November 24 Sermon: Sealed for Salvation
In Revelation 7:1-17, John sees the sealing of God’s people for salvation, a vision of a global multitude worshiping the Lamb, and the eternal comfort of those redeemed by His blood. This passage reminds us of God’s sovereign care, the global reach of His grace, and the joy of salvation that leads us to eternal worship. Be encouraged by the hope this vision offers!
Contemplate these questions as you listen to this week’s message:
How does the sealing of God’s people in Revelation 7:1-8 demonstrate His sovereign care for His church?
What does the vision of the multitude from every tribe, tongue, and nation teach us about God’s plan of salvation?
How does the Lamb’s promise of eternal comfort and care in Revelation 7:16-17 give you hope for today's trials?
Transcript:
So this past October, I attended the Reformation and Worship Conference in Savannah. And through the course of the conference, we sang a lot of hymns and psalms. And those who were at the conference did an excellent job of filling that worship space with the songs. But because it was a conference, there were a lot of empty pews.
Well, while the conference partially ends on Saturday at noon in case any pastors want to return home and serve their congregations on the following Lord's Day, there is a continuation of the conference into Sunday school worship. And then evening worship for those of us who maybe don't want to come back because it's too far or for whatever reason, you're on sabbatical, whatever it would be. And so I went to worship the following morning. And as I mentioned, for the conference, there were a lot of empty pews. But as you can imagine, with leftover conference attendees and the members of Independent Presbyterian Church being there that morning, I actually struggled. I struggled to find a seat in this large worship space.
Well, the singing at the conference is always very good. But again, there's just not that many people. But during the course of the singing of hymns and psalms, on one of the verses, the organ will normally cut out and we will sing a cappella. And it sounds really good with just the conference attendees. But boy. Sunday morning, with that entire room filled, when the organ cut out, it was so beautiful, I actually stopped singing so I wouldn't hear myself.
Now that's not me making a criticism of my own voice there. I wanted to hear something other than me. As I paid attention, I could hear different voices. I could hear that people were singing the different parts. But then as I sort of listened to the broader, broader scope of it, it all came together and it was glorious. It filled the room.
And being in a warmer climate, the doors were open and people walking by must have heard our praise to Almighty God as they walked by. It was amazing as it echoed off the walls. People from different backgrounds and ethnicities. People who had been raised in the faith. And there were those there who had just, come to faith. They were new believers. There were children there who had maybe never sang that tune. But there were also older adults who have known it for decades.
We came together in beautiful praise. We were singing to the glory of the one who has saved us. And perhaps you've had a moment of worship like that yourself. You know exactly what I'm talking about. And it reminds us. It reminds us of the beauty and the power of God's gathered people being united in worship. The people who are sealed by His grace.
And what I witnessed in that place of worship that day was just a small glimpse of the heavenly reality that is described to us in Revelation 7. A multitude from every nation singing in harmony before the throne of God. And so, we're going to sing. So, we are going to be taking a look today at Revelation 7 as we're continuing our progression through this book of the Bible.
And today, we're going to see three things as we look at this. The first thing that we're gonna do is, we're gonna see the depth of God's care for His people. Then we're going to look at the global reach of His salvation. And then finally, we're going to observe the eternal joy of those who have not sung your who have been saved, those who have been redeemed by the blood of the Lamb. So the vision that John sees here in Revelation 7, it calls us to marvel at God's work in history and throughout eternity.
So let's take a look at that. But before we dive in to Revelation chapter 1, I want to very quickly, once again, remind us of the context of the book of Revelation. Remember, this book is meant to give us hope and provide us with peace. When we get these words from the book of Revelation, the idea here is that we will have confidence in our salvation. And specifically, this book was directed at those seven churches addressed at the beginning of the book of Revelation. They are experiencing significant persecution.
Persecution because they are believers in the Lord Jesus Christ. And much of the cryptic language in the book of Revelation, the stuff that confuses us, it would have made sense to our first century brothers and sisters in Christ because of their familiarity with the Old Testament and its imagery and allusions. And so while a lot of these images might cause us consternation or even fear, the book of Revelation is actually meant to give us confidence to assure us of God's power, his faithfulness, and it's meant to give us confidence in this victory that we have through the life, death, resurrection, and ascension of Jesus. That victory that we have, that we praise God for, that he has given us over sin, death, and hell.
And so I want that short resetting of the context to be the music that's playing in the background as we look at Revelation 7 today. With the way this chapter starts, it calls our minds back to the end of chapter 6. Remember that when the sixth seal of the scroll was opened, the wrath of the Lamb was unleashed. And then the chapter ended with a question. It said, who can stand? And so the movement of that chapter, you'll remember, was one of progression. It showed an increasing scope of judgment.
And now, as we come to verse 1 of chapter 7, it feels as though, like all of a sudden, there's a bit of a pause. That there was this pouring out of wrath with the opening of these seals, and now we're slowing down. And so the vision of what John is seeing has angels standing at the four corners of the earth. Now, this isn't, to say that the Bible is implying that the earth is flat. That's not the point. That's not what is going on here. John is viewing this vision, and he's telling us what he is seeing from his perspective.
And what he's describing is that there's this restraining going on from every corner, that it's being held back. And the point of what we're seeing here is the restraint that God is showing for the purpose of this vision. And so, as we come to verse 1 of chapter 7, of the protection and salvation of his people. So, the idea is that these judgments that were described in chapter 6, that were so overwhelming, the question was asked, who can stand? They're now being held back. And it's for a purpose.
And we see that as we move to verse 2, that there's this angel who is rising with the sun. Now, if you were reading the book of Revelation straight through, and not stopping every chapter or so, like we are, this restraint that we're seeing here would really seem out of place. It would be really kind of unexpected, because there's this escalation of the opening of the seals, and this statement of who can stand when the wrath of the Lamb comes. And all of a sudden, we hit the brakes. That's not how I think we would expect it to go down.
A first -time reader, might expect that verse 1 of chapter 7 would be the opening of that seventh seal, and it would be the final consummation of all things. Just the end of it all. But here, we're going to see things going back. Back to those things that we saw in chapter 6, between the fourth and the six seals. We're going to go back to those martyrs who were the ones who endured and received salvation. And then here, at the beginning of this chapter, we're getting this slowing down, this pause of the events, to emphasize to us the sealing of the salvation of the people of God, to show us how powerful God is, and that He is in control.
And so there's this angel in verse 2, ascending with the rising of the sun, and they have a seal of the living God. And so the judgments are held back, not just for dramatic effect, not just to have a, calm before the storm. Something is taking place in this restraint of judgment. And we are being shown that God seals His people. He seals them for salvation.
Remember back to the previous chapter. The martyrs were wondering how long until the oppression and persecution would end. How long would this go on? And they were told that it was until the full number was reached. And so here, we're being reminded that God is in control. These cataclysmic descriptions of the opening of the seals, they are even being held back by God. He is in so much control that He can stop the judgment, the cataclysm that is happening. And He is holding it back now to seal His people, so that the true servants of God are sealed, and they have this marked on their forehead that they are the people of God, and they have salvation.
And so during this pause in the wrath of the Lamb, John hears the number of those who are being sealed for salvation. And it's a number. It says that 144 ,000 have been sealed. Now that number might seem like a lot to you, or it might seem like a very small number. But the number itself isn't the point. There's been speculation and assumptions about this number. And again, that's not the point. If we speculate about this number, it misses what is going on here.
In fact, cults have used this number, 144 ,000, to scare people, to get them under their control, to say, you better be watching out here. There's only 144 ,000, and you don't want to be 144 ,001 looking at the outside. Again, that's not the point. The point isn't that somewhere in heaven there's a count, and then they're being cut off. This is showing us something about the salvation of God's people, and specifically, the 144 ,000 is about the tribes of Israel.
And again, there isn't someone counting in heaven, okay, you're from the tribe of Judah, stop here. You're from the tribe of Asher, you're cut off here. That's not what's happening. There are 12 tribes. A thousand is a big number. It is a number of fullness, a number of plenty. And so the idea is that we have 12 and thousand. It's the idea of fullness, the fullness of salvation for God's people.
And like much of the book of Revelation, it's very easy to try to dig into some of the details. And we can talk about what this means, tribes and the order, and all these kind of things, but that isn't the big point here. The point is the fullness of the salvation, and we don't want to lose sight of that in this passage. This is about the sovereign sealing of the people of God for salvation. And the progression of the is showing us just how great God's power in the sealing of his people is.
So as we continue through the passage, we see that the fullness of salvation, then, is not just limited to this 144 ,000 Hebrew people. Like so much of the book of Revelation, John's vision has us zooming in and then zooming out and panning. As I've said before, it's kind of almost cinematic in the way he describes this vision to us. And so we've gone in on the people of Israel, these 144 ,000, and now we're zooming in. And so we've gone in on the people of Israel, these 144 ,000, and now we're zooming in.
out and panning the camera, we get a deeper idea of the fullness of the salvation of God. If you see here in verses 9 and 10, it talks about an innumerable number. God is sealing people, and there's a great magnitude and fullness to this. It is great. And then as we're zooming out, we see the greatness of God's salvation displayed in the fact that it's not just 144 ,000. Hebrew people. It is not just 144 ,000 Jews. It is
people from every tribe, tongue, and nation. And so our awe is to be amplified even more. We go from a number, a very large number, that number of complete fullness, and then we see something more, something beyond this particular ethnic people who are descended from Jacob. The full expression of fullness, comes in the salvation that the Lamb offers going to all these people. An innumerable number.
The true people of God, the true family of God, they're not connected by ethnic identity. It's every tribe, every tongue, every nation. This innumerable group of people have been rescued from the wrath of the Lamb by the blood of the Lamb. They are the family of God, because of that truth. Not because of ethnic heritage
or genetics. They are connected not by their blood, but by the blood of the Lamb. So there's an important detail here that we need to be sure that we point out as we move through this part of the passage. I'm the type of person who likes little details. I like to see Easter eggs in movies of, oh, you didn't know, but in the first movie, this character from the third movie was standing on this cliff back there. I like little details like that, but despite my liking them, I usually miss them. But there's so much going on here, we want to make sure we miss a little detail here. It isn't a little detail, but it's something that we can miss, because the scene that
we're imagining in our minds here with all these people is so great and grand. Notice how these people are clothed in the text. They are in white. They are in white. They are in white. They are in white. White robes. And this isn't because that's the heavenly attire for this choir. We've got to think back to the previous chapter and remember those who were dressed in white there. It was the martyrs beneath the throne. They had endured tribulation and persecution, and so they had these white robes. So this vast multitude, this multitude is sealed for salvation. They also have endured. They have endured.
They have endured. They have endured. They have endured. They have endured. They are dressed in white because they have come through tribulation and persecution. They are sealed for salvation, and they have remained faithful, and God has now gathered the faithful from all over the face of the earth. And we have to see something else here, more than just these white robes. They also have palm branches in their hands. These are not just decorative items to give the scene some color, right? Oh, that's kind of washed out with the white. So John says, let's get some green in there. No, the palm
branches are a symbol of triumph. They're a symbol of peace and of joy. And so this is a mass of people who have been rescued, and they have been sealed, and their joy does not come from within. We see in their cries here that they attribute their salvation to the Lamb. And as we move on to our third and final point for today, we see that in the midst, of the wrath of the Lamb, the people of God are expressing the joy of their salvation. All this chaos was going on at the end of chapter 6, and now
there's this pause. And in the midst of this, they are praising God. And we see this as they express this with this crying out that they do with a loud voice. They say, salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne. And to the Lamb, these clothed in white have been given salvation, not because they faithfully endured. They have salvation because God has given it to them through the work of the Lamb who was slain. And there's something unbelievably beautiful about this statement. It isn't just the saved ones who realize that the redemption
of the people of God is the reason he is worthy of praise. In verses 11 and 12, the angels and the four living creatures, are saying the same thing. The angels, the elders, the four living creatures, they fall down and worship God here too. Those who are closest to the throne, those who are of the highest rank in heaven, still worship God. And it's because he has won salvation for his people. As you've heard me say so many times, God is worthy of our praise for his power, his might, and his majesty. But he is most worthy of praise and worthy of the
glory we give him because of the salvation of his people. God is most glorified in the redemption and rescue of sinners from every tribe, tongue, and nation, and all those who gather around the throne. Even the elders, the angels, and the four living creatures understand this, and they worship him. And so, as we've been looking at Revelation, I've been emphasizing that we need to understand its context and that it's meant to give hope to the people of God who are called to endure. And this hope is rooted in the salvation that has been sealed and secured
by the Lamb and the one who's seated on the throne. The way the angels, the living creatures, and the multitude worship God not only gives us hope, but it shows us the root of our worship as well. We gather to praise God because the wrath of the Lamb has been held back for us as well. It is his blood that guarantees that we will praise around the throne just as those pictured in this vision. And we gather each week, and what we are doing here is we are rehearsing for the praise that we will offer for all eternity. And it is rooted in
the rescue that we have in the Lord Jesus Christ. That is why we strive to have the gospel front and center at all times. It is not only why we praise him, but it is the reason we are the people of God. Because we are those from every tribe, tongue, and nation who are now the new covenant people of God in Christ
Jesus. And like those in the vision that John is seeing, this is our source of joy, our source of peace, and our source of joy. And we are the people of God. And we are the peace, and it is our source of confidence. Like I shared in the opening, the voices praising God are diverse and varied, but our praise comes together to glorify the name of the one who has saved us. So as we finish up this chapter, there's additional information about those who are seen in this vision. And it's a beautiful image of comfort and joy, not only for these seven churches in Asia, but for us as well. It says that one of the elders addresses John and asks him, do you know who these clothed in white are? And John answers like, I might have, saying, sir, you know. You know a whole lot more than I do. But he tells us who they are, this elder. 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.
There are those who are reading this in the first century who are experiencing persecution. And this is letting them know that they have a God who is faithful to save them, to keep them safe. They will receive a white robe. And the reason that they have white robes, all these people that have seen, the reason all in heaven will have white robes is because those robes have been washed in the blood. Of the Lamb. And what a strong image that is for us. One of the worst stains that you can get on a white shirt is blood. You get blood on a white shirt, and what do you kind of assume? Well, that's not an everyday shirt anymore. That one's for wearing around the house. I'm changing oil in that shirt, right? It's not a shirt you would probably ever wear out in public again, unless you have some super -duper mess. It's not a shirt you would probably ever wear out in public again, I know some of you are capable. But here, what we see is that the greatest stain, sin, is removed by blood. It's removed by the sacrificial, atoning blood of the one who was slain for sinners. Their robes are now white because of the Lamb. And this is a powerful image for us because it goes against the natural way we think. We read this, and we have to process it. We have to process it. We have to process it. We have to process it. We have to process through, how does something become white by being washed in blood? We have to stop and think. We have to process the idea in our head. But we know what this means. The idea is that the stain of our sin is removed by the blood of the Lamb. The blood of the Lamb is stronger than the stain of sin. And this truth shows us great things as the chapter closes up. It tells us, 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. What an amazing reversal. The Lamb is the shepherd. And it tells us that he will guide them to springs of living water, and God will wipe away every tear from their eyes. Because the people of God are clothed in white through the blood of the Lamb, there they are before the throne, serving him in his heavenly temple both day and night. They are sheltered by the presence of God. They have been through tribulation, but now they are sheltered by him. No more hunger, no more thirst, no more scorching heat. The Lamb will guide them to springs of living water, and every tear will be wiped from their eyes. And what comfort this pause is. In the seven seals gives to us as the people of God. Regardless of what we face, the one who is on the throne is in control. And no matter what we experience, we have hope that the difficulties of this life, no matter how severe they are, the presence of the one on the throne will shelter you and I for eternity. And the best part of this is that this is not mere speculation. It is guaranteed by the truth that it has been won for us by the Lamb who is in control. You don't win this battle. It's been won for you. If you are in Christ, if by faith you have been washed in the blood of the Lamb, you will be around the throne with the heavenly throng, singing praise, and every last tear will be wiped from your eyes. This is a sure and certain promise for us as the people of God in Christ Jesus. And as we close, this passage calls us to reflect on the assurance that we have in Jesus and the hope it gives us in every circumstance. If you're in Christ, you are sealed by your God. Your salvation is secure and no trial or tribulation can separate you from his love. This assurance that we have should inspire us to live with courage and faith, knowing that our future is guaranteed. So let the vision here of the great multitude of God in Christ Jesus, and the assurance that we have in Christ Jesus, encourage you to worship with the same joy and gratitude that will fill heaven. Consider how your life reflects the praise of the Lamb in your daily actions and choices. Are you living as someone who knows they are sealed by God and destined for eternal joy? Let this truth spur you to share the gospel so others from every tribe, tongue, and nation may join in this song of salvation to the Lamb.
Rest in the comfort that no matter what challenges you face, the Lamb will guide you, shelter you, and ultimately every last tear will be wiped from your eyes. Take that promise into this week and live as someone who knows with certainty that the battle has already been won. Amen. Let us pray. Almighty and everlasting God, we thank you for your love for us. We thank you for your love for us. We thank you for your love for us. We thank you and praise you for how you show us your power. But we also thank you that you show your greatest power to save in the weakness of the Lamb who was slain. We thank you for his shed blood and that because of that blood, we are now all your family. We are bound together with our union with Christ. And so we pray that we would praise you in confidence and peace, that we would continually join our voices as we share the gospel together. As we sing your praise together, may we be a witness to your great love and may we be confident in the sealing of the salvation that you have given us in Jesus. It is in his name that we pray. Amen.
