Hope In The Midst Of Chaos
Notes
Transcript
Introduction
Introduction
I want to remind everyone again, that what we are studying in Revelation is going to be future related. We are studying, according to Revelation 1:19, the “things which shall be hereafter...”
It’s not happening right now; we are not in the tribulation. The church will be caught up before these things begin to take place.
I do think things are setting up, or lining up for all this though.
I like the way Adrian Rogers put it, he said, “I believe that the stage is set. I believe the dynamite is in place. I believe that the fuse is laid. I believe the match is struck. I believe that things are coming to a climactic head.”
To be 100% clear, though, nothing else has to happen for Christ to take away the church and usher in the day of His wrath.
Everything has been fulfilled, and we are just waiting and watching for the glorious appearing of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ! That’s the blessed hope!
I’m not looking for a sign today, I’m listening for a shout!
In Revelation chapter 6 we were witnesses to a world under a storm of divine judgment.
I believe that we are presently getting a preview of things that will take place during the Tribulation…Let me explain by reviewing the seals we studied last week:
1] First Seal - the Antichrist is revealed: We’re presently experiencing governmental unrest, possibly like never before. The world is looking for a leader that can seemingly solve all of the global problems.
2] Second Seal – War and Battle: We’re presently living in a constant climate of unrest in the world.
3] Third Seal – Famine: Food becomes unbelievably expensive. Even today, think of how much the cost of food is increasing, and even in America, how bare the grocery store shelves are becoming. We are blessed and fortunate…I read an article Friday evening saying that the famine in Afghanistan is so bad right now that people are selling their children to get food. I can’t even process that in my mind! Bro. Paul Dudka, a missionary over in Ukraine said Friday that the price of everything has doubled, and there are lines everywhere trying to buy everything up...
4] Fourth Seal – Death: Death will come by way of war, famine, disease, and wild beast.
5] Fifth Seal - Worldwide Martyrdom: A countless number of tribulation saints will be killed. Christians, right now, are being martyred in Middle Eastern countries if they refuse to convert to Islam. Beheadings are taking place right now in different parts of the world.
6] Sixth Seal - A life altering Earthquake: It seems even now we are seeing a constant increase in the number of earthquakes taking place around the world.
BUT, Jesus says that: “then shall be great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be.”
You might wonder, can it get worse preacher? Yep, it should can, and it will according to the Bible…As I mentioned just a moment ago, things are just lining up.
Now, what follows these things, these seals in chapter 6 is what many Bible scholars call a parenthetical; meaning that these events we are going to learn about in chapter 7 take place between the sixth seal and the seventh. It’s a time where there is a pause in the opening of the seals.
The seventh seal doesn’t get opened until chapter 8.
The Might of the Angels
The Might of the Angels
1 And after these things I saw four angels standing on the four corners of the earth, holding the four winds of the earth, that the wind should not blow on the earth, nor on the sea, nor on any tree.
At the end of chapter 6, we find the statement,
17 For the great day of his wrath is come; and who shall be able to stand?
The answer to that question is “nobody.” His wrath is so great that everyone will be trying to flee from it!
But at the beginning of chapter 7, something interesting happens...
We are told that four angels stand on the four corners of the earth holding back the four winds of the earth.
The four corners of the earth here is a figure of speech implying the four directional points of the compass…North, South, East, and West.
The four angels display might and power as they hold back the four winds of the earth. People cannot stop the wind, see the wind, or understand the wind, but the angels are holding back the winds, restraining the winds, and keeping back the winds.
The viewpoint of many right here is that this is a break in judgment, but I don’t know about that.
You think about this…All the things that just happened, the great earthquake, which will no doubt cause volcanoes to erupt, spewing ash and forming great clouds which will produce storms. The only hope of these storms dissipating, or the clouds of ash that will darken the skies of fading away, is wind...
Think about this, 1/4 of the earth’s population has just died and the bodies are piling up no doubt. Think of about the odor that will come from these bodies that haven’t been buried…The only hope of relief would be that the wind would blow the stench away, but there’s no wind.
Henry Morris wrote, “The circulation of the atmosphere is a mighty engine, driven by energy from the sun and from the earth’s rotation. The tremendous powers involved in this operation become especially obvious when they are displayed in the form of great hurricanes and blizzards and tornadoes. These winds of the earth make life possible on earth through the hydro-logic cycle, transporting waters inland from the ocean with which to water the earth. Yet the angels—only four of them—had turned off this gigantic engine.”
During this period there will be no wind blowing across the earth, no waves crashing into the shore, no leaves falling from their branches, no breeze rustling the leaves, no clouds traversing the skies! The wind will cease to blow—this is a mighty display of power by these four angels!
The Message for the Angels
The Message for the Angels
2 And I saw another angel ascending from the east, having the seal of the living God: and he cried with a loud voice to the four angels, to whom it was given to hurt the earth and the sea,
3 Saying, Hurt not the earth, neither the sea, nor the trees, till we have sealed the servants of our God in their foreheads.
As John watches, a fifth angel appears on the earth. This angel rises from the east like the morning sun.
He comes commanding the first four angels to refrain from their mission of destruction upon the earth.
This angel has come to “seal the servants of God in their foreheads.” and he instructs the other angels to not unleash their power just yet...
Notice something right here…This is angel number 5! The number 5 in the Bible always represents grace!
I was listening to music while studying last night as I normally do and I was reading this passage while listening to these words:
Amazing Grace shall always be my song of praise
For it was grace that brought me liberty
I do not know just why He ever came to love me so
He looked beyond my faults and saw my need
And I shall forever lift mine eyes to Calvary
To view the cross where Jesus died for me
How marvelous the grace that caught my falling soul
He looked beyond my faults and saw my need
Hallelujah! Thank God for His mercy and grace!
This passage in Revelation makes me think of Habakkuk 3:2 where the prophet Habakkuk prays “…in wrath remember mercy.”
Lehman Strauss wrote, “The world at its worst will always see God at His best. In wrath He remembered mercy on the night of the Passover in Egypt. In wrath He remembered mercy before the flood in Noah’s day. In wrath He remembered mercy at Calvary when He cast the world into darkness and shook the earth because of man’s sin. In that hour of Christ’s death God might have closed the books on man in judgment, but instead He remembered mercy, and salvation shone through the clouds of His wrath.”
Notice verse 4...
4 And I heard the number of them which were sealed: and there were sealed an hundred and forty and four thousand of all the tribes of the children of Israel.
Adrian Rogers said, “In the days when the Bible was written, a seal basically stood for three things: possession, protection, and preservation. In the same way, God has put a seal of possession, protection, and preservation upon these 144,000 souls.”
In the Bible, there are several instances of God sealing His people.
Noah and his family were sealed up in the Ark, Gen. 7:16.
Rahab was sealed by a scarlet thread hanging from her window, Josh. 2:18.
The children of Israel were sealed by the blood of the lamb on the doorposts and lintels of their homes, Ex. 12:13.
And we see it right here in Revelation 7...
Hey, let me remind you that if you are saved today, you too have been marked by God. You have been sealed by Him.
In Eph. 1:13–14, the Bible says, “In whom ye also trusted, after that ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation: in whom also after that ye believed, ye were sealed with that holy Spirit of promise, 14 Which is the earnest of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, unto the praise of his glory.”
When you were saved, an invisible mark was placed upon you. No one can see it, but it is there. God sealed you at that instant and He marked you as His Own. What does this invisible mark mean?
1. It is a Seal of Possession—God places His seal upon your life and marks you as being His possession! He claims you as His very Own. He paid the ultimate price to redeem you from your sins and He owns you now, 1 Cor. 6:19–20.
Because He owns you, He is going to return again for you some day. He will not desert you to the enemy.
2. It is a Seal of Protection—Since we are His, we can expect Him to protect us from the attacks of the enemy. Satan would love nothing better than to defeat us and drag our souls to Hell, 1 Pet. 5:8. But, because we are sealed, he cannot get to us. We are “kept by the power of God”, 1 Pet. 1:5. The Lord has set an eternal guard around our souls and we are sealed and safe in Him!
3. It is a Seal of Preservation—
30 And grieve not the holy Spirit of God, whereby ye are sealed unto the day of redemption.
This verse tells us how long this seal will last. We are sealed until the day we arrive home in glory.
We have been sealed by God and we are safe in Him until the day we make it home to Heaven.
Conclusion
Conclusion
Tonight, we will look into these 144,000 so make sure you come back...
I’m glad I can say that I’m one of His today!
I’m protected and I’m preserved!
What about you? - If you are saved today, why not come and thank God for saving you, and thank Him that you won’t experience any of these horrible judgements.
If you’re not saved, why not come and trust in Him for salvation!