Who Can Stand - How do I know I truly belong to Jesus?

Missions Recap from our Mission Encounter...

Give (missionary Christmas offering)

Go to a follow-up event

Steve Harrigan Nov. 20 and Dec. 17 (pick one)

Brad Buckingham Dec. 11 only light bfast — 8, 9, 10:15am you don’t have to sign-up just come. We will have our worship in the sanctuary at 9 and 10:15am.

Robyn Moore is speaking this Wednesday at our Wednesday night group on prayer in the small youth room

Consider going on a short-term mission trip:

Kentucky with Baer

Youth - Logan to Ecuador (bring up Logan)

consider some local missions opportunities:

Ukraine -

Brianna’s Hope -

Last, all these are good—but they are meant to spur you on towards mission. How can you share the Gospel—both show and tell, and can you help disciple that is help bring into maturity in Christ—others around you---family, friends, co-workers. Take a moment and reflect. As part of this, some of you need to consider going into full-time missions or vocational ministry—that used to be emphasized a lot—and probably too much at times---but some of us need to consider that, and all of us need to be open.

Sermon:

Please turn to Revelation chapter 7.

and before I read Revelation chapter 7:1, I want to go back to Revelation 6:12--

and read that first to remind us where we are.

If you are new here, welcome. we are slowly but surely working our way through one of the best books of the Bible—Revelation.

and Revelation was written by the Apostle John, who was suffering for Christ in exile, and he is writing to Christians suffering in the Roman Empire at the end of the 1st century.

and God gives John an incredible vision to encourage them to persevere by giving lots of weird visions.

as part of that vision…in chapters 4-5, John has vision of God on the throne and the Lamb (Jesus Christ)

and part of that vision is a scroll...

chapter 6 - the Lamb opens the scroll - sealed with 7 seals.

the scroll in the vision represents God’s sovereign plan for human history, his plans for judgment and salvation. and it is sealed with 7 seals. (for God to bring his kingdom upon the earth)

in chapter 6, as the seal is broken—and opened—judgment comes on the earth. and in the 6th seal…we read this...

Revelation 6:12–14 NIV

12 I watched as he opened the sixth seal. There was a great earthquake. The sun turned black like sackcloth made of goat hair, the whole moon turned blood red, 13 and the stars in the sky fell to earth, as figs drop from a fig tree when shaken by a strong wind. 14 The heavens receded like a scroll being rolled up, and every mountain and island was removed from its place.

Revelation 6:15–17 NIV

15 Then the kings of the earth, the princes, the generals, the rich, the mighty, and everyone else, both slave and free, hid in caves and among the rocks of the mountains. 16 They called to the mountains and the rocks, “Fall on us and hide us from the face of him who sits on the throne and from the wrath of the Lamb! 17 For the great day of their wrath has come, and who can withstand it?”

this is most likely describing the very end—when Jesus returns and sets everything right and judges those against him.

and that last question—is the question we are answering—who can withstand the wrath of God and the Lamb?

it may be the most important question.

Despite all the other weird stuff in chapter 6 with famine, war, plagues, violence—this is a bigger question—who can withstand the wrath of God?

BTW—i recognize we don’t love the idea of God’s wrath. We love God’s love…BUT…I think we want a God of wrath…when we look at all the atrocities happening in the world today—dictators, genocide, war, rapists—we want a God who will give perfect judgment and do something about it.

to put it more personally-- think of it this way—if we see a friend making bad choices, destroying their life with bad choices—what do we do? we don’t say “I love them...” no, we get angry and wrathful because of love.

similarly when God sees the sin we do destroying us—he gets wrathful, appropriately so—it is a loving wrath or a wrathful love.

he is appropriately filled with wrath—he is not moody “I didn’t have my coffee today” no he hates sin—b/c it destroys us and dishonors Him

now—we understand that about horrible things out there—this passage is reminding us that we too deserve God’s wrath for our sin. that because of our tendency to put ourselves in place of God—we too deserve it his perfect justice for sin.

so who can actually stand against God’s wrath?

this passage answers it...

Revelation 7 (NIV)

1 After this I saw four angels standing at the four corners of the earth, holding back the four winds of the earth to prevent any wind from blowing on the land or on the sea or on any tree. (this is an image of the angels holding back God’s divine judgment from coming—the 4 winds—Zechariah -OT)

2 Then I saw another angel coming up from the east, having the seal of the living God. He called out in a loud voice to the four angels who had been given power to harm the land and the sea:

3 “Do not harm the land or the sea or the trees until we put a seal on the foreheads of the servants of our God.”

(a seal symbolizes that God owns them—they are marked and owned by God, and even protected by God)

4 Then I heard the number of those who were sealed: 144,000 from all the tribes of Israel.

5 From the tribe of Judah 12,000 were sealed, from the tribe of Reuben 12,000, from the tribe of Gad 12,000,

6 from the tribe of Asher 12,000, from the tribe of Naphtali 12,000, from the tribe of Manasseh 12,000,

7 from the tribe of Simeon 12,000, from the tribe of Levi 12,000, from the tribe of Issachar 12,000,

8 from the tribe of Zebulun 12,000, from the tribe of Joseph 12,000, from the tribe of Benjamin 12,000.

9 After this I looked, and there before me was a great multitude that no one could count, from every nation, tribe, people and language, standing before the throne and before the Lamb. They were wearing white robes and were holding palm branches in their hands.

10 And they cried out in a loud voice: “Salvation belongs to our God, who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb.”

11 All the angels were standing around the throne and around the elders and the four living creatures. They fell down on their faces before the throne and worshiped God,

12 saying: “Amen! Praise and glory and wisdom and thanks and honor and power and strength be to our God for ever and ever. Amen!”

13 Then one of the elders asked me, “These in white robes—who are they, and where did they come from?”

14 I answered, “Sir, you know.” And he said, “These are they who have come out of the great tribulation; they have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.

15 Therefore, “they are before the throne of God and serve him day and night in his temple; and he who sits on the throne will shelter them with his presence.

16 ‘Never again will they hunger; never again will they thirst. The sun will not beat down on them,’ nor any scorching heat.

17 For the Lamb at the center of the throne will be their shepherd; ‘he will lead them to springs of living water.’ ‘And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.’”

so who can stand against God’s wrath?

this was an important reminder for John and the persecuted church back then.

facing the Roman Empire...

they needed to be reminded that yes—man’s wrath is horrible for following Christ—but there is a greater wrath they need to be concerned about — God’s righteous appropriate wrath. so persevere...

and they needed reminded of who the true people of God are…who truly belong to God—that they are his…that’s what matters...

AND THEY needed to be reminded of how to be a part of that.

how do you know you can stand against the worst wrath?

God answers this with 2 visions of the redeemed people of God—of His people.

so btw—here is how I interpret this…and I know there are some differences in opinion on the 144,000, and the Great Multitude...

some people interpret the 144,000 as ethnic Jews saved during a future tribulation period, and they will evangelize so many people that it becomes a great multitude. this would be like have 144,000 apostle Pauls who will rise up at the end. I used to think that, but don’t personally buy that. I don’t think that fits in context here—after chapter 6. chapter 6 says who can withstand God’s wrath. chapter 7 is our answer!

another line of thought—Jehovah’s Witnesses—believe that only 144,000 people total will be saved. so if you believe that imagine how hard you have to work to prove that “I have to make sure I am a part of the 144,000.” that would be horrible and filled with uncertainty.

no—my opinion and I hold it loosely is that the 144,000 and the Great MULTITUDE are actually DESCRIBING THE SAME GROUP OF PEOPLE. it is describing 2 different groups of people from 2 different angles.

why do I think that?

the # 144,000 I don’t think that is literally 144,000 people. Numbers in Revelation are often symbolic. like the #7 represents completion and perfection. the #12 is often used a lot, and this #144,000 is a multiple of 12.

think of this—there were 12 tribes of Israel in the OT (we see many of them mentioned here).

think of this—there were 12 apostles in the NT

12 x 12 is 144---and multiply it by 10 x 10 x 10 (or by a 1,000) the sense of completeness is exponentially emphasized. Nancy Guthrie says “this is the complete number of OT saints who looked forward and put their faith in the Christ who was promised combined with those saints in the NT era who look back at the cross and resurrection…this is the true Israel, the church across the ages. everyone is accounted for. all are protected.

another reason I don’t think the 144,000 is referring to literally 144,000 Jews...

is they are not listed in the same order as the Bible. we would expect Reuben to be mentioned first…he was the oldest son of Jacob. no Judah is. why?

because Judah was told by his Father Jacob this:

Genesis 49:10 NIV

10 The scepter will not depart from Judah, nor the ruler’s staff from between his feet, until he to whom it belongs shall come and the obedience of the nations shall be his.

remember in this style of writing in the Bible—apocalyptic like Daniel and Ezekiel — God communicates truth through crazy visions, strange dreams and symbols.

so for these reasons—I think God is reminding John and the church and us today—that his people—are heritage is the Israelites in the OT—but it was never meant to be confined to them—God told Abraham all peoples will be blessed through your offspring. God chose the Israelites to be a blessing and through them and ultimately Jesus all peoples have the opportunity to be a part of it.

these 2 visions remind us of our heritage—and remind us of God’s big plan. God’s people included those from the OT who looked forward to Jesus’ coming, and those from the NT and beyond (us) who look back at Jesus’ 1st coming.

so let’s get practical…

who can stand...

another way to put this pastorally—I sometimes will hear this pastoral question—Pastor Rick, how do I know I am saved? How do I know I really belong to Jesus? How do I know I really belong to the people of God? (and if you know this this transforms your identity, gives you confidence, and bigger perspective.)

Who are God’s Standing People...

Those who realize it’s not based on ethnicity, family name, tradition, or heritage (add to the list)

how do we know?

Revelation 7:9 NIV

9 After this I looked, and there before me was a great multitude that no one could count, from every nation, tribe, people and language, standing before the throne and before the Lamb. They were wearing white robes and were holding palm branches in their hands.

Praise God that being a part of His people is not based on belonging to a certain country, ethnicity, race/skin color, people, or language. Praise God for that!

and another reason we know—is you look back at the 144,000—we see 2 tribes not mentioned. Do you know what they are? bTW—i had to look this up:

Dan

Ephraim

Nancy Guthrie says, “Remember that when the twelve tribes split into the northern and southern kingdoms under Rehoboam (1 Kings 12), the northern tribes had no temple and soon mixed the worship of the Baals with the worship of the one true God. Golden calves were erected in Dan and Ephraim. Evidently idolatry led these tribes away from God, and they never came to repentance. Dan and Ephraim aren’t there. By listing the tribes in this way, John is demonstrating that not everyone who is part of the visible church on earth will prove to have received the mark of God that is given to all who embrace his covenant from the heart. It was true in the days of ancient Israel. It was true in Jesus’s day, as we know that one of the twelve, Judas, was really a pretender. It was true in the first century, such as those in Ephesus who called themselves apostles and were found to be false (2:2). And it is true today. (Guthrie, N. (2022). Blessed: Experiencing the Promise of the Book of Revelation (p. 117).)

praise God that being a part of the people of God is NOT based on having a certain name, or money, or ethnicity. no!

at the same point if you think that because you are a certain skin color or ethnicity or grew up somewhere that makes you more favored then you don’t understand what it means to be a part of the people of God!

how do we know we are part of the people of God?

Who are God’s Standing People:

2. Those who are covered under the blood of the Lamb (vs. 13-14)

Revelation 7:13 NIV

13 Then one of the elders asked me, “These in white robes—who are they, and where did they come from?”

Revelation 7:14 NIV

14 I answered, “Sir, you know.” And he said, “These are they who have come out of the great tribulation; they have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.

If you are not a church person or familiar with the Bible, if Christianity is new—welcome. this language is weird—how can those in white robes be washed in the blood of the Lamb? wouldn’t that make them red? and isn’t that weird—why are we as Christians talking about blood?

what does that mean?

all throughout the OT—because of sin—God required the shedding of blood for the forgiveness of sin. He provided animal sacrifices as the way—and this taught that all sin before God is serious…and that something must pay in our place for sin.

when we get to the NT—Jesus is called the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. when we admit and confess our sin to Jesus, and believe that He took our punishment in our place—we are cleansed—made white, whiter than snow—because Jesus, the ultimate sacrifice and Lamb of God was slain in our place.

and so the blood of Jesus—that may sound weird and gross—it is precious—because this points to what Jesus did for us! He, the Son of God gave His life for us! He loved us!

and it is the blood that saves us! not our works...

so how can we have assurance that we are saved and can withstand the wrath of God—the blood of the Lamb!

The Blood saves us…the precious blood of Jesus.

who are God’s Standing People:

3. Those who have persevered through tribulation (vs. 14)

Revelation 7:14 NIV

14 I answered, “Sir, you know.” And he said, “These are they who have come out of the great tribulation; they have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.

they have come out of the great tribulation.

now this may refer to a time still yet to come—I do believe there is a greater Tribulation coming, but also between Jesus’ 1st and 2nd coming—there are always periods of great tribulation we go through.

now, it is true that none of us work for our salvation—for our standing. Jesus worked—He shed His blood.

however, though we not saved by good works—we are saved for—they are the result. those who have truly been sealed and marked by God, will persevere.

and one of the greatest tests of our perseverance is when we go through tribulation.

tribulation, trials, testing—that is the test if we truly belong to Jesus or not.

true Christians, the true people of God who can stand—will persevere in the faith—to the end—until they die or Jesus comes back.

Hebrews 3:14 NIV

14 We have come to share in Christ, if indeed we hold our original conviction firmly to the very end.

I see this all the time as a pastor—someone is excited about Christ, receives Christ—trials come—and that’s the true test—are they going to stick with Jesus or not? was John and the early church going to persevere? are we?

thankfully it doesn’t all depend on us--

Philippians 1:6 NIV

6 being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.

as we look to Him, He helps us persevere. he seals us—marks us—enabling us to persevere.

in fact, this sealing is most likely a reference to the Holy Spirit--

Ephesians 1:13–14 NIV

13 And you also were included in Christ when you heard the message of truth, the gospel of your salvation. When you believed, you were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit, 14 who is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance until the redemption of those who are God’s possession—to the praise of his glory.

it is the Holy Spirit who enables us to persevere—with the fruit of the Spirit

Galatians 5:22–23 NIV

22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law.

is there fruit in your life?

and you may ask—how do I persevere…the last point

who are God’s Standing People?

4. Those who are centered on Jesus and Enjoy Him

look at the way it describes the people of God before God--

Revelation 7:15–17 NIV

15 Therefore, “they are before the throne of God and serve him day and night in his temple; and he who sits on the throne will shelter them with his presence. 16 ‘Never again will they hunger; never again will they thirst. The sun will not beat down on them,’ nor any scorching heat. 17 For the Lamb at the center of the throne will be their shepherd; ‘he will lead them to springs of living water.’ ‘And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.’”

while some of that is future—in heaven—we get a taste of it now.

do you have this kind of relationship with God?

do you enjoy being in His presence?

doing you look for him to satisfy your TRUE hunger?

your TRUE thirst?

do you feast on Him and drink from Him?

Is he your shelter?

do you go to him to wipe away every tear from your eyes?

those who are sealed—those who are God’s Standing People—ENJOY God!

those who are covered under the blood of the Lamb—they are can stand on that day of God’s wrath. it is not based on ethnicity or background. but belonging to Jesus.

and it includes those from the OT who looked forward to Jesus and those who look back...

those who can stand persevere-showing they truly accepted christ—and God enabled them to by the Holy Spirit

and they enjoy God.

are you part of God’s people?

is there evidence to show?

if you truly belong to God—you can persevere through anything, knowing you belong to Him. let’s pray.