Sermon Tone Analysis

Introduction

Scripture

Outline

Revelation 1 - Introduction

Revelation 1:1-3 - Prologue & Benediction

Revelation 1:4-8 - Epistolary Introduction

Revelation 1:9-20 - A Vision of the Son of Man

Revelation 2-3 - The Seven Churches

Revelation 2:1-7 - The Letter to Ephesus

Revelation 2:8-11 - The Letter to Smyrna

Revelation 2:12-17 - The Letter to Pergamum

Revelation 2:18-29 - The Letter to Thyatira

Revelation 3:1-6 - The Letter to Sardis

Revelation 3:7-13 - The Letter to Philadelphia

Revelation 3:14-22 - The Letter to Laodicea

Revelation 4-5 - The Throne Room

Revelation 4:1-11 - A Vision of the Throne Room

Revelation 5:1-14 - The Lamb is Worthy

Revelation 6-8:1 - The Seven Seals

Revelation 6:1-8 - The First Four Seals

Revelation 6:9-17 - The Fifth and Sixth Seals

Revelation 7:1-17 - Who can Stand on the Day of the Lord?

Revelation 7:1-8 - The Redeemed are Sealed

Revelation 7:9-17 - The Redeemed in the New Creation

Purpose of Book

The purpose of Revelation is to challenge/encourage believers, who are expectantly awaiting the reign of Christ, to live faithfully for Him despite worldly circumstances, persecution, and the cosmic battle between God and Satan.

Main Point

Who is able to stand on the Day of the Lord?

The redeemed people of God who dwell with the Lamb of God

Revelation 7:1-8 - The Redeemed are Sealed

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.

After this I saw

Four angels standing at the four corners of the earth

These celestial beings hold authority over the whole world

Holding back the four winds of the earth, that no wind might blow on earth or sea or against any tree

In Daniel the four winds were used symbolically to show chaos and a threat as the four beasts come on to the earth to destroy

Here in Revelation, the opposite is happening - judgment is withheld for the moment

John is giving us a vision of who will be able to stand against the day of great wrath by showing us a vision that happened just before the Day of the Lord

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.”

Another angel ascending from the rising sun, with the seal of the living God

The angel comes from the east and heads westward

Notice how the vision describes God - LIVING

He called out… to the four angels.. Do not harm the earth or the sea or the trees, until we have sealed the servants of our God on their foreheads

The seal represents ownership - the redeemed belong to God

The redeemed with the seal will not experience the Day of great wrath that is to come to the whole earth - they will be protected

Those who are troubled over the sins of Jerusalem are protected from judgment that is to come upon the city

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.

144,000 - all the followers of God, the true Israel, who are about to enter the final testing

144,000 is 12 squared and then multiplied by 1,000 emphasizing completeness

List of 12 tribes

Here the tribe of Dan and Ephraim are missing from the list

Dan might be omitted because of egregious sin in Judges 18 where the Danites set up a a carved image for worship

Judah is listed first most likely because the Messiah came from his lineage

Revelation 7:9-17 - The Redeemed in the New Creation

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!”

After this I looked

Notice the difference between the 144,000 - He heard vs. he saw

Behold, a great multitude that no one could number

From every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages

The fulfillment of the Edenic/Noahic/Abrahamic Covenant becomes a reality

The fulfillment of the Great Commission

Standing before the throne and before the Lamb

Standing - answering the question from Revelation 6:17!

Clothed in white robes, with palm branches in their hands

White robes signify righteousness and purity

Palm branches signify joy and praise to God

Crying out with a loud voice, “Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!”

Notice who salvation belongs to - God and the Lamb - NOT US!

Deliverance from the tribulation is not ascribed to those who persevere but to the ones who give the ability to persevere

Ultimate victory over sin, death, and the devil belong to the Father and 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.”

Scene

The redeemed people of God

Angels, elders, four living creatures responding to the worship of redeemed people

Fell on their faces before the throne and worshiped God

A celestial doxology fills the throne room

Amen!

So be it!

Affirming the worship of the redeemed

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.

Sir, you know

John is ignorant of who these are, but the wisdom of the elder is revealed

My Lord...

Coming out of the great tribulation

Eschatological enemy persecuting the saints

Great tribulation in Matthew refers to the destruction of the Temple in AD70

The great tribulation is the time between the death/burial/resurrection/ascension of Christ until His return

Washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb

Spiritual washing has happened - they are no long sinners, but saints

There is only one way in which this happens - the blood of the Lamb, the sacrifice of Jesus

“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.