Latest / THE BELIEVER'S CHURCH | Let’s Build Our Faith Together / Tribulation Saints, Part 2 (Revelation 713–17) John MacArthur

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Tribulation Saints, Part 2 (Revelation 713–17) John MacArthur · THE BELIEVER'S CHURCH | Let’s Build Our Faith Together

• 0:01
  Speaker 1: Let's open our Bibles at this time to Revelation chapter 7.
• 0:06
  Speaker 1: We're looking together at verses 9 through 17, the second
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  Speaker 1: half of this rich chapter. We've entitled this section, The
• 0:15
  Speaker 1: Coming World Revival, and this is part two in a
• 0:19
  Speaker 1: two-part look at this text. As I told you last week,
• 0:24
  Speaker 1: the greatest movement of God's saving power is yet to come.
• 0:28
  Speaker 1: The world hasn't seen it. It will be greater than
• 0:32
  Speaker 1: the day of Pentecost. It will be greater than what
• 0:34
  Speaker 1: was experienced in the early weeks of the church in Jerusalem.
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  Speaker 1: It will be greater than the explosion of the apostolic
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  Speaker 1: preaching of the cross that sent the gospel through Israel
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  Speaker 1: to the north, to the west, and covered a great
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  Speaker 1: portion of what we now know as Europe. It will
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  Speaker 1: be greater than any revival in human history, greater than
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  Speaker 1: what we know of as the great awakening in our
• 0:57
  Speaker 1: own country. This will be a revival that will be
• 1:00
  Speaker 1: unlike any in human history because it will involve people
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  Speaker 1: from every nation and every tribe and every people and
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  Speaker 1: every tongue coming to.
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  Speaker 2: Know the Lord Jesus Christ.
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  Speaker 1: There is coming, as we saw last time, a great revival,
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  Speaker 1: a great awakening that has no rival in history when
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  Speaker 1: God will save millions of people in a very brief
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  Speaker 1: period of time all over the globe. I suppose we
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  Speaker 1: could call it an international awakening, an international harvest of
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  Speaker 1: souls exceeding anything that's ever known. And frankly, as we
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  Speaker 1: look at Scripture, it is clear to us that the
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  Speaker 1: redeemed have always been few. And the unredeemed, the unregenerate
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  Speaker 1: have been many. We have always been identified as the
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  Speaker 1: little flock. But the hour is coming when there will
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  Speaker 1: be many, and they will be a large flock, a
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  Speaker 1: great and immense flock. Let's look at this text and
• 1:53
  Speaker 1: remind ourselves of what it promises. Verse 9, after these
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  Speaker 1: things I looked and behold a great multitude which no
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  Speaker 1: one could count from every nation and all tribes and
• 2:03
  Speaker 1: peoples and tongues standing before the throne and before the
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  Speaker 1: Lamb clothed in white robes and palm branches were in
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  Speaker 1: their hands. And they cry out with a loud voice saying,
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  Speaker 1: salvation to our God who sits on the throne and
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  Speaker 1: to the Lamb. And all the angels were standing around
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  Speaker 1: the throne and around the elders and the four living creatures,
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  Speaker 1: and they fell on their faces before the throne and
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  Speaker 1: worshiped God, saying, Amen. Blessing and glory and wisdom and
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  Speaker 1: thanksgiving and honor and power and might be to our
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  Speaker 1: God forever and ever.
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  Speaker 2: Amen.
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  Speaker 1: And one of the elders answered, saying to me, These
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  Speaker 1: who are clothed in white robes, who are they? And
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  Speaker 1: from where have they come? And I said to him,
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  Speaker 1: My Lord, you know. And he said to me, These
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  Speaker 1: are the ones who come out of the great tribulation,
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  Speaker 1: and they have washed their robes and made them white
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  Speaker 1: in the blood of the Lamb. For this reason they
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  Speaker 1: are before the throne of God, and they serve Him
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  Speaker 1: day and night in His temple. And He who sits
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  Speaker 1: on the throne shall spread His tabernacle over them. They
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  Speaker 1: shall hunger no more, neither thirst any more, neither shall
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  Speaker 1: the sun beat down on them, nor any heat. For
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  Speaker 1: the Lamb is the center of the throne, and He
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  Speaker 1: shall be their shepherd. and shall guide them to springs
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  Speaker 1: of the water of life, and God will wipe every
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  Speaker 1: tear from their eyes. Seeing a group of people like this,
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  Speaker 1: a group of redeemed people, shouldn't surprise us since our
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  Speaker 1: God is a saving God. We remember discussing 1 Timothy
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  Speaker 1: chapter 2 verses 3 and 4 which say, God our
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  Speaker 1: Savior who will have all men to be saved and
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  Speaker 1: to come to the knowledge of the truth. And we
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  Speaker 1: remember discussing 2 Peter 3, 9, God who is not
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  Speaker 1: willing that any should perish but that all should come
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  Speaker 1: to repentance. We remember John 3, 16, God so loved
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  Speaker 1: the world that He sent His only begotten Son for
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  Speaker 1: the purpose of paying the price for sin so that
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  Speaker 1: whosoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.
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  Speaker 1: God is a saving God. God, our Savior, the Scripture
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  Speaker 1: calls Him. We'll move in a massive movement of salvation
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  Speaker 1: at the most unexpected time, the worst of times in
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  Speaker 1: human history, the time we know as the Tribulation, even
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  Speaker 1: the Great Tribulation. This time of revival will be at
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  Speaker 1: the time of Satan's full fury. It will be at
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  Speaker 1: the time of accelerated demonic power when up to now
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  Speaker 1: demons who have been bound will be released to accumulate
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  Speaker 1: a greater number with those who are already loose and
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  Speaker 1: move across the world purveying their evil intent. It will
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  Speaker 1: be a time of unrestrained human evil when the Holy
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  Speaker 1: Spirit who is always restrained lets go of that restraint.
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  Speaker 1: It will be a time of Antichrist's terrorizing dictatorship and
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  Speaker 1: his murderous reign of terror. It will be a time
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  Speaker 1: of the unrolling of the seals of God's scroll, unleashing
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  Speaker 1: divine wrath on the whole universe. It is a time
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  Speaker 1: of unparalleled terror, unparalleled evil, unparalleled judgments that ultimately will
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  Speaker 1: destroy sinners forever. At that time, the time of wars,
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  Speaker 1: rumors of wars, famines, earthquakes, pestilence, plagues, the time of
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  Speaker 1: a disintegrating and collapsing universe, a fracturing earth, killing billions
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  Speaker 1: of people, a time which ends in the Holocaust known
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  Speaker 1: as the Day of the Lord, God's full and unmitigated fury.
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  Speaker 1: It is that time during the period we know as
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  Speaker 1: the seven-year tribulation that in the midst of it all,
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  Speaker 1: God will save millions of people. both from Israel and
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  Speaker 1: from the nations of the world. And who will do
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  Speaker 1: the evangelizing? Well, we already met some of them in
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  Speaker 1: chapter 7, namely the 144,000 Jews, 12,000 out of every
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  Speaker 1: tribe who will be redeemed and sealed with the seal
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  Speaker 1: of God to be protected from any harm being done
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  Speaker 1: to them. And these 144,000 will preach the gospel of
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  Speaker 1: Jesus Christ and I believe be greatly instrumental in the
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  Speaker 1: conversion of Israel as well as the salvation of this
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  Speaker 1: massive multitude in the following section of the chapter. And
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  Speaker 1: then there are two witnesses described in chapter 11. We'll
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  Speaker 1: see them later, two witnesses who have supernatural power, who
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  Speaker 1: can cause the rain not to fall, who can do
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  Speaker 1: supernatural deeds, who will even die in front of the
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  Speaker 1: whole gazing world and then rise again from the dead.
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  Speaker 2: They will be powerful preachers.
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  Speaker 1: And then there is a heavenly angel described in chapter
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  Speaker 1: 8 verse 13, chapter 14 verse 6, flying through the
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  Speaker 1: heavens preaching the everlasting gospel.
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  Speaker 2: And then, of course, there are believers.
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  Speaker 1: Those who come to faith through the instrumentality of these
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  Speaker 1: other agencies and through personal witness of those who have
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  Speaker 1: come to know Christ will be spreading the gospel. According
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  Speaker 1: to Matthew 24, 14, the gospel will be preached, and
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  Speaker 1: it will be preached extensively, and then the end will come.
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  Speaker 1: So really there's going to be a great force of
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  Speaker 1: individuals that will be proclaiming the gospel, and people will repent,
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  Speaker 1: and people will believe. The terrorizing judgments that are described
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  Speaker 1: in the first six seals, which we've already discussed, are
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  Speaker 1: going to cause people to take a good hard look.
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  Speaker 2: At reality, and many of them will repent.
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  Speaker 1: Here we meet this massive group that have repented and
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  Speaker 1: gone on to heaven.
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  Speaker 2: In this time called the tribulation.
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  Speaker 1: Now just to connect you up with the group in
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  Speaker 1: chapter 6, I remind you that in chapter 6 verses
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  Speaker 1: 9 to 11, we have a description of what amounts
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  Speaker 1: to the same believers in a different circumstance. This we
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  Speaker 1: find under the description of the fifth seal. Underneath the altar,
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  Speaker 1: the souls of those who had been slain because of
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  Speaker 1: the Word of God, because of the testimony which they
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  Speaker 1: had maintained. Here is a group of people who have
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  Speaker 1: come to faith in Christ sometime early in the tribulation period.
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  Speaker 1: They have already been martyred, and you know well because
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  Speaker 1: we've discussed it, there will be a great amount of
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  Speaker 1: animosity raging against those who know Christ.
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  Speaker 2: They will be the casualties of that animosity.
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  Speaker 1: They will be slain because of their faithfulness to the
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  Speaker 1: Word of God and the testimony concerning Jesus Christ, which
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  Speaker 1: they will uncompromisingly maintain. And as you see them in
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  Speaker 1: chapter 6, verse 10, they're crying out to the Lord
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  Speaker 1: and asking for vengeance. They're asking God to bring vengeance
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  Speaker 1: on these evil people who hate God, hate Christ, and
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  Speaker 1: hate His children. Each of them is given a white robe,
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  Speaker 1: and they're told they should rest for a little while longer.
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  Speaker 1: until the full number of their fellow servants and their
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  Speaker 1: brethren who were to be killed, even as they had been,
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  Speaker 1: should be completed also. So here you have the first
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  Speaker 1: vision of martyrs who have come to faith in the tribulation,
• 9:01
  Speaker 1: who have been slain for their faith. In the fifth seal,
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  Speaker 1: chapter 6, they're pleading for vengeance. Here all of a
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  Speaker 1: sudden in chapter 7, they're joined together with the rest
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  Speaker 1: of the redeemed multitude who have died as martyrs, who
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  Speaker 1: have died perhaps in the holocausts of judgment, some who
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  Speaker 1: have died natural deaths. But all of those who have
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  Speaker 1: come out of this period of time are collected together.
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  Speaker 1: They're no longer under the altar pleading for vengeance because
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  Speaker 1: vengeance has already come in full blazing form in the
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  Speaker 1: sixth seal and is about to be unleashed in even
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  Speaker 1: greater measure in the seventh seal. So here we see
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  Speaker 1: basically that same group, only not in a position of petition,
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  Speaker 1: in a position rather of celebration. We noted in verse
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  Speaker 1: 9 that they had white robes and suggested to you
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  Speaker 1: that that refers to righteousness, purity on the one hand,
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  Speaker 1: on the other hand to victory and celebration and exaltation.
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  Speaker 1: Both of those are conveyed here. Perhaps the idea of exaltation,
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  Speaker 1: celebration and victory and triumph is even the more primary
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  Speaker 1: thought when you see the addition of palm branches in
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  Speaker 1: their hands because those were used in ancient festivals to
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  Speaker 1: express joyous celebration, such as the Feast of Tabernacles, which
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  Speaker 1: we described to you last time. So we saw, first
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  Speaker 1: of all, the description of the group. Secondly, we saw
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  Speaker 1: their location. In verse 9 it says, they were standing
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  Speaker 1: before the throne and before the Lamb. We know that
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  Speaker 1: the throne is in heaven. The Lord God sits on it.
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  Speaker 1: The Lamb is in the midst of the throne. He
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  Speaker 1: too is in heaven. So they are in heaven. They
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  Speaker 1: then have died. They have been martyred. They have been
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  Speaker 1: killed in the disasters or they have died natural deaths.
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  Speaker 2: They are yet in heaven.
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  Speaker 1: The fact that they have white robes and palm branches
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  Speaker 1: might indicate that they have received bodies at this time.
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  Speaker 1: I don't think that's necessary to conclude since chapter 20,
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  Speaker 1: verse 4 says they will not receive their bodies until
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  Speaker 1: later on, just before the Lord establishes His thousand-year kingdom.
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  Speaker 1: Revelation 20, verses 4 and 5, and we pointed that
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  Speaker 1: out last time. So what you have here is not
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  Speaker 1: necessarily indicating that they have received their glorified bodies. The
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  Speaker 1: white robes, the palm branches are emblematic of their triumph
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  Speaker 1: and victory and their purity.
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  Speaker 2: And in John's vision.
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  Speaker 1: He has to see something because you can't see a soul.
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  Speaker 1: And so he is visually able to see the vision
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  Speaker 1: of robes, palm branches, which helps him to identify who
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  Speaker 1: these folks are. By the way, back in verse 9
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  Speaker 1: of chapter 6, it indicates that underneath the.
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  Speaker 2: Altar were the souls of those who had been slain.
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  Speaker 1: There you have a direct indication that it was their souls,
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  Speaker 1: yet wait for the body. The idea of palm branches
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  Speaker 1: and white robes being symbolic. From the location, we then
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  Speaker 1: move to the action, and we said in verse 10,
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  Speaker 1: the action is simple.
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  Speaker 2: They're involved in worship.
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  Speaker 1: They're crying out with a loud voice, and they're worshiping
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  Speaker 1: the Lord, saying, salvation to our God who.
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  Speaker 2: Sits on the throne and to the Lamb.
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  Speaker 1: They're engaged in praise that is very similar to praise
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  Speaker 1: back in chapter 5 rendered by the 24 elders. In
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  Speaker 1: verse 8, it tells us that the 24 elders, you
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  Speaker 1: remember they represent the church and that has been raptured
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  Speaker 1: and taken into heaven. They have harps, which are associated
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  Speaker 1: in the Old Testament with prophetic ministry. They have golden
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  Speaker 1: bowls full of incense, which are associated with prayer. So
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  Speaker 1: here are those who have heard the Word of God
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  Speaker 1: and those who have prayed, and they are singing a
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  Speaker 1: new song, and it is a song of redemption, how
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  Speaker 1: that Christ was slain and purchased for God with His blood,
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  Speaker 1: men from every tribe and tongue and people and nation.
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  Speaker 1: And so here the 24 elders are singing a song
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  Speaker 1: of salvation, and later on in chapter 7, this innumerable
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  Speaker 1: multitude from across the globe are also singing a song
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  Speaker 1: of salvation. So they have something in common with the
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  Speaker 1: 24 elders, and that is they have been saved, they
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  Speaker 1: have been redeemed, something that angels do not experience, something
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  Speaker 1: that is uniquely the experience of men. And then we
• 13:06
  Speaker 1: move to the fourth point at which juncture we stopped,
• 13:09
  Speaker 1: and we'll pick it up, and that is the association.
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  Speaker 1: We saw the description, the location, the action. The association
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  Speaker 1: is quite interesting. In verse 11, and all the angels
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  Speaker 1: were standing around the throne and around the elders and
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  Speaker 1: the four living creatures, and they fell on their faces
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  Speaker 1: before the throne and worshiped God, saying, Amen, blessing and
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  Speaker 1: glory and wisdom and thanksgiving and honor and power and
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  Speaker 1: might be to our God forever and ever. Amen.
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  Speaker 2: They join in on the praise.
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  Speaker 1: It is a wonderful association because here are these people
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  Speaker 1: who have been redeemed and their souls are now in
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  Speaker 1: the presence of the Lord in heaven near the throne,
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  Speaker 1: awaiting the moment of resurrection of their bodies and the
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  Speaker 1: return to the glory of the millennial kingdom. And they're
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  Speaker 1: in firsthand association with the glorious angels of heaven. It's
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  Speaker 1: a marvelous association. Let's look at it a little more closely.
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  Speaker 1: There's a couple of points I want to make reference to.
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  Speaker 1: First of all, it says, and all the angels were
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  Speaker 1: standing around the throne. That's a large group. If you
• 14:13
  Speaker 1: go back to chapter 5, verse 11. John says in
• 14:17
  Speaker 1: that vision there that he heard the voice of many
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  Speaker 1: angels around the throne and the living creatures and the elders,
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  Speaker 1: and the number of those angels was murion of murions.
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  Speaker 2: And thousands of thousands.
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  Speaker 1: And if you sort of multiply all of that out,
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  Speaker 1: you get into the billions. And it wouldn't surprise me
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  Speaker 1: at all to know that there were billions of angels.
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  Speaker 1: an innumerable host of angels. In Hebrews 12, isn't it,
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  Speaker 1: verse 22, you have come to Mount Zion and to
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  Speaker 1: the city of the living God and the heavenly Jerusalem
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  Speaker 1: and to the myriads of angels, the innumerable angels, some
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  Speaker 1: translations say. These are creatures created by God, and they
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  Speaker 1: were created by God for the express purpose of serving
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  Speaker 1: and adoring and praising Him. In Colossians 1, 16, it says,
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  Speaker 1: by Him, that is by the Lord Jesus Christ, all
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  Speaker 1: things were created in the heavens and on earth, visible
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  Speaker 1: and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities,
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  Speaker 1: all things have been created by Him and for Him.
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  Speaker 2: And those are descriptive terms of angels.
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  Speaker 1: They are the invisible thrones, dominions, rulers, and authorities created
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  Speaker 1: by God for His service and for His praise.
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  Speaker 2: And so they chime in.
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  Speaker 1: And here are these unworthy sinners, these wretched people who
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  Speaker 1: have literally turned their backs on God. They have missed
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  Speaker 1: the rapture. They have rejected the gospel of Jesus Christ.
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  Speaker 1: They were not taken in the church when the church
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  Speaker 1: was raptured and glorified before the tribulation began. They are
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  Speaker 1: the rejecters, and in many cases, probably living in parts
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  Speaker 1: of the world where they never even heard the gospel.
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  Speaker 1: And here it is that in God's marvelous mercy, even
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  Speaker 1: after the church has been taken out and all hell
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  Speaker 1: breaks loose on the earth, He reaches out and in
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  Speaker 1: wrath remembers mercy, gathers them to Himself, and they're not
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  Speaker 1: second-class citizens either. He takes them right to the throne,
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  Speaker 1: and they mingle with the angels, the holy, pure angels.
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  Speaker 1: These worshiping, celebrating saints even stimulate, I believe, the praise
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  Speaker 1: of heaven because the angels can't personally experience salvation. They
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  Speaker 1: wouldn't be stimulated to praise God for it unless some
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  Speaker 1: other redeemed creature showed them that joy. And so here
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  Speaker 1: are these redeemed people. stimulate the angels into praise. The
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  Speaker 1: angels obviously have always been fascinated by this. First Peter 1.12
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  Speaker 1: says that angels have always wanted to look into these
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  Speaker 1: things regarding salvation. And Ephesians 3.8-11 says the Lord redeems
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  Speaker 1: the church to put His glory on display before the angels.
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  Speaker 1: I believe God takes great pleasure in displaying His attributes
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  Speaker 1: and particularly His redeeming power before His holy angels. And
• 17:23
  Speaker 1: there they are, back in verse 11, and they're standing
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  Speaker 1: around the throne, kouklo in the Greek.
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  Speaker 2: They're in a circle. They've got it ringed.
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  Speaker 1: This is the throne described in chapter 4, this magnificent
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  Speaker 1: throne of where God sits and He's like a jasper
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  Speaker 1: stone and a sardius in appearance and there's a rainbow
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  Speaker 1: around the throne like an emerald and around the throne
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  Speaker 1: 24 thrones and on the thrones the 24 elders sitting
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  Speaker 1: clothed in white garments and golden crowns and from the
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  Speaker 1: throne Proceed flashes of lightning and sounds and peals of thunder,
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  Speaker 1: of course, anticipating judgment. And there is the Holy Spirit
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  Speaker 1: around the throne. And in front of the throne is
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  Speaker 1: a sea of glass like crystal. And in the center
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  Speaker 1: and around the throne, four living beings. And he goes
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  Speaker 1: on to describe them. This is a magnificent scene. And
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  Speaker 1: then in chapter 5, the one sitting on the throne
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  Speaker 1: takes a book. And then comes the Lamb of God.
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  Speaker 1: Standing in verse 6, right in the midst of the throne,
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  Speaker 1: it is a glorious place. God is there, Christ is there,
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  Speaker 1: the Holy Spirit is there, these special unique living beings
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  Speaker 1: which are unique cherubim are there, the 24 elders representing
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  Speaker 1: the church are there, and all of the millions and billions,
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  Speaker 1: however many there are, of angels are all there and
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  Speaker 1: gathered with them are these redeemed out of the tribulation.
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  Speaker 1: Note again that it tells us Further in verse 11,
• 18:52
  Speaker 1: not only were the living beings there, but the elders
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  Speaker 1: were there. They were there as well, the elders and
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  Speaker 1: the four living beings. The elders, as I remind you,
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  Speaker 1: represent the raptured church. We've interpreted that several times. I
• 19:09
  Speaker 1: won't belabor the point, but each time they appear in
• 19:13
  Speaker 1: the prior visions, it seems clear that they are singing
• 19:16
  Speaker 1: the song of redemption. They have experienced that redemption, and
• 19:22
  Speaker 1: they represent the raptured church. So here is an association
• 19:27
  Speaker 1: of praising beings, both men and angels. One little note
• 19:33
  Speaker 1: that I think might be an interesting note, it says,
• 19:35
  Speaker 1: and all the angels were standing around the throne and
• 19:40
  Speaker 1: the elders, which seems upon a simple reading to indicate
• 19:44
  Speaker 1: to us that.
• 19:45
  Speaker 2: The elders were not angels. What makes this?
• 19:50
  Speaker 1: That maybe a little bit tenuous is the, he then adds,
• 19:53
  Speaker 1: and the four living beings who are angels. But it
• 19:58
  Speaker 1: is interesting to me, at least, that he talks about
• 20:01
  Speaker 1: all the angels and the elders as if perhaps they
• 20:05
  Speaker 1: have a unique category of their own and And certainly
• 20:08
  Speaker 1: the four living creatures among all the angels are somehow
• 20:12
  Speaker 1: also very unique.
• 20:15
  Speaker 2: And what do they do?
• 20:16
  Speaker 1: Verse 11 says, they fell on their faces before the
• 20:19
  Speaker 1: throne and worshiped God. They prostrate themselves to worship God.
• 20:25
  Speaker 1: That's not really anything new. That's the posture they continually take.
• 20:33
  Speaker 1: They are committed to that. In fact, if you go
• 20:35
  Speaker 1: back earlier into the visions, and I won't belabor the point,
• 20:37
  Speaker 1: chapter 5, you see that same kind of prostration. You
• 20:41
  Speaker 1: see it in chapter 4, verse 10. You see it
• 20:43
  Speaker 1: later on in chapter 11, verse 16. Their eternal activity
• 20:47
  Speaker 1: is to fall down before God and worship. They recognize
• 20:51
  Speaker 1: His sovereignty. They recognize His supremacy. They recognize His majesty.
• 20:56
  Speaker 1: And they utter a glorious benediction. And it really doesn't
• 20:59
  Speaker 1: need to be exposited. It only needs to be read.
• 21:01
  Speaker 1: They say, Amen, at the beginning. And they say, Amen,
• 21:06
  Speaker 1: at the end. And somebody might suggest that they were
• 21:08
  Speaker 1: Southern Baptist angels. because that's what happens so often in
• 21:12
  Speaker 1: a Southern Baptist environment.
• 21:14
  Speaker 2: But the word amen means let it be. Let it be.
• 21:18
  Speaker 2: It is an affirmation.
• 21:20
  Speaker 1: So let it be that blessing and glory and wisdom
• 21:24
  Speaker 1: and thanksgiving and honor and power and might be given
• 21:28
  Speaker 1: to our God forever and ever.
• 21:30
  Speaker 2: Let it be.
• 21:31
  Speaker 1: Let it be.
• 21:32
  Speaker 2: Very much like.
• 21:36
  Speaker 1: That glorious benediction back in chapter 4, verse 11, worthy
• 21:40
  Speaker 1: art thou, our Lord and our God, to receive glory
• 21:43
  Speaker 1: and honor and power, for thou didst create all things,
• 21:46
  Speaker 1: and because of thy will they existed and were created.
• 21:49
  Speaker 1: And the same in chapter 5, verse 12, worthy is
• 21:52
  Speaker 1: the Lamb that was slain to receive power and riches
• 21:55
  Speaker 1: and wisdom and might and honor and glory and blessing.
• 21:58
  Speaker 1: And then in verse 13, to him who sits on
• 22:00
  Speaker 1: the throne and to the Lamb be blessing and honor
• 22:02
  Speaker 1: and glory and dominion forever and ever. And the four
• 22:05
  Speaker 1: living beings kept saying, Amen, and the elders fell down
• 22:09
  Speaker 1: and worshiped. The scene is worship because that's the occupation
• 22:14
  Speaker 1: of heavenly beings. They worshiped, follow this, in chapter 4,
• 22:20
  Speaker 1: and they worshiped in chapter 5 before the seals were opened,
• 22:25
  Speaker 1: before the judgment began, and now they're worshiping again as
• 22:31
  Speaker 1: it comes to an end.
• 22:36
  Speaker 2: This must be a greater and a.
• 22:38
  Speaker 1: More exhilarating praise because of what they've already seen. Seal one,
• 22:44
  Speaker 1: seal two, seal three, four, five, six, broken as the
• 22:49
  Speaker 1: lamb breaks the seals and the judgments fall. And now
• 22:54
  Speaker 1: this mounting crescendo of praise comes in response to what
• 22:58
  Speaker 1: they once anticipated and now have seen coming. And they
• 23:02
  Speaker 1: stand on the brink of the seventh seal and the
• 23:04
  Speaker 1: final explosion of judgment that comes in the trumpet judgments
• 23:09
  Speaker 1: and the bowl judgments that are to follow.
• 23:14
  Speaker 2: And it's fitting, isn't it?
• 23:15
  Speaker 1: You remember when we studied earlier chapter 4 and 5,
• 23:18
  Speaker 1: how the praise started with a small group? First there
• 23:21
  Speaker 1: were four, and then there were 28, and then there
• 23:25
  Speaker 1: was a massive innumerable host of angels, and now we've
• 23:28
  Speaker 1: added another group, haven't we?
• 23:32
  Speaker 2: It was the four living creatures and the church and
• 23:35
  Speaker 2: the angels, and.
• 23:36
  Speaker 1: Now we add the redeemed out of the tribulation. And
• 23:41
  Speaker 1: so the multitude of praising beings in heaven is larger
• 23:45
  Speaker 1: than it's ever been. What an association for those persecuted, murdered, humble,
• 23:53
  Speaker 1: faithful believers to take their place in this kind of
• 23:56
  Speaker 1: glorious group.
• 23:58
  Speaker 2: But that's God's plan for all of His redeemed. His
• 24:01
  Speaker 2: wonderful plan.
• 24:04
  Speaker 1: And, of course, that's what Luke 15 says. We read
• 24:06
  Speaker 1: that in the message this morning in verse 7 and
• 24:10
  Speaker 1: in verse 10. It says that the angels rejoice when
• 24:12
  Speaker 1: someone is saved. And we see that played out in
• 24:15
  Speaker 1: the parable of the prodigal where there's this tremendous party
• 24:19
  Speaker 1: which symbolizes the rejoicing of heaven over the repentance of sinners.
• 24:23
  Speaker 1: And so here you see the greatest praise that heaven
• 24:26
  Speaker 1: has ever known taking place, ever known since the creation.
• 24:32
  Speaker 1: Now the question is specifically, who are these newcomers who
• 24:37
  Speaker 1: are now around the throne added to the rest of
• 24:40
  Speaker 1: the host?
• 24:41
  Speaker 2: That brings us to point five. Let's call it origination. Origination,
• 24:45
  Speaker 2: where did they come from?
• 24:47
  Speaker 1: And we already know the answer, but let's look at it.
• 24:49
  Speaker 2: In some detail.
• 24:50
  Speaker 1: Verse 13, and one of the elders answered, saying to me,
• 24:56
  Speaker 1: these who are clothed in the One of the elders
• 25:04
  Speaker 1: representing the church asks John who they are and where
• 25:08
  Speaker 1: they came from. He's not asking, now follow this, he's
• 25:12
  Speaker 1: not asking for his own information. He knows them. He
• 25:17
  Speaker 1: knows who this group is. He's a heavenly being now.
• 25:22
  Speaker 1: He's a glorified believer now. He has experienced full resurrection
• 25:28
  Speaker 1: and translation and is like Jesus Christ. He knows even
• 25:32
  Speaker 1: as He is known this representative of the church. And
• 25:37
  Speaker 1: He's not asking for His own information, but He's asking
• 25:40
  Speaker 1: to make sure John knows.
• 25:44
  Speaker 2: That's an amazing thought, really. And brings up a point
• 25:48
  Speaker 2: that our own Dr.
• 25:49
  Speaker 1: Robert Thomas, teaching in our seminary, includes in his commentary
• 25:52
  Speaker 1: on Revelation. He says this, This tool shows that visions
• 25:57
  Speaker 1: were not given for the purpose of spectacular displays, but
• 26:00
  Speaker 1: to convey revelation, the details of which were not to
• 26:05
  Speaker 1: be missed. So the elder wants to be sure that
• 26:11
  Speaker 1: John is getting the picture here and understanding it. So
• 26:15
  Speaker 1: he says to him, John, who are these and where
• 26:19
  Speaker 1: have they come from? Lest John and everyone else somehow
• 26:27
  Speaker 1: miss the point.
• 26:29
  Speaker 2: You say, is it important? Yeah, it's important.
• 26:32
  Speaker 1: Because we might assume that there isn't going to be
• 26:36
  Speaker 1: any salvation in the tribulation.
• 26:37
  Speaker 2: We might assume that.
• 26:38
  Speaker 1: We've read about all these horrible judgments.
• 26:44
  Speaker 2: And if you look over in chapter 9, look at
• 26:45
  Speaker 2: verse 20 for a moment.
• 26:50
  Speaker 1: By the time the Trumpet judgments have been unleashed on
• 26:54
  Speaker 1: the world. It says in verse 20 the rest of
• 26:56
  Speaker 1: mankind who weren't killed by these plagues did not repent.
• 27:02
  Speaker 2: Verse 21, they did not repent. So there's coming a
• 27:09
  Speaker 2: time when people aren't going to repent.
• 27:12
  Speaker 1: Chapter 16 verse 9 talks about the final bowl judgments,
• 27:15
  Speaker 1: the ones that come in rapid fire at the very end.
• 27:19
  Speaker 1: And it says, men were scorched with fierce heat, they
• 27:21
  Speaker 1: blasphemed the name of God who has the power over
• 27:23
  Speaker 1: these plagues, and they did not repent.
• 27:28
  Speaker 2: Now we might read.
• 27:29
  Speaker 1: That and assume that all this fury of judgment produces
• 27:33
  Speaker 1: no repentance. I think what Revelation 9, 20, and 21
• 27:39
  Speaker 1: and Revelation 16, 9 are telling us is that those
• 27:43
  Speaker 1: people who have rejected all the way to the very
• 27:47
  Speaker 1: end are going to be so hard they won't repent.
• 27:52
  Speaker 1: But during the time of the seven seals, the first
• 27:56
  Speaker 1: six seals being opened, there are going to be people
• 28:00
  Speaker 1: who repent.
• 28:01
  Speaker 2: This is important.
• 28:03
  Speaker 1: It's important to John. I mean, after all, John could
• 28:06
  Speaker 1: easily have a defeatist mentality. Is that not true? Where
• 28:10
  Speaker 1: is he when he hears this? He's on a rock
• 28:14
  Speaker 1: in the Mediterranean. He's in exile. Furthermore, he has been
• 28:21
  Speaker 1: given seven letters to send to seven churches, and five
• 28:26
  Speaker 1: of those seven spell doom for those churches. From John's perspective,
• 28:32
  Speaker 1: this does not look like a world-conquering movement.
• 28:38
  Speaker 2: And to read what he.
• 28:40
  Speaker 1: Is reading as he writes these revelations, he would conclude
• 28:44
  Speaker 1: that Christianity in the end will fail and God is
• 28:48
  Speaker 1: just going to damn the whole world.
• 28:53
  Speaker 2: Not so.
• 28:56
  Speaker 1: John is not to see it that way and we
• 28:58
  Speaker 1: aren't either. We are to understand that even though there
• 29:04
  Speaker 1: is an ultimate sense in which evil runs its course
• 29:08
  Speaker 1: and the ultimate and final destruction of the power of
• 29:11
  Speaker 1: God will fall, there will be even in that hour
• 29:14
  Speaker 1: the greatest revival the world has ever known, and the
• 29:17
  Speaker 1: gospel will triumph in the hearts of millions. So John
• 29:22
  Speaker 1: is getting, and so are we, some very good news.
• 29:28
  Speaker 1: So one of the elders poses the question. John responds
• 29:31
  Speaker 1: to the query. In verse 14, I said to him,
• 29:40
  Speaker 1: this is a pretty good answer.
• 29:41
  Speaker 2: My Lord, you know.
• 29:42
  Speaker 1: I mean, he recognizes that he knows, and I guess
• 29:46
  Speaker 1: he's wondering, why are you asking me?
• 29:47
  Speaker 2: You know. I think he speaks with great respect when
• 29:51
  Speaker 2: he says, my Lord.
• 29:51
  Speaker 1: And he admits that he needs the revelation. He is confessing,
• 29:57
  Speaker 1: I don't know, you do know. It's another way of saying,
• 30:02
  Speaker 1: please tell me. And He said to me, these are
• 30:09
  Speaker 1: the ones who come out of the great tribulation. And
• 30:12
  Speaker 1: they've washed their robes and made them white in the
• 30:16
  Speaker 1: blood of the Lamb. That's their point of origination.
• 30:21
  Speaker 2: Out of, ek.
• 30:22
  Speaker 1: Out of the tribulation, the great one. They've come out
• 30:26
  Speaker 1: of it. They lived into it. They were redeemed during it,
• 30:32
  Speaker 1: and they've now come.
• 30:35
  Speaker 2: Out of it.
• 30:37
  Speaker 1: The only way out is death by martyrdom in the
• 30:41
  Speaker 1: holocausts by natural course. In fact, back in Matthew 24,
• 30:49
  Speaker 1: unless those days were cut short, nobody would have survived,
• 30:53
  Speaker 1: said Jesus.
• 30:55
  Speaker 2: Lots of death. Billions will die. including believers.
• 31:04
  Speaker 1: They've come out of it, out of the tribulation, the
• 31:06
  Speaker 1: great one. They've heard, they've believed, and they've been dying
• 31:12
  Speaker 1: since the first half, but the great massacre occurred in
• 31:15
  Speaker 1: the great tribulation, and this group has continued to come out.
• 31:22
  Speaker 1: As I said earlier, these people didn't go with the
• 31:25
  Speaker 1: raptured church since they weren't saved. They were Christ rejecters.
• 31:27
  Speaker 1: They were those perhaps who never heard the gospel. And
• 31:30
  Speaker 1: during the seven-year period, especially in the last half, judgment increases,
• 31:34
  Speaker 1: Antichrist terrorized, they are saved and they escape. They are
• 31:39
  Speaker 1: the opposite of the ones described in 2 Thessalonians. A
• 31:42
  Speaker 1: quick reference there will help you tie that Scripture in.
• 31:45
  Speaker 1: 2 Thessalonians says that people are going to perish because
• 31:51
  Speaker 1: they didn't receive the love of the truth so as
• 31:54
  Speaker 1: to be saved. And that's during the time of Antichrist
• 31:57
  Speaker 1: when Satan comes with power and signs and false wonders
• 32:01
  Speaker 1: and sends his emissary, the man of sin, the man
• 32:04
  Speaker 1: of lawlessness. So there are going to be many who
• 32:08
  Speaker 1: will not receive the love of the truth, but these
• 32:10
  Speaker 1: are the ones who did. These are the ones who
• 32:12
  Speaker 1: received the love of the truth, who believed and who received.
• 32:16
  Speaker 1: You say, does this mean that you have a second chance? No,
• 32:19
  Speaker 1: it just means you have your lifetime. And if you
• 32:20
  Speaker 1: happen to have some of your lifetime left during the tribulation,
• 32:23
  Speaker 1: you still have your lifetime. If the church is raptured
• 32:26
  Speaker 1: out and you're still alive, you still have the time,
• 32:29
  Speaker 1: whatever time you have. Some people have tried to say, well,
• 32:34
  Speaker 1: you see, these will be people.
• 32:40
  Speaker 2: Who never lived during the time of the church. That
• 32:43
  Speaker 2: can't be. They'd all have to be under seven for
• 32:48
  Speaker 2: obvious reasons.
• 32:50
  Speaker 1: Some have said, well, these are people who never heard
• 32:53
  Speaker 1: the gospel, and only the ones who never heard the
• 32:55
  Speaker 1: gospel ever in their whole life will have this chance.
• 32:57
  Speaker 1: You can't find that anywhere in Scripture, although I read
• 33:00
  Speaker 1: that in several commentaries. No, you have your lifetime. And
• 33:04
  Speaker 1: should you live past the rapture, you say, well, I'm
• 33:06
  Speaker 1: glad to hear that because I'm going to just live
• 33:08
  Speaker 1: the way I'm living. As soon as a rapture occurs,
• 33:10
  Speaker 1: I'll fall on my knees and confess Christ the first
• 33:13
  Speaker 1: time I hear a Jewish evangelist.
• 33:18
  Speaker 2: From any tribe.
• 33:22
  Speaker 1: Don't presume on God, but you have your lifetime. So
• 33:30
  Speaker 1: here are the saints who've come out of the tribulation,
• 33:32
  Speaker 1: the great one. Would you please notice that the verb here,
• 33:36
  Speaker 1: it looks like who come out is some kind of
• 33:38
  Speaker 1: an instantaneous act. Erkomanoi literally means who are coming out.
• 33:44
  Speaker 1: It could be translated the ones coming out. It is present, continuous, durative, participle.
• 33:49
  Speaker 1: It shows a prolonged process, the ones who are coming out.
• 33:53
  Speaker 1: This group keeps accumulating as people keep dying. It therefore
• 33:59
  Speaker 1: doesn't lend itself to describing a rapture. A rapture is
• 34:04
  Speaker 1: in the moment, in the twinkling of an eye, in
• 34:07
  Speaker 1: a split second, in an instant, everybody goes.
• 34:12
  Speaker 2: This is not that.
• 34:13
  Speaker 1: This is a continual process, prolonged going on of people
• 34:18
  Speaker 1: coming out and coming out and coming out and coming
• 34:21
  Speaker 1: out over the years of the persecution and the death
• 34:24
  Speaker 1: that is occurring. Anyone who loves souls is going to
• 34:31
  Speaker 1: have to rejoice in this because Antichrist is doing his
• 34:34
  Speaker 1: big thing, trying to destroy the work of Christ. Satan
• 34:37
  Speaker 1: is pouring out all his fury trying to stop anything
• 34:39
  Speaker 1: that the Lord would want to do for His glory.
• 34:42
  Speaker 1: trying to withstand the forces of God in terms of
• 34:44
  Speaker 1: redeeming power, and of course that means the Holy Spirit,
• 34:48
  Speaker 1: and yet in the middle of all of it, and
• 34:49
  Speaker 1: even in the middle of wrath, God is redeeming souls,
• 34:53
  Speaker 1: and they keep coming out, they keep coming out, they
• 34:55
  Speaker 1: keep coming out. This is written, I believe, first of
• 35:00
  Speaker 1: all to encourage us of the ultimate gospel triumph when
• 35:03
  Speaker 1: the few will become many, and to encourage preachers and
• 35:06
  Speaker 1: witnesses to be faithful in that time And those who
• 35:11
  Speaker 1: live in that time will bear fruit. Another note about
• 35:15
  Speaker 1: that phrase there in verse 14, the ones who are
• 35:19
  Speaker 1: coming out, clearly separates these believers from any other group
• 35:24
  Speaker 1: of saved people throughout history.
• 35:26
  Speaker 2: They aren't blended in. They aren't just blended into the church.
• 35:31
  Speaker 1: If this were to refer to the rapture, why not
• 35:35
  Speaker 1: identify all of those people as the redeemed church?
• 35:40
  Speaker 2: Why isolate this group?
• 35:43
  Speaker 1: Why not just call it the triumphant church, the glorious
• 35:48
  Speaker 1: church who lived and died before and during? Why not
• 35:54
  Speaker 1: say it is the redeemed and raptured church? No, these
• 35:59
  Speaker 1: are a uniquely separate group of believers who are coming
• 36:03
  Speaker 1: out of this time of tribulation, not at one moment,
• 36:07
  Speaker 1: but in a process as their lives are taken.
• 36:13
  Speaker 2: Some believers, now note this, will survive.
• 36:16
  Speaker 1: They have to because you have to populate the thousand-year
• 36:19
  Speaker 1: kingdom with human beings, earthly beings who can marry and
• 36:24
  Speaker 1: have babies and repopulate the millennial world. In fact, you
• 36:30
  Speaker 1: know as well as I do from your study of
• 36:32
  Speaker 1: Matthew 24 that at the time when the Lord returns,
• 36:36
  Speaker 1: two will be in a bed, one will be taken,
• 36:38
  Speaker 1: the other will be left.
• 36:39
  Speaker 2: What does that mean?
• 36:39
  Speaker 1: One will be taken in judgment, the other will be
• 36:41
  Speaker 1: left to go into the kingdom. Two will be in
• 36:43
  Speaker 1: a field, one will be taken in judgment, the other
• 36:45
  Speaker 1: will be left to go into the kingdom.
• 36:48
  Speaker 2: There will be believers who survive. They'll make it through.
• 36:52
  Speaker 1: Revelation chapter 12 tells us that many of them will
• 36:55
  Speaker 1: be Jewish believers. The Lord is going to take a place,
• 36:59
  Speaker 1: find a place to hide them, and He's going to
• 37:02
  Speaker 1: hide them there for the 1260 days of the years
• 37:06
  Speaker 1: of the great tribulation so that they'll be alive to go.
• 37:09
  Speaker 2: Into His kingdom.
• 37:12
  Speaker 1: An innumerable host, now follow this, an innumerable, uncountable host
• 37:15
  Speaker 1: of people will die and go to glory. Another large
• 37:19
  Speaker 1: group of people will be redeemed and not die. They
• 37:22
  Speaker 1: will survive having been saved and spared and protected, including
• 37:26
  Speaker 1: the 144,000 and many other Jews, according to Revelation 12,
• 37:30
  Speaker 1: as I noted, that will be hidden away. And many
• 37:32
  Speaker 1: Gentiles who also will be spared and God will protect.
• 37:36
  Speaker 2: And they will go into the kingdom.
• 37:38
  Speaker 1: They will repopulate the world so that there will be
• 37:41
  Speaker 1: nations all over the globe of many kinds of peoples
• 37:44
  Speaker 1: who will all come to Jerusalem. And there, you remember,
• 37:47
  Speaker 1: ten Gentiles will hang on the robe of a Jew
• 37:49
  Speaker 1: and say, in effect, take me to see your kings.
• 37:54
  Speaker 1: But these have died, and they're not all the redeemed,
• 37:57
  Speaker 1: they're only a part of them. More will live right
• 38:01
  Speaker 1: on into the millennial kingdom. In describing them further in
• 38:06
  Speaker 1: terms of their origination, he says in verse 13, these
• 38:10
  Speaker 1: who are clothed in the white robes, verse 13, and
• 38:15
  Speaker 1: then he further describes that white robe concept, verse 14,
• 38:18
  Speaker 1: they have washed their robes. And so we would conclude
• 38:22
  Speaker 1: that while the primary emphasis earlier on the white robes
• 38:25
  Speaker 1: is celebration, exaltation, victory, triumph, joy, there is also the
• 38:29
  Speaker 1: idea of righteousness and purity, and here that is the emphasis.
• 38:33
  Speaker 1: These are white robes because they have been washed and
• 38:36
  Speaker 1: they have been made dazzling, lukan, and they have been
• 38:40
  Speaker 1: washed and made dazzling by what detergent? The blood of
• 38:45
  Speaker 1: the Lamb. Now, any of you ladies will know very
• 38:49
  Speaker 1: well that blood doesn't get anything clean. It stains and
• 38:52
  Speaker 1: has to be cleaned. But here is a paradox, a
• 38:55
  Speaker 1: precious paradoxical truth. Blood doesn't stain. Blood cleanses every stain.
• 39:04
  Speaker 1: The divine detergent removes sin altogether. This wonderful theme of
• 39:10
  Speaker 1: the blood of the Lamb is not new to the
• 39:11
  Speaker 1: book of Revelation. Back in chapter 1, verse 5, It says,
• 39:15
  Speaker 1: to him who loves us and released us from our
• 39:18
  Speaker 1: sins by his blood. Chapter 5, verse 9, thou didst
• 39:24
  Speaker 1: purchase for God with thy blood men from every tribe
• 39:28
  Speaker 1: and tongue and people.
• 39:30
  Speaker 2: And nation.
• 39:30
  Speaker 1: That's 5, 9. The blood of Jesus Christ cleanses us
• 39:34
  Speaker 1: from all sin. The Bible says we have received forgiveness
• 39:38
  Speaker 1: through His blood. We couldn't be redeemed by the blood
• 39:43
  Speaker 1: of bulls and goats, but by the blood of Jesus
• 39:46
  Speaker 1: Christ we have been redeemed. Peter calls it precious blood,
• 39:49
  Speaker 1: the blood of a lamb without blemish and without spot.
• 39:57
  Speaker 1: And so here are redeemed people whose sins have been
• 40:00
  Speaker 1: washed away in the blood of the lamb, and they've died,
• 40:03
  Speaker 1: and they keep coming out of the time of the
• 40:06
  Speaker 1: tribulation to take their place around the throne forever to
• 40:09
  Speaker 1: praise the Lord. That leads us to the sixth point.
• 40:14
  Speaker 1: Let's call it function. Description, location, action, association, origination, and function.
• 40:21
  Speaker 1: What are they doing? Verse 15. This tells you, for
• 40:28
  Speaker 1: this reason they are before the throne of God. Here's
• 40:30
  Speaker 1: the reason they're there. They're there for this reason, and
• 40:35
  Speaker 1: they serve Him day and night in His temple. That's
• 40:40
  Speaker 1: why they're there. They're there to serve Him. The word
• 40:46
  Speaker 1: serve is a priestly word. It's not a menial word.
• 40:49
  Speaker 1: It's not a common slavish word. It's a priestly word.
• 40:52
  Speaker 2: They are rendering spiritual worship.
• 40:57
  Speaker 1: And part of that spiritual worship may involve service, but
• 41:00
  Speaker 1: the idea is they are there, they have been washed
• 41:03
  Speaker 1: in the blood of the Lamb for the very reason
• 41:06
  Speaker 1: that they may come before the throne of God to
• 41:09
  Speaker 1: worship Him day and night in His naos, in His
• 41:13
  Speaker 1: holy place, in His temple. And the final glorious, follow
• 41:24
  Speaker 1: this thought, kingdom of Christ in the millennium There will
• 41:27
  Speaker 1: be a temple. Ezekiel 40 to 48 describes it. There
• 41:30
  Speaker 1: will be what we call the millennial temple. So there
• 41:35
  Speaker 1: is a temple here in heaven. There will be a
• 41:37
  Speaker 1: temple on earth. It will be God's temple come down
• 41:41
  Speaker 1: from heaven as it were on earth during the millennium.
• 41:44
  Speaker 1: But turn to Revelation 21 and see a very interesting note.
• 41:48
  Speaker 1: Revelation 21, 22. Now we're looking at the new heaven
• 41:54
  Speaker 1: and the new earth. This is past what John sees
• 41:57
  Speaker 1: in his vision. This is past the millennium that Ezekiel
• 42:00
  Speaker 1: describes in 40 to 48. Now we're looking at the
• 42:03
  Speaker 1: new heaven and the new earth, the final eternal state.
• 42:07
  Speaker 1: And Revelation 21, 22 says, and I saw what?
• 42:11
  Speaker 2: No temple in it.
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  Speaker 1: For the Lord God, the Almighty, and the Lamb are
• 42:21
  Speaker 1: its temple. They are the temple. There isn't any temple
• 42:30
  Speaker 1: in the eternal state. God is everywhere. And what 1
• 42:38
  Speaker 1: Corinthians 15 says comes to pass. God becomes all in all.
• 42:47
  Speaker 1: In John's vision, there's a temple. Because That's what the
• 42:51
  Speaker 1: text says. A special holy place where God abides in, listen,
• 42:57
  Speaker 1: an otherwise fallen universe, right?
• 43:03
  Speaker 2: During the millennium, there is a temple.
• 43:05
  Speaker 1: A special holy place where God dwells in an otherwise
• 43:10
  Speaker 1: still fallen universe, partially restored and not fully. In the
• 43:15
  Speaker 1: eternal state, God doesn't need a temple because there's no
• 43:18
  Speaker 1: evil in the universe.
• 43:20
  Speaker 2: And He is the temple. And what's our function?
• 43:25
  Speaker 1: From the time we get there throughout all eternity, latrual.
• 43:28
  Speaker 1: That's the word for priestly worship. A seventh word in
• 43:33
  Speaker 1: understanding this text is the word protection. This has got
• 43:37
  Speaker 1: to be good news. And we'll hurry to a conclusion.
• 43:40
  Speaker 1: This is such good news. Look at verse 15. It says,
• 43:45
  Speaker 1: and he who sits on the throne, that is God,
• 43:49
  Speaker 1: shall spread His tent over them. What is that talking about? Protection, security.
• 44:00
  Speaker 1: God will put His tent around them. His Shekinah presence
• 44:05
  Speaker 1: will become their protection. A canopy of shelter to protect
• 44:10
  Speaker 1: them from the terrible things they have suffered in the world.
• 44:15
  Speaker 2: Remember, many of these are martyrs.
• 44:17
  Speaker 1: All of them have seen horrors, indescribable horrors.
• 44:23
  Speaker 2: They've seen millions, billions of people, some of them die.
• 44:28
  Speaker 1: They've seen the disasters of the four horsemen of the
• 44:32
  Speaker 1: apocalypse and the following sixth seal when the universe collapsed.
• 44:37
  Speaker 2: They've seen all of this and they've suffered much.
• 44:43
  Speaker 1: But when they come into the presence of the Lord,
• 44:46
  Speaker 1: they come to a secure place, a canopy of shelter
• 44:51
  Speaker 1: to protect them from all the terrors of the fallen world.
• 45:00
  Speaker 1: Several times in Revelation, chapter 13, chapter 21, it talks
• 45:04
  Speaker 1: about God becoming our tabernacle, our tent in whom we
• 45:08
  Speaker 1: dwell and in whom we find our safety. What a
• 45:12
  Speaker 1: wonderful promise. Never again will anyone harm them. Never again
• 45:17
  Speaker 1: will they suffer pain. And finally, an eighth word in
• 45:23
  Speaker 1: unfolding this text is the word provision. Verse 16, they
• 45:26
  Speaker 1: shall hunger no more, neither thirst any more, neither shall
• 45:29
  Speaker 1: the sun beat down on them, nor any heat. You know,
• 45:36
  Speaker 1: they experienced that during the time of the tribulation. They
• 45:40
  Speaker 1: experienced hunger. Do you remember chapter 13? It tells us
• 45:50
  Speaker 1: that if anybody wanted to buy or sell, they had
• 45:52
  Speaker 1: to do what? Take the mark of the beast, right?
• 45:57
  Speaker 1: Those who believe in the Lord Jesus Christ refuse the mark.
• 45:59
  Speaker 2: So what happens? They hunger. They thirst. Because they refuse
• 46:05
  Speaker 2: to worship the beast, the Antichrist.
• 46:10
  Speaker 1: Furthermore, they probably experienced some of the terrifying reality of
• 46:14
  Speaker 1: the scorching sun that we read about earlier in God's judgment.
• 46:20
  Speaker 1: They know what it is to hunger. They know what
• 46:22
  Speaker 1: it is to thirst. They know what it is to
• 46:23
  Speaker 1: have the sun pounding down on them. Chapter 16, verse
• 46:27
  Speaker 1: 9 says, men were scorched with fierce heat. In the end,
• 46:31
  Speaker 1: now maybe not all of these people lived into that,
• 46:33
  Speaker 1: but you can understand in the sixth seal, back as
• 46:37
  Speaker 1: we noted it, In chapter 6, as the sky begins
• 46:41
  Speaker 1: to disintegrate, the universe begins to collapse, normal temperatures are skewed,
• 46:48
  Speaker 1: and we discussed all of that. They'll see the destruction
• 46:52
  Speaker 1: of water. You remember the things coming out of the
• 46:55
  Speaker 1: sky that pollute the waters? You remember the destruction of
• 46:59
  Speaker 1: animals and plants, the limitation on food and drink? All
• 47:04
  Speaker 1: of this they will have experienced, but never again They
• 47:08
  Speaker 1: shall hunger no more, thirst no more, neither shall the
• 47:11
  Speaker 1: sun beat on them, nor any heat. For the Lamb
• 47:15
  Speaker 1: in the center of the throne shall be their shepherd,
• 47:18
  Speaker 1: and shall guide them to springs of the water of life.
• 47:22
  Speaker 1: And God shall wipe every tear from their eyes. Almost
• 47:29
  Speaker 1: gives you the idea that they came to heaven weeping,
• 47:31
  Speaker 1: doesn't it? The Lamb is the center, as He was
• 47:35
  Speaker 1: in chapter 5, verse 6, in the midst of the throne.
• 47:37
  Speaker 2: He becomes their shepherd. That metaphor is.
• 47:41
  Speaker 1: Everywhere from Psalm 23 all the way to Hebrews 13,
• 47:44
  Speaker 1: 20 and a lot of stops in between. The Lord
• 47:46
  Speaker 1: is my what? Shepherd I shall not want. Here is
• 47:51
  Speaker 1: a lamb who becomes a shepherd. He gives them all
• 47:55
  Speaker 1: they need. He provides all they could ever desire or
• 47:58
  Speaker 1: want as well as complete security. He guides them to
• 48:01
  Speaker 1: the springs of the water of life and And who
• 48:04
  Speaker 1: is the water of life and where are its springs?
• 48:07
  Speaker 1: God is the water of life and His springs are,
• 48:12
  Speaker 1: of course, in His presence and glory. Protection, feeding, leading.
• 48:18
  Speaker 1: All thirst is quenched and never another tear to be shed.
• 48:23
  Speaker 1: And believe me, as you go through the book of Revelation,
• 48:26
  Speaker 1: there are many tears, many tears. But they stop being shed.
• 48:33
  Speaker 1: when the saints reached the presence of God. In Revelation 21, 4,
• 48:39
  Speaker 1: again it says, in the new heaven and the new earth,
• 48:42
  Speaker 1: the Lord will wipe away every tear from their eyes,
• 48:45
  Speaker 1: and there will be no longer any death, mourning, crying, pain.
• 48:50
  Speaker 1: Those kinds of things have passed away. Well, I don't
• 48:56
  Speaker 1: know about you, but in the midst of the world
• 48:59
  Speaker 1: in which we live today, we could certainly get the
• 49:03
  Speaker 1: idea that Christianity is on the way to being defeated,
• 49:05
  Speaker 1: couldn't we? Somebody asked me the other day, if you
• 49:08
  Speaker 1: look over the whole world, where do you see the
• 49:10
  Speaker 1: church advancing?
• 49:13
  Speaker 2: Do you see it advancing in Latin America?
• 49:15
  Speaker 1: No.
• 49:17
  Speaker 2: Do you see it advancing in North America? No.
• 49:20
  Speaker 1: No.
• 49:22
  Speaker 2: Do you see it advancing in Asia?
• 49:24
  Speaker 1: No.
• 49:25
  Speaker 2: Do you see it advancing in Western Europe?
• 49:29
  Speaker 1: No.
• 49:31
  Speaker 2: Do you see it advancing in Eastern Europe? Maybe.
• 49:35
  Speaker 1: Appears to be. You see it advancing in Africa, some places.
• 49:45
  Speaker 1: But as you look over the world, what you see
• 49:50
  Speaker 1: as the church organized Christianity seems to be fast moving
• 49:54
  Speaker 1: toward a very obviously defective kind of Christianity, doesn't it?
• 50:02
  Speaker 2: And we seem to be losing.
• 50:04
  Speaker 1: It's good news to me, and I trust to you.
• 50:09
  Speaker 1: that in the end, the gospel triumphs.
• 50:12
  Speaker 2: Amen?
• 50:14
  Speaker 1: Thank you, Father, for our time tonight and your word
• 50:17
  Speaker 1: and so many things that could be said, and we
• 50:19
  Speaker 1: just trust that what was said would represent your heart
• 50:24
  Speaker 1: and your intention as you inspired this through your Holy Spirit.
• 50:28
  Speaker 2: We pray in Christ's name.
• 50:30
  Speaker 1: Amen.
• 50:33
  Speaker 2: You've been listening to John MacArthur, Bible teacher with grace
• 50:36
  Speaker 2: to you. For free access to all of John's lessons
• 50:39
  Speaker 2: and a listing of study Bibles and books available for sale,
• 50:43
  Speaker 2: visit Grace2U' s website at gty.org. John MacArthur and Grace2U reserve
• 50:50
  Speaker 2: all copyright protection under applicable law. Our copyright policy is
• 50:54
  Speaker 2: available at gty.org, and it includes instructions for and limitations
• 51:00
  Speaker 2: on duplicating this digital file.