Sermon Tone Analysis

Revelation 7:9–17 (ESV)

After this I looked, and behold, a great multitude that no one could number, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed in white robes, with palm branches in their hands, and crying out with a loud voice, “Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!”

And all the angels were standing around the throne and around the elders and the four living creatures, and they fell on their faces before the throne and worshiped God, saying, “Amen!

Blessing and glory and wisdom and thanksgiving and honor and power and might be to our God forever and ever!

Amen.”

Then one of the elders addressed me, saying, “Who are these, clothed in white robes, and from where have they come?”

I said to him, “Sir, you know.”

And he said to me, “These are the ones coming out of the great tribulation.

They have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.

“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.

They shall hunger no more, neither thirst anymore; the sun shall not strike them, nor any scorching heat.

For the Lamb in the midst of the throne will be their shepherd, and he will guide them to springs of living water, and God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.”

Isaiah 11:10 “In that day the root of Jesse, who shall stand as a signal for the peoples—of him shall the nations inquire, and his resting place shall be glorious.”

Matthew 24:14 “And this gospel of the kingdom will be proclaimed throughout the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come.”

During the tribulation all chaos will ensue across the globe.

The first 4 seals will appear to be dealt by human hands.

You have peace, wars, destruction and famine, and then death and the grave.

All of these will be within the willpower of men to carry out.

Then we switch to the seals that are of God.

You have the saint crying for vengeance over their deaths and mistreatment because of their faith, the very next thing that happens is God appears to be turn the earth inside out on itself.

Fault lines shattering, mountains being leveled, flat plains being upheaved, rifts torn apart and volcanoes blasting up out of thin air.

The world looks like a very different place, and now people know exactly who is the one at work.

You see, we have been at war since the beginning of time.

There has been good and relatively peaceful times, there have been times of turmoil.

There has been times of famine, and pestilence, and there has been times of death.

But there has never been a time like the events that will unfold during seal #6.

The world will know what is happening, and they will know why it is happening.

They will either turn to God, or they will become bitter.

Here in later part of chapter 7 you have men and women from all cultures who have turned to Christ rather than turning away.

In chapter 9 you will find a group of people who are entirely different from these in 7, but these men and women heard about the salvation that is extended to them through Jesus and they joyfully accepted Him.

These men and women will be so overjoyed with their salvation that it will well up within them and spill over into the communities around them.

This will take off like a fire and others will come to the knowledge of Christ as well.

This will be the greatest time for evangelism, and why should it not be?

They are literally staring death in the face left and right.

Eternity is just around the corner, and they could all be dead within the next week because who knows what is about to happen.

So their only answer is to get right with God and spend eternity in joy and happiness rather than anguish and sorrow.

Though this is a time of unparalleled judgement, this is also a time of unparalleled grace.

But why do we wait?

Are we not all actively dying?

Do we know the moment that we will die down to the very minute of our life’s final transaction?

You are dying.

Some of you will attend my funeral, and I will likely attend some of yours.

I will not like it, and I hope you will not either, but you can rest assured that when I close my eyes for the last time here on earth I will open them to see the face of the One who saved me from myself and He will say “well done my good and faithful servant.

Enter into the joy of your master.

We have been waiting.”

What about you?

When that time comes, and your life is no more, what will be awaiting you on the other side?

Are you ready for that journey?

Are you content with your eternal state?

If not, why don’t we have a conversation and see if we can’t change the outcome.

If you are happy about where you are going, don’t you want to tell somebody who is on the wrong path?

Can you think of someone who needs to hear about the saving grace of Jesus before it is too late for them?

Listen, you may very well attend their funeral next.

Let His name be heard by those who need to make a change before their time to make the change runs out.