Unveiling Salvation
Revelation 7
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Unveiling salvation
Revelation 7
Main Idea: Our hope is found in the fullness of Jesus’ salvation.
I. Powerful Protection
These servants are being marked by the blood of the Lamb so they will not face the wrath of the Lamb.
~ Andrew Sachs
God’s blessing and protection is given freely to those who place their faith in Jesus.
II. Covenant Congregation
144,000 = 12 tribes of Israel x 12 apostles x 10 x 10 x 10
God is bringing all His people to Himself.
III. Gospel Consummation
Salvation for all believers.
The prayer in Revelation 6 of “How Long?” is answered here.
IV. Blessed Assurance
This is a poetic picture of what all who have been marked by the blood of the Lamb, all who have been sealed to Christ by the Holy Spirit, all who have patiently endured the tribulation of living for Christ in a hostile world, can expect. We can expect that we will not only be protected in the final judgement; we will enjoy the protective presence of God for all eternity. Nothing and no one will be able to harm us. All of our needs will be provided for. All the pain of the past will be wiped away-not through an impersonal declaration but personally and lovingly, as God himself will wipe away our tears. We’ll be safely in the fold of our shepherd, the Lamb.
~ Nancy Guthrie
Our hope is found in the fullness of Jesus’ salvation.
The Seven Seals and the Four Horsemen
Revelation 6
THe seven Seals and the four horsemen
Revelation 6
The central drama of Advent is that of judgment and redemption, and yet we live in a time of wholesale reaction against the notion of judgment… But Christian hope is founded in the promise of God that all things will be made new according to his righteousness. We [must] continue to cherish the idea of a community of the living and the dead awaiting the coming of the Redeemer of the world. Advent faces into death and looks beyond it to the coming judgment of God upon all that deceives, twists, undermines, pollutes, contaminates, and kills his beloved creation. There can be no community of the resurrected without the conquest of death and the consummation of the kingdom of God. In those assurances lies the hope of the world.
~ Fleming Rutledge, Advent: The Once & Future Coming of Jesus Christ
Main Idea: We can patiently endure a world under judgment a little longer by faith in the Lamb.
I. The Advent Reality (6:1-8)
As the Lamb who was slain begins to break the seals on the divine scroll (Rev. 5), four horsemen accompany the first four seals (cf. Zech. 1:8-11, 6:1-8; Matt. 24:6-31).
Seal #1: White Horse (6:1-2): either Christ (cf. Rev. 19:11) in his first coming and the gospel “conquering” throughout the world or a messianic imposter bringing instability and conquest
The forms under which Christ conquers are the Palm Sunday donkey, the slain Paschal Lamb, and the failed messiah, mocked and crucified. But it is precisely these forms that are realized in faith as conquering.
~ Eugene Peterson, Reversed Thunder: The Revelation of John and the Praying Imagination
Seal #2: Red Horse (6:3-4): representing warfare, violence, and bloodshed, as peace is removed from the earth
Seal #3: Black Horse (6:5-6): the ‘scales’ in his hands are for measuring food during a famine and economic upheaval
Seal #4: Pale Horse (6:7-8): the color of a corpse, representing Death and Hades (the place of the dead)
Two realities we must acknowledge about these seals:
The horsemen are sent from the One seated on the heavenly throne, as the Lamb opens the seals on the scroll of history; He sovereignly “gives” and “permits” all that takes place. The evils of war and unrest, economic upheaval, and even death itself are not “uncontrollable” realities (cf. Rev. 1:18).
This is taking place in our world right now, not some time in the future (cf. Rom. 1:18ff)
Why would God allow these things? … God wants a clear contrast between what results from embracing his rule and what results from rejecting it. God wants people to see what happens when humans reject the true God and embrace false gods. God wants people to see what happens when humans reject the rightful King, the Lord’s Messiah, Jesus, and replace him with some chump who looks good and speaks well. So God lets these fools have their day in the sun, and he lets all the mayhem and ruin that results from their pride and folly defile his world. God lets all this happen so that his wisdom, his power, his righteousness will be seen clearly. God wants people to know that only he can bring peace, justice, security, and happiness. God wants to be worshiped as God, and he wants people to embrace the rule of King Jesus, the Messiah.
~ Jim Hamilton, Preaching the Word: Revelation: The Spirit Speaks to the Churches
II. The Advent Prayer (6:9-11)
Seal #5: The Martyrs: the souls (in the intermediate state) of those who have been slain for the word of God are with God (cf. Rom. 8:35-39) under the “altar,” their deaths as an offering and sacrifice to heaven (cf. 2 Tim. 4:6).
The Prayer: “O Sovereign Lord, how long before you will judge and avenge our blood on those who dwell on the earth?” (cf. Ps. 13:1-2, 74:10, 94:3)
This prayer of longing is not for a personal vendetta, but for the Righteous and Just God to vindicate their death and render his perfect justice over all the earth. Romans 12:19: Beloved, never avenge yourselves, but leave it to the wrath of God, for it is written, “Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord.”
The Response:
Be assured of your status and reward: “each were given a white robe”
The answer to your prayer: “a little longer…”
More will join them in repentance and martyrdom: “until the number of their fellow servants and their brothers should be complete, who were to be killed as they themselves had been.”
2 Peter 3:8-9: But do not overlook this one fact, beloved, that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day. The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance.
Waiting for God to act, waiting for him to set things right, can seem so very long that we’re tempted to wonder if that day will ever really come. But you can be assured that the day of justice is going to come. The question, ‘How long?’ will one day be answered to the full satisfaction of every believer who has cried out to God with hot tears. God has set a day when he will set things right. The suffering of God’s people has an expiration date. We have to wait a little longer.
~ Nancy Guthrie, Blessed: Experiencing the Promise of the Book of Revelation
III. The Advent Question (6:12-17)
Seal #6: The Day of the Lord: the answer to the prayers of the martyrs comes with the final judgment. The ‘apocalyptic’ & symbolic language used here is steeped in the OT (cf. Isaiah 13:9ff, 34:14, Ezek. 32:7, Joel 2:31) & from Jesus’ Olivet Discourse (Mt. 24, Mk. 13), as the end of human history is at hand.
What the rebellious dread the most is not the falling apart of the earth or death itself, but the righteous & just judgments of the Lamb (6:16); the “great ones” of the earth cannot trust their power, influence, money, good works, or anything else before the omniscient judgments of the One seated on the throne.
The Key Question: “Who can stand?”
Revelation 7:9,14b: After this I looked, and behold, a great multitude that no one could number, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed in white robes, with palm branches in their hands… They have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the lamb.
2 Peter 3:10-13: But the day of the Lord will come like a thief, and then the heavens will pass away with a roar, and the heavenly bodies will be burned up and dissolved, and the earth and the works that are done on it will be exposed. Since all these things are thus to be dissolved, what sort of people ought you to be in lives of holiness and godliness, waiting for and hastening the coming of the day of God, because of which the heavens will be set on fire and dissolved, and the heavenly bodies will melt as they burn! But according to his promise we are waiting for new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells.
The Lion, the Lamb, and the Scroll
Revelation 5
The Lion, the Lamb, and the Scroll
Revelation 5
The fundamental problem in the church today is that God rests too inconsequentially upon the church. His truth is too distant, his grace is too ordinary, his judgment is too benign, his gospel is too easy, and his Christ is too common.
~David F. Wells
Main Idea: Come, let us adore him.
I. The Sealed Scroll (v. 1)
Revelation 5:1: Then I saw in the right hand of him who was seated on the throne a scroll written within and on the back, sealed with seven seals.
In the right hand of God is the the scroll of all of his promises, all of his purposes for redemption and judgment for the entire universe. But they are sealed up, and the only way they are going to be brought to pass is if the seals are broken and the scroll is opened.
II. Is Anyone Worthy (v. 2)
Revelation 5:2: And I saw a mighty angel proclaiming with a loud voice, “Who is worthy to open the scroll and break its seals?”
III. No One is Worthy (v. 3)
Revelation 5:3: And no one in heaven or on earth or under the earth was able to open the scroll or to look into it.
IV. Weeping as if All is Lost (v.4)
Revelation 5:4: …and I began to weep loudly because no one was found worthy to open the scroll or to look into it.
V. Weep No More, Behold (v.5)
Revelation 5:5: And one of the elders said to me, “Weep no more; behold, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has conquered, so that he can open the scroll and its seven seals.”
Lion of the Tribe of Judah (Genesis 49:9–10)
The Root of David (Isaiah 11:1–10)
VI. Jesus Alone is Worthy (v. 6-7)
Revelation 5:6-7: And between the throne and the four living creatures and among the elders I saw a Lamb standing, as though it had been slain, with seven horns and with seven eyes, which are the seven spirits of God sent out into all the earth. And he went and took the scroll from the right hand of him who was seated on the throne.
1 Peter 3:22: [Jesus] has gone into heaven and is at the right hand of God, with angels, authorities, and powers having been subjected to him.
Hebrews 10:12-13: But when Christ had offered for all time a single sacrifice for sins, he sat down at the right hand of God, waiting from that time until his enemies should be made a footstool for his feet.
Notice what happens around him. “… encircled by the four living creatures and elders.” They’re offering their homage to him. From now on in the book, again and again and again, there is rarely a mention of God without mentioning the Lamb.
John’s vision of the lamb continues.:
seven Horns - Jesus has full power and authority (Matthew 28:18)
seven Eyes - Jesus has all the attributes of divine omniscience (Ps. 33:13,18)
VII. Let Heaven and Nature Sing (v.8-14)
Revelation 5:8: And when he had taken the scroll, the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders fell down before the Lamb, each holding a harp, and golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of the saints.
The Ransomed Priesthood (v.9-10)
Revelation 5:9-10: “Worthy are you to take the scroll and to open its seals, for you were slain, and by your blood you ransomed people for God from every tribe and language and people and nation, and you have made them a kingdom and priests to our God, and they shall reign on the earth.”
bloody Atonement (v. 9)
broad Atonement (v.9)
The Ransomed Priesthood (v.9-10)
Revelation 5:11-12: Then I looked, and I heard around the throne and the living creatures and the elders the voice of many angels, numbering myriads of myriads and thousands of thousands, saying with a loud voice, “Worthy is the Lamb who was slain, to receive power and wealth and wisdom and might and honor and glory and blessing!”
The Cosmic Choir (v.13-14)
Revelation 5:14: And I heard every creature in heaven and on earth and under the earth and in the sea, and all that is in them, saying, “To him who sits on the throne and to the Lamb be blessing and honor and glory and might forever and ever!”
The Heavenly Throne
Revelation 4
The HEavenly Throne
Revelation 4
Main Idea: We are invited to behold the holy, transcendent, and sovereign Lord, enthroned in heaven, worthy of endless worship.
I. The Door Opened (4:1-2a)
The Apostle John sees a “door standing open in heaven” (cf. 3:20), with an urgent invitation (‘like a trumpet’) to enter and see the next vision from the Lord. The emphasis shifts from the persecuted, struggling, and fledgling church on earth to the glorious ‘unveiling’ (‘apocalypse’) of heaven, previously hidden and unseen (cf. Isa. 6, 2 Ki. 6, Acts 9 & 10).
Through this open door, John is ushered into the spiritual, timeless dimension of God’s heavenly throne room; this throne is the central image of this section, referenced 17x in Rev. 4-5. As John attempts to describe the truly indescribable, he uses imaginative, symbolic imagery that is steeped in Scripture (such as Ezek. 1, Isa. 6, Dan. 7).
“Through John’s written account of his vision, you and I get to see into the heart of ultimate reality in the timeless presence of God and his heavenly court. We get to see into heaven as it has been and is since the resurrection and ascension of Jesus to the Father’s right hand. We’re invited to see the celebration that is taking place right now in heaven. We get to see what is at the center of heaven around which everything revolves… In the heart of ultimate reality, we see, along with John, what is most important, what really matters. We see what suffering Christians of John’s day needed to see. We see what struggling believers of every age have needed to see – God on the throne of the universe.”
~ Nancy Guthrie, Blessed: Experiencing the Promise of the Book of Revelation
II. The Throne Occupied (4:2b-8a)
John is unable to describe the one seated on the throne, so he describes everything going on around this central reality in a concentric pattern:
Bright, Majestic, Glory (4:3; cf. Ezek. 1:26-28)
‘Jasper’ and ‘carnelian’ were gemstones that would reflect and intensify glorious light; they were found in the ephod of the high priest (Ex. 25:7) and in the foundation of the new Jerusalem (21:20)
The encircling ‘rainbow’ is a radiant reminder of the Noahic covenant and God’s glorious grace
Heavenly Beings (4:4, 6b-8a)
The 24 elders represent the people of God (cf. 21:12, 14); they are seated on their own thrones, clothed with white garments (righteousness) and golden crowns (royalty)
The 4 “living creatures” (cf. cherubim in Eze. 1:5, 10:15) represent the best and most powerful of the created world: a lion as the noble king of the wild animals, an ox as the mightiest of the domesticated animals, a human as the wise and crowning glory of creation, and an eagle as the most swift and majestic of the flying creatures. These creatures have six wings (cf. seraphim in Isa. 6:2) and were covered with “eyes” as the all-seeing agents of God
Holy Separation (4:5-6a)
From the throne came flashes of lighting and rumbles / peals of thunder (cf. Ex. 19:16-19), showcasing the awesome terror of God’s glory
Before the throne are “seven torches of fire” and the “seven spirits of God” (the Holy Spirit), signifying God’s holy, blazing presence
A “sea of glass” lies between the throne of the Lord and the rest of the heavenly creatures, distancing him from the others, and continually reflecting his glory back on himself
We keep trying to fill [earth] with monuments to our own glory—kingdoms, businesses, hit songs, athletic victories, and other mechanisms of self-salvation. But the truth is better than all that. Created reality is a continuous explosion of the glory of God. And history is the drama of his grace awakening in us dead sinners’ eyes to see and taste to enjoy and courage to obey.
~ Ray Ortlund, Isaiah: God Saves Sinners
III. The Worthy One Worshipped (4:8b-11)
The scene of heaven is full of worship, as the creatures “never cease” to praise the One seated on the throne and the elders cast their crowns before him. Their worship focuses on the Lord as:
The thrice “holy” and eternal one (cf. Isa. 6:3)
We must not think of God as highest in an ascending order of beings, starting with the single cell and going on up from the fish to the bird to the animal to man to angel to cherub to God. God is as high above an archangel as above a caterpillar, for the gulf that separates the archangel from the caterpillar is but finite, while the gulf between God and the archangel is infinite.
~ A.W. Tozer, The Knowledge of the Holy
The Creator of all (Rom. 1:21, Isa. 55:12, Ps. 19:1)
The ruling & reigning King of the universe
Though the Emperor Domitian insisted on being addressed as ‘lord and god’ while seated on the Roman throne, there is only one true “Lord and God” who is seated on the heavenly throne of the universe, with the earth as his footstool (cf. Isa. 66:1).
By ascribing worthiness to God, [the hymns] are intended to change the way people live in the present. They praise God for his majesty, his beauty, his greatness, his justice, his sovereignty, and his redemption… they significantly help believers endure suffering and resist compromise so that they will be witnesses in the world. The hymns, by praising God and the Lamb, show that the loyalty of believers isn’t to the emperor but to the one true God and to the Lamb. Those who are full of praise and gladness, those who see God and the Lamb in all their majesty and beauty, are fortified in their daily lives. We could say that the hymns bring heaven to earth by reminding the saints of what is happening in God’s throne room... The hymns remind readers and hearers, amid the sufferings and tensions of life, that the purpose of life is doxological.
~ Tom Schreiner, Revelation (Baker Exegetical Commentary)