No One Safer
Announcements
Connect Card
Prayer
Jesus said the most important commandment in Scripture is to love God and love your neighbor. Revelation helps us love God by giving us language for worship. Here’s who God is, Revelation says. And so we as the church want to obey Jesus and long for, adore, and worship God. So we’re going to use some passages from Revelation that we’ve read so far in our study and praise God and worship him in prayer and ask that he shape us into people who worship him more fully.
Revelation 1:5–6 (ESV)
To him who loves us and has freed us from our sins by his blood 6 and made us a kingdom, priests to his God and Father, to him be glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen.
Revelation 1:17–18 (ESV)
I am the first and the last, 18 and the living one. I died, and behold I am alive forevermore, and I have the keys of Death and Hades.
Revelation 4:8 (ESV)
“Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord God Almighty,
who was and is and is to come!”
Revelation 4:11 ESV
11 “Worthy are you, our Lord and God,
to receive glory and honor and power,
for you created all things,
and by your will they existed and were created.”
Revelation 5:9–10 (ESV)
“Worthy are you to take the scroll
and to open its seals,
for you were slain, and by your blood you ransomed people for God
from every tribe and language and people and nation,
10 and you have made them a kingdom and priests to our God,
and they shall reign on the earth.”
Revelation 5:12 ESV
12 saying with a loud voice,
“Worthy is the Lamb who was slain,
to receive power and wealth and wisdom and might
and honor and glory and blessing!”
Revelation 7:10 ESV
10 and crying out with a loud voice, “Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!”
Revelation 7:12 ESV
12 saying, “Amen! Blessing and glory and wisdom and thanksgiving and honor and power and might be to our God forever and ever! Amen.”
Intro
On Wednesday morning, Lt. Cmdr. Josh Rannenberg
took a 9 hour flight inside Hurricane Milton. This of course was the massive hurricane that has ravaged the east coast this week.
Rannenberg and his team monitor the storm and pass information onto the National Hurricane center so they can provide accurate information for evacuation orders and such.
Rannenberg was interviewed by ABC News and he said it was the craziest storm he’s ever witnessed and grew unlike anything he’d seen before.
He talked about something called the stadium effect when you fly into the eye of a hurricane.
If you’re not familiar the eye of the hurricane is right in the center of the storm and typically with stronger storms the eye is more pronounced and wider and oddly calm despite the raging storm that spins around it.
He said when the plane goes into the eye you go from high turbulance to smooth sailing.
And they were 8,000 feet in the air and could see all the way down to the ocean, and then they looked up in the sky and the clouds around them in the eye of the storm looked like stadium, as those clouds rose up to 55,000 feet.
He was in the eye of the storm, safe, warm, clear, but around him was a devastating and deadly hurricane unlike anything he’d ever seen.
In our passage today in Revelation 7, it’s like we’re in the eye of a hurricane.
Revelation 6 begins the storm of God’s wrath as the Sovereign Lord comes to take back what is his and deal with evil once and for all.
And his anger towards evil is so great and his power is so intense, it makes a hurricane in Florida look like a cool breeze.
This storm of God will encompass the whole world. Hurricane Milton came nowhere near us, but everyone will feel the force of God’s storm one day.
And the question that ends chapter 6 is in light of this coming storm, who can stand?
Revelation 6:17 ESV
17 for the great day of their wrath has come, and who can stand?”
It’s like the meteorologist asking, What will be left after this storm? Who can withstand this?
In Revelation 7, we find the people of God standing, worshiping, safe and dry in the eye of the storm.
Main Point:
Our main point this morning is that no one is safer than the people of God.
In verses 1-8 we see they are sealed and in verses 9-17 they are saved.
Sealed
We’re in Revelation, the last and perhaps least understood book of the Bible.
It’s a book that is extremely relevant, not because it’s a crystal ball that will predict the election or predicts the war in the Middle East, but because it helps us consider how to love Jesus when it’s not easy.
It reminds us that loving Jesus is more important than any other priority we may make in our lives. More important than efficiency, financial stability, or even comfort.
It is because Jesus - the Lamb who was slain on the cross - will return to judge the living and the dead and establish his kingdom forever. And we can choose to live in light of that day today.
Last week as we studied Revelation 6, we saw the Sovereign Lord will have justice.
He’s the good king who is returning to take back what is his, avenge his family, and bring his enemies to justice.
This is good news because God will not tolerate evil. He will have an answer for murder, abuse, economic injustice, and lies.
He wants to wake us up to the sinister nature of sin.
And these seals we read about in chapter 6 are like this cosmic storm.
And it culminates in this earthquake that is a symbol of the terror and power of when the God of the universe shows up.
Revelation 6:17 ESV
17 for the great day of their wrath has come, and who can stand?”
So that’s the question...
Who can stand
This is a very biblical question. Not just a Revelation question.
Psalm 1:5 ESV
5 Therefore the wicked will not stand in the judgment,
nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous;
Psalm 130:3 ESV
3 If you, O Lord, should mark iniquities,
O Lord, who could stand?
And this is the question of Scripture, how can sinners stand before a holy God?
Revelation 7:1–4 ESV
1 After this I saw four angels standing at the four corners of the earth, holding back the four winds of the earth, that no wind might blow on earth or sea or against any tree. 2 Then I saw another angel ascending from the rising of the sun, with the seal of the living God, and he called with a loud voice to the four angels who had been given power to harm earth and sea, 3 saying, “Do not harm the earth or the sea or the trees, until we have sealed the servants of our God on their foreheads.” 4 And I heard the number of the sealed, 144,000, sealed from every tribe of the sons of Israel:
Amid God’s storm of judgment, there are those who are safe.
John has a vision of safety in a storm.
These 144,000 sealed are in the eye of the hurricane and safe from God’s wrath.
What’s going on here?
John has a vision of something like a storm.
And he sees angels at the four corners of the land - remember we didn’t know the world was round by then.
They are acting like the eye of the storm, holding back this wind of God’s judgment.
They mention trees and earth and seas, and this will come to pass later in chapter 8.
Remember this is apocalyptic literature. It’s symbolism. We’re not supposed to think that one day it’s going to get really windy. These are symbols of God’s judgment against sin.
Do you notice the word sealed?
In chapter 6 we had seals on a scroll - wax seals that signified authority and authenticity.
In Matthew’s gospel it says they put a seal on Jesus’ tomb to close it up.
So it can mean to conceal or close up.
But We use it like your boss gave your work her seal of approval.
So it can also act as a mark of acceptance. It’s a personal stamp of approval.
And what is this mark in Rev. 7? I think this is a symbol of the Holy Spirit.
2 Corinthians 1:22 ESV
22 and who has also put his seal on us and given us his Spirit in our hearts as a guarantee.
Ephesians 1:13 ESV
13 In him you also, when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and believed in him, were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit,
So I believe these sealed are those God has given his personal mark of acceptance, the Holy Spirit.
Those who by faith in Jesus have been given God’s own Spirit.
And there are 144,000 of them, why that number?
Revelation 7:5–8 ESV
5 12,000 from the tribe of Judah were sealed,
12,000 from the tribe of Reuben,
12,000 from the tribe of Gad,
6 12,000 from the tribe of Asher,
12,000 from the tribe of Naphtali,
12,000 from the tribe of Manasseh,
7 12,000 from the tribe of Simeon,
12,000 from the tribe of Levi,
12,000 from the tribe of Issachar,
8 12,000 from the tribe of Zebulun,
12,000 from the tribe of Joseph,
12,000 from the tribe of Benjamin were sealed.
Not everyone agrees on this passage.
Jehovah’s Witness believe
That this 144,000 is an exact number of those who will live forever in heaven with God.
They believe that the rest of those saved will live on earth in paradise but will not go to heaven with God.
So that means if you’re not a part of the 144,000 you will never meet the great people of faith. You may not even meet Jesus!
Jehovah’s witnesses are a part of a cult, but I wanted to least mention something you may be thinking about with this passage.
Some believe this is the number of ethic Jews who profess faith in Christ.
And they’ll say that verses 9-17 are about people from all nations but this is the number of those who profess faith in Christ from the nation of Israel.
They would say verses 1-8 is one group of people, verses 9-17 is a different group of people. Totally possible. Not a cult belief.
Some believe this is a symbol of all believers.
I tend to land here. Verses 1-8 and 9-17 are the same group, but from two different angles.
I have windows in the front of my house. If I look out a window and see my car, and then move to another window, it’s the same car, just a different angle.
Or when you see Mt. Rainier from the south side. Same mountain, different angle.
I think that’s what’s going on here.
I think what this passage is doing is John is not seeing two seperate things, but the same thing from two perspectives. I think that’s what’s going on in Revelation 12 and also in Revelation 19.
Because you have the 12 tribes - 12 being a number of completion
It’s used all over Revelation - 12 stars, 12 gates, 12 angels, 12 foundaitons in the city walls, 12 apostles, 12 crop of fruit from the tree of life.
and each of the 12 tribes has 12,000 a number of fullness, and 144,000 is like this righteous square. Whole. Everyone.
And Israel is not actual nation Israel but a symbol of the chosen people of God.
But why list out all 12 tribes?
We said last week reading Revelation is like talking to a friend who only quotes movies. You need to understand the reference to know what they’re saying.
In Numbers 1-2, Moses gives a census of the people of God before they entered the promised land. God was getting his people ready to go into the new land and the big bad cities of his enemies were going to fall.
And Numbers is all about how important it is for God’s people to stay faithful to him as they go into a new land or else things go really bad.
And in Numbers 1-2 we see Israel counted much like this in a way that presents them as God’s army.
Now in Revelation - John has a vision of God’s people, this army, whom God is encouraging to say - I’m bringing you into a new land, I’m going to take out your enemies, stay faithful to Jesus or else things go really bad!
Can you sense how much God cares about the church?
He wants them to hold tightly to Jesus and gives them and us Scripture to see so clearly the importance and the hope in staying faithful to him.
No one is safer than the people of God.
If you are a follower of Jesus you have been sealed by the Holy Spirit.
Just as God said to Israel you are my treasured possession, so he says to us - we are the apples of his eye.
We are his army that will conquer the enemy.
And even when God’s judgment comes upon the earth, we are those who will stand because no one is safer than the people of God.
TRANSITION - NO ONE IS SAFER THAN THE PEOPLE OF GOD. BUT ARE THERE ONLY 144,000 PEOPLE OF GOD? I’M FEELING A LITTLE CRAMPED WITH THAT NUMBER?
SAVED
Revelation 7:9–10 ESV
9 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, 10 and crying out with a loud voice, “Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!”
No one is safer than the people of God because they are sealed and they are saved.
Again, I think John is getting a vision of the same reality, but with different symbols. Like he’s looking at Mt Rainier from the south side or he’s looking at his front yard from a different window.
So it is here.
First, he saw Israel with 144,000 - a number of wholeness.
Here, he sees a number he can’t count, BUT from every nation, not just one.
It’s a dramatic fulfillment of God’s promise to Abraham - look at the stars old man, I’m going to give you more kids than all the stars in the sky!
It’s a fulfillment of Jesus telling his disciples - which included John to make disciples of all nations.
John sees it happening.
And this great multitude gives this beautiful summation of world history - Salvation belongs to our God and to the lamb!
It’s been said that the message of the OT is Salvation is the Lord’s and the message of the NT is Salvation is from Christ! These saints proclaim that here.
It goes on…
Revelation 7:11–12 ESV
11 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, 12 saying, “Amen! Blessing and glory and wisdom and thanksgiving and honor and power and might be to our God forever and ever! Amen.”
Everyone is worshiping.
Revelation 7:13–17 ESV
13 Then one of the elders addressed me, saying, “Who are these, clothed in white robes, and from where have they come?” 14 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.
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 They shall hunger no more, neither thirst anymore;
the sun shall not strike them,
nor any scorching heat.
17 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.”
John notices their clothes.
They’re white.
Why white?
And ironically their clothes are white because they have dipped them not in bleach but in blood.
Don’t try that at home.
No one is safer than the people of God because they are washed white, they are saved.
White clothes is an image of sinless perfection.
But remember who John is writing to.
Ephesus - they’d abandoned the love they had at first.
Pergamum and Thyatira, they were believing false teaching about sexual immorality.
Sardis - they were lazy.
Laodicea was a pretensious group God was about to spit out of his mouth.
Yet John says I saw the people of God and they were pure.
How? By the blood of the Lamb.
This is the gospel. God’s people are safe with him not because they’re the good people, but because Jesus died for them.
We are saved from the wrath of God not by our good works, but by his good work.
Just as God gave Israel the Passover lamb to protect them from the storm of his judgment against Egypt, so God gave his people from every nation Jesus the Christ to save them and protect them from his storm of judgment against all evil.
Just as God said to take the lamb and use it to seal their doorposts with its blood, so God used the blood of Jesus Christ to cleanse us from sin and seal us with his Holy spirit.
The sinful church is saved and made pure by the blood of the lamb.
Then we have this beautiful little poem of sorts in verses 15-17.
Not only are these innumerable people saved, but they will live forever with God in the new creation.
Revelation 21:1–8 ESV
1 Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more. 2 And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. 3 And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God. 4 He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.”
5 And he who was seated on the throne said, “Behold, I am making all things new.” Also he said, “Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true.” 6 And he said to me, “It is done! I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end. To the thirsty I will give from the spring of the water of life without payment. 7 The one who conquers will have this heritage, and I will be his God and he will be my son. 8 But as for the cowardly, the faithless, the detestable, as for murderers, the sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars, their portion will be in the lake that burns with fire and sulfur, which is the second death.”
Revelation is making the same point over and over - no one is safer than the people of God, and no one is in more danger than those outside his care. Worship him! Get out of Babylon! Come be a part of this new city.
“But Christians are not merely hoping for some consolation for the life we have lost. They look toward the restoration of the life we wanted but never had. The resurrected Jesus was not a phantom, and neither shall we be. He received a new body, and so shall we. “Touch me and see, a ghost does not have flesh and bones,” he said to his astonished disciples, “as you see I have” (Luke 24:39). You will not simply get your life back, but you will get the life you always longed for but never were able to achieve.”
No one is safer than the people of God.
And that is not a point of pride leading us to brag. But we are grateful that God has saved us.
Gateway Chapel there is an invisible truth about you that you join this multitude of the sealed and the saved. No one is safer than you. No one has it better than you. No one will be more secure than you. No one will live their best life better than you one day.
So keep going. Hold tight to Jesus. Even though the storm rages around us, hold tight.
Conclusion
As I chewed on this passage, the sermon on the mount came to mind.
Matthew 7:24–27 ESV
24 “Everyone then who hears these words of mine and does them will be like a wise man who built his house on the rock. 25 And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house, but it did not fall, because it had been founded on the rock. 26 And everyone who hears these words of mine and does not do them will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand. 27 And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell, and great was the fall of it.”
This storm that Jesus mentions is something far stronger and more devastating than any tropical storm.
Revelation shocks us with symbolism and warns us - are you right with God?
Have you been sealed by the Holy Spirit? Are you seeing his fruit in your life? Love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, self-control? If not, maybe you are worshiping the wrong God. Repent and turn to Jesus! Be baptized! Join the people of God because no one is safer than the people of God and the same cannot be said for those who are not with him.
Have you been cleansed by Jesus? Not are you a good person, but are you a person who recognizes that love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, and self-control are things you can’t produce without God? Are you the kind of person who says Salvation belongs to God praise God that he saved a sinner like me! If you haven’t, repent and turn to Jesus! Be baptized!
If you have been sealed, if you have been saved, breathe in the good news that you are in the eye of the storm no matter what.
That Jesus took on God’s wrath on the cross for us. He is the Lamb who was slain. The Sovereign Lord holy and true. The first and the last. The living one. He holds the keys of death and hades. He is the one we will serve forever, he will keep us safe in his presence, he will feed us, protect us, and he will be our shepherd who will guide us to living water and wipe away every tear from our eyes.
No one is safer than his people.
Prayer
Communion
Benediction
