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Intro:
Intro:
Good morning River Church. Welcome. Glad to see everyone!
When I think about the Christian-life, two things Jesus said stick out:
But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.
-18-20
And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”
When I put these two things together, I believe Jesus is teaching me - as a Christian - to make the Kingdom of God the main priority in my life. And discipleship is a huge part of that - He says go and make disciples.
Here at TRC, a couple ways we make disciples is through D-Groups and Life Groups. Earlier this year, our D-Groups (or discipleship groups) multiplied. And last week, our second Life Group launched. I’m excited about this because I believe it reveals our church is passionate about two things Jesus is passionate about.
Additionally, many have heard me talk about my desire to one day send out people, from our church, to start more churches. I know that sounds weird because we’re still a small church. But Jesus told us to seek “His” kingdom, not our own. So, our job isn’t to build the largest numerical church in Glastonbury so people can say, “Look at them!” Our job is to seek God’s kingdom. Starting new churches (or church planting) is a major way to do that. So, it’s something we’re hoping to do one day, whether we are 100 or 1000.
Even though we’re not ready to do that yet, it doesn’t mean we can’t begin investing our time, resources, and prayer into church planting. You know that 10% of the tithes and offerings gets sent out to our denomination to help other church planters. Currently, I’m working with a church planter in Stafford Springs to help him build the Kingdom out there. And today, I’m going to call our friend Chris Skowronek up to share with us another exciting Kingdom work starting in our area.
Now, we’re not there (ready) yet, but that doesn’t mean we can’t invest our time, resources, and prayer into the Kingdom. You know that 10% of the tithes and offerings we take in gets sent out for Kingdom work. We don’t have our own missionaries yet, but we’ve help financially support others to go do Kingdom work. Currently, I’m working with a church planter in Stafford Springs to help him start a church out there. And today, I’m going to call our friend Chris Skowronek up to share with us another exciting Kingdom work starting in our area.
Chris & Uttam.
Alright, be praying for that guys! It’s exciting! And with that, who’s ready to talk about God’s wrath!? If you have your bible/app, turn to .
Last week, we talked about John’s vision of heavenly worship. We talked about the worship of God the Father - the One who created everything. And we talked about the worship of Jesus - the Lamb who was sacrificed on the cross to save us from our sin. And we talked about how John is receiving this vision as a parenthesis (giving him extra information for a better perspective), so that He understands God has everything under control before he’s shown the chaos about to be unleashed on the world.
In this heavenly scene, Jesus (the Lamb) is given a sealed scroll. It’s got seven seals on it and inside is written God’s plan for the end of the world as we know it. He’s the only One worthy to open it. And here in chapter 6, Jesus begins breaking the seals, which signals the beginning-of-the-end. It’s when the judgments of God (the wrath of God) are unleashed. And over the next 10 chapters, we’ll see three categories of judgment unleashed: seals, trumpets, and bowls.
Historically, people have viewed these judgments in one of two ways:
1) The first way is seeing 21 judgments poured out onto the world, with the 7th judgment in each set containing the next set of judgments. It would look like this. To put it another way, how many know what nesting dolls are? Okay, so the judgments would look like this...
[Show Star Wars Nesting Dolls]
2) The second way to view the judgments is to see 7 judgments, starting with the seals, that cycle back on each other - like this. And each time they cycle back, they grow in intensity. Many hold to this theory because - as you will see - a lot of these judgments repeat or share details. Using the Star Wars example, the cycle judgments would look like this...
[Show Star Wars Nesting Dolls]
Exegesis:
Exegesis:
Now, you might be asking, “Why does God need to pour out judgments on the earth? I thought God is love. This doesn’t seem very loving!” I think that’s a legitimate question. It involves a huge answer! One that involves discussing biblical love, holiness, God’s sovereignty, retribution… but let’s approach answering it from this perspective.
Someone say, “Sin is no joke.” Sin is not a small thing. It’s not something God sees and says, “That’s alright. It’s not a big deal. It’s just a mistake.” Sin is rebellion against God.
Everyone who makes a practice of sinning also practices lawlessness; sin is lawlessness.
Sin is serious! And I believe these judgments show us that. Look at the first four seal judgments...
Now I watched when the Lamb opened one of the seven seals, and I heard one of the four living creatures say with a voice like thunder, “Come!” And I looked, and behold, a white horse! And its rider had a bow, and a crown was given to him, and he came out conquering, and to conquer.
When he opened the second seal, I heard the second living creature say, “Come!” And out came another horse, bright red. Its rider was permitted to take peace from the earth, so that people should slay one another, and he was given a great sword.
When he opened the third seal, I heard the third living creature say, “Come!” And I looked, and behold, a black horse! And its rider had a pair of scales in his hand. And I heard what seemed to be a voice in the midst of the four living creatures, saying, “A quart of wheat for a denarius, and three quarts of barley for a denarius, and do not harm the oil and wine!”
When he opened the fourth seal, I heard the voice of the fourth living creature say, “Come!” And I looked, and behold, a pale horse! And its rider’s name was Death, and Hades followed him. And they were given authority over a fourth of the earth, to kill with sword and with famine and with pestilence and by wild beasts of the earth.
Rev. 6:1-
Let me summarize what we just read...
As Jesus breaks a seal, a judgment is released. Whether the seal judgment is it’s own separate judgment or if it’s the beginning of a judgment that will intensify, really doesn’t matter. Sin is no joke, so the judgments of God have finally begun. Crazy things are about to go down. And even if you’ve never studied the Bible, some of this may sound familiar… many stories and movies have used the theme of the four horsemen of the Apocalypse.
The first seal judgment describes the first horseman - a rider on a white horse. It’s possible this rider represents what we call the anti-christ. It is believed that one day a world leader will rise, empowered by Satan, and will take over the world to claim it as his own. He will be adored by the world and will initially promise world peace, only to conquer the world and demand people worship him.
The second seal brings forth a red horse, indicating war. Possibly the war that comes due to the anti-christ.
The third seal is the black horse of famine. Because of this great war, food will be scarce. A denarius was a day’s wage and a quart of wheat or 3 quarts of barley was barely enough to feed one person. What’s that mean? Everyone will go hungry. The reference to “do not harm the oil and wine” is debated, but the best answer I found was the famine will be so bad, that no one will be concerned about “finer” things in life like oil and wine.
The fourth seal is the horse of death. In the Great Tribulation, a lot of people are going to die. It says a fourth of the population will be taken out. Using today’s population, there are 7.5 billion people on earth. A fourth would be more than all of North and South America combined. Or, all of Africa. Theses judgments will be catastrophic!
But I want us to noticed something… look at the progression of these first four judgments: lust (desire for power and worship)/conquer - war - famine - death. Do you realize what’s happening? These judgments aren’t directly from God. It’s more God removing His presence and letting the world have it’s way.
How many of us realize that, were it not for the grace of God, we would destroy our life? My sin is so serious that I don’t need anyone’s help messing my life up - I can do that all by myself! That’s really what’s happening here. God is letting mankind have its way. What happens when a bunch of sinners have their way? We implode. We destroy ourselves. Sin is so destructive that when it’s allowed to run free, it’ll create chaos like never before. One of the greatest judgments God can pour out on us is to simply give our wicked hearts what it wants: God out of the way. That’s what these first four judgments show us, the seriousness of sin.
Then, look at the next judgment...
When he opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of those who had been slain for the word of God and for the witness they had borne. They cried out with a loud voice, “O Sovereign Lord, holy and true, how long before you will judge and avenge our blood on those who dwell on the earth?” Then they were each given a white robe and told to rest a little longer, until the number of their fellow servants and their brothers should be complete, who were to be killed as they themselves had been.
Rev. 6
For the fifth seal, John sees a bunch of Christians who have been killed, asking for God to judge and avenge them. What’s going on here? How did these Christians die?
It’s probable that in the Great Tribulation (this time of judgments), Christians are heavily persecuted. They are protected from God’s judgments (we’ll see that later), but the world can still kill them. Maybe it’s by order of the anti-christ. Or, maybe because people blame God for the world tragedies and what better way to strike back at God than to hurt His children. But notice two things...
God’s response is, “rest a little longer, until the number of [your] fellow servants and brothers should be complete, who were to be killed as [you yourselves] have been.” That’s weird. God’s people are asking God to judge and make things right, and God says, “I will, but be patient and wait until more Christians are killed.” We can go down a lot of avenues with this passage, but here’s what I want to focus on: God has a different perspective on a Christian passing away, amen?
While I don’t think God takes the killing of His children lightly, I do think He’s giving us an eternal perspective. We shouldn’t fear earthly death. It’s not a big deal to God. Why? Because, in Jesus, we have eternal life. When we die physically, all that awaits us is eternal joy, perfection, and a future glorified body. In light of that, who cares about dying? Let’s live boldly for Christ! If we die risking our life for Christ, who cares? Something better awaits!
Anyone ever hear someone say, “Only God can judge me?” That’s always been a scary statement for me. Especially since most of the people who use it are those who are trying to justify sinful living. I’ve always thought, “Do you really want God to judge you?”
I don’t! If God judges me (based on my merits), I’m toast! I only get into heaven because I put my faith in Jesus, and God judged Jesus in my place! But the second thing to notice is God WILL judge sin - and we REALLY see that in the sixth seal!
When he opened the sixth seal, I looked, and behold, there was a great earthquake, and the sun became black as sackcloth, the full moon became like blood, and the stars of the sky fell to the earth as the fig tree sheds its winter fruit when shaken by a gale. The sky vanished like a scroll that is being rolled up, and every mountain and island was removed from its place.
Rev. 6:
People be like, “Only God can judge me.” God be like, “Oh, is that what you really want? You gonna mess with my kids too? Okay, let me show just a little bit of what I can do. Hide yo wife, hide yo kids… cause I’m bout to tear this place apart!”
Can you imagine what it will be like when this stuff starts happening? Now, as I was thinking about this, I realized there might be a few of us who are like, “Oh, I like end-of-the-world type of stuff, I’ll want to watch it.” I think our culture is a little desensitized to apocalyptic events because of movies and stuff. It’s seems more cool than scary. But let me assure you, NO ONE will want to experience the sixth seal. No matter how desensitized you are, if you’re around for that, your reaction will be like this...
Then the kings of the earth and the great ones and the generals and the rich and the powerful, and everyone, slave and free, hid themselves in the caves and among the rocks of the mountains, calling to the mountains and rocks, “Fall on us and hide us from the face of him who is seated on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb, for the great day of their wrath has come, and who can stand?”
Rev. 6:
When God begins to show the world how serious He is about sin through His judgments, it’s going to be scary. No one will want to experience the wrath of the Lamb. So, how do we avoid that? What can we do? I believe chapter 7 answers that.
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. 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, saying, “Do not harm the earth or the sea or the trees, until we have sealed the servants of our God on their foreheads.” And I heard the number of the sealed, 144,000, sealed from every tribe of the sons of Israel:
12,000 from the tribe of Judah were sealed,
12,000 from the tribe of Reuben,
12,000 from the tribe of Gad,
12,000 from the tribe of Asher,
12,000 from the tribe of Naphtali,
12,000 from the tribe of Manasseh,
12,000 from the tribe of Simeon,
12,000 from the tribe of Levi,
12,000 from the tribe of Issachar,
12,000 from the tribe of Zebulun,
12,000 from the tribe of Joseph,
12,000 from the tribe of Benjamin were sealed.
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.”
We’re running short on time so I won’t read it all to you (that’s your homework). But in chapter 7, we get another “divine parenthesis.” The action stops and God gives John another heavenly perspective. And in heaven we see three things:
John sees an angel tell the four horsemen that before they unleash the judgments, to wait until the seal of God is placed on His people. John mentions “144,000 sealed from every tribe of the sons of Israel.” Depending on your view of Revelation, this can be taken literal and represent many Jews coming to Christ during the Great Tribulation. Or, it can symbolically represent the church in the Great Tribulation. Either way, the point is, God makes sure His people are saved from His wrath.
Then, John sees “a great multitude of people from every nation saved and worshiping Jesus. They are saved because they put their faith in the Lamb (in Jesus), who washed them in His blood that was spilled on the cross. Their sins are forgiven and they never have to worry about God judging them.
Then, John is told these people died in the Great Tribulation. They faithfully endured hard times. And because of it, God rewards them with His presence. They get to be with Him forever, they never have to worry about anything, and every heartache (tear) will be taken away.
What answer does this divine parenthesis tell us? It tells us that if you want to avoid the wrath of the Lamb, you got to be saved by the Lamb. When you place your faith in Jesus, you will never have to worry about God’s wrathful judgments. Why? Because your sin was paid for by the Lamb. You may STILL have to face hard times here on earth. You may even die for your faith. But in Jesus, death is not a big deal. It has no power over us. It simply ushers us into eternal joy. Into the presence of God. Into everything we could ever desire. And into the removal of every tear.
Response:
Response:
As we close today, I hope we realize God gave us these chapters in advance for a reason. One, so we would realize that sin is serious. It’s so serious that it’ll destroy our lives all by itself. But also, because God is holy, one day God must judge sin with His wrath. But God, in His grace, is telling us that in advance because He doesn’t want any of us to experience it.
He loves us so much that He’s given us what’s thousands of years advanced warning. He’s like, “Let’s play tag and I’m going to count to 10 billion. That’s how much headstart you get.”God’s given us a super-headstart, so get right now! Take sin serious now! Repent and put your faith in Jesus. Jesus died on the cross to be our “propitiation.” That is a fancy word for “wrath-absorber.” Jesus died for us so we wouldn’t have to face God’s judgment for our sin.
If you never done that before, don’t wait. We don’t know when these events in Revelation will happen. They could start today. And if you don’t know Jesus, you’ll have to face the wrath of God. Don’t let that happen. God doesn’t want that to happen. Stop messing around with sin, repent (turn away from it), and give your life to Jesus. And let the seal of God come upon your life.
I’m going to call the worship team up. And if you need to get right with God, do that today. The bible says, “Anyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.” Call out to Him.
And if you’re a Christian today, maybe the message for you is to stop messing around with sin. It’s serious. It’s destructive. Sin deserves God’s wrath! And if you’re a Christian, realize Jesus - the One who loves you with an everlasting love - had to pay for it. Don’t play with something that Jesus paid for with His life. Something that God will one day pour wrath out on. Something that can destroy your life. Instead, seek first the Kingdom of God.