Latest / INSIGHT FOR LIVING: Biblical Wisdom For Everyday Living / First Blasts of the Trumpet Plagues Msg 413

Transcript

First Blasts of the Trumpet Plagues Msg 413 · INSIGHT FOR LIVING: Biblical Wisdom For Everyday Living

0:00
Speaker 1: Why don't you go ahead and take out your hymnal
0:02
Speaker 1: and place it on your lap at number 39, which
0:06
Speaker 1: we will spontaneously begin as soon as the scripture reading
0:10
Speaker 1: has ended. Scripture reading today is from Revelation chapter 7.
0:21
Speaker 1: You'll notice as we work our way through the book
0:23
Speaker 1: of the Revelation how many songs find their origin from
0:28
Speaker 1: the biblical text. of Revelation. They just seem to come out,
0:34
Speaker 1: sort of emerge unexpectedly as we work our way through
0:38
Speaker 1: the book. Revelation 7 verse 1. After this I saw
0:42
Speaker 1: four angels standing at the four corners of the earth
0:45
Speaker 1: holding back the four winds of the earth so that
0:48
Speaker 1: no wind would blow on the earth or on the
0:52
Speaker 1: sea or on any tree. And I saw another angel
0:56
Speaker 1: ascending from the rising of the sun having the seal
0:59
Speaker 1: of the living God. And he cried out with a
1:02
Speaker 1: loud voice to the four angels to whom it was
1:05
Speaker 1: granted to harm the earth and the sea, saying, Do
1:08
Speaker 1: not harm the earth or the sea or the trees
1:11
Speaker 1: until we have sealed the bondservants of our God on
1:15
Speaker 1: their foreheads. And I heard the number of those who
1:19
Speaker 1: were sealed, 144,000, sealed from every tribe of the sons
1:22
Speaker 1: of Israel. And then the tribes are listed in verses
1:30
Speaker 1: five through eight. Verse nine. After these things, I looked
1:35
Speaker 1: and behold a great multitude, which no one could count
1:38
Speaker 1: from every nation and all tribes and peoples and tongues
1:43
Speaker 1: standing before the throne and before the lamb clothed in
1:48
Speaker 1: white robes and palm branches were in their hands. And
1:53
Speaker 1: they cry out with a loud voice saying, salvation to
1:57
Speaker 1: our God who sits on the throne. and to the Lamb.
2:01
Speaker 1: And all the angels were standing around the throne and
2:04
Speaker 1: around the elders and the four living creatures, and they
2:07
Speaker 1: fell on their faces before the throne and worshiped God, saying, Amen.
2:14
Speaker 1: Blessing and glory and wisdom and thanksgiving and honor and
2:17
Speaker 1: power and might be to our God forever and ever. Amen.
2:24
Speaker 1: Then one of the elders answered, saying to me, these
2:28
Speaker 1: who were clothed in the white robes, who are they?
2:33
Speaker 1: And where have they come from? And I said to him,
2:36
Speaker 1: my Lord, you know. And he said to me, these
2:40
Speaker 1: are the ones who come out of the great tribulation.
2:45
Speaker 1: And they have washed their robes and made them white
2:48
Speaker 1: in the blood of the lamb. For this reason, they
2:52
Speaker 1: are before the throne of God and they serve him
2:55
Speaker 1: day and night in his temple. And he who sits
2:58
Speaker 1: on the throne will spread his tabernacle over them. They
3:02
Speaker 1: will hunger no longer nor thirst anymore. Nor will the
3:06
Speaker 1: sun beat down on them nor any heat. For the
3:10
Speaker 1: lamb in the center of the throne will be their
3:14
Speaker 1: shepherd and will guide them to springs of the water
3:18
Speaker 1: of life. And God will wipe every tear from their eyes.
3:26
Speaker 2: Hallelujah!
3:27
Speaker 3: Hallelujah! Hallelujah! Hallelujah! Hallelujah! Hallelujah! Hallelujah! Hallelujah! Alleluia! Alleluia!
3:51
Speaker 1: Alleluia!
3:51
Speaker 3: For the Lord God gave us His kingdom. Alleluia! Alleluia!
3:56
Speaker 1: Alleluia! Alleluia!
4:05
Speaker 3: Alleluia!
4:06
Speaker 2: Alleluia! Alleluia!
4:06
Speaker 3: Alleluia!
4:30
Speaker 3: And he shall reign forever and ever. And
5:05
Speaker 3: he shall reign forever and ever.
5:06
Speaker 1: And he shall reign forever and ever.
5:06
Speaker 3: And he shall reign forever and ever. Forever and ever!
5:31
Speaker 2: Alleluia!
5:31
Speaker 1: Alleluia!
5:31
Speaker 2: Alleluia!
5:32
Speaker 3: Forever and ever! Alleluia! Alleluia!
5:32
Speaker 2: In a day Forever and ever!
5:33
Speaker 1: Alleluia!
5:33
Speaker 2: Alleluia!
6:00
Speaker 3: Emily Beynon The peace of heaven forever and ever. King
6:19
Speaker 3: of peace forever and ever. And Lord of lords forever
6:21
Speaker 3: and ever. The peace of heaven.
6:37
Speaker 1: Thank you. Thank you. Our Father, we express our praise
7:34
Speaker 1: to you And we do so because of the name
7:38
Speaker 1: of the Lamb that is above every name. A name
7:43
Speaker 1: before whom every knee will one day bow and every
7:47
Speaker 1: tongue will one day confess that he is Lord to
7:51
Speaker 1: your glory. And our Father, that is why we gather
7:56
Speaker 1: to exalt your name, to promote your work, to refocus
8:02
Speaker 1: our attention on things eternal. to lift our attention to
8:06
Speaker 1: things above, not on this earth. Give us in even
8:11
Speaker 1: these moments of offering a renewed gratitude for all you
8:16
Speaker 1: do for us, and that is why we express our
8:20
Speaker 1: thanks with these gifts in the name of Christ, our
8:25
Speaker 1: Savior and Lord, and everyone said, Amen. Amen. There's an
8:32
Speaker 1: old Greek motto that says, you will break the bow
8:36
Speaker 1: if you keep it always bent. I suppose it's another
8:42
Speaker 1: way of saying everyone needs a break. All work, constant work,
8:49
Speaker 1: day in and day out, without a period of reprieve
8:54
Speaker 1: and rest and renewal results in the breaking of a spirit,
9:00
Speaker 1: not the building of a life. Interestingly, none of us
9:04
Speaker 1: can remember one day or another where we worked a long,
9:09
Speaker 1: long time, perhaps through the night. But at the same time,
9:14
Speaker 1: most of us will never forget a period where we
9:19
Speaker 1: took time off and deliberately did some things that were
9:24
Speaker 1: quieting to our spirit, deepening to our souls. Even the
9:30
Speaker 1: military has an expression where they say, We have a
9:33
Speaker 1: little R & R coming this week. You're involved in
9:38
Speaker 1: the battles and they go on week after week and
9:41
Speaker 1: then even for the soldier, there is a time of
9:45
Speaker 1: rest and recovery in a quiet place where you can
9:51
Speaker 1: sort of rearrange or reorder your private world. Last year,
9:59
Speaker 1: Cynthia and I took a little extra time after we
10:02
Speaker 1: had spent about 10 or 11 days touring with a
10:07
Speaker 1: small group Central Europe, the countries of Czech Republic and
10:13
Speaker 1: Prague and then on into Leipzig and Frankfurt and down
10:17
Speaker 1: through the southern section of Germany and into Switzerland, Zurich,
10:24
Speaker 1: and Geneva. And when we finished, we found ourselves, as
10:28
Speaker 1: we were preparing for our Reformation tour, unusually tired. We
10:33
Speaker 1: were glad we had planned to spend a little extra
10:36
Speaker 1: time in a hamlet more toward the central part of Switzerland.
10:43
Speaker 1: We'd never been there before. Interestingly, it is right at
10:48
Speaker 1: the foot of the Jungfrau mountain range which is snow
10:52
Speaker 1: capped all year long. And the little hamlet is called Interlaken. Interlaken,
11:00
Speaker 1: between the lakes. You're able when you stay there to
11:08
Speaker 1: take walks or if you prefer to do your morning
11:10
Speaker 1: run along the river that connects the two lakes where
11:17
Speaker 1: Interlaken is nestled there in the the base of the mountains.
11:21
Speaker 1: It's beautiful. We have a wonderful word in our English
11:25
Speaker 1: language called interlude. Sometimes it appears in a musical score
11:31
Speaker 1: where there is a transition from one kind of music
11:36
Speaker 1: to another and the interlude brings you through the time
11:40
Speaker 1: in an awful, often a pensive or thoughtful manner. You
11:46
Speaker 1: break the bow if you keep it always bent. The
11:52
Speaker 1: Lord on occasion in the recording of his word provided
11:57
Speaker 1: interludes at necessary places. Right about now we need one
12:05
Speaker 1: in our study of the book of Revelation. Revelation moves
12:12
Speaker 1: you from the familiar to the frightening. And as I've
12:18
Speaker 1: sometimes told friends, it's sort of like drinking out of
12:20
Speaker 1: a fire hydrant once the judgments start. I mean, there
12:25
Speaker 1: are unimaginable catastrophes. And then this is followed by an
12:33
Speaker 1: incredible number of unprecedented disasters. And then that leads to
12:39
Speaker 1: unrelieved terrors for the people. And by the time you
12:43
Speaker 1: finish even the sixth seal, though they've just started, You
12:47
Speaker 1: find the people crying for the rocks to fall on
12:50
Speaker 1: them or to hide them from the presence of the
12:52
Speaker 1: one sending these plagues and these horrible scenes to the earth.
13:03
Speaker 1: Funny about us, we really don't like change, but it's needed.
13:09
Speaker 1: We much prefer things to stay the same. Shakespeare's Hamlet lamented,
13:15
Speaker 1: these feelings best, we would rather bear those ills we
13:18
Speaker 1: have than fly to others that we know not of.
13:25
Speaker 1: Given a choice, most people who've gathered today under this
13:28
Speaker 1: roof would prefer to leave things as they are rather
13:31
Speaker 1: than to go through major change. That's why moving is
13:36
Speaker 1: so hard for people. That's why just the thought of
13:39
Speaker 1: pulling up roots and leaving a state or a home
13:43
Speaker 1: you love is so difficult. Yet through the book of
13:48
Speaker 1: the Revelation there is one change after another. You're not
13:53
Speaker 1: allowed to stay in the realm of the familiar. You're
13:55
Speaker 1: moving from earth to heaven and from heaven to the
13:59
Speaker 1: spaces about us and from the stellar scenes to the
14:03
Speaker 1: throne room of God and then back to the earth
14:05
Speaker 1: and then you're dealing with fire and swords and judgment
14:09
Speaker 1: and before long the dragon and the beasts will come
14:14
Speaker 1: and you find yourself swept in it and you You
14:17
Speaker 1: want to back away and catch your breath. Chapter 7
14:24
Speaker 1: provides us with a wonderful interlude. By the end of
14:29
Speaker 1: chapter 6, you can hear nothing but screaming from the mountains.
14:33
Speaker 1: Every piece of art I have looked at that reflects
14:36
Speaker 1: the teaching of the end of Revelation 6 shows the
14:40
Speaker 1: people with their hands in the air and many of
14:43
Speaker 1: them bloodied and bruised screaming for relief. Who is able
14:48
Speaker 1: to stand through this? The chapter ends. You just need
14:55
Speaker 1: a little mercy in all this wrath. I remembered when
15:02
Speaker 1: I got into chapter 7, a scene that took place
15:06
Speaker 1: centuries before we are now living. Happened in the writings
15:11
Speaker 1: of the ancient Hebrew prophet Habakkuk. Habakkuk is disturbed about
15:17
Speaker 1: his nation and troubled that the people are going wild.
15:21
Speaker 1: They are lawless. They are careless. They are without morals.
15:25
Speaker 1: They are without ethics. And Habakkuk throws his hands up
15:28
Speaker 1: as a godly prophet and says, Lord, why have you
15:32
Speaker 1: allowed this? How long are you going to put up
15:34
Speaker 1: with this? And the Lord says, Habakkuk, I know what
15:37
Speaker 1: I'm doing. If I told you my plan, you wouldn't
15:40
Speaker 1: believe it. Habakkuk argues, I'd believe it. Tell me. So
15:44
Speaker 1: the Lord tells him. Habakkuk says, I can't believe it.
15:49
Speaker 1: I can't believe you'd do something. You'd take people even
15:52
Speaker 1: more wicked to judge people who are my nation, Judah, wicked.
15:57
Speaker 1: I can't believe you'd do such a thing. And the
16:00
Speaker 1: Lord tells him more and more. There's one woe that
16:02
Speaker 1: follows another and follows another. There's six, seven woes that
16:06
Speaker 1: are wound up in the second chapter. And then finally,
16:09
Speaker 1: Habakkuk falls on his knees. And he has a simple
16:12
Speaker 1: four-word prayer that I love. In wrath, remember mercy. Chapter
16:21
Speaker 1: 7 of Revelation is the mercy following the wrath of
16:26
Speaker 1: chapter 6. And the Lord remembers with great mercy two
16:34
Speaker 1: separate groups that he singles out and calls our attention to. Now,
16:41
Speaker 1: first of all, how do we know this is an interlude? Well,
16:46
Speaker 1: the tone changes. If you've paid attention through the sixth chapter,
16:52
Speaker 1: you noticed a building, a crescendo of activity and intensifying
16:57
Speaker 1: of the judgments until the people are crying out for relief.
17:02
Speaker 1: There is no such in this seventh chapter. There's no
17:05
Speaker 1: crying out. There's no judgment. There is, in fact, a
17:08
Speaker 1: holding back of judgment. There's a deliberate pause in this interlude.
17:16
Speaker 1: By the way, when you read your Bibles, pay attention
17:20
Speaker 1: to the tone of the passage, not just words on
17:23
Speaker 1: the page. Keen students of the scriptures allow their emotion
17:28
Speaker 1: to be caught up in the words on the page.
17:33
Speaker 1: If there's one mistake expositors often make, it is just
17:37
Speaker 1: dealing with print on the page and going from a
17:40
Speaker 1: verb to a preposition to a pronoun, to a subject,
17:43
Speaker 1: to a predicate, and you get all of the details
17:47
Speaker 1: of the syntax, but you miss the moving emotion of it.
17:54
Speaker 1: And in this case, the tone settles, the dust settles.
17:59
Speaker 1: And you find yourself sighing relief like you would if
18:02
Speaker 1: you were, well, in interlocking, relaxing, looking back and then
18:08
Speaker 1: looking ahead. Notice also at the end of chapter six,
18:13
Speaker 1: the sixth seal is broken and there are seven of them.
18:17
Speaker 1: We know verse 12 tells us that he broke the
18:21
Speaker 1: sixth seal and the unveiling of that takes us through
18:26
Speaker 1: verse 17, but there's no seventh seal until you get
18:30
Speaker 1: to chapter eight, verse one, when the lamb broke the
18:34
Speaker 1: seventh seal. So there's an interlude here. It's a change
18:39
Speaker 1: of tone. And there's no sealed judgment that's broken and
18:47
Speaker 1: falls on the earth. Well, what is it that John
18:51
Speaker 1: sees in this seventh chapter? Please observe verse 1. After this,
18:55
Speaker 1: I saw. Verse 2, and I saw. Verse 4, and
19:01
Speaker 1: I heard. So he is witnessing. Verse 9, after these things,
19:08
Speaker 1: I looked. And behold, John sees in the first eight
19:15
Speaker 1: verses of this chapter a large number of Jewish converts.
19:23
Speaker 1: They are the people from the tribes of Israel. In fact,
19:28
Speaker 1: verse 4, every tribe of the sons of Israel is represented.
19:33
Speaker 1: And there are, in fact, 144,000 of them. Do the
19:34
Speaker 1: math of verses 5 to 8 and you'll see. In
19:40
Speaker 1: these 12 tribes, there are 12,000 each, so the number.
19:48
Speaker 1: So John sees the Jewish conduct in the first eight verses.
19:51
Speaker 1: And then in verses 9 to 17, John sees a
19:56
Speaker 1: host so large he's unable to count them. They're called
20:02
Speaker 1: a great multitude which no one could count. And they
20:06
Speaker 1: are represented in, according to verse 17, Nine as those
20:12
Speaker 1: from every nation and all tribes and peoples and tongues.
20:18
Speaker 1: So it's quite a dramatic interlude. Don't confuse the two groups.
20:22
Speaker 1: They're separate. The first are Jews left on the earth
20:27
Speaker 1: as evangelists, witnesses in the days of the dark days
20:31
Speaker 1: of tribulation. And the next group are martyrs that are
20:35
Speaker 1: in heaven being rewarded for a life well lived. The
20:40
Speaker 1: testimony sustained during this dark era. The question is asked
20:46
Speaker 1: at the end of chapter 6, who is able to stand?
20:48
Speaker 1: Verse 17. Chapter 7 answers that. These Jews who were
20:54
Speaker 1: converted are sealed. That is, they're protected from assault and harm.
21:03
Speaker 1: And they are able to stand. And then these, ultimately
21:06
Speaker 1: these who are believers stand. who stand before the Lord
21:09
Speaker 1: are able to stand clothed in his righteousness. So the
21:13
Speaker 1: first group is a group of Jews protected during the tribulation,
21:17
Speaker 1: and the second group is a group from all of
21:20
Speaker 1: the tribes and peoples and tongues and nations who are
21:25
Speaker 1: in heaven in a glorified state. So let's go to
21:30
Speaker 1: this chapter. Let's visit the interlude. Let's feel the difference
21:35
Speaker 1: in tone and character Smile for a change in this
21:40
Speaker 1: setting because up until now, there's been nothing to smile about.
21:45
Speaker 1: It's been only disaster and heartache and heartbreak and suffering
21:50
Speaker 1: and death. But now, after this, I saw four angels
21:55
Speaker 1: standing at the four corners of the earth. Now, be careful.
22:00
Speaker 1: John is no scientist, and this is not meant to
22:03
Speaker 1: be taken scientifically. The earth is round. It hasn't corners.
22:07
Speaker 1: But we refer to the four points on a compass.
22:10
Speaker 1: It's in that same sense he has in mind, the
22:12
Speaker 1: four corners of the earth, meaning the whole of the earth,
22:16
Speaker 1: the entire circle of the earth. I saw four angels
22:21
Speaker 1: standing at those four points, perhaps at the north and south,
22:25
Speaker 1: the east and the west. And then he said they
22:30
Speaker 1: were holding back the four winds of the earth. The
22:35
Speaker 1: winds are the Are the forms of judgment that God.
22:40
Speaker 1: These are agents of judgment. The Lord uses to blow
22:44
Speaker 1: his judgments across the earth. And they're holding them back.
22:49
Speaker 1: They're holding back the judgment. So that no wind would
22:52
Speaker 1: blow on the earth or on the sea or on
22:54
Speaker 1: any tree. Then he looks toward the east where the
22:58
Speaker 1: sun rises. And he said, I saw another angel. I
23:02
Speaker 1: saw an angel ascending from the rising of the sun,
23:05
Speaker 1: having the seal of the living God. Now be careful.
23:09
Speaker 1: We've been reading a lot and talking a lot about seals,
23:12
Speaker 1: and you would think this might be another judgment. But
23:14
Speaker 1: this is not a seal judgment. This is a term
23:18
Speaker 1: that would represent the protection of God. If you will,
23:22
Speaker 1: divine armor that he is going to place around a
23:26
Speaker 1: number of people who will be listed for us in
23:29
Speaker 1: the verses that follow. I saw an angel coming with
23:33
Speaker 1: a protective seal. We are sealed with the Holy Spirit
23:38
Speaker 1: until the day of promise, we are told in Paul's writings.
23:43
Speaker 1: It's a protective seal. It's a security seal. In that
23:47
Speaker 1: same sense, these people will be sealed with God's protection.
23:51
Speaker 1: And we read, he cried out with a loud voice
23:55
Speaker 1: to the four angels. to whom it was granted to
24:00
Speaker 1: harm the earth and the sea, saying, do not harm
24:03
Speaker 1: the earth or the sea. I think it's helpful to
24:08
Speaker 1: think of it as God's engine of this earth's atmosphere
24:13
Speaker 1: is turned off. He turns it off for right now.
24:17
Speaker 1: He says, stop the winds, stop the judgments. Let there
24:21
Speaker 1: be no harming of anyone on earth or the sea
24:24
Speaker 1: or the trees until, this is how we know they're believers,
24:29
Speaker 1: The bondservants of our God have been sealed on their foreheads.
24:38
Speaker 1: Curious way to put it, isn't it? We wonder about that.
24:42
Speaker 1: In Revelation 13, last time you remember, we talked about
24:45
Speaker 1: the days of Antichrist, when the economy of the world
24:49
Speaker 1: will revolve around his mark, almost like a universal credit system.
24:57
Speaker 1: The mark will be on their foreheads. This is not
24:59
Speaker 1: to be mistaken or identified with that mark. This is
25:03
Speaker 1: another kind of mark. Somehow these people will bear a
25:08
Speaker 1: mark on their forehead. They will be sealed as servants
25:14
Speaker 1: of God on their foreheads. They will be protected. I
25:19
Speaker 1: take it that none of the judgments will impact them.
25:23
Speaker 1: Somehow they'll be at the right place at the right time. Somehow,
25:28
Speaker 1: in the midst of the disasters, it will miss them.
25:31
Speaker 1: On occasion, we will see film clips, video clips of
25:35
Speaker 1: an area that has been swept by a gigantic tornado.
25:40
Speaker 1: And amazingly, there stands a single house all by itself,
25:45
Speaker 1: where the tornado blew through, but that house wasn't even touched.
25:50
Speaker 1: Not unlike the days of the Hebrew Exodus, when Those
25:56
Speaker 1: who had splashed the blood of a lamb on their doorways,
26:03
Speaker 1: on the lentils, on the doorposts, when the angel passed
26:07
Speaker 1: through and brought death to the firstborn, those homes were missed.
26:12
Speaker 1: They were, if you will, sealed from that judgment. In
26:17
Speaker 1: the same sense, we have these people protected by God.
26:24
Speaker 1: I heard the number of those who were sealed, verse
26:27
Speaker 1: 4 begins, 144,000 sealed from every tribe of the sons
26:38
Speaker 1: of Israel. Who are these people? These will be faithful, pure,
26:45
Speaker 1: diligent witnesses for Christ during the earth's darkest era. These
26:51
Speaker 1: will be, if you will, the the earth's evangelists. They
26:57
Speaker 1: will realize at the departure of the church that they
27:00
Speaker 1: have missed the message of the gospel. They will come
27:04
Speaker 1: to a sudden realization that they have believed in a
27:11
Speaker 1: yet to come Messiah in vain and they have missed
27:14
Speaker 1: the opportunity and so they will at that point trust
27:18
Speaker 1: the Lord Jesus and the Lord will set apart 144,000
27:20
Speaker 1: of them. for his purpose, for his use during that
27:27
Speaker 1: dark period. Many people ask, will anybody be saved during
27:32
Speaker 1: this time yet future? The answer is obviously yes. Thousands
27:36
Speaker 1: will be saved. Hundreds of thousands will be saved, but
27:40
Speaker 1: not the majority. The majority on this earth will never
27:44
Speaker 1: be saved. God always works through a remnant. And this
27:50
Speaker 1: remnant of people will be his representatives. Now the actual number,
27:56
Speaker 1: this is fascinating to many people. In fact, it's not
28:03
Speaker 1: only tossed around by prophecy teachers, cults use this number
28:07
Speaker 1: in various ways and misrepresent what is set forth in
28:12
Speaker 1: the scriptures. For you who are Bible trivia buffs, and
28:18
Speaker 1: I know there are some of you who are listening
28:20
Speaker 1: who are, this is the second largest specific number Given
28:25
Speaker 1: in all the New Testament. I know you want to
28:29
Speaker 1: know what's the largest. So it's over in chapter 9
28:32
Speaker 1: verse 16. The largest number is 200 million. We'll get
28:37
Speaker 1: to that later. But this 144,000 is the second largest
28:43
Speaker 1: specific number mentioned. And let's address them for a few moments.
28:50
Speaker 1: First leave the number as it is. God does the accounting.
28:54
Speaker 1: He hasn't ever yet missed a math question. He hasn't
28:59
Speaker 1: ever yet fouled up in any of his dealings. And
29:03
Speaker 1: he knows every one of these by name, just as
29:06
Speaker 1: he knows you and just as he knows me. He
29:10
Speaker 1: knows everything about us. He knows the point of our salvation.
29:14
Speaker 1: He knows our future as well as we are better
29:18
Speaker 1: than we could even remember our past. This number is fixed. Second,
29:23
Speaker 1: they are Jews. Verse 4 concludes they are from every
29:26
Speaker 1: tribe of the sons of Israel. Third, this is the
29:34
Speaker 1: only list of the 12 tribes in all the New Testament.
29:39
Speaker 1: It may surprise you to know that frequently in the
29:42
Speaker 1: Old Testament, lists of the tribes appear. They never appear,
29:47
Speaker 1: by the way, in the identical order. Someone has taken
29:50
Speaker 1: the time to read each list and compared them and
29:53
Speaker 1: found 19 different ways the list of the 12 tribes
29:57
Speaker 1: appears in the Old Testament. This list, interestingly, includes the
30:04
Speaker 1: sons of Jacob, 11 of them, and one grandson, Manasseh.
30:10
Speaker 1: It also includes Joseph, who is an unusual entry in
30:15
Speaker 1: the list. Joseph appears here in this list of the
30:20
Speaker 1: 12 tribes. Only one of his sons is listed, Manasseh.
30:28
Speaker 1: Ephraim was joined to his idols, and like the tribe
30:31
Speaker 1: of Dan, who was also missing, these seem to have
30:35
Speaker 1: such a penchant for idolatry, they were left out of
30:38
Speaker 1: the list. The details of that I'll leave with the Lord.
30:41
Speaker 1: I don't know why or how he came up with
30:43
Speaker 1: the plan to secure these. This, by the way, is
30:47
Speaker 1: not a list in birth order. You Bible students will
30:51
Speaker 1: know that Reuben is usually listed first, but In this case,
30:54
Speaker 1: he's listed second. Judah, probably because of the preeminence of
30:58
Speaker 1: the Lamb, Christ is Lord. Judah is the one who's
31:03
Speaker 1: listed first, and he comes from that tribe, the Lord Jesus,
31:06
Speaker 1: when he was born on this earth. Now, I've thrown
31:10
Speaker 1: out a lot of facts, and let me just summarize
31:13
Speaker 1: it all by giving you one statement. The Lord is
31:16
Speaker 1: not through with the nation, Israel. He has a plan
31:22
Speaker 1: for the nation Israel. The nation has not been blended
31:25
Speaker 1: into the church. The nation has not been forgotten. There
31:29
Speaker 1: will be judgments that have been warned and predicted that
31:33
Speaker 1: have not yet fallen on that nation. They will fall
31:37
Speaker 1: exactly as God predicted. This nation has not lost its tribes.
31:44
Speaker 1: Though we may not be able to trace them from
31:46
Speaker 1: one generation to the next, God has never lost sight
31:50
Speaker 1: of them or count of them. He knows exactly where
31:52
Speaker 1: they are. They have not been blended into some kind
31:56
Speaker 1: of British Israel. They have not been somehow removed from
32:01
Speaker 1: the 12. They are all there. And at this last
32:04
Speaker 1: era of time, the Lord will see to it that
32:06
Speaker 1: they emerge and are sealed, at least 12,000 from each
32:12
Speaker 1: of the tribes. He'll set them apart for a special use. Now,
32:18
Speaker 1: Let me underscore a word that's repeated. Verse 2, this
32:24
Speaker 1: angel had the seal of the living God. Verse 3,
32:29
Speaker 1: we have sealed the bondservants on their forehead. Verse 4,
32:34
Speaker 1: those who were sealed. Verse 4, sealed from every tribe
32:42
Speaker 1: of the sons of Israel. Verse 5, the tribe of Judah, sealed.
32:46
Speaker 1: Verse 8, the last two words, they were sealed. If
32:51
Speaker 1: the Lord ever underscored a word, he did it in
32:53
Speaker 1: the repeating of this same term. Make no mistake about it,
32:57
Speaker 1: there is a protection provided for these people that they
33:02
Speaker 1: might be effective witnesses for him during that dark era.
33:07
Speaker 1: We'll come to them later. So let's put them on
33:09
Speaker 1: hold for a few moments and look at this other group,
33:12
Speaker 1: this gathering of people who have come for blissful praise
33:18
Speaker 1: in the third heaven around the throne. After these things,
33:25
Speaker 1: says John, I looked and behold. How many of them? Well,
33:31
Speaker 1: John tells us a great multitude which no one could count.
33:38
Speaker 1: So we have a multi-ethnic, a multi-cultural, a multi-linguistic gathering
33:47
Speaker 1: before the Lamb. They come from every nation and all
33:52
Speaker 1: tribes and peoples and tongues as they stand before the throne.
33:58
Speaker 1: It's a great scene. I feel I need to pause
34:06
Speaker 1: and say something of a more practical nature to all
34:08
Speaker 1: of you regarding what happens after death. It's always troublesome
34:13
Speaker 1: to children when they attend funeral services to understand how
34:20
Speaker 1: this person can be here among us as we often
34:26
Speaker 1: refer to them and yet they're going to be buried
34:29
Speaker 1: and there's a body and yet there's something about a
34:33
Speaker 1: soul or How does it all fit together? Let me
34:36
Speaker 1: back up and make it very simple. A good synonym
34:39
Speaker 1: for death is separation. When death occurs we separate within ourselves.
34:50
Speaker 1: Our bodies represented by the palm of my hand remain
34:55
Speaker 1: on this earth. If left alone they will decay and
34:58
Speaker 1: go back to the dust from which they were made.
35:01
Speaker 1: We embalm them Or we cremate them, we bury them,
35:05
Speaker 1: or put the remains in a vase, or secure them somewhere,
35:11
Speaker 1: or scatter them. But the body remains. It's the mortal
35:16
Speaker 1: part of us. It can't last eternally if that's going
35:20
Speaker 1: to happen. The body has to be changed, but we'll
35:23
Speaker 1: get to that. Within the body is a soul, represented
35:27
Speaker 1: by this piece of paper. At death, the soul or
35:31
Speaker 1: the soul and spirit depart or separate from the body.
35:37
Speaker 1: We take care of the body on this earth. When
35:40
Speaker 1: you visit those who have died or the family of
35:46
Speaker 1: those who have died, you will sometimes look at the
35:48
Speaker 1: remains in a casket. Most people say, he looks so natural.
35:53
Speaker 1: I've never seen a corpse look natural. The body is
35:59
Speaker 1: changed because the life has left. The personality that made
36:03
Speaker 1: the body alive has gone. The soul and spirit depart,
36:10
Speaker 1: not to sleep, but to a very definite destination, depending
36:15
Speaker 1: on what that individual did with Christ during her or
36:19
Speaker 1: his lifetime. Don't miss this. It's very important. At the
36:25
Speaker 1: time of salvation, the soul of this individual, the spirit
36:31
Speaker 1: is energized by the Holy Spirit and that soul is
36:35
Speaker 1: connected to and sealed to the living God. So that
36:39
Speaker 1: not even death separates that soul and spirit from the Lord.
36:43
Speaker 1: So at death, the believer's soul or spirit to be
36:47
Speaker 1: absent from the body is to be present with the Lord.
36:50
Speaker 1: 2 Corinthians 5, 8. It's 5 in verse 8. Absent
36:56
Speaker 1: from the body, present with the Lord. So the soul
36:59
Speaker 1: goes to be with the Lord and awaits the resurrection
37:04
Speaker 1: of the body. Which will be changed according to 1
37:08
Speaker 1: Corinthians 15 and put together in a whole new molecular
37:14
Speaker 1: structure so that it can last eternally without decaying. And
37:19
Speaker 1: at the resurrection there will be a joining together of
37:22
Speaker 1: the eternal soul and the Now glorified body of the saved.
37:26
Speaker 1: What about the lost? Again, there's a separation. The body
37:31
Speaker 1: we deal with as we would the born again person,
37:34
Speaker 1: the believer. But the soul of the lost person goes
37:38
Speaker 1: to a place of waiting. Waiting called Hades. Sometimes rendered hell.
37:46
Speaker 1: It's a temporary abode of the lost souls. They will
37:50
Speaker 1: never be relieved from that place. Throughout eternity. They will
37:56
Speaker 1: go to another place. I'll get to in a moment.
37:58
Speaker 1: But they will never ever have a chance to be saved.
38:02
Speaker 1: Once they've died. There is no purgatory. There is no
38:06
Speaker 1: praying someone out of the place of death. So don't
38:11
Speaker 1: waste your time. Spend your time in their life telling
38:15
Speaker 1: them of Christ. Because after death the separation has occurred.
38:20
Speaker 1: And that soul is secured in Hayden's. until the final
38:24
Speaker 1: judgment when that body will be changed so it can
38:27
Speaker 1: last eternally and that spirit stands before the final judgment
38:32
Speaker 1: of God and is cast into the lake of fire.
38:36
Speaker 1: According to Revelation chapter 20, the last four or five verses,
38:41
Speaker 1: we'll get to that. If you're born again, your soul
38:45
Speaker 1: goes immediately to be with the Lord. If you are
38:48
Speaker 1: not born again at death, your soul awaits the final judgment.
38:55
Speaker 1: and the final destination. My mother died in February of 1971.
39:00
Speaker 1: At the moment she died in her sleep, immediately her
39:07
Speaker 1: body began the process of decay. No more blood, no
39:11
Speaker 1: more life. She was buried. Her soul instantly went to
39:15
Speaker 1: be with the Lord, where it awaits the resurrection of
39:20
Speaker 1: her body since she was a believer in Jesus Christ.
39:25
Speaker 1: and so for you, and so for me. If you
39:29
Speaker 1: were saved, the least of your concerns should be death.
39:35
Speaker 1: If you were lost I don't know how you think
39:38
Speaker 1: about anything but death. How wonderful it would be if
39:44
Speaker 1: while on this earth you realize this destiny is secured
39:50
Speaker 1: And it's either heaven or the lake of fire. Now
39:56
Speaker 1: why have I taken my time here for that? Because
39:58
Speaker 1: these are souls. These are actually individuals who are now
40:03
Speaker 1: raised in bodily form. That John is able to see
40:07
Speaker 1: in heaven. From all the tribes and tongues. These are
40:10
Speaker 1: believers who have gone together into the presence of the Lord.
40:16
Speaker 1: This innumerable host of believers together. Whose praise and rejoicing
40:23
Speaker 1: center on the Lord Jesus Christ. And they are standing
40:29
Speaker 1: before the throne and before the Lamb. And John witnesses this.
40:33
Speaker 1: He sees them clothed in white robes and palm branches
40:37
Speaker 1: were in their hands. The white robe speaks of their salvation.
40:42
Speaker 1: The branches speak of the peace, the eternal joy that's theirs.
40:47
Speaker 1: And they cry out with a loud voice saying, salvation
40:53
Speaker 1: to our God who sits on the throne and to
40:56
Speaker 1: the Lamb. Notice the focus of attention in eternity is
41:00
Speaker 1: on the Lamb. It is not on getting a few virgins.
41:06
Speaker 1: For you to have throughout eternity. It is not about that.
41:11
Speaker 1: That is a lie. That is heresy. How tragic. How
41:16
Speaker 1: tragic to form one's life around such teaching as that.
41:20
Speaker 1: To the point of taking one's life and others thinking
41:24
Speaker 1: that is some kind of reward. That's all about me.
41:28
Speaker 1: Eternity is all about Christ. Who is the focus of
41:32
Speaker 1: our life. Attention in the object of our praise, in
41:35
Speaker 1: the subject of our songs. It's all about the Lamb.
41:40
Speaker 1: Salvation to our God who sits on the throne. And
41:43
Speaker 1: all the angels were standing around the throne and around
41:47
Speaker 1: the elders and the four living creatures. And they fell
41:49
Speaker 1: on their faces before the throne and worshiped God. But
41:52
Speaker 1: you know what? The angels have missed something. Angels cannot
41:56
Speaker 1: be saved. They're either elect or they are the non-elect.
42:01
Speaker 1: the non-elect form, the demonic host of Satan, the elect
42:05
Speaker 1: are the lords, but none of them go through the
42:07
Speaker 1: salvation experience. In that sense, they haven't a will like
42:12
Speaker 1: human beings have wills to make that decision for Christ.
42:16
Speaker 1: I used to love to sing the old gospel song
42:21
Speaker 1: that talks about the angels of heaven. It says, holy,
42:28
Speaker 1: holy is what the angels sing. And I expect to
42:31
Speaker 1: make the courts of heaven ring. But when I sing
42:34
Speaker 1: redemption's story, they will fold their wings. For angels never
42:38
Speaker 1: felt the joy that my salvation brings. Angels watch us
42:44
Speaker 1: in worship with eyes open and mouths open. They see
42:51
Speaker 1: us engaged in the working out of the joys of
42:54
Speaker 1: our salvation with an enormous curiosity. They know nothing of
42:59
Speaker 1: this kind of experience. But now gathered with the redeemed
43:03
Speaker 1: of heaven, the angels join in the worship. This is
43:07
Speaker 1: a great moment. And there is the... The singing and
43:12
Speaker 1: there is the speaking of words like verse 12. Amen.
43:16
Speaker 1: Blessing and glory and wisdom and thanksgiving and honor and
43:19
Speaker 1: power and might be to our God forever and ever. Amen.
43:24
Speaker 1: And then one of the elders answered, said to John,
43:27
Speaker 1: he's saying to me, those who are clothed in the
43:30
Speaker 1: white robes, who are they? And where have they come from?
43:35
Speaker 1: John's pretty smart. I used to do this in class.
43:38
Speaker 1: I'd say to my teacher who would ask that, well,
43:41
Speaker 1: you know, that saves you from a wrong answer, doesn't it?
43:46
Speaker 1: He said, my Lord, you know, by the way, Lord
43:49
Speaker 1: is small L. It's the word kurios. It means sir.
43:52
Speaker 1: It's a word not for deity, but for a person
43:56
Speaker 1: in authority. Sir, you know that answer. And so he answers.
44:01
Speaker 1: And he says to John, these are the ones, I
44:03
Speaker 1: love this, who come out of the great tribulation. They
44:07
Speaker 1: have washed their robes and made them white in the
44:11
Speaker 1: blood of the Lamb. Salvation is only through the blood
44:18
Speaker 1: of the Lamb. It is the washing of the soul
44:23
Speaker 1: with the blood of Christ, spiritually speaking here, that cleanses
44:29
Speaker 1: us from sins, past, present, and future, and brings us
44:33
Speaker 1: faultless before the presence of His glory. With exceeding joy.
44:36
Speaker 1: That's why the mention of the blood. These are tribulation saints.
44:42
Speaker 1: That have gone through death during that time. And now
44:47
Speaker 1: their reward is theirs to enjoy. For this reason it says.
44:53
Speaker 1: These redeemed are before the throne of God. And they
44:57
Speaker 1: serve him day and night. Isn't that magnificent? They serve
45:05
Speaker 1: him day and night in his temple, and he who
45:07
Speaker 1: sits on the throne will spread his tabernacle over them.
45:10
Speaker 1: It's a picture of constant, uninterrupted, eternal fellowship. By the way,
45:19
Speaker 1: heaven will not be a series of Bible classes. It's
45:24
Speaker 1: remarkable how people think if this is good, it's going
45:27
Speaker 1: to be so great in heaven to have Paul teach
45:30
Speaker 1: us or Peter teach. You won't need to be taught.
45:34
Speaker 1: You will know then as you are now known. There
45:38
Speaker 1: will be no lack of knowledge. There will be no learning.
45:43
Speaker 1: There will be no classes. Our frame of reference is
45:48
Speaker 1: so limited and therefore restricted that we can't imagine a
45:53
Speaker 1: scene where we would do this forever and ever that
45:58
Speaker 1: would bring us a sense of lasting joy. I mean
46:02
Speaker 1: I don't mean to be sacrilegious here, but you read
46:06
Speaker 1: about doing this forever and ever. I remember as a
46:09
Speaker 1: teenager going, whoa, who needs that? Forever and ever. I'm going, amen, amen.
46:16
Speaker 1: I mean, how many amens can you do before you've
46:20
Speaker 1: done it? You know you've been there. But see, that's
46:23
Speaker 1: all about earth. That's how we're put together. We can't
46:27
Speaker 1: fathom the world, not even a world, the existence that
46:31
Speaker 1: will be ours to inhabit, where this kind of thing,
46:36
Speaker 1: where we will have his tabernacle spread over us, where
46:39
Speaker 1: this kind of thing will bring him such endless joy
46:42
Speaker 1: and us the same. There are not words to describe it.
46:47
Speaker 1: And so John puts it there. The Lord directs him
46:49
Speaker 1: to write in words that we can understand. Imagine this
46:53
Speaker 1: kind of existence. They will hunger no longer. It doesn't
46:58
Speaker 1: mean much to Americans or Canadians or Australians or people
47:04
Speaker 1: of our world, but those who've never had enough to eat,
47:07
Speaker 1: can you imagine what that statement says? They will never hunger.
47:12
Speaker 1: There will never be any thirst. Nor will the sun
47:17
Speaker 1: beat down on them. He adds, for the sake of
47:20
Speaker 1: the Texans, nor any heat. There will be no heat.
47:25
Speaker 1: There will be no
47:47
Speaker 1: The
47:52
Speaker 1: sun not beating down on them. For the Lamb, here
47:54
Speaker 1: it is again, is in the center of the throne.
47:57
Speaker 1: He will be their shepherd and will guide them to
48:00
Speaker 1: springs of the water of life. And God will wipe
48:03
Speaker 1: away every tear from their eyes. This is mercy in
48:11
Speaker 1: the midst of the wrath. This is an interlude at
48:14
Speaker 1: its best. Wonderful. It's like a magnificent reunion. One man says,
48:27
Speaker 1: there is praise again, praise not for judgment anticipated, but
48:30
Speaker 1: for judgment realized. The mounting crescendo of praise began with
48:35
Speaker 1: four living creatures, then grew as the 24 elders, the angels,
48:39
Speaker 1: and ever-increasing number of tribulation martyrs joined in. Finally, all
48:43
Speaker 1: heaven rings with the praise of God. Here is worship
48:47
Speaker 1: that will never cease. Never cease. That's our future. And
48:58
Speaker 1: it will be ours by His grace. No one there
49:05
Speaker 1: who deserves to be there. We all are there because
49:10
Speaker 1: of the Lamb. And as a result, we extol the
49:14
Speaker 1: One who made it all happen. I don't know if
49:19
Speaker 1: you were reared as I was but part of my
49:23
Speaker 1: childhood includes family reunions. Our little reunion took place at
49:31
Speaker 1: a little cottage down on Cronkoway Bay just below Palacios
49:35
Speaker 1: near Port Lavaca. My granddad owned a little little four-room
49:40
Speaker 1: cottage where really three rooms, one was just bigger than
49:45
Speaker 1: the other two. And we would gather there, all my
49:50
Speaker 1: granddad's relatives. There would be uncles and aunts. I remember
50:00
Speaker 1: Uncle Jake with Aunt Evelyn and Uncle Frady and Aunt Ernestine.
50:06
Speaker 1: Bear with me. I remember... I remember Uncle Roselle and
50:11
Speaker 1: Aunt Naty Bell. Sound like a family reunion now, doesn't it?
50:14
Speaker 1: And remember Earl and Lovell, Swindoll, my folks, and L.O.
50:18
Speaker 1: Lundy and his wife, Jessie, my grandmother, maternal grandmother. And
50:25
Speaker 1: one of the delights of the reunion is to be
50:29
Speaker 1: near our granddad, who, humanly speaking, had made it all happen.
50:36
Speaker 1: And it would be fun. Nobody liked fun like my granddaddy.
50:40
Speaker 1: We'd eat barbecue cooked out over open pit on chicken wire.
50:46
Speaker 1: You'd mop that stuff with an old mop, you know.
50:50
Speaker 1: Sounds dreadful, but it was great, man. We'd spread that
50:53
Speaker 1: stuff and cook that stuff half the night and then
50:56
Speaker 1: just kind of drop our face in the plate and suck.
50:59
Speaker 1: I mean, it was fabulous. drink and eat and laugh
51:03
Speaker 1: and have fun and we'd flounder and we'd catch fish
51:07
Speaker 1: and everything we caught we fried. If you could fry crab,
51:10
Speaker 1: we'd fry them. We'd fry everything. We'd bring home buckets
51:15
Speaker 1: of crab. My mouth is just watering. I'm thinking about
51:18
Speaker 1: all of that. I thought I was kissing you there
51:21
Speaker 1: again for a second. And But the great part of
51:28
Speaker 1: it all, you didn't care where you slept. Some people
51:31
Speaker 1: slept outside. I slept in a little bed. Had a
51:34
Speaker 1: mosquito net over it until I finally kicked the slats
51:37
Speaker 1: out of it. And we all swam. And sorriest water
51:41
Speaker 1: to swim in you could imagine. My sister and I
51:44
Speaker 1: would make little inner tube rafts and float halfway beyond
51:48
Speaker 1: the universe in this little bay and have more fun.
51:51
Speaker 1: I'd try to dunk her and try to drown her.
51:53
Speaker 1: And she'd try to do that. With me, I'm glad
51:55
Speaker 1: neither one of us succeeded, but we had nothing but fun.
52:00
Speaker 1: And the focus, when he got down to the final
52:03
Speaker 1: part of it, was on our granddaddy, who made it
52:07
Speaker 1: all happen. Something great happened at the reunion. Life kind
52:14
Speaker 1: of made up its mind all over again. It's getting
52:19
Speaker 1: lost in the 21st century. If you've got a family...
52:25
Speaker 1: Go back to your roots. It's worth the time. Go
52:30
Speaker 1: back and cultivate the roots. Don't die not talking to
52:35
Speaker 1: your daddy. Don't die forgetting your mom or your grand folks.
52:44
Speaker 1: When we pass into the Lord's presence, it'll be the lamb.
52:52
Speaker 1: who will be the focus of our attention. And every
52:55
Speaker 1: time we see his scars, we'll fall at his feet
53:01
Speaker 1: and worship. It'll be nothing about us. It's all about him. Now,
53:10
Speaker 1: we needed this interlude. Let me tell you three things
53:15
Speaker 1: about interludes, and I'm all through. They're not complicated. They're
53:20
Speaker 1: easy to remember. Because I want to encourage you to
53:23
Speaker 1: build interludes into your life. First, interludes reaffirm for us
53:32
Speaker 1: who is first. Interludes reaffirm for us who is first.
53:41
Speaker 1: When Cynthia and I take a little time off for
53:43
Speaker 1: an anniversary celebration, we spend part of that time remembering
53:49
Speaker 1: each other. And most of all, our Lord, who faithfully
53:53
Speaker 1: watched over our now lengthening years of marriage. You remember
54:00
Speaker 1: who's first. The centrality and preeminence of Christ. When you
54:04
Speaker 1: get alone for just a little period of time, turn
54:07
Speaker 1: your focus to Christ. Your interlude will provide that opportunity. Second,
54:14
Speaker 1: interludes remind us of what's important. In the pace and
54:20
Speaker 1: race of life, you get the priorities jumbled up. You
54:26
Speaker 1: forget values and you tend to smear the non-essentials over
54:33
Speaker 1: into the essentials. And so make your list short as
54:37
Speaker 1: you put your priorities together in reordering your life. The
54:41
Speaker 1: Lord may give you in the summer months a little time,
54:44
Speaker 1: even if it's a week, maybe only a few days,
54:48
Speaker 1: Spend it on some priority thinking. Bring that priority list
54:52
Speaker 1: with you. Interludes remind us of what's important, the essentials
54:58
Speaker 1: of life. Third, interludes refresh us with why it's worth it.
55:09
Speaker 1: Interludes have us slow down and remember why life is
55:15
Speaker 1: what it is. Interludes help suffering make sense. Interludes give
55:22
Speaker 1: understanding to loss and disappointments and the death of dreams.
55:29
Speaker 1: Interludes massage us back to a fresh new start. And
55:35
Speaker 1: so it is in this quiet interlude of Revelation, chapter 7.
55:42
Speaker 1: I want you to bow with me, please. Perhaps it's
55:54
Speaker 1: time for you to take charge of your life. You
56:01
Speaker 1: may have gotten a little harum-scarum, a little out of control.
56:03
Speaker 1: I understand. I understand what it is to be busy.
56:09
Speaker 1: I'm not proud of that, but I understand it. I
56:14
Speaker 1: also know firsthand the benefits of some time away. Time
56:21
Speaker 1: to regroup, rethink. You've got to decide in your interlude
56:27
Speaker 1: where Christ fits and what place he has. Has he
56:32
Speaker 1: come in about third or fourth? Now that the company's
56:35
Speaker 1: gotten big and you've begun to diversify and those investments
56:40
Speaker 1: are sort of preoccupying every waking moment. Or maybe the
56:47
Speaker 1: personnel or the selling of the company has begun to
56:51
Speaker 1: crowd in on you.
56:53
Speaker 2: Stop.
56:55
Speaker 1: Go back to Christ. Where is he in your life?
57:01
Speaker 1: Where is he in your marriage? In your reading? In
57:06
Speaker 1: your thinking? If you've never trusted the Lord Jesus, don't
57:11
Speaker 1: ever forget my little simple illustration of my hand in
57:14
Speaker 1: that piece of paper. Someday you'll fly away. And you've
57:21
Speaker 1: got to prepare for that flight now. There's no second chance.
57:30
Speaker 1: You don't get there on your own. It's because Christ
57:34
Speaker 1: opened the door and paved the way. I invite you
57:37
Speaker 1: to trust him right now. This is an interlude. One
57:43
Speaker 1: of the great things about a one-day-a-week time of worship.
57:47
Speaker 1: It gives you an interlude to come back to what's important.
57:53
Speaker 1: Trust him now. Don't wait for another minute. Don't even
57:58
Speaker 1: wait until nightfall. You may not be alive tonight. Take
58:01
Speaker 1: care of that now. Our Father, we pause as we
58:12
Speaker 1: have through this meeting of worship. We pause to express
58:17
Speaker 1: to you our desperate need for your Son, Christ. Not
58:23
Speaker 1: only can we not make it through life without His
58:27
Speaker 1: power and strength to assist us, we certainly can't make
58:31
Speaker 1: it beyond death. So bring us face to face with
58:35
Speaker 1: Him and give us a deep sense of gratitude for
58:42
Speaker 1: the fellowship there is in Him. Thank you for the cross.
58:47
Speaker 1: Thank you for the place where the payment was paid
58:49
Speaker 1: in full and now undeserving sinful people like us And
58:56
Speaker 1: sing our praises to the lamb. Knowing it was not
59:00
Speaker 1: what we had done. But what he did for us.
59:03
Speaker 1: That secured our eternity. Give a continued sense of restlessness
59:09
Speaker 1: and sleeplessness. and an inner disturbance to those who've never
59:13
Speaker 1: come to Christ. May they not be able to rest
59:17
Speaker 1: until they find that rest in him. Now unto him
59:23
Speaker 1: who loved us and provided for us eternal life, to
59:27
Speaker 1: him be glory forever and And ever and ever dismiss
59:32
Speaker 1: us with his praises on our lips. We pray in
59:36
Speaker 1: the name of Christ, our Savior, and all of his
59:38
Speaker 1: people said, Amen.
59:43
Speaker 2: The preceding message, An Interlude, Earthly Restraint, and Heavenly Worship,
59:48
Speaker 2: was copyrighted in 2003, 2006, and 2024. And the sound
59:49
Speaker 2: recording was copyrighted in 2024 by Charles R. Swindoll, Inc.
59:59
Speaker 2: All rights are reserved worldwide. Duplication of copyrighted material for
1:00:04
Speaker 2: commercial use is strictly prohibited.
1:00:08
Speaker 3: Charles R.
1:00:08
Speaker 2: Swindoll, Inc. is grateful to the following sources for permission
1:00:12
Speaker 2: to use their material in the preceding message. Stonebriar Community
1:00:16
Speaker 2: Church for their 2013 performance of The Hallelujah Chorus from Messiah,
1:00:21
Speaker 2: composed by George Friedrich Handel, edited by Walken Shaw, published
1:00:25
Speaker 2: by Novello & Company, Ltd. and Moody Publishers for John
1:00:29
Speaker 2: MacArthur's book, New Testament Commentary, Revelation 1-11, copyrighted in 1999
1:00:34
Speaker 2: by John MacArthur, Jr.