Latest / Voddie Baucham Sermons / Voddie Baucham - The 144,000

Transcript

Voddie Baucham - The 144,000 · Voddie Baucham Sermons

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: Well, if you have your Bibles with you this morning,
• 0:04
  Speaker 1: open them to Revelation chapter 7. Revelation chapter 7, as
• 0:09
  Speaker 1: we continue our journey through this often neglected letter. Prayerfully,
• 0:20
  Speaker 1: we are becoming more and more aware of how much
• 0:24
  Speaker 1: of a detriment it is to neglect this letter. because
• 0:30
  Speaker 1: of the encouragement that we find herein. Here in chapter 7,
• 0:35
  Speaker 1: we come to one of the most familiar and yet.
• 0:40
  Speaker 2: Perplexing passages in Revelation.
• 0:45
  Speaker 1: If anybody knows anything about the book of Revelation and
• 0:49
  Speaker 1: numbers in the book of Revelation, one of the numbers
• 0:52
  Speaker 1: that they probably know is 144,000. Amen?
• 0:53
  Speaker 2: You may not understand.
• 0:57
  Speaker 1: To what that refers, they may not understand the significance
• 1:00
  Speaker 1: of it, but everybody's heard of this number of 144,000.
• 1:07
  Speaker 1: And there are varying views and opinions on the significance
• 1:12
  Speaker 1: of this number, ranging all the way from cults like
• 1:18
  Speaker 1: the Jehovah's Witnesses who hold this number in high esteem
• 1:23
  Speaker 1: as the number of people who will end up in heaven.
• 1:27
  Speaker 1: the rest being on the new earth, all the way
• 1:31
  Speaker 1: to the most common and most familiar interpretation of this
• 1:38
  Speaker 1: passage of Scripture, which we will address today, that being
• 1:41
  Speaker 1: the idea that this 144,000 represents a remnant of Israel
• 1:47
  Speaker 1: who is saved and sealed after the secret rapture of
• 1:52
  Speaker 1: the Gentile church in order that they might make it
• 1:55
  Speaker 1: through this period known as the Great Tribulation. Somewhere in
• 2:03
  Speaker 1: the midst of all of that is where we will
• 2:06
  Speaker 1: land on today as we examine this passage of Scripture
• 2:10
  Speaker 1: here in Revelation chapter 7. But as we look at
• 2:15
  Speaker 1: this passage, we must be struck by the fact that
• 2:21
  Speaker 1: it comes at a very awkward time. Because we've just
• 2:26
  Speaker 1: gone through Revelation chapter 6. And we've seen these seals
• 2:32
  Speaker 1: opened in rapid fire. And this judgment upon the earth.
• 2:37
  Speaker 1: And after the sixth seal, we see the greatest of
• 2:42
  Speaker 1: these judgments. And there, beginning in verse 15, the kings
• 2:46
  Speaker 1: of the earth and the great ones and the generals
• 2:49
  Speaker 1: and the rich and the powerful and everyone, slave and free,
• 2:53
  Speaker 1: hid themselves in the caves of and among the rocks
• 2:56
  Speaker 1: of the mountains, calling to the mountains and rocks, fall
• 3:01
  Speaker 1: on us and hide us from the face of him
• 3:05
  Speaker 1: who is seated on the throne and from the wrath
• 3:08
  Speaker 1: of the Lamb, for the great day of their wrath
• 3:12
  Speaker 1: has come.
• 3:12
  Speaker 2: And here's the question, who can stand?
• 3:16
  Speaker 1: This is our question today. Who on earth can stand?
• 3:24
  Speaker 1: And in the midst of this picture of the wrath
• 3:26
  Speaker 1: of God, there is a breaking point between the sixth
• 3:32
  Speaker 1: and the seventh seals. Now, as we look at this
• 3:37
  Speaker 1: picture of the wrath of God and this question, who
• 3:41
  Speaker 1: on earth can stand, I think it's important for us
• 3:44
  Speaker 1: to look at it in light of recent events in
• 3:48
  Speaker 1: our own culture. Recently, All eyes have been turned to
• 3:55
  Speaker 1: Connecticut and to the slaying of these 28 people, 20
• 4:01
  Speaker 1: of whom were elementary school, kindergarten-aged children. And I'm always
• 4:08
  Speaker 1: fascinated at times like this because in general, we live
• 4:13
  Speaker 1: in a culture that does not believe in the judgment
• 4:16
  Speaker 1: of God or the wrath of God. In general, we
• 4:20
  Speaker 1: live in a culture that rejects God because of the
• 4:25
  Speaker 1: idea of a wrathful God. We reject God because we
• 4:30
  Speaker 1: reject the idea of a God who judges sinners. But
• 4:35
  Speaker 1: all of a sudden, when something like this happens, we
• 4:39
  Speaker 1: believe in evil again and we believe in judgment again.
• 4:45
  Speaker 1: Not because we believe what God has said, but because
• 4:49
  Speaker 1: we find our own sensibilities violated. This is not because
• 4:56
  Speaker 1: we value life, but because these are children who've barely
• 5:02
  Speaker 1: had a chance to get started. This is not because
• 5:06
  Speaker 1: we have a sense of righteousness, but because it was
• 5:09
  Speaker 1: a school where people ought to have felt safe. We
• 5:16
  Speaker 1: live in a bloody, deadly, calloused culture that does not
• 5:23
  Speaker 1: value life and that does not believe in the wrath
• 5:29
  Speaker 1: to come. And it is only out of convenience and
• 5:34
  Speaker 1: our own personal sense of anger that we are calling
• 5:40
  Speaker 1: for any justice whatsoever. And interestingly enough, We always call
• 5:47
  Speaker 1: for justice just on the other side of the door.
• 5:52
  Speaker 2: What do I mean by that?
• 5:53
  Speaker 1: What I mean by that is the wrath of God
• 5:56
  Speaker 1: and the justice of God is deserved by all of
• 6:00
  Speaker 1: those who are just a little more sinful.
• 6:03
  Speaker 2: Than I am.
• 6:07
  Speaker 1: Those who would do things that I would never do
• 6:09
  Speaker 1: are the ones who deserve the wrath of God. Now me,
• 6:12
  Speaker 1: I don't deserve the wrath of God. Those whom I know,
• 6:15
  Speaker 1: those whom I love, those whom I respect, we don't
• 6:17
  Speaker 1: deserve the wrath of God. But only those who would
• 6:20
  Speaker 1: violate my sensibilities deserve the wrath of God. The reason
• 6:28
  Speaker 1: we believe that is because ultimately we believe that we
• 6:31
  Speaker 1: are God. I set the standard. I draw the line.
• 6:40
  Speaker 1: By the way, that's the only way that most people
• 6:42
  Speaker 1: can make it through. Because the moment we realize the
• 6:47
  Speaker 1: reality of Revelation chapter 6, we have.
• 6:49
  Speaker 2: To ask the same question.
• 6:51
  Speaker 1: If I understand what God's standard of guilt is, if
• 6:56
  Speaker 1: I understand what it means to be deserving of the
• 6:59
  Speaker 1: wrath of God, If I understand that I thought and
• 7:03
  Speaker 1: said and did things on yesterday for which I deserve
• 7:08
  Speaker 1: every ounce of the wrath of God in Revelation chapter 6,
• 7:12
  Speaker 1: what that ultimately leads me to is this same question. Who?
• 7:19
  Speaker 2: Who can stand?
• 7:23
  Speaker 1: Who can stand? And John answers that question. And his
• 7:30
  Speaker 1: answer is not people who've never killed children. His answer
• 7:35
  Speaker 1: is not people who've never committed adultery. His answer is
• 7:38
  Speaker 1: not people who've never cheated on their taxes. His answer
• 7:41
  Speaker 1: is not people who fill in the blank. His answer
• 7:45
  Speaker 1: has absolutely nothing to do with a human standard of behavior.
• 7:51
  Speaker 1: His answer has everything to do with the sovereignty of
• 7:55
  Speaker 1: Almighty God. And so, We read in our text today,
• 8:02
  Speaker 1: Revelation 7, verses 1 through 8. After this, I saw,
• 8:08
  Speaker 1: that's important, four angels standing at the four corners of
• 8:12
  Speaker 1: the earth, holding back the four winds of the earth,
• 8:17
  Speaker 1: that no wind might blow on earth or sea or
• 8:20
  Speaker 1: against any tree. Then I saw another angel ascending from
• 8:26
  Speaker 1: the rising of the sun.
• 8:28
  Speaker 2: So he saw four angels. He saw another angel. Important.
• 8:33
  Speaker 2: With the seal of the living God.
• 8:36
  Speaker 1: And he called with a loud voice to the four
• 8:40
  Speaker 1: angels who had been given power to harm the earth
• 8:44
  Speaker 1: and sea, saying, do not harm the earth or the
• 8:47
  Speaker 1: sea or the trees until we have sealed the servants
• 8:51
  Speaker 1: of our God on their foreheads.
• 8:54
  Speaker 2: And I heard, I saw, I saw. I heard. Now
• 8:59
  Speaker 2: he hears.
• 9:02
  Speaker 1: And I heard the number of the sealed. 144,000 sealed
• 9:06
  Speaker 1: from every tribe of the sons of Israel. 12,000 from
• 9:08
  Speaker 1: the tribe of Judah were sealed. 12,000 from the tribe
• 9:10
  Speaker 1: of Reuben. 12,000 from the tribe of Gad. 12,000 from
• 9:13
  Speaker 1: the tribe of Asher. 12,000 from the tribe of Nathalie. 12,000
• 9:16
  Speaker 1: from the tribe of Manasseh.
• 9:39
  Speaker 1: .
• 9:44
  Speaker 2: I saw, I saw, I heard. Remember the question, who
• 9:52
  Speaker 2: on earth can stand?
• 9:56
  Speaker 1: When you look at the wrath of God and the
• 9:58
  Speaker 1: judgment of God and the justice of God and recognize
• 10:01
  Speaker 1: that we are all sinful creatures and that every last
• 10:06
  Speaker 1: one of us deserves every ounce of the wrath of
• 10:10
  Speaker 1: God poured out in Revelation chapter 6.
• 10:14
  Speaker 2: And again.
• 10:15
  Speaker 1: After we get through this, we will see another picture
• 10:19
  Speaker 1: of this wrath being poured out again, and yet another
• 10:21
  Speaker 1: picture of this wrath being.
• 10:22
  Speaker 2: Poured out again.
• 10:23
  Speaker 1: Once we realize that, the question is, how do we
• 10:26
  Speaker 1: escape this wrath? Who can escape this wrath? And the
• 10:31
  Speaker 1: answer that John gives is those who are sealed. There
• 10:35
  Speaker 1: are several questions raised by this passage of Scripture, and
• 10:39
  Speaker 1: we need to answer those questions in order to understand it.
• 10:43
  Speaker 1: The first is, what does it mean to stand? Who
• 10:48
  Speaker 1: can stand to remain unharmed in the tribulation? Well, you
• 10:56
  Speaker 1: can't mean that. We know that it doesn't mean that
• 10:58
  Speaker 1: because one of the things that we read about earlier
• 11:00
  Speaker 1: in chapter 6 and one of the things that we'll
• 11:02
  Speaker 1: read about again throughout this book of Revelation is this
• 11:06
  Speaker 1: number of martyrs. So it does not mean that you'll
• 11:11
  Speaker 1: be unharmed in the tribulations. Because one of the things
• 11:14
  Speaker 1: that we see in the tribulation and one of the
• 11:16
  Speaker 1: themes that is carried throughout the book of Revelation is
• 11:19
  Speaker 1: this idea of the completion of the number of martyrs
• 11:23
  Speaker 1: who will be killed. So to stand does not mean
• 11:26
  Speaker 1: that you will be unharmed. Does it mean to be
• 11:29
  Speaker 1: saved out of the tribulation? That is a common idea.
• 11:33
  Speaker 1: It is the most common idea in our culture. We
• 11:36
  Speaker 1: have been inundated with the dispensational reading of the book
• 11:38
  Speaker 1: of Revelation, with the futurist reading of the book of Revelation.
• 11:43
  Speaker 1: series of books and movies, and we've talked about these before,
• 11:46
  Speaker 1: and this idea of the secret rapture of the church
• 11:49
  Speaker 1: prior to this great tribulation. We've already seen that the
• 11:55
  Speaker 1: idea of tribulation begins there in chapter 1. John is
• 11:59
  Speaker 1: speaking about the tribulation as something that has already come
• 12:03
  Speaker 1: and that is already occurring, not something that is going
• 12:08
  Speaker 1: to come.
• 12:09
  Speaker 2: So it.
• 12:12
  Speaker 1: We know that also because the sealing of this 144,000
• 12:15
  Speaker 1: at this particular period in time cannot mean that they're
• 12:19
  Speaker 1: going to be saved out of the tribulation. It means
• 12:24
  Speaker 1: to be saved through and in spite of the tribulation.
• 12:32
  Speaker 1: To be sealed so that you might be saved through
• 12:36
  Speaker 1: the tribulation. That you might be saved in spite of
• 12:40
  Speaker 1: the tribulation. A salvation that is much more meaningful than
• 12:44
  Speaker 1: your physical body not experiencing difficulties, but a salvation that
• 12:49
  Speaker 1: means much, much more. Revelation 5, 1 through 5. Then
• 12:53
  Speaker 1: I saw in the right hand of him who was
• 12:56
  Speaker 1: seated on the throne a scroll written within and on
• 12:59
  Speaker 1: the back, sealed with seven seals. And I saw a
• 13:02
  Speaker 1: mighty angel proclaiming with a loud voice, who is worthy
• 13:06
  Speaker 1: to open the scroll and break its seals? And no
• 13:09
  Speaker 1: one in heaven or on earth or under the earth
• 13:11
  Speaker 1: was able to open the scroll or to look into it.
• 13:14
  Speaker 1: And I began to weep loudly because no one was
• 13:17
  Speaker 1: found worthy to open the scroll or to look into it.
• 13:21
  Speaker 1: And one of the elders said to me, weep no more. Behold,
• 13:28
  Speaker 1: the lion of the tribe of Judah, the root of David,
• 13:31
  Speaker 1: has conquered so that he can open the scroll and
• 13:34
  Speaker 1: its seven seals. If you remember, that scroll and its
• 13:37
  Speaker 1: seven seals had to do with two ideas. One, the
• 13:41
  Speaker 1: idea of the justice and judgment of God to be
• 13:44
  Speaker 1: poured out against sin. This is important, especially in the
• 13:47
  Speaker 1: light of the martyrs who continue to ask when they're
• 13:49
  Speaker 1: going to be vindicated. God is going to vindicate his
• 13:53
  Speaker 1: righteousness and pour out his wrath and judge sin.
• 13:58
  Speaker 2: By the way, that's why we don't have to vindicate ourselves. Amen?
• 14:02
  Speaker 2: But second, there's this idea of.
• 14:04
  Speaker 1: The scroll and the seal being broken as an inheritance.
• 14:09
  Speaker 1: This is a picture of a document that is a will,
• 14:12
  Speaker 1: and there is an inheritance. So justice and judgment and
• 14:18
  Speaker 1: the inheritance and salvation of those who belong to God.
• 14:22
  Speaker 1: That's the idea behind the scroll and the seals. So
• 14:26
  Speaker 1: what this means is that God's judgment comes, and yet,
• 14:31
  Speaker 1: in spite of the fact that his just judgment comes,
• 14:35
  Speaker 1: those who are his are saved. Those who are his
• 14:39
  Speaker 1: are protected. Those who are his are rescued. Not in
• 14:43
  Speaker 1: the sense that we don't experience difficulty. Not in the
• 14:47
  Speaker 1: sense that we escape tribulation. There's nothing here that would
• 14:51
  Speaker 1: indicate that we escaped tribulation, especially when you recognize the
• 14:55
  Speaker 1: fact that we are in the midst of tribulation. The
• 14:58
  Speaker 1: tribulation is not something that is coming. The tribulation is
• 15:01
  Speaker 1: something that is here. Or did you not hear the
• 15:05
  Speaker 1: news about people being gunned down in a school?
• 15:11
  Speaker 2: Where do we have to get? Where do we have
• 15:13
  Speaker 2: to go? It is here. It is now.
• 15:19
  Speaker 1: All the things that we talked about in chapter 6,
• 15:23
  Speaker 1: we've seen and continue to see on an ongoing basis.
• 15:31
  Speaker 1: We're engaged in military operations right now that have taken
• 15:37
  Speaker 1: over a million lives. See, you don't hear that. All
• 15:42
  Speaker 1: you hear about is the American losses. Few thousand American losses.
• 15:47
  Speaker 1: That's bad enough. These operations in which we've been engaged
• 15:51
  Speaker 1: in the Middle East have cost over a million lives already.
• 15:59
  Speaker 1: That's the kind of stuff we're reading about here in Revelation.
• 16:04
  Speaker 2: It's here.
• 16:05
  Speaker 1: It's now. This kind of death and destruction, it's here.
• 16:11
  Speaker 1: It's now. But there is a final day of judgment
• 16:19
  Speaker 1: That is coming. What does it mean to be sealed?
• 16:25
  Speaker 1: It means to be known by God. Notice this very
• 16:30
  Speaker 1: specific idea there in Revelation chapter 7. That God knows
• 16:34
  Speaker 1: those whom he is sealing. He's not waiting upon people
• 16:37
  Speaker 1: to seal themselves.
• 16:39
  Speaker 2: Amen?
• 16:40
  Speaker 1: God knows whom he seals. Those who belong to God.
• 16:49
  Speaker 1: God is identifying these individuals as his. There is also
• 16:54
  Speaker 1: this idea of the contrast between the seal and the mark.
• 16:59
  Speaker 1: This seal that God gives to those who are his
• 17:02
  Speaker 1: and this mark of the beast that are taken by
• 17:06
  Speaker 1: those who worship him. This seal that ends up with
• 17:10
  Speaker 1: people being able to stand in an ultimate sense in
• 17:13
  Speaker 1: spite of the tribulation and this mark that ends up
• 17:16
  Speaker 1: with people being judged and as a result of having
• 17:20
  Speaker 1: taken it. It's those who are protected by God. We
• 17:28
  Speaker 1: see this in Revelation 9, 4. They were told not
• 17:33
  Speaker 1: to harm the grass or the earth or any green
• 17:35
  Speaker 1: plant or any tree, but only those people who do
• 17:39
  Speaker 1: not have the seal of God on their foreheads. It
• 17:45
  Speaker 1: is also those who are kept by God. We see
• 17:49
  Speaker 1: this because of what follows immediately after and also what
• 17:53
  Speaker 1: follows later on in chapter 14 as it relates to
• 17:56
  Speaker 1: this number of individuals, these people who are sealed. They
• 18:00
  Speaker 1: are kept by God. In spite of the tribulation, they
• 18:04
  Speaker 1: are kept by God. Even those who are killed, even
• 18:07
  Speaker 1: those who are martyred, this seal means that even being
• 18:12
  Speaker 1: martyred cannot separate you from God. Is this not what
• 18:16
  Speaker 1: Jesus talks about in John 11? I am the resurrection
• 18:20
  Speaker 1: and the life. He who believes in me, though he die,
• 18:24
  Speaker 1: yet shall he what? Live. That's what this seal refers to.
• 18:30
  Speaker 1: Those who are preserved through the tribulation. That's the idea
• 18:35
  Speaker 1: of the seal. But as we look at this idea
• 18:38
  Speaker 1: of the seal, we have a curious list. And we
• 18:48
  Speaker 1: have to answer questions about this curious list. Before we
• 18:52
  Speaker 1: answer questions about this curious list.
• 18:55
  Speaker 2: There's another issue.
• 18:59
  Speaker 1: And that issue is, why do we have chapter 7
• 19:02
  Speaker 1: breaking up the seals? Because at the end of chapter 6,
• 19:06
  Speaker 1: it looks like the judgment is final.
• 19:09
  Speaker 2: Looks like the judgment is finished. Chapter 6 has.
• 19:12
  Speaker 1: Moved toward a crescendo, and we get to the crescendo,
• 19:15
  Speaker 1: and all types of individuals from the greatest to the smallest,
• 19:19
  Speaker 1: from kings and rulers all the way down to those
• 19:21
  Speaker 1: who are poor and those who are slaves are saying,
• 19:23
  Speaker 1: let the mountains come and fall on us and cover
• 19:27
  Speaker 1: us up because who can stand? Ultimately, it seems as
• 19:30
  Speaker 1: though we ought to have the end of chapter 6
• 19:32
  Speaker 1: and then go into the new heavens and the new
• 19:34
  Speaker 1: earth because this is it.
• 19:35
  Speaker 2: God has wiped everything out.
• 19:37
  Speaker 1: But after that, we go to chapter 7, and we
• 19:39
  Speaker 1: have some curiosities here. One curiosity is this. Why would
• 19:49
  Speaker 1: God now be... sealing people after He's already judged everybody?
• 19:56
  Speaker 1: If we're going chronologically. If you go chronologically, you go through.
• 20:00
  Speaker 2: Chapter 6, and you've had all of this judgment.
• 20:03
  Speaker 1: God's basically finished pouring out His judgment, and now we
• 20:06
  Speaker 1: get to chapter 7, and they say, who can stand?
• 20:08
  Speaker 1: And God goes here, I'm going to seal these 144,000. Well,
• 20:11
  Speaker 1: how are you going to seal 144,000 when basically judgment
• 20:16
  Speaker 1: has been completed?
• 20:18
  Speaker 2: But here's what you need to know, that this is
• 20:21
  Speaker 2: not chronological.
• 20:23
  Speaker 1: When we get to chapter 7, we go all the
• 20:26
  Speaker 1: way back to the beginning of chapter 6. It's as
• 20:29
  Speaker 1: though we've walked through these judgments of God that are
• 20:32
  Speaker 1: being poured out, and the question comes, who can stand
• 20:37
  Speaker 1: And then John sees a picture that harkens back to
• 20:41
  Speaker 1: the beginning of chapter 6. It's like a flashback, if
• 20:45
  Speaker 1: you will, in a book or in a movie. It's
• 20:47
  Speaker 1: a flashback that goes back. You come to the end
• 20:49
  Speaker 1: and you go, well, that's it. Nobody made it. Nobody
• 20:51
  Speaker 1: got out. John goes, hold on, hold on, hold on.
• 20:53
  Speaker 2: Wait a minute. There are some who made it. No,
• 20:56
  Speaker 2: absolutely not. There's nobody who made it. There's nobody who
• 20:59
  Speaker 2: got out.
• 21:00
  Speaker 1: Because, I mean, these four horsemen came and all this
• 21:03
  Speaker 1: other stuff happened and people were dying and all this stuff.
• 21:06
  Speaker 2: Nobody made it.
• 21:07
  Speaker 1: They're going to make the mountains fall on us and
• 21:09
  Speaker 1: so on and so forth. Then notice back at the
• 21:12
  Speaker 1: beginning what he says. After this I saw. Doesn't necessarily
• 21:18
  Speaker 1: mean that after this, this happened in a chronological order.
• 21:21
  Speaker 2: It means that he saw it after this. After this
• 21:24
  Speaker 2: I saw at.
• 21:26
  Speaker 1: The four corners of the earth, holding back the four
• 21:30
  Speaker 1: winds of the earth, that no wind might blow on
• 21:33
  Speaker 1: the earth or sea or against any tree. Huh. So
• 21:41
  Speaker 1: now you see these four angels at the four corners
• 21:44
  Speaker 1: of the earth. These four angels correspond to these four
• 21:47
  Speaker 1: horsemen that we saw at the beginning of chapter 6.
• 21:53
  Speaker 1: What's going on is this sealing is taking place before
• 21:57
  Speaker 1: all these judgments are taking place. And the hearkening back
• 22:00
  Speaker 1: to these four angels in these four corners is is
• 22:05
  Speaker 1: showing us that we're going back in time. This goes
• 22:13
  Speaker 1: back to Zechariah chapter 6. Listen with me, Zechariah chapter 6,
• 22:17
  Speaker 1: verses 1 through 5. Again, I lifted my eyes and saw,
• 22:21
  Speaker 1: and behold, four chariots came out from between two mountains.
• 22:26
  Speaker 2: And the mountains were mountains of bronze.
• 22:28
  Speaker 1: The first chariot had red horses, the second black horses,
• 22:32
  Speaker 1: the third white horses, and the fourth chariot dappled horses.
• 22:35
  Speaker 1: All of them strong. So now we have four chariots
• 22:38
  Speaker 1: drawn by horses. Then I answered and said to the
• 22:41
  Speaker 1: angel who talked with me, what are these my Lord?
• 22:45
  Speaker 1: And the angel answered and said to me, these are
• 22:47
  Speaker 1: going out to the four winds of heaven after presenting
• 22:51
  Speaker 1: themselves before.
• 22:52
  Speaker 2: The Lord of all the earth.
• 22:55
  Speaker 1: He's pointing back to this same terminology, this same theme
• 22:59
  Speaker 1: in another apocalyptic book of these four chariots drawn by
• 23:04
  Speaker 1: four sets of horses to the four winds of the earth.
• 23:08
  Speaker 1: Now we have these four angels holding back, as it were,
• 23:12
  Speaker 1: the four winds on the four corners of the earth
• 23:14
  Speaker 1: before a judgment is coming. The picture here is of
• 23:18
  Speaker 1: them standing ready because they've been given authority to execute judgment.
• 23:23
  Speaker 1: Which makes absolutely no sense chronologically because it's already happened
• 23:28
  Speaker 1: in chapter 6. The only way this makes sense is
• 23:31
  Speaker 1: if the question comes at the end of chapter 6
• 23:34
  Speaker 1: and then we go back to the beginning in chapter
• 23:37
  Speaker 1: 7 in order to answer it. Who can stand? Those
• 23:44
  Speaker 1: who are sealed are the only ones who can stand.
• 23:49
  Speaker 1: By the way, we need to put a footnote here.
• 23:55
  Speaker 1: You know, if you cut me, I bleed apologetics, have
• 24:00
  Speaker 1: conversations with people about these types of things all the time.
• 24:03
  Speaker 1: And this one just screams because of these four angels
• 24:07
  Speaker 1: at the four corners of the earth. There's a common
• 24:10
  Speaker 1: misconception that the church believed and taught that the earth
• 24:13
  Speaker 1: was flat. Many believe that it was texts like this
• 24:17
  Speaker 1: one that led to that assumption. The fact is the
• 24:23
  Speaker 1: church never taught the flat earth theory.
• 24:28
  Speaker 2: Let me say that again. The church never taught the
• 24:31
  Speaker 2: flat earth theory. That is a myth.
• 24:34
  Speaker 1: In 1945, the Historical Association of Britain published a pamphlet
• 24:39
  Speaker 1: on the 20 most common errors in history. Number two
• 24:43
  Speaker 1: was the idea that Columbus set sail to prove that
• 24:46
  Speaker 1: the earth was round over against what the church was teaching.
• 24:51
  Speaker 1: which was that the church was flat, and that Galileo
• 24:54
  Speaker 1: was actually persecuted by the church for teaching that the
• 24:57
  Speaker 1: world was actually.
• 24:58
  Speaker 2: Spherical and not flat. It is a lie.
• 25:01
  Speaker 1: It is a myth. It's easily disproven. It never happened,
• 25:08
  Speaker 1: and yet people still point to it. Here's the argument
• 25:11
  Speaker 1: by evolutionists today. The church once believed dogmatically that the
• 25:15
  Speaker 1: earth was flat, The church was proved.
• 25:17
  Speaker 2: Wrong by Galileo and then by Columbus.
• 25:19
  Speaker 1: The church now believes that the world was created in
• 25:21
  Speaker 1: six days. The church has been proved wrong by evolution.
• 25:25
  Speaker 1: And so evolutionists will say, yeah, you're still holding on
• 25:27
  Speaker 1: to that. You guys used to hold on to the
• 25:29
  Speaker 1: idea that the.
• 25:29
  Speaker 2: Earth was flat. It's not true. It's never been true.
• 25:35
  Speaker 1: That doesn't stop some of the most intelligent, well-educated, degreed
• 25:40
  Speaker 1: people in the world from making this fallacious argument.
• 25:45
  Speaker 2: It ain't true, folks. Church didn't teach a flat earth.
• 25:50
  Speaker 1: Galileo was not persecuted for believing that the earth was round.
• 25:55
  Speaker 1: And Columbus did not set out to prove that the
• 25:59
  Speaker 1: earth was round. It was already known, believed, and taught
• 26:04
  Speaker 1: that we lived on a spherical earth. Now, back to
• 26:10
  Speaker 1: our text. Here's the question that we have to answer.
• 26:16
  Speaker 1: What about this curious list? Let me give you four
• 26:20
  Speaker 1: basic beliefs about this list, and then I'll deal with
• 26:26
  Speaker 1: the one that I believe to be correct. Some view
• 26:30
  Speaker 1: this list as literal and take it to be a
• 26:32
  Speaker 1: Jewish remnant sealed after the secret rapture of the church.
• 26:36
  Speaker 1: That's the most common view of our day, that this
• 26:39
  Speaker 1: is a literal list and this is the Jewish remnant
• 26:43
  Speaker 1: that's sealed after the secret rapture of the church.
• 26:46
  Speaker 2: Now the secret rapture of the church.
• 26:47
  Speaker 1: Is very important and very necessary because the idea is
• 26:51
  Speaker 1: that God has two peoples.
• 26:53
  Speaker 2: He has the Jews and he has the church.
• 26:57
  Speaker 1: And that originally his people, the Jews, Christ came, offered
• 27:01
  Speaker 1: the kingdom to the Jews.
• 27:03
  Speaker 2: The Jews rejected him.
• 27:04
  Speaker 1: God went to plan B, which was the church, which
• 27:07
  Speaker 1: is only a parenthesis in history. And that parentheses has
• 27:12
  Speaker 1: to be closed so that God can go back and
• 27:15
  Speaker 1: finish his work with the ethnic nation of Israel. So
• 27:19
  Speaker 1: the rapture occurs, the church, the Gentile church is taken
• 27:22
  Speaker 1: out of the world, and then God can go back
• 27:24
  Speaker 1: and deal with his people, ethnic Israel. And this list
• 27:29
  Speaker 1: of 144,000 listed specifically here from tribes in Judah is
• 27:34
  Speaker 1: offered oftentimes as a proof text in that regard. Again,
• 27:38
  Speaker 1: that is the most common position taken by those in
• 27:42
  Speaker 1: our culture today. Secondly, and related to that, some people
• 27:47
  Speaker 1: think that this list is linked to the prophecy in
• 27:51
  Speaker 1: Romans 11, 24, 26. It says all Israel will be saved.
• 27:56
  Speaker 1: And they go back here to this list and connect
• 28:00
  Speaker 1: it to Romans chapter 11, which is rather difficult because
• 28:03
  Speaker 1: those who argue that this has to be a literal
• 28:06
  Speaker 1: list of literal ethnic Jews do so because of their
• 28:12
  Speaker 1: insistence that we have to take a literal approach to
• 28:16
  Speaker 1: the book of Revelation. And if they're doing that, and
• 28:21
  Speaker 1: we've only got 144,000, that doesn't match with all Israel.
• 28:27
  Speaker 1: Then it still would have to be a symbolic number.
• 28:30
  Speaker 1: A symbolic number of 144,000 representing all of Israel. So
• 28:36
  Speaker 1: you would still have to accept symbolism there. Thirdly, Some
• 28:40
  Speaker 1: see this list, very few, but some see this list
• 28:44
  Speaker 1: as a remnant of ethnic Jews living during the first century.
• 28:49
  Speaker 1: And finally, some see this list as figurative, pointing to
• 28:53
  Speaker 1: the people of God as a whole who are sealed
• 28:58
  Speaker 1: and who make it through the tribulation. I'm arguing for
• 29:06
  Speaker 1: that fourth position. I do not believe that this list
• 29:10
  Speaker 1: of 144,000 is literally referring to ethnic Jews. I do
• 29:16
  Speaker 1: not believe that there's anything in the book of Revelation
• 29:18
  Speaker 1: that supports the idea of a secret rapture of a
• 29:21
  Speaker 1: church before the tribulation. That's conjecture based solely upon the
• 29:26
  Speaker 1: fact that we see chapters 1 through 3 dealing with
• 29:30
  Speaker 1: things on earth, and then we see chapters 4 and
• 29:34
  Speaker 1: 5 dealing with things in heaven. The conjecture is that
• 29:37
  Speaker 1: there's been this rapture that's taken place between chapter 3
• 29:40
  Speaker 1: and chapter 4. Nothing in the text that says so.
• 29:44
  Speaker 1: Nothing anywhere else in the Bible that teaches so. Absolutely
• 29:48
  Speaker 1: nothing that teaches that the church will not be present
• 29:51
  Speaker 1: during tribulation. And in fact, Revelation chapter 1, John says
• 29:55
  Speaker 1: he's our partner in the tribulations. So he can't be
• 29:59
  Speaker 1: talking about tribulation as something that's future if he already
• 30:02
  Speaker 1: believed that he was our partner in tribulation. I believe
• 30:06
  Speaker 1: this is a figurative list that refers to the people
• 30:09
  Speaker 1: of God as a whole. First, let me give you
• 30:12
  Speaker 1: problems with the idea that this is a literal list,
• 30:15
  Speaker 1: and then I'll explain why I believe that this is
• 30:19
  Speaker 1: a figurative list.
• 30:21
  Speaker 2: Problems.
• 30:22
  Speaker 1: Number one, there are irregularities with the list itself. Let
• 30:28
  Speaker 1: me just give you seven irregularities since seven is such
• 30:31
  Speaker 1: an important number in Revelation. One, the list in this
• 30:36
  Speaker 1: form of the tribes of Israel is not repeated anywhere
• 30:40
  Speaker 1: else in the Bible.
• 30:42
  Speaker 2: You won't find.
• 30:43
  Speaker 1: This list in this order or with this particular collection
• 30:48
  Speaker 1: of names repeated anywhere else in the Bible. This is
• 30:52
  Speaker 1: the only place you find it. It is utterly unique. Secondly,
• 30:59
  Speaker 1: the list is out of birth order. The list is
• 31:04
  Speaker 1: out of birth order in more ways than one. Now,
• 31:07
  Speaker 1: Judah's listed first. That's not all that strange. We see
• 31:10
  Speaker 1: that before. We know Judah's significance and his importance. But
• 31:14
  Speaker 1: then after Judah, you have Reuben. After Reuben, you have
• 31:19
  Speaker 1: collected together the sons of the concubines. And then after that,
• 31:27
  Speaker 1: you have the sons of the legitimate wife. And then
• 31:32
  Speaker 1: the other wife that was added on. So it's out
• 31:36
  Speaker 1: of birth order. It's not listed in birth order. Thirdly,
• 31:40
  Speaker 1: Joseph is included, which points to the list being sons
• 31:44
  Speaker 1: and not tribes. You understand that there's a difference between
• 31:47
  Speaker 1: the sons of Jacob and the tribes of Israel, okay?
• 31:53
  Speaker 1: Joseph's name is listed here, which seems to point to
• 31:56
  Speaker 1: the idea that we're talking about the sons of Jacob
• 31:58
  Speaker 1: and not the tribes of Israel. But Manasseh is included,
• 32:04
  Speaker 1: which points to tribes and not sons. Because Manasseh was
• 32:09
  Speaker 1: one of Joseph's twin boys, adopted by Jacob, who become
• 32:13
  Speaker 1: the half-tribes of Ephraim and Manasseh and replace Joseph and
• 32:18
  Speaker 1: Levi when it comes to the distribution of the land.
• 32:22
  Speaker 1: So Joseph's there, which says this ought to be sons
• 32:26
  Speaker 1: and not tribes. Manasseh's there, which says this ought to
• 32:29
  Speaker 1: be tribes and not sons. Well, Ephraim is excluded. If
• 32:34
  Speaker 1: you've got Manasseh, then you ought to have Ephraim. Ephraim
• 32:37
  Speaker 1: is excluded, which points to sons and not tribes. Dan
• 32:42
  Speaker 1: is excluded, which has no apparent precedent whatsoever. Why is
• 32:48
  Speaker 1: Dan not here? Why Manasseh and not Dan? Why? Does
• 32:52
  Speaker 1: John not know? Surely he knows. He knows both the
• 32:57
  Speaker 1: list of sons and the list of tribes. Levi is included,
• 33:04
  Speaker 1: but they didn't inherit land, which points to sons.
• 33:09
  Speaker 2: Do you see my point?
• 33:11
  Speaker 1: The idea that this is a literal list and that
• 33:14
  Speaker 1: we're to take this literally is as 144,000 Jews who
• 33:20
  Speaker 1: are sealed after the rapture of the Gentile church is
• 33:23
  Speaker 1: problematic because of the irregularities in the list. Second, a
• 33:28
  Speaker 1: familiar promise. There's a familiar promise here. In chapter 3,
• 33:32
  Speaker 1: verse 12, we hear this. the one who conquers, I
• 33:36
  Speaker 1: will make him a pillar in the temple of my God.
• 33:40
  Speaker 1: Never shall he go out of it. And I will
• 33:42
  Speaker 1: write on him the name of my God and the
• 33:45
  Speaker 1: name of the city of my God, the new Jerusalem,
• 33:48
  Speaker 1: which comes down from my God out of heaven and
• 33:52
  Speaker 1: my own new name. Here's a picture of this ceiling,
• 33:57
  Speaker 1: if you will, that we find in chapter 3, which
• 34:00
  Speaker 1: refers to a church that is not Simply an ethnic
• 34:06
  Speaker 1: Jewish church. Thirdly, this would be the only place in
• 34:13
  Speaker 1: the book of Revelation where you have the idea of
• 34:16
  Speaker 1: the servants of God, meaning a particular ethnic group and
• 34:21
  Speaker 1: not all servants of God, regardless of ethnicity. The term
• 34:27
  Speaker 1: shows up 13 times and it always refers to the
• 34:31
  Speaker 1: people of God by faith, not by ethnicity. This would
• 34:35
  Speaker 1: be the only time. So it would be the only
• 34:38
  Speaker 1: time that the names are listed like this anywhere in
• 34:40
  Speaker 1: the Bible. And it would be the only time in
• 34:42
  Speaker 1: the book of Revelation that that identification of servants of
• 34:46
  Speaker 1: God refers to ethnicity only. Also, there is the parallel
• 34:51
  Speaker 1: between chapters 7, 5, and 14. Chapter 7 comes in
• 34:57
  Speaker 1: between these two chapters. In chapter 5, we have a picture.
• 35:00
  Speaker 1: In chapter 14, we have a picture, both that have
• 35:03
  Speaker 1: elements that you find in chapter 7. Listen here in
• 35:06
  Speaker 1: chapter 14. This is very important because in chapter 14,
• 35:09
  Speaker 1: you find that 144,000 again.
• 35:11
  Speaker 2: Listen to this very carefully.
• 35:14
  Speaker 1: And they were singing a new song before the throne
• 35:17
  Speaker 1: and before the four living creatures and before the elders.
• 35:20
  Speaker 1: No one could learn the song except the 144,000 who
• 35:24
  Speaker 1: had been redeemed from the earth.
• 35:27
  Speaker 2: It is these who have not defiled themselves with women
• 35:30
  Speaker 2: for they are virgins.
• 35:31
  Speaker 1: Now we got this idea that 144,000 are all virgin men.
• 35:38
  Speaker 2: That's a problem. Amen?
• 35:42
  Speaker 1: All of Israel will be saved. 144,000 virgin men. How
• 35:46
  Speaker 1: do you get there from here? This is the remnant
• 35:50
  Speaker 1: whom God is saving out of Israel after the secret
• 35:54
  Speaker 1: rapture of the Gentile church.
• 35:57
  Speaker 2: All male virgins. Doesn't fit.
• 36:02
  Speaker 1: It is these who follow the lamb wherever he goes.
• 36:06
  Speaker 1: That phrase occurs again and again and again. Has to
• 36:08
  Speaker 1: do with the people of God. These have been redeemed
• 36:11
  Speaker 1: from mankind as first fruits for God and the lamb.
• 36:17
  Speaker 1: They've been redeemed from mankind, from all of mankind, not
• 36:21
  Speaker 1: just from ethnic Israel. The 144,000 in chapter 14, not
• 36:27
  Speaker 1: limited to ethnic Israel. Chapter 5, some of the same language,
• 36:31
  Speaker 1: beginning of verse 9.
• 36:33
  Speaker 2: And they sang a new song, saying, see that?
• 36:36
  Speaker 1: It's parallel. It's parallel to what we find in the
• 36:38
  Speaker 1: second half of chapter 7, what we find in 14. 14.
• 36:42
  Speaker 1: And they sang a new song saying, worthy are you
• 36:44
  Speaker 1: to take the scroll and to open its seals. For
• 36:47
  Speaker 1: you were slain and by your blood you ransomed people
• 36:50
  Speaker 1: for God from every tribe and language and people and nation.
• 36:55
  Speaker 1: And you have made them a kingdom of priests to
• 36:58
  Speaker 1: our God and they shall reign on the earth.
• 37:01
  Speaker 2: Where's this 144,000? On the earth.
• 37:09
  Speaker 1: So the parallel between chapters 5, 7, and 14 mitigate
• 37:14
  Speaker 1: against the idea that this is a literal list of 144,000
• 37:18
  Speaker 1: ethnic Jews. Also, it's a symbolic list. We know this
• 37:29
  Speaker 1: because of the way that numbers are used in the
• 37:32
  Speaker 1: book of Revelation. There's a better answer, I believe. I
• 37:39
  Speaker 1: understand that the other answer is compelling. Seems more straightforward.
• 37:45
  Speaker 1: And that's the argument that people have against taking an
• 37:49
  Speaker 1: idealist view of the book of Revelation. Well, if the
• 37:53
  Speaker 1: numbers don't mean what they literally mean here, then what
• 37:56
  Speaker 1: do you do with numbers in other parts of the Bible?
• 37:58
  Speaker 1: Next thing you know, you won't be believing in literal
• 38:00
  Speaker 1: creation and literal this and literal that. We read Revelation
• 38:04
  Speaker 1: symbolically because in Revelation chapter 1 verse 1, we're told
• 38:07
  Speaker 1: that that it's symbolic. We're told to read it symbolically.
• 38:15
  Speaker 1: So the only way that you can read Revelation literally
• 38:18
  Speaker 1: is to read it symbolically because in verse 1, it
• 38:21
  Speaker 1: literally says it's symbolism. First, the idea that this is
• 38:33
  Speaker 1: a symbolic list can explain the irregularities in the list.
• 38:41
  Speaker 1: I can't find another way to explain the irregularities in
• 38:43
  Speaker 1: the list. I just, I can't get there from here.
• 38:48
  Speaker 1: But if this is a symbolic list, there are several
• 38:50
  Speaker 1: things that start.
• 38:51
  Speaker 2: To make sense. One, the easy one. Judah is first,
• 38:56
  Speaker 2: not fourth.
• 38:57
  Speaker 1: Why?
• 38:58
  Speaker 2: Because he's pointing to Christ first.
• 39:01
  Speaker 1: The lion of the tribe of Judah that we already
• 39:03
  Speaker 1: read about earlier on, especially in chapter 5. That's why
• 39:06
  Speaker 1: Judah is listed first. He has the preeminence here because
• 39:09
  Speaker 1: we are talking about the Messiah and him saving his people.
• 39:13
  Speaker 2: That's the easy one.
• 39:14
  Speaker 1: Reuben is second, not first, because he was disqualified from
• 39:19
  Speaker 1: his position of preeminence. But he still listed second behind
• 39:23
  Speaker 1: Judah so that there's the idea that Judah has replaced
• 39:26
  Speaker 1: him in the birth order, which makes the third one
• 39:29
  Speaker 1: very interesting because now you don't have the rest of
• 39:32
  Speaker 1: their brothers. They don't go Judah, then Reuben, then Simeon,
• 39:37
  Speaker 1: then Levi. If all you're doing is taking Judah out
• 39:41
  Speaker 1: of order and putting him first, you would go Judah,
• 39:43
  Speaker 1: and then you would go Reuben, and then you would
• 39:45
  Speaker 1: go Simeon, and then you would go Levi.
• 39:47
  Speaker 2: That's not how they go. Look at how they go.
• 39:49
  Speaker 1: First Judah, then Reuben, then Gad, Asher, Naphtali, and then Manasseh.
• 39:55
  Speaker 1: So he doesn't do that. But what does he do?
• 39:57
  Speaker 1: He puts the children of the concubines right after Reuben.
• 40:02
  Speaker 1: So Reuben's there so you know that Judah is first
• 40:05
  Speaker 1: because of his preeminence and birth order. But after Reuben,
• 40:09
  Speaker 1: you have the outcasts who are put in the list
• 40:12
  Speaker 1: before everybody else. Why? Because this list is not about
• 40:15
  Speaker 1: birth order. It's about redemption. And even the outcasts are redeemed.
• 40:19
  Speaker 2: Amen? Four, the tribe of Dan is excluded.
• 40:25
  Speaker 1: Why? What is the tribe of Dan known for? Leading
• 40:29
  Speaker 1: the people of God astray. and leading them into idolatry.
• 40:37
  Speaker 1: And leading those 10 northern tribes, by the way, to
• 40:39
  Speaker 1: lose their ethnic identity, which also makes it impossible for
• 40:43
  Speaker 1: this to be a literal list. See, those 10 northern
• 40:46
  Speaker 1: tribes lost their ethnic identity. Dan is excluded from this
• 40:52
  Speaker 1: list because of idolatry. Remember what I said earlier? There
• 40:57
  Speaker 1: is the seal, and against the seal, there is the march.
• 41:01
  Speaker 1: How do you get the mark? Idolatry. Who's left off
• 41:04
  Speaker 1: the list? The idolater. That's why he's left off. Because
• 41:10
  Speaker 1: of the idolatry of the tribe of Dan. The tribe
• 41:13
  Speaker 1: of Manasseh is included. Manasseh, the son born to Joseph
• 41:19
  Speaker 1: in Egypt. And his wife, who was the daughter of Potipharah,
• 41:27
  Speaker 1: priest of Onn. Manasseh's mother is Egyptian. Manasseh's a Gentile.
• 41:34
  Speaker 1: Why is Manasseh added to this list? Because Gentiles are
• 41:38
  Speaker 1: included in this list.
• 41:39
  Speaker 2: That's why. This is not just ethnic Jews.
• 41:43
  Speaker 1: This is a list of the people of God, the
• 41:46
  Speaker 1: all-encompassing people of God. The tribe of Levi is included,
• 41:51
  Speaker 1: which eliminates the idea of simple replication of the land grant.
• 41:56
  Speaker 1: This is not just about the land grant. He's talking
• 41:59
  Speaker 1: about on the earth, but he includes Levi. Levi doesn't
• 42:01
  Speaker 1: have a land grant. Why do you include Levi? Because
• 42:05
  Speaker 1: this is about the new Jerusalem, not about the old land. Amen?
• 42:08
  Speaker 1: That's why Levi's included here. See, if this is a
• 42:11
  Speaker 1: symbolic list, this makes sense. If it's not a symbolic list,
• 42:17
  Speaker 1: how do we answer those questions? Not only is it
• 42:22
  Speaker 1: better at explaining those questions about the list, But it
• 42:26
  Speaker 1: also jives with the use of the number 12 and
• 42:29
  Speaker 1: the number 1,000 elsewhere in Revelation.
• 42:32
  Speaker 2: What is this?
• 42:33
  Speaker 1: 12 times 12 times 1,000. Or 12 times 12,000. The
• 42:38
  Speaker 1: number 12 occurs again and again and again in the
• 42:41
  Speaker 1: book of Revelation. It's an important number. Revelation 21, 12
• 42:45
  Speaker 1: through 14. Just listen to this. Talking about the city.
• 42:51
  Speaker 1: It had a great high wall with 12 gates. And
• 42:55
  Speaker 1: at the gates, 12 angels. And on the gates, the
• 42:58
  Speaker 1: names of the 12 tribes of the sons of Israel
• 43:00
  Speaker 1: were included. On the east three gates, and the north
• 43:03
  Speaker 1: three gates, and the south three gates, and on the
• 43:05
  Speaker 1: west three gates.
• 43:06
  Speaker 2: Now you have those four corners again. And the wall
• 43:09
  Speaker 2: of the.
• 43:09
  Speaker 1: City had 12 foundations. And on them were 12 names
• 43:14
  Speaker 1: of the 12 apostles.
• 43:16
  Speaker 2: Of the Lamb. Six times the number 12.
• 43:20
  Speaker 1: Just in that short statement right there, the number 12
• 43:24
  Speaker 1: is extremely important. But how is the number 12 used
• 43:28
  Speaker 1: in Revelation? To refer to the complete people of God.
• 43:33
  Speaker 1: It's always the 12 tribes and the 12 apostles, the
• 43:38
  Speaker 1: 24 elders. When the number 12 is used and multiples
• 43:41
  Speaker 1: of the number 12, it is the people of God
• 43:44
  Speaker 1: in the Old Testament and the people of God in
• 43:46
  Speaker 1: the New Testament. Therefore, it makes sense that this use
• 43:50
  Speaker 1: of the number of 12, which is multiplied by 12
• 43:53
  Speaker 1: and by 1,000, which would refer to the people of
• 43:56
  Speaker 1: God in the Old Testament and the people of God
• 43:59
  Speaker 1: in the New Testament. Multiples of 12, 24, we already
• 44:05
  Speaker 1: talked about that.
• 44:06
  Speaker 2: The number 1,000.
• 44:07
  Speaker 1: Now again, in order to contemplate this number 1,000, you
• 44:12
  Speaker 1: have to understand that these people didn't live during our
• 44:16
  Speaker 1: time or in our culture.
• 44:17
  Speaker 2: We've been jaded.
• 44:18
  Speaker 1: We've been talking about trillions so long that the number
• 44:21
  Speaker 1: thousand doesn't bother us.
• 44:23
  Speaker 2: Amen?
• 44:25
  Speaker 1: And some of you just live long enough for the
• 44:27
  Speaker 1: number thousand not to bother you.
• 44:29
  Speaker 2: I remember.
• 44:31
  Speaker 1: When I was in college and I got a job
• 44:33
  Speaker 1: and I was trying to make some money and I
• 44:37
  Speaker 1: wanted to make some good money, so I went and
• 44:39
  Speaker 1: found a sales job. And I had this guy who
• 44:42
  Speaker 1: was training me, you know, as a salesman. And I
• 44:47
  Speaker 1: sold a.
• 44:47
  Speaker 2: Lot of stuff. I sold cars. I sold cutlery. I
• 44:50
  Speaker 2: sold a lot of stuff.
• 44:52
  Speaker 1: And so this guy who was training me as a salesman,
• 44:54
  Speaker 1: I remember he was trying to encourage me and to
• 44:56
  Speaker 1: motivate me. He was a guy a little bit older
• 44:58
  Speaker 1: than I was. So here I was about 20, 21
• 45:00
  Speaker 1: years old. And he's a little bit older than I was.
• 45:03
  Speaker 1: And one of the things he did to encourage and
• 45:04
  Speaker 1: motivate me was he showed me a copy of a
• 45:07
  Speaker 1: check that he had kept. Because it was the first
• 45:11
  Speaker 1: check that he had ever written for $ 1, 000. He was like,
• 45:16
  Speaker 1: you too could write a check like this someday. Back then,
• 45:20
  Speaker 1: before mortgages and cars and kids.
• 45:27
  Speaker 2: And everything, I was like, dude, I could write a $ 1, 000
• 45:30
  Speaker 2: check one day. Not so impressed with those anymore. We
• 45:38
  Speaker 2: get jaded.
• 45:40
  Speaker 1: Put yourself in this context, though. They're not dealing with
• 45:44
  Speaker 1: numbers in the billions and the trillions like we are.
• 45:49
  Speaker 1: This is a huge number. Twelve times twelve times a thousand.
• 46:02
  Speaker 1: What's another way to say that? I believe another way
• 46:04
  Speaker 1: to say that is what we're going to talk about
• 46:07
  Speaker 1: on next week, a number that no man can number.
• 46:11
  Speaker 2: Just a huge number. It's symbolic.
• 46:19
  Speaker 1: The number 1,000 is important as well, especially as it
• 46:23
  Speaker 1: relates to judgment, the 1,000-year reign of Christ, the 1,000-year
• 46:29
  Speaker 1: binding of Satan, and so on and so forth. This
• 46:32
  Speaker 1: also harmonizes with the rest of the chapter. If this
• 46:36
  Speaker 1: is a symbolic list referring to the people of God,
• 46:40
  Speaker 1: then what happens here is almost identical to what happens
• 46:44
  Speaker 1: earlier on. Earlier on, before the throne, we see the
• 46:48
  Speaker 1: lamb who was slain. And in the very next section,
• 46:52
  Speaker 1: we see the lion of the tribe of Judah. Same
• 46:57
  Speaker 1: individual referred to two times by two different identifiers. That's
• 47:02
  Speaker 1: a pattern that John has used already in Revelation. And
• 47:05
  Speaker 1: it's a pattern that we see here in chapter 7. First,
• 47:08
  Speaker 1: there's 144,000. 12 times 12. We've seen multiples of 12 before.
• 47:15
  Speaker 1: We've seen 12 and 12 put together before. 12 and
• 47:17
  Speaker 1: 12 referring to the fullness of the people of God, right?
• 47:20
  Speaker 1: Now we see this number 1,000 attached to it. And
• 47:23
  Speaker 1: in the very next scene that we're going to look
• 47:25
  Speaker 1: to on next week, they're before the throne. And it's
• 47:28
  Speaker 1: this innumerable multitude. Repetition of the same idea in a
• 47:35
  Speaker 1: different way. But don't lose the glorious promise in all
• 47:42
  Speaker 1: of this. We get caught up in trying to determine
• 47:48
  Speaker 1: to what does this number refer? Who are the 144,000?
• 47:53
  Speaker 1: How are we going to know the 144,000? If we
• 47:56
  Speaker 1: get caught up in that tedium, we miss the greater point.
• 48:01
  Speaker 1: What's the greater point? The greater point is that there's
• 48:03
  Speaker 1: an answer to the question. Who can stand? The answer's
• 48:09
  Speaker 1: not nobody.
• 48:11
  Speaker 2: Amen?
• 48:13
  Speaker 1: Who can stand? Those who are sealed by God can stand.
• 48:20
  Speaker 1: Because there is nothing that will separate them from the
• 48:23
  Speaker 1: love of God. Not height, not depth, not sword, not principalities.
• 48:30
  Speaker 1: Nothing will separate them from the love of God. Why?
• 48:33
  Speaker 1: Because they've been sealed by God. By the way, what's
• 48:36
  Speaker 1: the seal? It's the Holy Spirit.
• 48:40
  Speaker 2: How do we know that?
• 48:41
  Speaker 1: Ephesians chapter 1, verses 11 to 14. In him we
• 48:45
  Speaker 1: have obtained an inheritance. By the way, In Him we
• 48:50
  Speaker 1: have obtained an inheritance. Two ideas to breaking seals. One,
• 48:55
  Speaker 1: releasing judgment. Two, opening a will so you can read
• 48:59
  Speaker 1: what the inheritance is. In Him we have obtained an inheritance,
• 49:03
  Speaker 1: having been predestined according to the purpose of Him who
• 49:06
  Speaker 1: works all things according to the counsel of His will,
• 49:10
  Speaker 1: so that we who were the first to hope in
• 49:12
  Speaker 1: Christ might be to the praise of His glory. In
• 49:14
  Speaker 1: Him you also, when you heard the word of truth,
• 49:18
  Speaker 1: the gospel of your salvation, and believed in him, were
• 49:20
  Speaker 1: sealed with the promised Holy Spirit, who is a guarantee
• 49:25
  Speaker 1: or an earnest of your inheritance until we acquire possession
• 49:28
  Speaker 1: of it to the praise of his glory. It's the
• 49:32
  Speaker 1: Holy Spirit. That's the seal. By the way, the word
• 49:35
  Speaker 1: that he uses here, That word guarantor or earnest, I
• 49:39
  Speaker 1: like to use the word earnest because we still use
• 49:41
  Speaker 1: that word. When you are buying a house, you sign
• 49:44
  Speaker 1: an earnest money contract. What is your earnest money contract?
• 49:47
  Speaker 1: You go and you see the house and you say,
• 49:49
  Speaker 1: I want to buy the house. And you write a
• 49:51
  Speaker 1: contract and your contract says, I will buy the house
• 49:54
  Speaker 1: at this price. You attach a check and the check says,
• 49:59
  Speaker 1: here is money to let you know that I am serious.
• 50:02
  Speaker 1: I'm so serious that if you accept this contract and
• 50:06
  Speaker 1: I don't show up on closing day with the rest
• 50:08
  Speaker 1: of the money, you get to keep both the house
• 50:10
  Speaker 1: and my check. What does God say to those who
• 50:14
  Speaker 1: are saved? Put earnest money down on your salvation. That
• 50:21
  Speaker 1: earnest money is the third person of the Trinity. He
• 50:25
  Speaker 1: is a seal, a promise, and a guarantee that I
• 50:28
  Speaker 1: will show up on closing day and redeem that which
• 50:31
  Speaker 1: is mine. If he doesn't show up on closing day,
• 50:34
  Speaker 1: he loses his earnest money, which is the third person
• 50:36
  Speaker 1: of the Trinity, which means that the only way a
• 50:39
  Speaker 1: Christian can lose his salvation is if God stops being God.
• 50:45
  Speaker 1: That's not going to happen. That's how secure this seal is.
• 50:52
  Speaker 1: Nothing that we've read in Revelation chapter 6 will break
• 50:57
  Speaker 1: the seal that God has on his people. Amen? Amen.
• 51:02
  Speaker 1: Nothing that you experience in your life can break the seal.
• 51:07
  Speaker 1: Nothing that goes on around us can break that seal.
• 51:12
  Speaker 1: No matter how horrific things get around us, God is
• 51:16
  Speaker 1: still God. God is still on his throne. Where was
• 51:21
  Speaker 1: God when those children were being killed? Same place he
• 51:26
  Speaker 1: was when his child was killed. That's where he was.
• 51:35
  Speaker 1: Seated on his throne. Not surprised at all. And waiting
• 51:46
  Speaker 1: for the moment when his justice will be enacted. And
• 51:51
  Speaker 1: for those who want the justice here and now, be
• 51:54
  Speaker 1: careful what you ask for. Because if God gets rid
• 51:59
  Speaker 1: of all wickedness tonight, None of us is here tomorrow.
• 52:08
  Speaker 1: But for those who are sealed, for those who have
• 52:13
  Speaker 1: been purchased by the Lamb, for those who are His,
• 52:20
  Speaker 1: here's the great promise that we have. The one who
• 52:23
  Speaker 1: comes to exact justice is also the one who has
• 52:28
  Speaker 1: sealed us. He's also the one who died to save us.
• 52:35
  Speaker 1: He's also the one who has gone to prepare a
• 52:38
  Speaker 1: place for us. He's also the one who's coming again
• 52:42
  Speaker 1: to receive us unto himself. He's also the one who
• 52:45
  Speaker 1: will take us away with him. He's also the one
• 52:49
  Speaker 1: who is our bridegroom. He's also the one who is
• 52:51
  Speaker 1: our only hope. He is the one for whom we wait.
• 52:56
  Speaker 1: This seal that we have is not just so that
• 52:58
  Speaker 1: we can have a better here and now. This seal
• 53:01
  Speaker 1: that we have reminds us that we are living for
• 53:04
  Speaker 1: a city whose builder and maker is God. And we
• 53:11
  Speaker 1: belong to him. And we will always belong to him.
• 53:17
  Speaker 1: And there is nothing that can make us not belong
• 53:22
  Speaker 1: to him. Amen. My admonition to every one of you
• 53:29
  Speaker 1: is to be sure that you belong to him. That
• 53:36
  Speaker 1: you come to him in repentance and faith. That you
• 53:39
  Speaker 1: turn from your sin and from your idolatry. That you
• 53:44
  Speaker 1: turn from trusting yourself.
• 53:45
  Speaker 2: Trust yourself.
• 53:47
  Speaker 1: That you turn from believing the lie that there are
• 53:50
  Speaker 1: evil people out there that you have to worry about,
• 53:53
  Speaker 1: but no evil person in here that you have to
• 53:55
  Speaker 1: worry about. The evil that is of greatest concern to
• 54:02
  Speaker 1: you ought to be your own. And the only hope
• 54:08
  Speaker 1: that you will ever have of that evil meeting with
• 54:13
  Speaker 1: anything other than the just wrath of God is being
• 54:19
  Speaker 1: sealed against that great day through repentance and faith in
• 54:24
  Speaker 1: the Lord Jesus Christ who died to purchase pardon for
• 54:29
  Speaker 1: those who place faith in him.
• 54:33
  Speaker 2: Let's pray.