up to God's throne. God held the scroll out in his
hand, and Jesus took that scroll from God's hand. And then, one
by one, he began to unseal it, releasing the seven seals. and disclosing to all who were
there and also for you and me today because it is here written
what is in God's decree. We're going to deal this morning
with that sixth seal and we're going to observe that this sixth
seal is the day of Jesus Christ's return. In fact, that is my first
point. Christ's return is the day of
the sixth seal. It is described in verses 12
through 17. But again, I ask that you wait
for a moment and I'll read the text directly because I want
to Read what is in the first five seals. If this is the sixth
seal, there must have been five seals before it that were opened. And these five seals and their
opening are described in verses 1 through 11. Now consider, first
of all, that first seal. It is described in verses one
and two of Revelation chapter six. John writes, now I saw when
the Lamb opened one of the seals, that would be the first seal,
and I heard one of the four living creatures saying with a loud
voice, like thunder, come and say, and I looked, And behold,
a white horse, white being the color of purity, holiness, and
righteousness, and sinlessness. And he who sat on it, that's
Jesus Christ, the one who sat on this white horse. The only
one worthy to occupy a place of purity and sinlessness, holiness
and righteousness, this is Jesus Christ on the white horse. And
he who sat on it had a bow, a symbol of conquest and triumph. And a crown was given to him.
This crown is not the diadem, rather this crown is the Stephanos. It was the garland that was woven
and placed on the head of a victor. This crown was given to him by
God the Father. And he, Jesus Christ, went out
conquering and to conquer. He goes with his bow in his hand,
his crown on his head. He's looking for God's elect
who still are in rebellion against him, who still have enmity in
their hearts against him, who still have not bowed their knees
in repentance toward God. Jesus Christ is looking for them. He's been doing so now for about
2,000 years, going to this place and that, looking for gods elect
wherever they are. When he finds one of them, he
conquers that one with the arrows of conviction from his bow of
triumph. who are pierced with the arrow
of conviction, seize in their rebellion against God and say,
Lord, what would you have me to do? He says, you come and
follow me. I've conquered you. You now come
and follow me. And they do. They follow him
wherever he goes as disciples of the Lord and Savior, Jesus
Christ. Now we come to the second seal
in verse number three. When he opened the second seal,
I heard the second living creature saying, come and see. And another
horse, fiery red, as though it were the color of
blood that was shed through violent means. This one went out and
it was granted to the one who sat on this fiery red horse to
take peace from the earth and that people should kill one another
and there was given to him a great sword. This sword in scripture
is the one that is given to civil magistrates for maintaining law
and order But they are using these swords against the disciples
of the Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ goes out
to conquer his people in saving, mercy, and grace. And when he
does, this rider on the red horse comes to slaughter them as it
did him. In the fifth verse, we read of
the third seal. When he opened the third seal,
I heard the third living creature say, Come and see! And I looked,
and behold a black horse, the color of death and mourning. And he who sat on it had a pair
of scales in his hand. This one is going to make life
difficult. for those who have not been slain
and slaughtered by the rider on the red horse. He's going
to make life difficult through economic hardship. Therefore,
John writes, I heard a voice in the midst of the four living
creatures saying, a quart of wheat, with just a little bit
of wheat, for a denarius, a whole day's wage, and three quarts
of barley for a denarius, and do not touch the oil and the
wine, because you Christians cannot afford that. In verse
7, we read of the fourth seal. When he opened the fourth seal,
I heard the voice of the fourth living creature saying, Come
and see. And I looked, and behold, a pale
horse. probably greenish in color, a
sickly pallid color, the color of a decaying corpse. And the name of him who sat on
it was Death, and Hades followed with him. And power was given
to them over a fourth of the earth to kill with sword, with
hunger, with death, and by the beasts of the earth. The rider
on this deathly horse is going to kill great portions of mankind
just so he can kill a good number of the Lord's disciples. He will
kill them through warfare, pestilences, famine, and beasts. Now in verse
9 we read of the opening of the fifth seal. When he, Jesus Christ,
opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar, that is the
altar event since in heaven, I saw under the altar the souls,
not the bodies, but the souls of those who had been slain,
slaughtered for the word of God and for the testimony which they
held. These are all God's people in
heaven. who were martyrs or witnesses
for Jesus Christ. Some of them were violently killed
for their testimony and witness of Jesus Christ. The others are
just like them because they were willing to die for Christ and
they died in the faith. Their bodies have been buried
in their graves. Their ashes have been scattered
to the four winds. Their souls are in God's presence
under his altar of incense, which represents the prayers of his
people. And they cried with a loud voice,
saying, how long, O Lord, holy and true, until you judge and
avenge our blood on those who dwell on the earth? Those who
dwell on the earth had slain them. had persecuted them, had
put them through travail and tribulation. Their blood deserves
vengeance. How long, O Lord, before you
avenge our blood? It is the just thing to do. When will you do it, Lord? We
read in verse 11 that a white robe, a symbol of righteousness,
was given to each of them. And it was said to them that
they should rest a little while longer. A little while longer. Some of those in heaven now are
saying, Lord, it's been almost 2,000 years now. A little while
longer. And the Lord might reply, a thousand
years with me is as one day. It's just a little while. You
wait just a little while longer. until both the number of their
fellow servants and their brethren, who would be killed as they were,
was completed. There is a day of vengeance that
is coming. The blood of the witnesses of
Jesus Christ will be justly avenged by the just and true God. These
martyrs are told, you just wait. The day of vengeance is coming
and I'll see that your blood is avenged and it will be avenged in the opening of the sixth seal.
Verse 12, now we come to the sixth seal. This sixth seal describes
for us the day of Jesus Christ's return to earth. I looked when
he opened the sixth seal. And behold, there was a great
earthquake, and the sun became black as sackcloth of hair, and
the moon became like blood, and the stars of heaven fell to the
earth as a fig tree drops its late figs when it is shaken by
a mighty wind. Then the sky receded as a scroll
when it is rolled up, and every mountain and island was moved
out of its place. And the kings of the earth, the
great men, the rich men, the commanders, the mighty men, every
slave and every free man, hid themselves in the caves and in
the rocks of the mountains and said to the mountains and rocks,
fall on us. and hide us from the face of
him who sits on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb. For
the great day of his wrath is come, and who is able to stand? The great day of his wrath has
come. That day is the day of Jesus
Christ returned to earth. It is given many names in the
scriptures. Let me give you 10 of those names. First, it is in Acts chapter
2, verse 20, quoting Joel 2, verse 31, it is the great and
awesome day of Jehovah. Second, it is the day of the
Lord, 1 Thessalonians 5, verse 2. Third, it is the day of God,
2 Peter 3, verse 12. Fourth, it is that great day
of God Almighty, Revelation 16, 14. It is the day of Christ in Philippians
1, verse 10. It is the day of Jesus Christ
in Philippians 1, verse 6. It is the day of the Lord Jesus
in 1 Corinthians 5, verse 5. It is the day of our Lord Jesus
Christ. That's the name that his saints
give to it in 1 Corinthians 1, verse 8. Number nine, it is the
great day of the Lamb's wrath. Here in Revelation 617, that
is the name by which the wicked will call that great day. And
number 10, it is in Isaiah 34 verse 8 called the day of Jehovah's
vengeance. For it is the day in which Christ's
martyrs see the answer to their prayer. How long, O Lord, holy
and true, until you judge and avenge our blood on those who
dwell on the earth? Revelation chapter 6, verse 10. Well, it has come. Now is the day of our Lord Jesus Christ. Now is the great day of the Lamb's
wrath and now is the day of Jehovah's vengeance. Now second, observe
that Christ's return is the day of unprecedented, universal, cataclysmic phenomena
You see this described in verses 12 through 14. And this should
not surprise us because no day before that day will have been
like this day, the day of Jesus Christ's return. And if you look
at these phenomena that are here described, Every one of them
is associated with the day of Jehovah as it is described throughout
the Old Testament. Furthermore, that day will be
as it was prophesied by Jesus in the parallel accounts of Matthew
chapter 24 verses 29 and 30 and in Luke chapter 21, verses
25 through 28. Two accounts he gives. Actually, he gave one account,
but two different writers described it. They did not use the exact
same terminology. They did not contradict one another,
but one might write something that the other did not write.
Now, if we take these two parallel accounts and put them together,
they may read in these words. Immediately after the tribulation
of those days, that's the present days during which Jesus' people
are being martyred. Immediately after the tribulation
of those days, there will be signs in the sun, in the moon,
and in the stars. The sun will be darkened, the
moon will not give its light, and the stars will fall from
heaven, and the powers of heaven will be shaken. And on the earth
there will be distress of nations with perplexity, the sea and
the waves roaring. Men's hearts will fail from fear
and the expectation of those things which are coming on the
earth. Then the sign of the Son of Man will appear in heaven. All the tribes of the earth will
mourn when they see him coming on the clouds of heaven with
great power and glory. Now when these things begin to
happen, Jesus says, Look up and lift up your heads because your redemption draws
near. I want us now to go back to Revelation
chapter 6 verse 12 and begin to look at these unprecedented,
universal, cataclysmic phenomena. First, in verse 12, latter part
of the verse, or in the middle actually, John writes, and behold,
there was a great earthquake. There was an earthquake at Jesus'
death. There was an earthquake at Jesus'
resurrection. It therefore should not surprise
us that there is an earthquake on the day of His return. In
fact, that earthquake on the day of His return will be the
greatest earthquake this world has ever known. Locate Revelation
chapter 16, verse 18. Revelation 16, verse 18. John writes in regard to the
seventh angel pouring out his wrath upon the earth. He writes
in verse 18, And there were noises, and thunderings, and lightnings,
and there was a great earthquake, such a mighty and great earthquake
as had not occurred since men were on the earth. Verse 20,
then every island fled away and the mountains were not found. It'll be the greatest earthquake
this world has ever known on the day of Jesus Christ's return. Now John here describes what's
going to happen on the earth on that day. And now his imagery
will pass from the earth into the heavens. Also in verse 12
we read, and the sun became black as sackcloth of hair. Sackcloth
is a material made of the black hair of goats or camels. And when the sun is clothed in
sackcloth, a black garment, it can no longer be seen. The third
phenomena, also in verse 12, and the full moon became like
blood. This sign in the moon, as Jesus
called it, perhaps portends the forthcoming bloodshed to be inflicted
upon the wicked. It portends the blood that is
shed of those who have slaughtered
the disciples of the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. The prophecy
of Joel 2 verse 31 tells us the sun shall be turned into darkness
and the moon into blood before the coming of the great and awesome
day of Jehovah. Now if the Sun is darkened and
the moon becomes as blood before that great day. Imagine what
it will look like on that great day when the moon becomes as
blood. The fourth phenomena is in verse
number 13. and the stars of heaven fell
to the earth as a fig tree drops its late figs when it is shaken
by a mighty wind." These late or these untimely figs are those
which did not fall from the tree during the regular season when
figs usually fall. These late or untimely figs are
still hanging on to the tree when winter comes. With the coming
of winter comes also great and mighty winds. And if one would
look at this fig tree that still has its late and untimely figs,
when that great and mighty wind comes to blow upon them, he'll
see the figs beginning to fall until the tree has no more figs
left on it. And John says that the stars
will fall from heaven like late or untimely figs. when God shakes
the heaven with his mighty wind. On the day of Jesus Christ's
return, the fifth phenomena is in verse 14. Then the sky receded
as a scroll when it is rolled up. Look at the sky right now.
Do you realize that the sky above us is like a scroll that is unrolled
all the way across. And if you look into that scroll,
the sky unrolled above us, you're going to see written two things. You're going to see written in
that scroll of the sky, both God's glory and His wrath. The scriptures declare that the
heavens declare the glory of God. Look into the sky. What do you see? The declaration
of God's glory. We also read in Romans chapter
1 that the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness
of men. Those two things are seen in
the scroll of the sky that is above us. But on this last day,
the day of Jesus Christ's return, the sky will be rolled up like
a scroll because it has already served its purpose and is no
longer needed. God's glory does not need to be declared
anymore because it will be seen. God's wrath will not need to
be revealed anymore from heaven because it will be experienced. The imagery which formerly passed
from the earth into the heavens now passes back to the earth
and to the sea, in verse number 14. And every mountain and island
was moved out of its place. The earlier earthquake, in verse
12, shook the mountains and the islands, but then they settled
back into their place. But now they're shaken so that
they are no more. The islands and the mountains
are completely moved from their places. This evidences that the confusion and overthrow
of the natural order is now completed. It is time for Jesus Christ to
return. My third point is this, Christ's
return is the day of his wrath upon the wicked, verses 15 through
17. That day will be a blessed day
for Jesus' disciples. Remember that he tells us, now
when these things begin to happen, when you see all those things
that have just been described, when you see them happening,
Jesus says, look up and lift up your heads, because your redemption
draws near. Oh, what a blessed day that will
be for God's children. Our Redeemer is coming. He's
bringing redemption with Him! Oh yes! Even so, come Lord Jesus! But that day will be a dreadful
day for the wicked. In verse 15 we read, the wicked
of all classes will try to hide themselves. And the kings of
the earth, those are the chief governing authorities. Second,
the great men, those are the secondary governing authorities. Third, the rich men, those are
the self-satisfied and wealthy men. Fourth, the commanders of
military forces. Fifth, the mighty men, those
who usually scoff at fear. And sixth and seventh, every
slave and every free man hid themselves in the caves and in
the rocks and the mountains. And here's a fulfillment of the
prophecy against idolaters in the day of Jehovah recorded in
Isaiah chapter 2 verse 19. They shall go into the holes
of the rocks and into the caves of the earth from the terror
of Jehovah and the glory of his majesty when he arises to shake
the earth mightily. They're going to hide. They're
going to try to hide. Second, the wicked would rather
suffer death through natural catastrophes than face divine
judgment. Verse 16. And they said to the
mountains and rocks, fall on us and hide us from the face
of him who sits on the throne, that is God, and from the wrath
of the Lamb, that is Jesus Christ. Hide us! They now make war with the lamb. Revelation 17, 14, they now proudly boast of what
they see as their victories against Jesus Christ and against his
cause, against the death of his people. They boast of those things.
They vent their wrath against him. But now on this day, They
see him coming to make war against them and to vent his wrath against
them. He's going to subject them to
his divine and just wrath in the day of judgment. They will
see the mountains shaking. They will see the islands shaking. They will see the caves collapsing. And they will say to the mountains
and the caves, please let us hide in you when you fall on
us. Hide us from the wrath of the
Lamb. Third, note that the wicked will
know that their doom is certain and deserved. Verse 17, they
know they're going to deserve what they will receive. For the
great day of the Lamb's wrath has come, and who is able to
stand? They stood against and withstood
him all their lives. But now that he comes, they know
they cannot stand. They're not worthy to stand.
Who can stand? Who can stand? Who is able to
stand? Well, the answer to that question
and this is the end of my text and the passage. It's the end
of it. But I'm not going to leave you without an answer to that
question. So give me another couple of
minutes. I'm going to answer that question
from God's Word. Go to Revelation chapter 7. I'm
going to read to you who will be able to stand in that day
when the wicked cannot stand. In Revelation chapter 7, we read of something that happens. As Jesus Christ is on his way,
and he is, he says, behold, I come, he's on his way. But before he comes, something
must be done for his people. Chapter seven. After these things
I saw four angels standing at the four corners of the earth,
holding the four winds of the earth, that the wind should not
blow on the earth, on the sea, or on any tree." Judgment day
has come, but the judgment has not yet been executed, and the
angels are holding the judgment back until something is done.
Then I saw another angel ascending from the east, having the seal
of the living God. And he cried with a loud voice
to the four angels, to whom it was granted to harm the earth
and the sea, saying, Do not harm the earth, the sea, or the trees
till we have sealed the servants of our God on their foreheads. The wicked have the mark of the
beast, the righteous have the seal of God. And every one of
us has one of those. You either have the mark of the
beast on your forehead or else you have the seal of the living
God on your forehead. And I heard the number of those
who were sealed. 144,000 of all the tribes of
the children of Israel were sealed. Now this number 144,000 is symbolic,
not actual. This Israel is spiritual, not
physical. These 144,000 represent all God's
people on this earth. All of them. And the angel says, hold off
on judgment, we've got to seal them. And here he goes, and he
puts a seal right there in your forehead. A seal in your forehead,
and one in yours, and one in yours. And then, when they all
are sealed, all 144,000, that is all the people of God, when
they're sealed, you can come now. You can come now. Who are
these 144,000? You can find them described in
chapter 14. Revelation chapter 14. Then I looked and behold a lamb
standing, standing, he's standing. on Mount Zion and with him 144,000
having his father's name written on their foreheads. And they
are standing with the Lamb on Mount Zion. And I heard a voice
from heaven like the voice of many waters. And he's going to
describe the song that these 144,000 sing. Who are they? We read in the middle of verse
3 that no one could learn that song except the 144,000 who were
redeemed from the earth. Who are they? These are the ones
who were not defiled with women for they are virgins. At one time they were not virgins. But the regenerating grace of
Christ made them so. These are the ones who follow
the Lamb wherever He goes. All 144,000 of them. These were
redeemed from among men being firstfruits to God and to the
Lamb. The firstfruits of every crop
belonged to God. The rest belonged to man. These
144,000 are those whom Christ redeemed from the earth and they
are God's first fruits, and he tells the
devil, you can have all the rest of them. And in their mouth was found
no guile, for they are without fault before the throne of God. I hope I just described to you And you, I hope I just described you.
Because if I did, on that day when the wicked say, who is able
to stand? You will stand while everyone
else hides. So I ask you on that day of Jesus
Christ's return, will you hide or will you stand?