I think so many of us have come to church this morning with something of a somberness,
and I know I came with a bit of a heavy heart.
What we need this morning is not just to hear the opinions of man, we're not just here to
be inspired or to hear a prep talk, we need to hear God and encounter God.
So let's come before Him in prayer, and I want to encourage you to listen to this prayer
that I've written for us, and let's try and make it our own as much as possible, and
then we'll listen to the reading of God's Word.
So let's pray.
Heavenly Father, loving Lord, we come to you this morning not in strength but in weakness.
Father, we come not confident or self-assured, many of us come conflicted and afflicted and
hurting, unsure of ourselves, unsure of how to make sense of the pain in our city, unsure
of how to respond to what we see and experience around us.
Oh Lord, Father, we are broken, God, by the hatred and the anger that we see, and we don't
know how to respond, God, to so much of what's going on in our city and of what we are witnessing.
Father, we don't know how it's going to end.
God, we come to you this morning stripped of answers, stripped of any semblance of wisdom,
stripped of any self-confidence, and Father, we feel like we've been laid low.
How long, oh Lord, how long?
As the psalmist tells us, God, we are weary with our groaning.
We are worn out with anxiety.
We are tired and exhausted, and our fears, God, are overwhelming.
How long, oh Lord, how long?
And so, Heavenly Father, we've come to you this morning, because we have nowhere else to turn.
We come to you this morning because nothing else will answer our concerns.
God, you have the words of life.
Your Spirit speaks our hearts, and because despite everything we see around us, we believe that
you, God, are truth, you are light, you are sovereign, and that our lives are in your
hands, God.
Father, as we turn to your word this morning, we long for you to speak to us.
We long for you, God, to make sense of what we're struggling to make sense of.
Father, we need you to pour faith into our hearts and to lift our sights onto you.
And so, God, we come to you this morning because you are God and we are not.
We come to you, God, because you are on your heavenly throne and have not been displaced.
We come to you, God, because in you there is perfect justice.
Oh, God, who is there like you?
Who else can give our hearts peace like you?
Who else will establish justice and righteousness like you?
Who can keep people safe like you?
Who can give us true freedom and hope like you?
Oh, Lord God, this morning we've come to declare that, Father, despite what we see around us,
there is no one and none like you.
And our hearts and our hope are found in you, Lord God.
This morning we join with the whole host of heaven, declaring that salvation belongs to
our God and that our God reigns.
Worthy are you, oh, Lord our God, to receive our worship, glory, honor, and praise.
Both today in the city of Hong Kong, all around the world, and for all eternity.
We pray these things in your powerful, your glorious, and your trustworthy name.
Amen.
Pui and Betty are going to come and read to us.
And this morning we've got a long reading.
We are reading two full chapters of the book of Revelation.
So I want to encourage you to listen up.
There's a lot of interesting terminology and symbolism, but let's listen to God's word
being read to us.
The scripture reading comes from Revelation, chapters 6 and 7.
Please follow along in your booklets or on the screen.
Now I watched when the Lamb opened one of the seven seals, and I heard one of the four
living creatures say with a loud 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 the sword, and with famine,
and with pestilence, and by wild beasts of the earth.
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.
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 light blood,
and the stars of the sky fell to the earth as the fig tree cheds 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.
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?
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 Vanessa.
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 worshipped 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 first no more
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
This is the word of God
Great, thank you Betty and Pui
For that long reading
And thanks so much
Well, we
If you're new to Watermark
We are working our way through the book of Revelation
And I heard recently that somebody said
They did some research in the U.S.
And the book of Revelation is one of the books of the Bible
That most Christians want taught to them and explained
And it's the one book of the Bible
That most pastors don't want to go anywhere near
And I can understand why
This week I said to Oscar
I said, why on earth did we choose Revelation?
It's this passage has beaten me up this week
And we're starting to get to the interesting parts of it
With interesting symbolism
And so let's see if we can try and make sense of it today
There's a lot in here
And so let's go for it
This week and next week
Are going to be particularly challenging
And for two reasons
One, because the symbolism is so strange
There are these strange horsemen
And all sorts of things
And moons that are turning blood and stuff
And so that's challenging
But then secondly
When we actually try and understand it
The message itself is challenging
It's a hard message to receive
And so
I really do pray and trust
That God will use His word to speak to us
To both encourage us
And to challenge us
Now if you look back on the history of the world
And especially the last century
You'll see that our world has
In the last century
Had great moments
Of wonderful moments
Of human achievement
Technological advancement
Scientific
Medicinal discoveries
That have benefited human life
But at the same time
If we're honest
And look back
In the same period of time
Many of those scientific discoveries
And technological advances
Have also been used
To bring great harm
And destruction
On the world
And so we think of even just
For instance
The invention of the airplane
What a great benefit that's been
But at the same time
How that was used
In so many wars
To bring about great heartache
And destruction
We think of the World War I
And World War II
In the last century
Think of the Holocaust
We think of Pol Pot
And his regime
In Cambodia
In the 1970s
Two million Cambodians
Were killed
We think of the terrors
In Africa
The many many civil wars
The Rwandan genocide
We think of the chaos
In the Middle East
The famine in Oman
At the moment
As a result of war
And if we who live in Hong Kong
Ever felt
Oh we are fortunate
To live in the safe
And secure society
The last three months itself
Has challenged that idea
That actually we do live
In a broken world
And our world is full of tears
And heartache
Now for the Christians
In first century Rome
Their story was very similar
Because the Roman Empire
Was one that promised
Great blessing
The Pax Romana
Promised relative stability
And peace
Throughout the Roman Empire
Rome had secured
Relative financial prosperity
For its citizens
There was infrastructural discoveries
Like the highways
And the aqueducts
And so for the Roman Empire
There was much blessing
For those that enjoyed it
But at the same time
There was an ugly underbelly
To the Roman Empire
Because as their hunger
For expansion grew
So did the consequences of that
Slavery
Injustice
Corruption
Death
And destruction
And so the story
Of the first century
And the church
That Jesus writes to
In Revelation
Is very
Or not too dissimilar
From actually our own world
We see this
Growth
And development
But at the same time
This brokenness
In our world
Now if we were to ask
An artist
To paint us
An impression
Of the last century
I wonder how
He would do that
What would an artist's
Impression
Of the last century
Of all that we've described
Look like
Well actually
There's an artist
That did that
And his name is
Pablo Picasso
In 1939
He painted a very famous
Painting
Called Granica
I think that's how you say it
And we've got a picture of it
Somewhere up here
And the story behind this
Is that two years previously
In 1937
There's a Spanish war going on
And German bombers
Came and flew over
The Spanish town of Granica
Bombing its citizens
And the streets of Granica
But what was happening
Was actually
A lot of the
Hitler and his
Military strategists
Were actually practicing
Their military strategy
For what they would then
Employ in the world war
That was coming up
And so what happened was
The citizens of this town
The fighter jets
Come and bomb the town
They all run
And take cover
They stay under cover
For 15-20 minutes
Or so
An hour
And as they come back
Into the streets
When they think
It's calm again
The planes come a second time
Around
And bomb them again
And thousands of people
Die in the Spanish town
And so Pablo Picasso
Paints this picture
Called Granica
It's a gross picture
That's full of catastrophe
And chaos
And body parts
Now Picasso's picture
Doesn't represent history
Like a photograph does
Or like a newspaper report
But it does convey
Something of the horror
And the chaos
That took place
In this town
Just a few years before
In a similar way
This is what the passage
In the book of Revelation
Is like
Jesus through
The apostle John
Is trying to give us
A picture
An artist's impression
Of the story
Of the world
But he's not giving us
A newspaper account
Or he's not giving us
A history book account
It's this artistic impression
That's full of imagery
And strange symbols
And chaos
And destruction
And moons that are
Turning to blood
And the stars are falling
It's an artist's impression
That conveys the story
Of the world
And is meant to elicit
Our emotions
To understand
What God is trying to say
Now as we get into
The next couple of chapters
The book of Revelation
Has this series of sevens
In chapter 6 and 7
That we look at today
There are seven seals
On this parchment
In chapter 8 and 9
There are seven trumpets
That are blown
In chapter 11
We see seven thunders
And chapter 15 and 16
There are seven bowls
That are poured out
With these seven plagues
Okay
Now John is not trying
To predict the future
He's not a fortune teller
He's not trying to give us
Chronological account
Of the world
And so some people say
Okay what are the seven seals
You know this is
Nero
And then this is
This event
And then we go to the trumpet
And then chronological
That's not what's happening
What John is saying
Is he's saying
The story of the world
Remember God's trying
To peel back the curtain
So we can see the world
From heaven's perspective
He's saying
The story of the world
It's a bit like this
But it's also a bit like this
And it's also a little bit like this
In other words
All the series of seven
Are the same story of the world
From a different angle
It's like as Chris explained
A few weeks ago
You're watching a sports game
Your team scores a try
Or scores a goal
And there's this camera angle
That shows it from this angle
And then they show
The same event from this angle
And then they show
The same event from this angle
This action replay
That's what the book of Revelation
Is really about
It's going to show us
The story of the world
From all these different angles
So that we can see it
From heaven's perspective
And so today
We get to the first of these
Seven
These series of sevens
And the images of a parchment
Or a scroll
That's been rolled up
And in the ancient time
When a scroll was rolled up
It had these wax seals put upon it
To keep it from praying eyes
And from those that weren't meant
To look inside
And so there's this scroll
And each time a seal
Jesus breaks open
One of these wax seals
Some cataclysmic event
Happens on the earth
And so that's the background
Behind our passage
Now last bit of introduction
Before we get to the passage today
In order to really understand
This section
We need to follow
The flow of thought
Through the book of Revelation
And so very briefly
I'm going to recap
Remember
Chapter 1
We see this vision
Of Jesus in all his glory
We sang about it earlier
Jesus with eyes like fire
Burnished bronze feet
Voice like rushing waters
And Jesus in all his glory
Chapter 2 and chapter 3
Jesus then writes these letters
Or a letter
To these seven churches
In Revelation
And the reason is
Because these churches
Same as our church today
Are facing two challenges
The one challenge
Is to become
Just like the culture
In which it finds itself
To become syncretistic
Or to accommodate the culture
To be seduced by the power
And the prestige
And the glamour of Rome
And to try and find
Their hope and confidence
In the culture
In which they find themselves
But the other challenge
The churches were facing
Was to say
No we're not going to
Compromise like that
We're going to stand firm
But the church was so small
It felt insignificant
And how was the church
Ever going to stand up
Against the power
And the machine
Of the Roman Empire
And so Jesus writes them
And he says
Don't be overwhelmed
Or over seduced
By the culture
In which you find yourselves
But also don't be overwhelmed
With fear
By the power of Rome
Stay faithful to me
Keep your eyes fixed
On me
I am your hope
And Jesus
At the end of each letter
He says this
This one refrain
To the one who overcomes
To those that endure
To the end
To those who conquer
I promise life
And blessing
And reward
And so Jesus
Writes these letters
To saying
Stay faithful
In the midst of the culture
And the midst of fear
And anxiety
Keep your eyes fixed
On me
And then chapter 4
We saw this
Vision of Jesus
Of God
And all his glory
On the throne
All creation
All angels
Bowing down to him
Worshipping him
Not for what he's done
But simply for who he is
And then chapter 5
Colin brought to us
Two weeks ago
Not only God
On the throne
But Jesus
Is there right next to him
And Jesus is worthy
Of all worship
And all honor
And all glory
Not only because
Of who he is
But because of
What he's done
Because he died
On the cross
To save you and I
And so
As the church
In Asia Minor
Reads this revelation
Of God on the throne
And Jesus is there
Next to him
The thought that
Must have come
To their mind
Was come on
What's there to worry about
We've got this thing
If this God
Who is on the throne
Of all the universe
Is on our side
And we're on his side
We're indestructible
Like
This is a done deal
Right
What's there to worry about
And Jesus now
Writes to his church
To show them
That just because
He's on the throne
Doesn't mean
That there's not
Going to be any
Difficulty in the world
In which they live
Because Jesus
Writes them
To show them
That although
His kingdom
Has already come
It hasn't yet
Fully come
In all its fulfillment
Jesus is saying
I came
And I brought
My kingdom
It's already here
But I haven't yet come
When I come
A second time
It will be
Fully established
Jesus hasn't
Fully
Overthrown
All his enemies
Yet
Now that day is coming
When he returns
But we live
As Christians
In this weird overlap
Of the already
And the not yet
His kingdom has come
But it hasn't yet
Fully come
And so we find ourselves
In this
Interesting stage
In redemptive history
Where Jesus
Is on the throne
But there's still
Difficulty and chaos
And trouble
In our world
Does that make sense?
And so now
The next ten chapters
Of Revelation
Jesus is writing
To show his church
And to give them hope
In the midst
Of this season
In which they find themselves
The midst of the already
And the not yet
Okay
And so let's go to
Revelation chapter 6
Verse 1
John looks
And this is what he says
Now I watched
And when the lamb
The lamb is Jesus
Okay
Jesus who died
And came alive again
When the lamb
Opened one of the seals
I heard one of the
Four living creatures
Saying with a loud
Voice like thunder
Come
And I looked
And behold
A white horse
Its rider had a bow
And a crown was given to him
And he came out
Conquering
And to conquest
And John looks
And he sees
These four horses
Okay
He sees again
Another Jesus
Opening the seal
And there's another
Horse comes
A red horse
Which is symbolism
Of blood
And war
And armies
And conquest
He sees another
There's another seal
Is opened
And another horse
Comes
It's a black horse
It's a picture of famine
And economic injustice
And inequality
Interesting look here
There's a voice
In verse 6
It says
A quarter of wheat
For a denarius
Three quarters of barley
For a denarius
But do not touch
The oil and the wine
Do you know
What's going on there
When war comes
What happens
There's famine
Right
And so
The price of staple foods
Goes through the roof
And so the two staple foods here
Wheat and barley
The price has just
Exponentially gone through the roof
It's like 15 or 20 fold
What it normally is
And so the people
The staple foods
The prices have just
Gone through the roof
But someone says
Don't touch the price
Of the oil and the wine
Why not
The oil and the wine
Are commodities
That the upper class
The aristocrats
Get
And so the price
Of that the poor
And the marginalized
Have to eat
The staple foods
Has gone through the roof
But somehow
Those that are in power
And control
Are controlling the prices
Of the high end
The caviar
And the champagne
So that their income
Isn't affected
But the income
Of the poor
And the marginalized
Is affected
It's a picture
Of inequality
And injustice
And then a fourth horse
Comes
And it's a pale horse
And it's a picture
Of death
And disease
And destruction
Now straight away
When we read this
One of the things
That should impact us
Is who is the one
That's bringing this about
Who is the one
That's allowing this to happen
It's Jesus
Right
Jesus is the one
That's opening the seals
And it's one of the creatures
Around his throne
That is calling this forth
What on earth
Is happening
Why is it that God
Allows this to happen
Isn't God's job
Just to keep peace
On earth
And to rid the world
Of problems
Isn't God
The big guy in the sky
And his job
Is to make sure
There's no difficulty
In the world
And just
Everything is happy
And fine
Well friends
That understanding
Of God
Is a very simplistic
Or shallow reading
Of the scriptures
God is working
All things
Not just simply
To bring peace
And comfort
And happiness
In the world
God is working
All things
For his purposes
And his purpose
Is not simply
World peace
Or my happiness
Or your convenience
His purpose
Is establishing
His kingdom
And putting his glory
On display
And that's why
It's confusing
And as challenging
As it may be
Part of the reason
Why we're in this
Already and not yet
Stage in the history
Of the world
Is God is strategically
Working all things
To bring his purposes
To pass
Not simply our comfort
And our convenience
Remember at the end
Of Jesus' life
He's about to go to heaven
And his disciples
Say to him
Jesus are you going
To now restore
The kingdom to Israel
You've died
And you've risen again
Now's a good time
To vanquish your enemies
And to restore all things
And Jesus' answer
Is
It is not for you
To know the times
And the season
That my father
Has fixed by his own
Authority
Jesus is saying
That until he returns
We are still living
In this ambiguous season
When his kingdom
Has come
But it hasn't fully come
And when he rules
But he doesn't fully rule
As he one day will
Remember how Jesus
Said this just
To his disciples
Before he went
To the cross
He said
You will hear
Rumors of wars
And wars coming
See that you are
Not alarmed
This must take place
But the end
Has not yet come
Nation will rise
Up against nation
Kingdom will rise
Up against kingdom
There will be famines
There will be earthquakes
There will be destruction
In various places
All these things
Are just the beginning
Of the birth pains
And this is exactly
What John sees
In chapter 6
Jesus is telling
The church in Asia Minor
What he taught
His disciples
In this world
You will have trouble
In this world
There will be difficulty
He has not yet
Utterly removed
Wickedness and evil
But says Jesus
Do not fear
This world
Is not your home
In verse 13
He says
The one who endures
To the end
Will be saved
And that's exactly
What Jesus says
To the seven churches
He's calling them
And he's calling us
To neither compromise
By finding our hope
In the systems
Of this world
Nor to cower away
In fear
Thinking that all
Is lost
But to keep our eyes
Fixed on him
Who is on the throne
In this world
You will have trouble
Says Jesus
But take heart
I have overcome
The world
Your life
Is found
In me
Okay
So that's the first
Four of these seals
John looks again
And he sees
A fifth seal
Broken open
And look at what happens
John sees
What he says
Of the souls
In verse 9
Of those that have
Been killed
They are martyrs
Because they've held
On to the word of God
And the testimony
That Jesus is
Who he said he is
Which tells us
That Christians
Are not immune
From the wickedness
And the
Destruction
In our world
Jesus tells us
That standing for righteousness
For truth
For justice
It may invite wickedness
To come your way
And that's the whole challenge
That these seven churches
Kept on facing
This was the constant challenge
Will they avoid difficulty
Will they avoid suffering
By just assimilating
Into the culture
By trusting in Rome
By becoming just like
The citizens of its city
Will they assimilate
Into it
And avoid difficulty
Or
Will they cower away
And hide
And try and preserve
Their lives
And Jesus says
That by declaring
That Jesus is Lord
Not the mission
Not Rome
Not the emperor
That Jesus Lord
Will invite difficulty
Into your life
It will cost you something
That to be faithful
Even to death
Will
Jesus says
Will you be faithful
Or will you shrink back
And preserve yourself
Friends
Is it any different
In our age
Of course not
Jesus asks us
The same question today
Will we assimilate
Into our culture
And become just like
The citizens of our city
And avoid persecution
Or will we shrink back
And quieten our voice
Or will we stick to the truth
That Christ is Lord
And stand for him
Even though
It may cost us
Dearly
Look at verse 10
They say here
Oh sovereign Lord
Holy and true
How long before you will judge
How long will you avenge our blood
Of those who dwell on the earth
In other words
Jesus how long must we wait
Until you bring justice
Until you crush your enemies
Until you establish justice
On the earth
How long until you hold wickedness
To account
How long oh Lord
Must we wait
You see what's happening
To the Christians here
Is that justice has been denied
To them on earth
They know that in the courts of heaven
The only courts that really count
That in the end of the day
Justice will come
The injustice that they experience on earth
For standing for truth
Will be overturned
And justice will be done
And are they defeated?
Yes on earth they're defeated
Their lives are taken from there
But in heaven
They are given the victory
Look at verse 11
They are given white robes
A symbol of victory
And vindication
And life
Because what appears
Like their lives
Have been cut short
And wasted
Is actually
Their victory
And so what is God's answer
To their question
How long?
They are told
To wait a little longer
Until the number
Of their fellow servants
And their brothers
Should be complete
Now that doesn't mean
That Jesus in heaven
Has this KPI
Of how many martyrs
He needs to reach
Right?
Until the end of the age
Jesus doesn't have a target
That he's waiting for
And saying
The number hasn't got there
What Jesus is saying is this
My purposes
And my plans
Are still rolling forward
And they will not be delayed
But they will not be brought forward
I will accomplish my purposes
In my time
And in my plan
There is still more room
For martyrs
To lose their life
That happened in first century Rome
And friends
It's still happening
Today
The time has not yet come
Now that may seem
Like such a waste
These men
These women
Losing their lives
For the gospel
But John says
Their lives are not wasted
Because what may appear
Like their lives
Have simply been taken from them
Like in some senseless murder
That's actually not the case
Look
Where does John see these lives?
Where are they in heaven?
Look at verse 9
He says
They are standing
They are right by the altar
Which means their lives
Have been offered up to God
As an offering of sacrifice
They are an offering
There's something beautiful about it
John Piper
In one of his talks
Many years ago
He very famously told the story
It's a true story
He said
Two ladies
Single ladies
In their 70s
Foreign missionaries
In a foreign land
And one day
They're going about their business
And some catastrophe happens
And they both lose their life
They're driving their car
On this mountain ridge
To get to a village
To go and share the gospel
The brakes in their car fail
They go over the edge
And both of these ladies
In their 70s
Die
Is that a tragedy?
Asks John Piper
And the answer is
A resounding no
What a way to go to glory
What a way to spend your life
To offer up your life
For the cause of Christ
John Piper then says
Two people retire
At the age of 60
And they spend
The best decades
Of their life
Taking walks
On the seashore
And collecting seashells
Is that a tragedy?
And the answer
Is a resounding yes
What a way to spend
The finest last decades
Of your life
Taking walks
On the seashore
Collecting seashells
And drinking
Skinny cafe lattes
What better way
To spend your life
Than to pour it out
As an offering
To God
Here are these martyrs
That have been killed
For the cause of Christ
Their lives have been
Taken to them
And it's not a waste
For all eternity
Their lives will count
Because they've offered
Them up to God
I wasn't going to
Tell the story
But let me just
Tell the story
1555
Two men
Two bishops
In London
Are arrested
For preaching the gospel
A man called
Nicholas Ridley
And Bishop Latimer
And as they tied
To the stake
There are
Some hay
Is put around
Their feet
And they're about
To be lit
The hay bales
Are lit
And Bishop Latimer
Turns to the young man
Master Ridley
Nicholas Ridley
Is fearful
He's in his 40s
He's about to lose
His life
And Bishop Ridley
Says to him
Be of good cheer
Master Ridley
Play the man
This very day
We shall light
A candle
In England
As I hope
By God's grace
Shall never
Be put out
Friends
What kind of man
As the flames
Are starting to
End his life
And burn his legs
Can say
Be of good cheer
It's somebody
Who knows
That he's not
Wasting his life
As he lays it down
For the cause
Of Christ
That brings us
To the sixth seal
In this one chapter
On the one hand
We're told
That we are living
The already
And the not yet
We're being told
That there will
Still be more martyrs
The time
But we're also told
That the time
Of Christ's judgment
Has not yet fully come
But on the other hand
We're now shown
That those who do
Spend their lives
For Christ
That those who
Experience the injustice
Of this world
That those who
Don't fight back
And try and preserve
Their lives
But offer it to God
In the face of
Wickedness and oppression
And who offer up
Their lives as an offering
Justice is coming
And the reason is
Because God's
Final judgment day
Is coming
And that's what
The sixth seal
Is all about
Let's look at it
Together
Look at
Verse 13
With me
There's this strange
Language of
The son
The moon
Becoming like blood
The stars
Falling from the sky
And the sun
Turning black
Now
That refers to
Two things
On the one hand
It refers to
The false gods
And the idols
That were being
Worshipped in the
Ancient world
In the ancient world
What were the
Gods of creation
That loved to be
Worshipped
It was the sun
The moon
And the stars
Right
Jesus says
In the final account
At the end of the ages
What's going to happen
To those things
That the ancients
Loved to worship
They're going to
Be swept aside
And so will those
Who trust in them
They will be exposed
Nothing left
To show for it
Tim Chester makes
The point where he says
Today the sun
Moon and stars
Have been replaced
By money
Sex and power
In humanity's list
Of favored deities
But one day
These two
Will be swept aside
And friends
All those who trust
In them
Will be exposed
But the other thing
That this refers to
Is that in the
Old Testament
This graphic language
Of the sun
And the moon
And the stars
Falling
Was symbolic
Of empires
And kingdoms
Being brought to an end
And especially
God bringing
These empires
And these kingdoms
To an end
And Jesus
Is showing John
Yes it looks like
Rome is all powerful
Yes it looks like
Martyrs are never
Going to be vindicated
Yes it looks like
The church is
Insignificant
And poor
And powerless
Against the machine
Of the Roman Empire
But just wait
That's not how
The story ends
Ultimately
No kingdom
No dynasty
No empire
Will last forever
There is coming a day
Where every empire
Will be brought
To its knees
And so what happens
In the end
When Christ
Establishes his kingdom
All those who look
Invincible
Kings and premiers
And emperors
And governors
And military leaders
All the way down
To slaves
And former slaves
All people
Everywhere
Will cower
And flee
In terror
Before the awesomeness
And the majesty
And the glory
That is God
Look at verse
15
Then the kings
Of the earth
And the great ones
The generals
The rich
The powerful
But also slaves
And the free
Hid themselves
In the caves
And amongst the rocks
Of the mountains
Calling on the mountains
And the 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 his wrath
Has come
And who can stand
And friends
That is the momentous question
In the face
Of final judgment
When every emperor
And empire
When every president
And every premier
Will fit
In the most awesome
In the face
Of the most awesome
And terrifying
Authority of the world
In the face
Of God
Will run
For their lives
The question
Is this
Who can stand
Now before we get
To the final seal
In chapter 8
There is an interlude
And chapter 7
Answers the question
Of who can stand
Let's look at
Verse 1 together
Verse 1 of chapter 7
And after this
John says
I saw four angels
Standing at the four
Corners of the earth
Then I saw another
Angel ascending
With the seal
Of God
And he called
In a loud voice
Saying do not
Harm the earth
Or the sea
Or the trees
Until we have
Sealed the servants
Of our God
On their foreheads
Who can stand
Those that have
Been sealed
With the seal
Of God
It's a picture
Of remember
In Exodus
God comes
And he's
Delivering his people
He's going to
Save his people
By the blood
Of the lamb
But at the same
Time he's
Bringing judgment
The angel of death
Is going to
Come to Egypt
And bring judgment
On the nation
Of Egypt
But his people
Are going to
Be saved
How are they
Going to be saved?
By the blood
Of the lamb
That's been painted
On the doorpost
Of their house
They've painted
As it were
A seal on their house
So that when the
Angel of death
Comes
It passes over
Because they've got
A seal over there
John is saying
The same thing
He's saying
Who in the day
Of final judgment
Who can stand
When God's judgment
Comes upon the earth
Who will stand?
Those that have been
Sealed
By their God
And now for the second
Time in Revelation
John hears one thing
And as he turns around
He sees something different
Remember in chapter 5
Colin preached it
Two weeks ago
John hears
The lion of Judah
And as he turns
To look at the lion
He doesn't see a lion
He sees a lamb
Well the same thing
Happens here
John hears a voice
And saying
Those that are sealed
Will stand in the day
Of great judgment
The 144,000
Now what's 144,000?
What does it mean?
Well remember
In the book of Revelation
The symbol 12
The number 12
Is symbolic
The 12 apostles
Of the New Testament
The 12 tribes
In the Old Testament
Times a thousand
In other words
The 144,000
Those that are sealed
The complete number
Of God's people
Will stand
In the day of judgment
Not one will be missing
Friends you may be here
A follower of Jesus
Maybe you've sinned tragically
Maybe you've done
Some dumb thing
And you feel so guilty
And you feel like
God will kick me
Out of his kingdom
In that final day
I will be destroyed by God
No
Not 139,999
Not one will be missing
Because your eternal destiny
Doesn't depend
On your righteousness
It depends on
Are you sealed
By the blood of the Lamb
On that great day
Every single one
Of God's people
Not one will be missing
Will stand
Before the throne
John hears this number
God's people sealed
And then when he turns around
To look at this crowd
Of 144,000
What does he see?
He sees a multitude
A multitude
That is so vast
It cannot be numbered
He sees a multitude
Of people
From every tribe
And every language group
And every people group
And every ethnicity
And every culture
In other words
The greatest form
Of diversity
You can imagine
From all over the globe
And they are unified
Together
Before the throne
Of the Lamb
There before the throne
You have Hong Konger
And mainland Chinese
Black
White
Chinese
Rich
And poor
Educated
And uneducated
Friends
Can I say
On the great day
Before the throne
Of God
There may be
Policemen
And protesters
Standing shoulder
To shoulder
Before the Lamb
Of God
Before the throne
Crying out
Salvation
Belongs
To our God
Who sits on the throne
And to the Lamb
There will be
A great multitude
Of every person
From every people group
Those that have
Trusted in Christ
And how did they
Get there?
Some of them
Are there
Because of the martyrs
Some of them
Are there
Because they did not
Love their lives
And they were willing
To speak the truth
Of the gospel
They were there
Because they
Because the martyrs
Went out
And so here's
The big idea
Of this whole
Two chapter passage
It's taken us
30 minutes
To get here
The big idea
Of this
In this world
Friends
We will have trouble
There's going to be
Wars
And rumors of wars
There's going to be
Destruction
And wickedness
There's going to be
Injustice
And inequality
There's going to be
Heartache
And there's going to be
Pain
Even as we witness
What's going on
In our city
At this time
But that's not
The end of it
We live in a
Broken world
And we've contributed
To brokenness
And if you're a follower
Of Jesus
The temptation
May be to make peace
With the systems
Of this world
In order to preserve
Our lives
Or to maximize
Our own security
Or to avoid
Discomfort
But the systems
Of this world
Are failing
They are absolutely
Failing
And every single system
Every political system
Every economic system
Every civil system
Every educational system
Even every religious system
That is not centered
On he who is on the throne
Is going to end up
In self destruction
Absolutely failing
It's absolutely going to
Come to an end
And one day
Every one of those systems
Will be shown
For what they are
And what's more
Is that they're going to be
Held accountable
To the judge of all the earth
And so will those
Who trust in them
But there is another way
There is another way
And that's to trust
The one who is on the throne
To live our lives
By his story
To be centered on him
And to give our lives
To him
Even as it costs us
Dearly
The only way to stand
In the day of great judgment
And the only way
For the things
That we give ourselves
To not end
In self destruction
Is to be centered
On he who is at the center
Of all creation
And so finally
Look at verse 13
It says
One of the elders
Addressed me and said this
Who are those clothed
In white robes
And from where do they come
I said sir you know
He said those are the ones
Coming out of the great tribulation
Tribulation means difficulty
And they've washed their robes
And made them white
In the blood of the lamb
Friends on the final day
When all wickedness
Is held accountable
When every bit of evil
Is finally and fully
Held to account
When perfect justice
Will be meted out
Who will stand
Who will stand in that day
Well the bible actually gives us
Two answers
And the first answer
It gives us
Is no one will stand
Not you
Not me
Not the pope
Not mother Teresa
Not the most moral
Upright person
You can imagine
No one will stand
Before the awesomeness
Of our God
No one should stand
Friends if you
New to church this morning
One of the things
You'll quickly discover
About this church
Is that we are made up
Of 100% sinners
Every one of us
From the pastors
And the elders
To everyone else
None of us
Can stand
Before the awesomeness
Of our God
But that's not the answer
That is given here
In Revelation
The answer that's given here
Is that those who stand
The great day of God's judgment
Are those who are gathered
Around the throne
And are standing
In robes of white
They're not there
Because of their
Religious devotion
That doesn't save anyone
They're not there
Because they're more moral
Than anyone else
That doesn't save anyone
They're not there
Because they gave money
To the church
That doesn't save anyone
They're not there
Because they are nicer
Or kinder
Or generally better people
Than anyone else
That doesn't save anyone
They are there
Because they've been washed
In the blood
Of Jesus
The lamb
That was slain
For them
Remember Psalm 130
If you are Lord
Should mark our iniquities
Who are God could stand
But with you
There is forgiveness
That you may be feared
Friends
This is our only hope
If it's not for the blood
Of Jesus
None of us could stand
None of us could be accepted
None of us could be welcomed
If it's not for the blood
Of Jesus
You and I would stand
Fully accountable
Before the throne of God
And be held accountable
For every word
That we've said
Every thought
That we've thought
Every action we've done
And in action
That we haven't done
But for those who come to him
Who put their hope in him
We are washed
Cleansed
Justified
Sanctified
In the blood
Of the lamb
Who can stand
Those that have come
Through the great tribulation
Those who've been washed
In the blood of the lamb
And finally in chapter 8
We see
The seventh seal is open
And when the seventh seal is open
There is silence
In heaven
Absolute silence
And it's a picture
Of how God's justice
Is finally there
Peace has finally
Come to the earth
Every tear
Has been wiped away
Every bit of wickedness
Has been destroyed
Every bit of evil
Has been done away with
Everything that is wrong
With our world
Has been done undone
Finally
Utter peace
Has come
To creation
As we close
Tim Chester
In his book
He tells the story
He says that
In Rome
In the first century
There was this
Quasi-military
Fire service
Okay
Fire brigade service
And
There has
A monument
Survives today
That has a list
Of the thousand names
That were part
Of this
Fire brigade service
And on this monument
Has the list
Of these thousand names
And it's got the names
Of the ten centurions
Remember
Centurion is somebody
That looked after
A hundred
Soldiers
And so it's got
The list
Of these thousand
Soldiers
The ten centurions
But also
Where the ten centurions
Came from
In the Roman Empire
And as you read
This list
You see that
These centurions
Came from all over Europe
Modern day Bulgaria
Slovenia
Venice
Hungary
All over Europe
These people
Flocked to Rome
And joined
The military service
Rome was a city
In the ancient world
Which was constantly
Attracting immigrants
To come to it
And part of the reason
Was because
More people
Died in Rome
Than were born in Rome
And so if Rome
The city
Didn't constantly
Fill up its population
With immigrants
The population
Would dwindle
And would die out
And so Rome
Was constantly
Filling up its population
With these immigrants
But the problem was
Rome
Was also susceptible
To malaria
And all sorts of diseases
And so people
Would come from
Other parts
Of the Roman Empire
They didn't have
Immunity from these diseases
And they would die
Within a short few years
And so one historian
Mary Beard
Put it like this
She says
Rome
Simply swallows
People up
It's a city
Which consumes people
And spews them out dead
Here is the greatest
City of the world
In its time
The most powerful
City of the world
The leader
Of the Roman Empire
It's the city
That everybody
Flocks to
To find work
And safety
And security
It's a city
That swallows people up
It consumes them
And spews them out dead
Much like many
Of the modern cities
Of our world
Tim Chester says
In the book of Revelation
We come across
Another city
Another empire
And it's also a city
Which draws people
From every single nation
Black
White
Chinese
Rich and poor
But around the throne
Of the Lamb
These people
Find
Life
Friends
The cities
And the systems
Of our world
Are going to
Self-destruct
It doesn't matter
What system you trust in
If it's not the system
The city of the Lamb
It's going to
Self-destruct
But here we see
In the book of Revelation
There is another empire
And it's attracting people
From all over the world
And in this empire
In this city
Its citizens
Find life
That's the great challenge
And the invitation
Of Revelation
For all of us today
Which kingdom
Are we a part of?
Which kingdom
Are we giving ourselves to?
Jesus and John
Invite us
To come and center
Our lives
To offer up our lives
Yes as a sacrifice
Yes it will cost us
But also in great joy
To the one who is worthy
To the Lamb who is slain
Who lives forever and ever
That in his presence
We may find life
Let's come to him
Now
Let's come and pray
Let's pray together
And I want to invite the band
To come and lead us
And as the band come
I want to invite us
If you want prayer for anything
There will be a prayer team
That would love to come
And pray with you
The elders
Maybe you can make yourselves
Available to come
And be at the front
If anyone would like prayer
Please do come at the front
We'd love to pray for you
Last Saturday night
At our retreat
We had an amazing time
Of just praying together
And it was such a rich time
Of just being in God's presence
And standing as brothers and sisters
Praying for one another
Friends if you
This morning you feel
Anxious
You feel weary
You feel fearful
You feel overwhelmed
Come we'd love to pray with you
Father we come to you this morning
We acknowledge God
That the temptation
That the church has felt
In the first century
Is the same temptation we feel
God to either
Shrink into our culture
And to
Try and preserve ourselves
By becoming just like our culture
Or to try and preserve ourselves
By shrinking back
And fearfully
Not declaring the truth of the gospel
God
God you call us
In days like today
In times in which we find ourselves
To fix our eyes on you
And so we come to you God
We come to you now
Father you've shown us this morning
That
Yes this world is full of
Wickedness and evil still
Yes this world
There's wars and rumors of wars
There's kingdom rising against kingdom
And destruction
But God in the end
You and your people
Will stand
Oh Christ
Help us to trust you
We pray
Father open our eyes
To see you
And to trust you
We pray Lord
Father
Father want you help us to see
That our lives are not in our own hands
But they are in your hands
That God we are part of an eternal kingdom
Father help us to trust you
We pray
This week God
As we are
As we go to work
As we encounter the difficulties
That our city is going through
We pray God
That we'll trust you Lord
Help us oh Lord
Where our faith is failing
Where we feel overwhelmed by fear
Help us to trust you God
Help us to keep our eyes fixed on you
Come and have you away
We pray these things in your name
Amen
We're 항 by
Amen