If its not worth doing, then don't do it!
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If its not worth doing, then don't do it! |
     
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Sealed & Saved Revelation 7: 1-17
We left chapter six with the question of "who can stand?" on our minds. We also were left with assurance from Isaiah that those who are loved by God will be able to stand in the righteousness of Jesus Christ. We see regularly in Revelation that the terrors of earthly tribulation should cause us no grief because our God is indeed God over all things and if we are sealed in Him we are indeed eternally safe! But Lord, we often cry bitterly: If we are sealed and safe, why do we have to go through so many troubles in this life? I am certain that the elect have asked that question in every generation. Imagine the saints in the first century who lived in the midst of more severe troubles than we face, wondering why our Lord could not come immediately. Our chapter today is concerned with the purpose of His delay. There in verse three is the reason: not until the servants of God are all sealed! His coming has been delayed so that we in our time might come in and perhaps others who will come after us as well. One thing that we often fail to realize is the fact that well over eighty-five per cent of all the people who have ever lived live in our century! And until all the chosen are gathered and sealed into Christ's Kingdom the events of the sixth seal are held back. Look at the first three verses of chapter seven. The Angels in charge of destroying the earth on the day of judgment are held back from their task. This final event is still to happen in the future. This underlying theme of the book of Revelation which is stated in Revelation 1: 7 "Look, he is coming with the clouds, and every eye will see him, even those who pierced him; and all the peoples of the earth will mourn because of him. So shall it be! Amen." Just like the Christians of John's time we are waiting. And that waiting we have not done well. I am reminded of Jesus' parable in Luke 12: 35-48 about the necessity for watchfulness. There in that parable Luke emphases that we are to be about our Lord's work daily and expecting His return at any time. A person I once knew is hen-pecked and he spends a lot of time at home in charge of the house and children. Now, my friend is a day-dreamer and is not well organized. He gets off track easily and forgets his assignments. He has gotten into the habit of setting an alarm for an hour before his wife returns from her "career" in the towers of Columbus. He says, its amazing how much work you can accomplish when you are in a hurry! He hopes his professional partner never learns how quickly things can be done, because then he will have a longer list! Isn't this attitude similar to that of the Church in our century in regards to the coming of our Lord? We have persuaded ourselves that the book of Revelation is wholly devoted to the end times that like my friend's alarm reminding of his wife's return we will in the end have enough time to prepare for Christ's coming. Well, perhaps the days of this attitude are ending. Within Reformed and Pentecotsal circles of thought, the book of Revelation is beginning to be studied deeply. One commentator by the name of Kenneth Gentry makes a case from this chapter for a fulfillment of the sealing and saving of tribal Israelites during the Jewish War of 70 AD. As evidence for this, the writings of an early Church Father Eusebius is quoted: "But the people of the church in Jerusalem had been commanded by a revelation, vouchsafed to approved men there before the war, to leave the city and to dwell in a certain town of Perea called Pella. And when those that believed in Christ had come thither from Jerusalem, than, as if the royal city of the Jews and the whole land of Judea were entirely destitute of holy men, the judgment of God at length overtook those who had committed such outrages against Christ and his apostles, and totally destroyed that generation of impious men." To make the arguments of a long book simple, God's wrath descended upon those who literally pierced Christ, but many thousands of Israel who came to Christ were physically saved from destruction. In this context then, we may note three ideas:
This understanding would enable us to sense the symbolism of verses four through eight. There is the symbolic number of 144,000 coming from the traditional twelve tribes of Israel. We may know this portion to be symbolic because most of these twelve tribes had been gone and lost for centuries. But, there came out of Israel in the first centuries of the Church approximately two million Jews who were converted to Christ. These were the one's hoped for by Paul in his letters. These were the redeemed who were called out of a wicked and perverse generation of Jews who rejected their very own promised Messiah! The reasonableness of the idea that these symbolic 144,000 were sealed and saved is accentuated by the division of the text noted in the NIV translation. See, there at verse nine, the multitude is distinct from the "tribes" of Israel. Also, the very words of John "After this I saw" in verse one and "After this I looked" in verse nine indicates different scenes. Now, you may perhaps wonder, why is all of this morning's information important? There are two reasons. First, in the time frame of the Jewish War, the Jewish and Christian faiths took separate paths for all of eternity. We may even note an end to the era of the Old Covenant within the lifetime of John the Apostle and the beginning of the mellenic era of the New Covenant in Christ. We know from Paul's letters of a decided tension between the Jewish and Gentile Christians. The early Church headquartered in Jerusalem felt a real kinship to their genetic brethren. While this feeling was not returned, there was in the world's eyes a real problem in distinguishing between the two faiths at first. But this problem disappeared forever after the events of the Jewish War. Second, very many commentators make fanciful predictions about these 144,000 people. A popular expectation is the future mass conversion of many thousands of modern Jews! A restored Israel is widely accepted as a sign of the end times! Since, this is not happening regularly we suppose that there is much time left to prepare for Christ's final coming in glory. Now, I will admit that the book of Revelation is deep indeed and I do not propose that I have all of the answers. The great reformer Martin Luther could make no sense of this book and refused to comment too deeply! I have taken the positions on the text that I have because I believe that Christ's injunctions to be ready presupposes that the final end will come very quickly. Even more quickly than the apparent decline of communism this last fall! Therefore an understanding of Revelation that most prepares our hearts, minds and lives to stand before the Throne of grace and judgment is the one most appropriate for the Saints of the Church! Having said this, we come now to the spiritual message of this passage which we ought to apply to our own hearts. The last vision in this section of Revelation is the glorious one of the triumphant Church as it shall dwell forever in eternity. It is clear that this multitude includes the both Jews and Gentiles collected from every tribe and nation under the son. These are the ones who are sealed and saved. We see this in verse fourteen which should be translated in this way: "These are they who are coming out of the great tribulation." The sense of tribulation here is general, and the multitude encompasses all of the redeemed who have washed their robes in the blood of the Lamb. When the great Day comes, will you be standing in this multitude, or will you like the people in Chapter six be crying for the mountains and hills to fall upon you? There may still be time to be sealed and saved! The seal in the Scriptures is the mark of God's ownership and God's protection. This seal is not a literal mark on the forehead, but a reminder that the Lord knows those who are his! This sealing is threefold. The Father has sealed us, for the believer enjoys the Father's protection throughout life. The Son has sealed us, for He has bought and redeemed us with His own blood. The spirit has sealed us for He certifies that we are sons of God. The fact of this sealing saves us for the heavenly celebration of being with God and Son for all of eternity. That particular Salvation is sung of by the Saints in verse ten. That salvation belongs to God and we are saved by Grace through no merits in and of ourselves. The coming of the Saints into the glories of heaven is by the means described in verse fourteen. Their robes have been washed in the blood of the Lamb. And because of that free gift of grace the multitude may stand in the very presence of God where they sing of the glories of our God and King. As we wait for that glorious day when the Trumpet shall sound and the dead shall rise from their graves, may we be found doing the work of the Kingdom. And what is that work? It is twofold. First there is praise and worship in heaven. This is the high calling of the Church. Second we may note in verse fifteen that there is service in heaven as well. We may not speculate upon the nature of that service, but we should note that this chapter assures us that at long last we will be satisfied. Look at verses sixteen and seventeen. The hard service of this life will disappear and our souls we find rest in praise and service. Are your ready for the trumpet today? If you are not I urge you not to put your hopes in the common worldly expected signs of the second coming. The Jews of Jesus' time had their expectations and when He came they were not ready. I may not have today's interpretation of Revelation one hundred per cent correct, but neither do the hundreds of commentators on this difficult book. It is far better to take the urgings of Jesus in the Gospels to heart that He is coming suddenly and unexpected and then be ready. May you prepare for His sudden coming. Amen.
Christ Covenant REFORMED (Presbyterian Church in America) Box 13926 -- Columbus, OH 43213 Rev 07a 14 January 90
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